Type "A" AIS for Yachts?

[Dockhead]

I will be replacing all my electronics (at least the radar and plotters) this winter in the course of my refit this year. My previous network did not support AIS, so I have been living without. The new system, based on B&G Zeus plotters running an NMEA2000 network, will obviously by free of this restriction.

During a recent discussion with professional mariners about collision avoidance procedures, I was advised over and over again to invest in a Type "A" AIS rather than the usual (for yachts) Type "B" system. The Type "A" AIS carried on commercial ships has a more powerful signal, transmits position updates more frequently, transmits more types of data such as rate of turn, and allows you to send and receive text messages. I had not considered it, but suddenly Digital Yacht is offering one at an affordable price -- a couple of grand.

What do you guys think -- overkill on a sailboat? I do sail in the busiest shipping lanes in the world, so collision avoidance, especially avoiding commerical shipping, is a pretty big deal for me. The Type "A" AIS looks like a lot more trouble to use -- you have to program it with your passage information every time you fire it up.

I mentioned the idea on YBW a month or two ago, and got a harsh drubbing by people who thought using a Type "A" AIS on a yacht is "selfish", and "eating up the 'commons'", since users of other Type "A" sets can't filter out other Type "A" signals as easily as they can Type "B" signals.

What do you guys think?

Here is the Digital Yacht Type "A" set: Digital Yacht - Light Years Ahead -- it looks like a very nice piece of kit.