Comments on: ACR Nauticast B Class B AIS Installation

By: AIS/DSC Integration: Why The Wait? | Navagear.com

AIS/DSC Integration: Why The Wait? | Navagear.com — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:34:18 +0000

[...] friend Merv added a comment to a recent post on Class B AIS. He raises an important point: So our newly acquired Class B AIS unit gives us the MMSI numbers and other information about vessels near us that we may well need to hail [...]

By: Merv

Merv — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:08:56 +0000

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

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:22:59 +0000

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.

By: Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor

Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:03:05 +0000

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.

By: Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor

Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:31:09 +0000

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!

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:24:44 +0000

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.

By: Momma Pauline

Momma Pauline — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:14:19 +0000

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.