Howdie2 10 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Hey knowledgeable people I'm planning a longish coastal passage on my 9m yacht and looking to get the boat up to cat 2 and starting to think about Ais, what are your suggestions on a simple ais set up? Do I need a reciever or just the transmitter? my current plotter is an old navman 550 so I'm thinking of going for a dedicated tablet with open cpn and will also have starlink so battery usage is an important consideration. What say you? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,314 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 shorthanded in a small boat a transponder is better than a radar reflector.... what are your instruments? (Other than the Navman?) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Howdie2 10 Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 49 minutes ago, Island Time said: shorthanded in a small boat a transponder is better than a radar reflector.... what are your instruments? (Other than the Navman?) I have the old raymarine st 60 i thinking is, just wind speed and direction and a speed log Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,776 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Fact is you don't " need" anything. Everything else is optional. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,314 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 10 hours ago, Howdie2 said: I have the old raymarine st 60 i thinking is, just wind speed and direction and a speed log OK. AIS transponders with screens or wifi are a bit pricey, especially if you want wifi as well. The digital yacht ait5000 doesn't have a screen, but is a transponder with wifi - its $2300 incl gst. Considering you could buy a B&G MFD AND a NAIS500 for about $2500, that might be a better option... that would give wifi via the mfd.. As BP says you don't NEED anything (even a yacht - people have crossed oceans in rowboats!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Howdie2 10 Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 I may well be overthinkig this . I'm leaning towards just using marine traffic and keeping a good lookout! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,314 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 1 hour ago, Howdie2 said: I may well be overthinkig this . I'm leaning towards just using marine traffic and keeping a good lookout! Dont rely on Marine traffic at sea. It can be a long time behind (an hour or more) real time. A ship goes a long way in an hour! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
grant 45 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 3 hours ago, Island Time said: Dont rely on Marine traffic at sea. It can be a long time behind (an hour or more) real time. A ship goes a long way in an hour! marine traffic relies on internet, you would have to keep the starlink running (more power) and it doesn't show up on anyone else's screen 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 335 Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 On 30/06/2025 at 7:56 PM, Howdie2 said: Hey knowledgeable people I'm planning a longish coastal passage on my 9m yacht and looking to get the boat up to cat 2 and starting to think about Ais, what are your suggestions on a simple ais set up? Do I need a reciever or just the transmitter? my current plotter is an old navman 550 so I'm thinking of going for a dedicated tablet with open cpn and will also have starlink so battery usage is an important consideration. What say you? Are you bringing the chilli sauce up for a northern tour or further south? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Boatworks 25 Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 We use a B&G V60-B VHF radio with inbuilt AIS transmitter - approx $1800 - you still need a splitter but it's one less device and a very tidy package - replaces your existing VHF unit. Will connect into a NMEA2000 network to transmit AIS data to your chartplotter. Additional bonus of these units is that you can also get a cordless handset for up on deck for about the cost of a hand held VHF (note we still carry a separate handheld VHF for redundancy). I think there is a Simrad version too. Moving away from NMEA0183 to NMEA2000 has been a great upgrade - it saves a lot of messing around with wires and different standards between different manufacturers. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,314 Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 The v60B (simrad version is RS40b) is a good unit, but does not have wifi. It's $1758 Incl GST. Its not supported by a Navman 550, which is why I suggested the NAIS500 and an MFD (Plotter, with wireless). NAIS with Splitter, GPS ant, and 7 inch Vulcan is about $2800. Its a bit less than the V60B and a MFD... Happy to Discuss with anyone interested. Matt 0221539176 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Howdie2 10 Posted July 5 Author Share Posted July 5 On 2/07/2025 at 10:43 PM, B00B00 said: Are you bringing the chilli sauce up for a northern tour or further south? Going south mate! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Howdie2 10 Posted July 5 Author Share Posted July 5 On 3/07/2025 at 8:02 PM, Island Time said: The v60B (simrad version is RS40b) is a good unit, but does not have wifi. It's $1758 Incl GST. Its not supported by a Navman 550, which is why I suggested the NAIS500 and an MFD (Plotter, with wireless). NAIS with Splitter, GPS ant, and 7 inch Vulcan is about $2800. Its a bit less than the V60B and a MFD... Happy to Discuss with anyone interested. Matt 0221539176 Thanks Matt I'm liking this option I will give yih a call Cheers Howdie Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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