Today, I got to see another Class B AIS installation on a small cruiser: Merv and Kathy Floyd’s Rosborough 25, Kingfisher II.
Perhaps you can tell from such clues as the dual VHF antennas aft, the dual GPS antennas and the dedicated AIS antenna just aft the radome that Merv and Kathy like to be prepared! The radar mast swings forward for trailering.
They had some help from Les at E.Q. Marine, the same talented fellow that commissioned Two Lucky Fish, my C-Dory 22. Here’s the port-side overhead console Les fabricated, with the ACR Nauticast B unit mounted where it’s not in the way, but where you can still see the status lamps. The power switch (“AIS”) and the silent mode switch (“stealth”) are visible on the right.
The windshield “wiper” switch on the left is there so that the passenger doesn’t have to ask the helmsman to “please run the wiper on my side.” In the Pacific Northwest, this feature is practically a must-have for cruising couples! 
Also visible in the recessed “glove compartment” shown above is the serial cable for an auxiliary laptop, should one be brought on board. The AIS unit is connected to the boat’s Raymarine E120 chartplotter through an Actisense NDC-4-A NMEA multiplexer, which allows this extra NMEA output channel for a laptop.
Kingfisher II and Two Lucky Fish are hoping to do some on-the-water Class B testing this winter. Stay tuned!
By the way, it was just a little bit foggy today…all day, which is a little bit rare. Usually it burns off by noon or so. I took a lot of experimental pictures; here are a couple I liked. You can click to see the large version, suitable for desktop wallpaper, with all the foggy details!
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You clicked at just the right moment, especially in the lower photo. It’s not always easy to do, especially with a digital camera! I like the framing of the sail boat and waterfowl.
Nice install! But I’m confused about the multiplexer. The Nauticast B, like most Class B transponders, has two NMEA 0183 outputs and should be able to feed GPS and AIS to both laptop and E120 without needing a mulitplexer. Maybe it’s doing something else?
I look forward to your Class B testing, and am also hoping you’ll ask the VTS if they’re seeing you when you’re nearer their towers.
Aboard Kingfisher II, they also need to feed GPS positions to two DSC VHF radios, and get DSC target info from those radios to his chartplotter. I’ll check with him to confirm, but that may be why he’s using a multiplexer.
More on AIS Class B/VTS/Rescue 21 coming soon!
OK, I got clarification from Merv:
‘Tim,
The multiplexer is needed because in Raymarine’s infinite wisdom they do not allow two high speed NMEA “talkers” to speak to the E120. It is not to provide the PC output.
Cheers, Merv’
Why does Kingfisher II need two high-speed NMEA inputs? One for AIS and another for the high-speed heading sensor.
Do the American systems come with the same cheapish VHF antennas with a couple of grub screws holding them together? We’ve bought quite a few of these systems in Asia & have decided to get better antennas & pay extra.
With the better antennas (Conrod I think is the brand) I did some testing & found that I could run 15m of RG-213 coax & still get good signals rather than using the 5m of thinner coax supplied with the standard system.
Dave,
I forget what came with this system, but the installation manual recommends that the AIS antenna be separated radially by 6ft from any VHF antenna and also not in the same horizontal plane. As a result I moved my VHF’s to the rear of the cabin roof since they were already interfering with each other on the mast and put a matching Morad AIS antenna up at the top of the mast as per Tim’s picture.
Merv
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