Which Raymarine VHF and AIS to buy

[Skippersparsoe]

Hello sailors

Looking to upgrade an older Raymarine VHF with a newer model and and the same time buy an AIS. Mounted on a 53' Beneteau cruising the world.

Would you choose a combo radio with AIS and why? Like e.g Ray73 or would you choose separate VHF and AIS and why. And if so which models would you choose? Like AIS700 combined with radio?

Looking forward to hearing your inputs, learned mistakes etc.

Also would you choose another brand of Raymarine (considering everything else is Raymarine)?

Thanks

[svmobert]

There are a lot of options, but UI generally would recommend keeping them seperate.

First, most radios with AIS are only receiving AIS, not transmitting. For AIS transmit and recieve you generally need a seperate AIS unit anyway, except for two specific exceptions..

Vesper Cortex V1 (AIS transciever AND VHF Radio with multiple wireless handsets.
B&G V60B or Simrad RS40B (same radio with different logos) also has both functions, but you need an external antenna splitter or two antennas.

If it were me, I'd buy the Cortex M1 for the AIS functions but skip the optional VHF function, plus the Cortex has a built-in antenna splitter, and an Icom M510 VHF Radio. The Icom can get the AIS data from the Cortex via NMEA and display boats on the VHF display, allowing you to call vessels by name if you want. The Cortex is still the most advanced leisure AIS unit on the market.

If you want to stick with Raymarine, then AIS700 and whatever Raymarine radio fits the bill.

The Cortex VHF function is really nice, and has touchscreen color handsets, up to 10, connected wirelessly to the main hub, however there have been some strange software issues with the handsets as well as some hardware issues with the push to talk buttons on the handsets, combining that with Garmins more corporate technical support means that those issues are hard to deal with. So limiting the Cortex to the AIS only with the M1 model means you get the best AIS unit and aren't dealing with the hardware and software issues that the VHF presents.

Icom makes excellent radios and the new M510 has a color screen with night mode, previous call recording and playback, optional wired second station (like for the helm or whatever) and you can make VHF calls with an app on your smartphone using the M510's wireless feature. You can get the M510 with and without AIS receive option. You don't need the AIS option to display AIS data as long as the M510 can get the AIS data from the Cortex or other AIS unit via NMEA.

[Cheyne]

We have a AIS700 and a Ray90 radio with a wireless handset at the helm and wired at the nav station. I have been very happy with both and they integrated into the rest of our Raymarine gear seamlessly.

Cheyne

[wholybee]

I would buy a separate AIS transponder, AND a radio with AIS receive. Having AIS receive on the radio really improves it's function, as you are presented on the front of the radio, or in some cases on the mic itself, a list of ships by name, and can just select one to make a DSC call. If you really need to get ahold of another ship in the area, that is very helpful.
And having a backup AIS receiver and another GPS isn't a terrible idea.

[ftamburrano]

Definitely buy separate devices. For the AIS, I am entusiast wth Vesper Marine from NZ, bought by Garmin. I started having one more than 10 years ago, and had the possibility to compare to other models. Vesper by far the best. I (a boat dealer, importer of ETAP in Italy) installed many Ray VHF on the customers boats. Big mistake: practically all of them had problems with the microfone cable, almost melting down over a few years. After 10 years, you wont find replacements. VHF apparatus become illegal if parts are not original. Conclusion: you must throw away your VHF and buy a new one. I have a RAY 54E (working well from any standpoint), bought in 2010; I have to dispose of it and buy a new one, hundreds of $ waisted! I do not know whether is programmed obsolescence or just bad choice of a component. But I will never buy from them again!

[wholybee]

I am going to suggest, instead of buying separate devices, buy a radio that has at least AIS receive, and also a separate transponder. Having AIS in a radio adds useful features, like being able to make a DSC call by selecting the ships name from a list. Or even just being able to see the ships name on the radio instead of needing to look at the chart plotter for it.

[svmobert]

having the ship list on the radio is useful, but you don’t need to have AIS receiver to have that necessarily. Icom m506, m510, m605 all can display targets from NMEA without paying for the receiver optio, assuming you also have a transceiver connected to NMEA.

Originally Posted by wholybee

I am going to suggest, instead of buying separate devices, buy a radio that has at least AIS receive, and also a separate transponder. Having AIS in a radio adds useful features, like being able to make a DSC call by selecting the ships name from a list. Or even just being able to see the ships name on the radio instead of needing to look at the chart plotter for it.