Do you have AIS?

[twistedtree]

This poll is to explore the extent to which boaters have equipped their vessels with AIS, and if they have, what kind they have installed. And if they don't have AIS, do they plan to add it, and what type do they have in mind.

Please take the poll

 

[sunchaser]

Simrad Class B send receive operating flawlessly for 5 years. Integrated into Furuno NN3 and laptop based Nobeltec.

 

[ksanders]

We have class B AIS, tied to our Furuno Navnet VX2

It works great! I love being able to be seen and see other vessels!

 

[Boydski]

Sea Eagle has a Simrad NAIS-400 transceiver, tied into redundant Nobeltec Admiral PC based navigation.

 

[BobH]

Sitex Class B tied to Raymarine C125. Went down the Houston Ship Channel last week to Offats Bayou, heavy fog both ways, and having the AIS data as fantastic. Knowing the speed and direction of the traffic was extremely helpful. Much easier than trying to do it with just radar.

Bob

 

[QB]

Will be installing a SH GX2200 for AIS receive StandardHorizon GX2200. No plans for AIS transmit capability... lots of things higher on the list to spend a boat buck on.

 

[eseyoung]

I use boat beacon. It isn't true AIS but in the relatively sheltered (and cell phone serviced) Chesapeake it works well.

Downsides: 1)it needs a internet connection 2)only works where you have coverage from a land station. 4)the send function only shows location on the internet based AIS searches (marine traffic, vessel tracker, Ect) it does NOT display on the screen of VHF based AIS systems.

Since most (all?) of the bay has cell phone access it covers us as a receiver.

upsides: its $6.

 

[N4712]

Were currently have a simrad NAIS 300-transceiver, but were replacing it due to some problems where it only show the names of class a vessels. Were replacing it with a Vesper Marine transceiver with NM2K/wifi so it will work with their iPad app. We love AIS it's helped us many times. Also nice when your running at night in our area (very busy shipping) it's nice to know they know where I'm am and vice versa.

 

[River Cruiser]

Standard Horizon GX-2150 to recieve AIS coupled with a Standard Horizon CP300i and CP1000 displays.

 

[twistedtree]

Standard Horizon GX-2150 to recieve AIS coupled with a Standard Horizon CP300i and CP1000 displays.

Did you vote in the poll? So far nobody has said they have receive only and plan to keep it, but I think they are just not represented yet. Lots of people have said this is what they have in various other posts.

 

[Conrad]

We do not have AIS and have no current plans to install it. In our cruising area the traffic is not major so don't see the need.

However, if we expand our cruising horizons I expect that we will add AIS to our pilothouse, as it is relatively inexpensive and I think could be quite useful in a crowded seaway.

As we have a Simrad suite already I expect we would go with a Simrad product.

 

[River Cruiser]

Did you vote in the poll? So far nobody has said they have receive only and plan to keep it, but I think they are just not represented yet. Lots of people have said this is what they have in various other posts.

I have voted now.

 

[Capt Kangeroo]

I have a nice shiny brand new one (receive only A/B) but the damned thing doesn't work..... I didn't see a checkbox for that.

 

[cafesport]

This poll is to explore the extent to which boaters have equipped their vessels with AIS, and if they have, what kind they have installed. And if they don't have AIS, do they plan to add it, and what type do they have in mind. Please take the poll

Furuno FA150 class a.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Pau Hana]

SH 2150 receive only, networked to my Raymarine network. Will be adding transmit capability in the near future.

 

[nmuir]

I have a EM-TRAK class B, with USB connectivity to a laptop running OpenCPN.

Works well and I was delighted to have it running up the coast. I find it more valuable than Radar. The ability to call boats by name on the radio, instantly see speed and heading, see boats coming 'around the corner', etc is great.

 

[tpbrady]

GX-2150 tied into Lowrance MFDs and Coastal Explorer. Would love to move to NMEA 2000 Class B but not high enough on the list.

 

[HenryD]

Sitex Class B Transmit/Receive connected to NMEA2000 backbone out to Coastal Explorer PCs. Very happy with it.

 

[Insequent]

Comnav Mariner X2 Class B, fed into Actisense NMEA 0183 mutliplexor then to both Nobletec Odyssey Time Zero on PC in pilothouse and NavNet 3D MFD12 on flybridge.

Like a few other things, once you have it and have used it for a while you really would not want to be without it.

 

[Tidahapah]

Originally had an Oceantalk unit that eventually caused me some trouble with my Nobletec set up.
Now sport a GME AIST 120 Class B .
So far it has been really good and the interface with Nobletec has been fine.

Cheers
Benn

 

[obthomas]

I have a West Marine AIS 1000 class B transceiver NEMA 0183 connected to my Garmin network. Performs flawlessly.

 

[JDCAVE]

I have Coastal Explorer software with ICOM AIS (receive only). Direction and speed of travel vectors are displayed which is useful for identifying collision concerns, particularly in Active Pass with all the ferry traffic.

Jim, Sent from my iPad using Trawler

 

[twistedtree]

We have about 60 votes, so let me summarize the results:

Of the people responding 59% already have some form of AIS installed, and 27% more plan to install it. Only 14% have no plans for AIS. I'd say that's a pretty high penetration rate already, and even higher if everyone planning installations follows through with them. Yet many people have observed that while boating, very few boats seem to broadcast AIS. Perhaps this says that among all kinds of boat owners, trawler owners are much more likely to have/want AIS that other types of boats? I'm not sure, but it's an impressive turn out.

Of the people with AIS, 59% have transmit/receive, and 41% have receive only. This is more transmit/receive than I expected, but still disappointing. Remember, all those receive-only devices are only useful if boats are transmitting too. Otherwise there is nothing to receive.

Of the people who currently have receive-only AIS, 60% of them say they plan to upgrade to transmit/receive. Power to you! The bigger the pool the better.

Of the people planning to add some kind of AIS, 59% plan transmit/receive, and 41% plan receive-only. Interestingly, this is exactly the same percentage as those currently with receive-only vs transmit/receive. So it looks like a pretty consistent trend in the percentage of people in the transmit/don't transmit camps. Hopefully all the people who install receive-only will get hooked and join the pool of people planning to upgrade.

Oh, one other thing. Only about 5% of the installed AIS systems are Class A. All others are Class B or receive-only (which technically has no classification at all).