What communications radio do you have?

[Inquisitor]

Thanks to you and the rest of the forum, I'm becoming far less ignorant. As I alluded to in the OP, I was really playing ostrich since it seemed like a very expensive undertaking and I knew from electronics standpoint, things drastically change on a yearly basis. When I got the handheld radio, GPS was an big deal (marketing) and an expensive feature. Now, its barely a foot-note. Now, I'm in the, "How do you eat an elephant?"... one bite at a time.

I'm not aware of any way to add AIS logic to an existing radio other than installing an additional receiver or transceiver. I'm not sure what you mean by that.

What I meant... was my simplistic logic said... a good relatively high-end ($350-$500) VHF fixed radio with GPS and DSC already has every thing needed included some kind of microprocessor for the DSC stuff. If I understand "all" AIS is... takes your GPS and some manually filled-out data and sends it over the radio on an interval. On the receive side, it takes other incoming AIS and converts it to a NEMA message to display. Again... in my simplistic mind, I just assumed that a manufacturer adding that software to that radio was trivial and cheaper (to me) compared to having a stand-alone AIS hardware piece... considering I have to have a good fixed radio anyway.

It sounds like with your knowledge (vs my logic) that the manufacturers are not passing on that trivialness to us.

[NiceAft]

Be Free said:

I did put a much more expensive cell phone on the bottom of the St. Johns river when I leaned over to open my ballast valve

That must have produced a few choice words. #%$”!%

[Inquisitor]

AIS on left , next marine cell ph booster ant. , next top secret , next search light , next wind inst., next TV Ant. next VHF Ant. , below radar

INCREDIBLE!

I know what the tob secret is... its a satellite uplink so you can remote control the boat... cause certainly, humans weight and size can no longer fit. You know, I don't recall seeing a picture with someone actually on your boat.

Seriously now... for those with Radar and AIS... IF you're getting weather via Internet, have good charts and AIS shows you other boats... what more does radar give you besides redundancy? Do you often run into boats that show up on radar, but not AIS?

[Highlander]

AIS only shows boats equipped with AIS something to remember Mostly comercial vessels that can,t get out of ur way unless u r in two feet of water then again they have been known to run aground !
the newer radars like mine will pick up a floating car tire or a pole piled standing striaght up once u get close enough to them to b a hazard
even a flock of low flying geese which is not an issue where as sea gulls & herons r as they due discharge during flight also known as incoming , sea gull ur cleaning ur deck or hat , heron u r taking a bath
something to ponder on ! think off "fruit explosion"
J

[Be Free]

Be Free said:

I did put a much more expensive cell phone on the bottom of the St. Johns river when I leaned over to open my ballast valve

That must have produced a few choice words. #%$”!%

To quote the immortal Curly Howard when asked "Do you swear?"

"No, but I know all the woids."

[NiceAft]

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

[NiceAft]

AIS has an advantage over radar in curvy waterways. Radar can’t indicate what is coming around the bend if there are tall trees, or buildings blocking the radar beam. AIS is the superior solution in that situation.

Also, really large freighters have a blind spot in front of the bow extending out a fairly great distance. This distance depends on the hight of the bow above water and how high the radar is, and how far back from the bow it is located. If you are I n that spot, they can’t see you. A radar ball atop your mast may not be of value in that situation.

[Inquisitor]

I have to tell a story on myself from when I was much younger. Was is Charleston harbor with my buddy on a Hobie Cat. We're tool'n around having a rip-roaring day and all of a sudden we hear this horrendous bull horn blaring. It wasn't a toot... he stood on it for a good minute. Damn near blew us into the water. I had NEVER heard anything so loud. Some big ship... don't recall if it was a super tanker or one of those huge car carriers. They get both. I check the shorelines and estimate... hull, I'm only about a tenth of the way out from one of the shores. I scan around again and find... hmm... I'm in the middle of the channel. I turn to my buddy... even less of a sailor and say with a strait face, "No problem... sailboats have the right of way."

Although, he hadn't really entered either of our peripherals yet, we were probably heading for that blind spot you mention and he wanted to make sure we weren't totally suicidal. We scooted promptly! After watching him go buy... seemed like it took days... being both ponderously big and snail slow, we returned to our regularly scheduled antics. I'm sure if we had a radio that day, we'd have learn quite a few new words.

[NiceAft]

It’s amazing how something so large can sneak up on you. I’ve had the same experience on the Delaware while in the , but I scooted out of the channel quickly.

