AIS products: Transponder SeaTraceR Receiver SeaTraceR Receiver AI3000 NASA AIS
AIS (Automatic Identification System) for Pleasure Craft.
Receive-Only and Class B transponders
AIS stands for Automatic Identification System, it is a complementary system to aid navigation (Primarily designed for Port Operations control). It does not replace radar or a good lookout. It is a compulsory item in all ships over 300 GRT since December 2004 and therefore can be extremely useful to the pleasure craft skipper, giving a much more informative and instant picture of what is happening around than radar.
The ships over 300 GRT are fitted with the AIS system Class A. It is a transmitting system which uses the same frequency band as the marine VHF radio. The ships input GPS information into their AIS system, along with other dynamic information such as rudder information for example. Other information which is set into the AIS is the vessels callsign, name, IMO number, destination, type of cargo and much more. The Class A AIS transmits this information at intervals and it is possible for a pleasure craft to see all this information with a correctly installed AIS receive-only system onboard.
Pleasure craft are also able to install an AIS system onboard, called Class B. This is also a transmitting system, with a reduced transmitting feature list and system priorities than the Class A. All other shipping, port control, etc are now able to see the pleasure craft. Additionally, with the class B transponder and a PC/Plotter, the other ships may be displayed as mentioned above.
Depending on what type of AIS solution you want determines the equipment you will need. View catalogue
| What you get | What you need | Variations and Constraints |
| To be able to see information on all ships fitted with Class A and pleasure craft fitted with Class B, displayed on plotter | AIS receiver (preferably 2 channel
simultaneous) VHF antenna Plotter capable of receiving AIS NMEA sentences Plotter data lead |
Could use AIS transponder in Receive
mode in place of the AIS receiver
|
| To be able to see information on all ships and pleasure craft, displayed on PC/Laptop | AIS receiver (preferably 2 channel
simultaneous) (Comes with RS232 data lead) VHF antenna PC with USB port RS232 to USB adapter Navigation software such as SeaPro, Maxsea, etc which can display AIS information |
Could use AIS transponder in Receive mode in place of the AIS receiver |
| To be able to see information on all
ships and pleasure craft, displayed on PC/Laptop.
Also to be able to see own boat position, course, speed, etc.on the electronic chart. |
AIS receiver (preferably 2 channel
simultaneous) (Comes with RS232 data lead) VHF antenna PC with USB port GPS with NMEA output RS232 to USB adapter Navigation software such as SeaPro, Maxsea, etc which can display AIS information |
Feed GPS NMEA output directly into PC
or feed GPS NMEA into AIS receiver and then the combined data stream
into the PC.
Could use AIS transponder in Receive mode in place of the AIS receiver, this will then include the GPS signal |
| To be able to transmit your information so that the shipping and other pleasure craft can see you. But you are not interested in seeing them. | AIS transponder. (Comes with RS232
data lead) Active GPS antenna VHF antenna PC with USB, RS232 to USB adapter (If you want to see diagnostics, change configuration yourself, etc) |
Must have dedicated VHF antenna. Cannot use the VHF radio antenna. |
| To be able to transmit your
information so that the shipping and other pleasure craft can see you. To be able to see information on all ships and pleasure craft, displayed on plotter |
AIS transponder. (Comes with RS232
data lead) Active GPS antenna VHF antenna Plotter capable of receiving AIS NMEA sentences Plotter data lead |
Must have dedicated VHF antenna. Cannot use the VHF radio antenna. |
| To be able to transmit your
information so that the shipping and other pleasure craft can see you. To be able to see information on all ships and pleasure craft, displayed on PC/Laptop |
AIS transponder. (Comes with RS232
data lead) Active GPS antenna VHF antenna PC with USB port RS232 to USB adapter Navigation software such as SeaPro, Maxsea, etc which can display AIS information |
Must have dedicated VHF antenna. Cannot use the VHF radio antenna. |
AIS has two channels for transmission, it is not possible to choose the channels for transmission, this happens automatically. So to ensure you receive data on all ships, it is important to have an AIS receiver with channel 1 and channel 2 capabilities with simultaneous reception. The better receivers such as the AI3000 and the AIS transponder that we sell are fully dual channel and so listen to both channels at the same time. Beware of some cheaper "engines" that are either single channel or dual channel with scanning. With these it is not certain that all ships will appear on the screen.
Below is a picture from a laptop display which shows own ship (the pleasure craft) and its track, along with three other ships and their tracks just off Barcelona. Toronto is a fishing boat as can be seen by the course followed and it’s SOG.
Why
do I need AIS?
With AIS it
is possible in an instant to see the position of all ships around, together with
your own position. Position, course and velocity of ships displayed, (in
relation to your own position), so it is easier than RADAR (which needs greater
interpretation of the data displayed on the screen). With AIS, it is possible
to assess the level of danger at a glance. AIS does not replace RADAR, it
complements it, increasing safety by allowing the user to quickly and clearly
assess a situation. It gives information such as ship name or call sign
necessary to call the ship on VHF if there is a dangerous situation.
We supply;
AIS receivers, transponders, electronic charting software
NMEA Multiplexers and buffers