So I was trolling around at West Marine the other night. I am wanting to add a house VHF radio to my boat. I really wanted to put one with an AIS receiver in my boat but the $400 or better is steep.
And then I saw it! Standard Horizon DX2150 for $200. It has DSC and AIS receiver. Normally $400 but close out for $200.
I immediately went to my local West Marine and spoke with the manager. They didn't have any in stock or any in the warehouse. He called around and found me a display unit and I said "I'll take it!"
Now I have a big project ahead of me for this winter. I am going to install this VHF with AIS into my Compac 23. This means that I have to run coax inside of the mast (with the zip ties with tails to prevent it from slapping inside of the mast), run coax through the deck, mount a masthead antenna, and mount the radio. The radio will then be networked through NMEA 0183 network to my Garmin 441s.
Here is the beauty of this. The VHF will report the AIS positions of any ships in the area and they will show up on my GPS. I will know their speed and heading AND get an alarm if they get in a certain proximity of me, that I set. My VHF will automatically send my GPS position to the coast guard if the MOB or the Distress button is pushed on the house radio.
While I am running to coax cable I figure that I might as well re-run the anchor light wire and put zip ties on that as well because it slaps sometimes.
This is a medium to big project but I am excited to have this aboard. This is a pretty nice and serious set-up. I think that it will be a good safety feature too. It isn't quite as good as radar but it is much cheaper.
And then I saw it! Standard Horizon DX2150 for $200. It has DSC and AIS receiver. Normally $400 but close out for $200.
I immediately went to my local West Marine and spoke with the manager. They didn't have any in stock or any in the warehouse. He called around and found me a display unit and I said "I'll take it!"
Now I have a big project ahead of me for this winter. I am going to install this VHF with AIS into my Compac 23. This means that I have to run coax inside of the mast (with the zip ties with tails to prevent it from slapping inside of the mast), run coax through the deck, mount a masthead antenna, and mount the radio. The radio will then be networked through NMEA 0183 network to my Garmin 441s.
Here is the beauty of this. The VHF will report the AIS positions of any ships in the area and they will show up on my GPS. I will know their speed and heading AND get an alarm if they get in a certain proximity of me, that I set. My VHF will automatically send my GPS position to the coast guard if the MOB or the Distress button is pushed on the house radio.
While I am running to coax cable I figure that I might as well re-run the anchor light wire and put zip ties on that as well because it slaps sometimes.
This is a medium to big project but I am excited to have this aboard. This is a pretty nice and serious set-up. I think that it will be a good safety feature too. It isn't quite as good as radar but it is much cheaper.