[Be Free]

What I meant... was my simplistic logic said... a good relatively high-end ($350-$500) VHF fixed radio with GPS and DSC already has every thing needed included some kind of microprocessor for the DSC stuff. If I understand "all" AIS is... takes your GPS and some manually filled-out data and sends it over the radio on an interval. On the receive side, it takes other incoming AIS and converts it to a NEMA message to display. Again... in my simplistic mind, I just assumed that a manufacturer adding that software to that radio was trivial and cheaper (to me) compared to having a stand-alone AIS hardware piece... considering I have to have a good fixed radio anyway.

It sounds like with your knowledge (vs my logic) that the manufacturers are not passing on that trivialness to us.

Your logic was correct. The parts and the programming to add AIS functions to a radio is not that expensive. You can turn an old laptop into an AIS receiver for just a little more than the cost of the antenna. Transmitting AIS information is a lot more complicated and can't be legally done without using equipment that is certified to work correctly and which will not interfere with other devices. That is one expensive part. The other expensive part is the NMEA function. That also has to be certified and it is neither trivial nor inexpensive to do (particularly NMEA 2000).

[PhysicsTeacher]

AIS on left , next marine cell ph booster ant. , next top secret , next search light , next wind inst., next TV Ant. next VHF Ant. , below radar

INCREDIBLE!

I know what the tob secret is... its a satellite uplink so you can remote control the boat... cause certainly, humans weight and size can no longer fit. You know, I don't recall seeing a picture with someone actually on your boat.

Seriously now... for those with Radar and AIS... IF you're getting weather via Internet, have good charts and AIS shows you other boats... what more does radar give you besides redundancy? Do you often run into boats that show up on radar, but not AIS?

Sadly, the other use for radar which is becoming all too common (at least in the Pacific Northwest) is if smoke from a forest fire unexpectedly rolls in and leaves you in the middle of nowhere unable to see a thing . . .
We had a situation in the Macgregor Yacht Club of BC where one of our member's got caught in the middle of the Strait when thick smoke moved in. He was sailing with his grandson, and was only able to make it home comfortably by using his radar.

[JotaErre]

I have a fixed Cobra VHF transceiver with DSC (no AIS) in the cabin. The antenna is on the top of the mast. I also have a handheld VHF as a backup. Both are a bit old (the Cobra was already installed when I bought the boat 10 years ago, and the handheld is a carryover from my previous boat), but they work fine.

[Inquisitor]

I'm hearing a lot of you have the antenna on top of the mast. I've not taken top or bottom plates off. I thought the mast was foam filled.

• Is their a conduit or just completely hollow?
• Is it different on X and M?
• I'm totally guessing, but I'm assuming you use coax cable of some sort for the antenna?
• What kind of connection do you do to account for the M mast rotating?
• Do you run any other things up the mast, say... more lighting, electronic anemometer and direction... aka chicken or rooster?
• I was thinking maybe one of those WiFi cameras you can pan and elevate. A telephoto up there might come in handy. Maybe even a FLIR.

[NiceAft]

There is no conduit through the mast. There is foam, but it is not through the entire length of the mast. I believe it may be in sections. You can run anything you wish up the mast. The rotating mast only is a problem with wind direction electronics. I'm not aware of anyone who has solved that.

I have been quite satisfied with the antenna mounted on the mast arch.

[Tomfoolery]

Marine VHF uses 50 ohm coax. Not the same as TV antenna coax RG-58 and RG-6 (75 ohm).

RG-8X I believe is the most common on small boats, though there is the thinner, cheaper (with higher signal loss) RG-58. There’s an even heavier coax for marine VHF (don’t recall the designation), but I suspect the short mast is more limiting than the little bit of signal strength gained through top-shelf coax. Quality connections are probably more important than all of that, in fact, especially at the base of the mast where you need a double-female connector to connect the mast coax to the deck coax.

Other than the anchor light, I have nothing on top of the mast besides a Windex without the two little indicator arms. When I got it, there was a flying saucer tv antenna on the front of the mast, and a wind instrument, but I took them off. Too much clutter for no benefit (to me).

Oh, and the X has no foam in the mast, but that’s not relevant since you have an M. Many folks have drilled a hole through the foam using a length or two of 3/8” or 1/2” PVC plumbing pipe with square ‘teeth’ cut into the end, like the crenellations at the top of a castle.