Curtis;
When I went to Bermuda on a friend's boat a couple of years ago I was greatly impressed by the benefit of his AIS receiver when offshore. It was amazing how close a ship could pass and not be visible, and the AIS receiver would show other vessels (commercial ships over 300 tons and some larger recreational vessels with an AIS transceiver - you still need to keep a lookout for traffic because most of the boats you will encounter will not have AIS) many miles distant - and sound an alarm if there was a chance that the other vessel would get close. I said to myself "Self, I gotta get one of these." Now an AIS transceiver doesn't seem like a good investment to me. Big ships are not going to get out of the way of a 40 foot sailboat, so you basically need to be aware of them and get out of THEIR way. So I started looking at options for AIS receivers. I ended up putting a SH Matrix GX2150 in the cockpit of my boat. I have a prejudice against handheld radios (except in the dinghy or the ditch bag). The realistic range for a hand held is 2 miles or less, and in my experience a handheld VHF is a holder for dead batteries. So I have two fixed mount VHF radios with redundant antennas on the boat. One is a Raymarine DSC radio with dedicated GPS connected that is at the nav station. The second is the SH GX2150 at the helm, connected to the Garmin 541s plotter on the pedestal. I initially only connected the NEMA 183 output from the GPS to the input on the radio, which is a pretty easy thing to do. But I found that the AIS display on the radio is pretty small for my old eyes to see, so I have now connected the output from the AIS onto one of the inputs for the Garmin plotter. It is only a one wire connection from the radio to the plotter. I also had to configure the input to the plotter for the AIS; apparently the output from the AIS to the display is a very high baud rate. The instructions for wiring were in both the Standard Horizon and Garmin instructions, as were the instructions for configuring the input for the AIS to display on the plotter. I was a bit iffy about the configuration procedure, so I called Garmin and their tech rep talked me through the process. Now my AIS display is overlaid on the 5" chart plotter display in front of the wheel. I've been very pleased by the performance of the radio and the ease of installation/connection. There are not a lot of AIS targets here in North Carolina. I did see quite a few when in the Chesapeake last summer, though none were threateningly close. But then I was not offshore in the dark off Florida, where there is a LOT of traffic to worry about. Your installation should be easier because there is a GPS built into the radio, so you only need to wire the output from the AIS to the input for your plotter. You seem to be saying that you intend the radio to be a redundant GPS for the boat. Remember it is not a plotter with includes chart data. It provides GPS position course and speed input to the AIS system in the radio. The AIS system uses your information to determine possible collisions with other vessels based on the information it gets from AIS transceivers in the vicinity, and displays a graphic showing the traffic around you. You still need a chart plotter for depth information and to see obstructions, hazards, etc. The GPS position information appears on the display of my radio, so I presume it will for you, but it doesn't replace the plotter for navigation. Though I suppose you could take the position off the radio display and plot it onto a paper chart One other thing. I know you plan to sail offshore, so you should get a ship station license from the FCC and get your MMSI number from them as part of the package. You can get an MMSI number from Boat/US, and if the USCG gets a distress call from your radio they can look into the Boat/US MMSI database to see who you are and get particulars about you and your boat. But the Boat/US MMSI numbers are not shared with the international SARSAT people. So your Boat/US issued MMSI number will be meaningless to anyone outside the US. Only an MMSI number issued by the FCC will be recognized if you are offshore - but then you are supposed to have a ship station license if you use your VHF, radar, SSB, etc. when you are in international waters anyway. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Curtis Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 6:37 PM To: CnC-List@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List VHF AIS Standard Horizon 2200 I have ordered a new radio today. " MATRIX AIS/GPS GX2200" The reason was to have a stand alone GPS radio in case of equipment failure. Has anybody installed one? Is there any drawbacks? I was going to hook it to the Garmin 50S so I could see comm traffic at the helm. I would only use it as an "Aid to Navigation" I want to start my off shore training this spring with as much help as I can afford. I will love to have a radar but that will come later. So if you are familiar with this type of set up I would love to here your pros and con's. Thanks, LT -- "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible." T. E. Lawrence .
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