Anyone Have An AIS Receiver?

[Rick D]

I was looking at the SR 161 at Jack Rabbit Marine. Don't have the appetite for a big expenditure since I don't know if my charting system is compatable nor if it will interface with my Raymarine 520 HS (I assume it won't). Anyhow, anyone using this puppy or something similar? I am in a major port with shipping lanes that look like the 405 freeway at rush hour sometimes, and it would be nice to figure out locations of the shipping. Actually, the big boys usually give a big echo on the radar, so it isn't a critical need, but the price is such that it may be worth playing with. My charting program is a commercial one about a dozen years old that went toes up, but runs like a champ and is wickedly powerful (if I can ever figure out the manual). Rick D.

 

[Sequitur]

I have a SeaCAS installed

My model SafePassage 100 is tied into my RayMarine E120 and E80 chartplotters. I love the way it shows ship's name, course and speed and MMSI number. A couple of weeks ago approaching Active Pass, I was able to see ferries around the bends. Wonderful!

 

[Stu Jackson]

Active Pass is WAY fun

with the ferries. My recollection is that they always pass each other there -- 2 for the price of one!

 

[Tom Spohn]

Milltech

I have the SR161 installed on my boat and it is fantastic! It displays a small triangle with a line pointing in the direction of travel on the chart plotter. I am using a Furuno 1834C (10in. screen) which had to have a software upgrade done by the dealer (no charge). I ran mine to a new antenna, but you can also install a splitter to your existing VHF antenna. If you place the cursor over the triangle a box appears showing the MMSI, length, vessel name, course, Lat/lon, and speed. It is great to practice with the radar on to see what pattern the radar reports on a boat I know is there. You can also set it to sound an alarm if your predicted course will intersect with the pridicted course of the target, although in a busy port it will be beeping almost constantly.

 

[Bryce22345]

AIS

Rick,I have a Si-Tex AIS receiver interfaced with my Raymarine E-120 and RNS 6 on the networked laptop. its a very good tool, but like any tool mis-information is sometimes worse than no information. you can pretty much trust the ship's system data (GPS location, SOG, COG etc.), but most everything else should remain suspect till proven otherwise.BryceS/V SpellbinderH410

 

[newly anonymous]

nobeltec

i've been looking at the nobeltec ais 100, which goes for $280 on Defender. It's a single channel unit that alternates frequencies every 36 seconds. Trying to decide whether to buy now or wait another year when recievers will only cost $29.99 on ebay.