vhf with AIS rec and trasponder

Having an AIS transponder is another tool in the toolbox which is simply that - a tool. If one is relying on this tool or any other single system to uniquely keep their vessel and passengers safe I would recommend to step away from open water boating for the safety of themselves and others...... The big issue with AIS (and I've used it for several years) is when in a port or other busy areas it alarms constantly for boats and ships that are not running as they leave their transponders active so I tend to disable the system when in these areas and use the other "tools in the toolbox" to safely navigate. Heck, in my marina alone there are three or four non-commercial boats constantly transmitting. In other words, jurisprudence is the key on how, when, and where to use your navigation tools. All of the primary electronics manufacturers have certified AIS transponders available which can use a dedicated or shared VHF antenna. There is, however, not many combination VHF radios with integrated AIS transponders on the market and probably for good reason so I'd stay away from these for now.
 
I drove to BOE Marine today and spent time with Jim. Great guy. I ended up getting the Vesper XB-8000. I originally wanted Garmin, to keep everything the same, but he convinced me that the Vesper WiFi capability will be worth it. After reviewing some online manuals, etc, I'm glad I did. Thanks Jim. I won't be able to install until June, so a report is forthcoming.

Jaybeaux
 
I also bought the SH with the AIS receiver, we also have very heavy barge traffic on the Kanawha. The tow operators know on the weekends that there are going to be “plastics” out on the river so when we get on their radar plot they usually throw out a beam with their searchlight to warn us of their presence. BTW at night they are very quite and very hard to spot if you do not know what to look for.
 
I have had the SH GX2100 for several years. I never figure the commercial traffic will get out of my way so me seeing them is the next best thing. It is fantastic to have the AIS on my plotter letting me know what is ahead.

MM
 
I just installed the Vesper XB8000 this past weekend. My VHF already had an AIS receiver, which I just turned off. The vesper unit integrates nicely with my Garmin MFD, and also has WiFi and a nice iPhone app. Vesper also sells a switch to allow you to share your VHF antenna with (they claim) no loss of signal. That switch also has a bnc port to connect your AM/FM radio to, so I can get rid of that ugly rubber duck on the arch.
 
Thanks for all of the responses! bobeast, I think the WiFi aspects of the XB-8000 is what sold it for me.

New question for the experts: My equipment is getting my MMSI programmed and then will be shipped to me. Sadly, it will be June before I have an opportunity to begin the installation process. Don't ask. It starts with 2 college graduations. Anyway, my question is this: Can I essentially set up the AIS at home, all connected, powered by 12 volt battery, sufficiently fused, etc, to simulate my installation so that I can work on configuring my Android, iPad, and PC? Plus, it would just be cool to play with.

Jaybeaux
 
I sent Vesper Support an email last night before I went to bed. I was asking about my "above" question of setting up a "bench test" of the system prior to installation on the boat. Because they are located in New Zealand, I had an answer when I woke up! Nice work Vesper.

"Certainly, a 12VDVC power supply, or a car or alarm battery is the easiest way to power it up and configure at home. You can use the WatchMate app for android or iOS to set your vessel details and it has diagnostics built in to confirm all is working efficiently.
If you have any queries during the setup please don't hesitate!"

Jaybeaux
 
Regardless of what Vesper or anyone else says I wouldn’t split the VHF antenna it’s too important to me NOT to install a seperate AIS antenna I purchased a 4’ shakesphere AIS antenna.
 
I sent Vesper Support an email last night before I went to bed. I was asking about my "above" question of setting up a "bench test" of the system prior to installation on the boat. Because they are located in New Zealand, I had an answer when I woke up! Nice work Vesper.

"Certainly, a 12VDVC power supply, or a car or alarm battery is the easiest way to power it up and configure at home. You can use the WatchMate app for android or iOS to set your vessel details and it has diagnostics built in to confirm all is working efficiently.
If you have any queries during the setup please don't hesitate!"

Jaybeaux

There is also a very nice desktop app to configure it called vmAIS which is available for both PC and Mac.
 
Do you feel the same about VHF with AIS built in?

MM

The weak spot here is splitting the signal a unit that receives vhf/Ais I’m sure can handle the data in/out I want my VHF’s on their own antenna I have 1 antenna for each VHF 8’
AIS is a great tool to have but is not in the same safety category as your VHF in my opinion.
 
The weak spot here is splitting the signal a unit that receives vhf/Ais I’m sure can handle the data in/out I want my VHF’s on their own antenna I have 1 antenna for each VHF 8’
AIS is a great tool to have but is not in the same safety category as your VHF in my opinion.

Got it. it is still splitting the signal. Any idea on how it affects the VHF signal? Does it block it or degrade it?

MM
 
By using a “splitter” it is proven that the signal is split almost in half between the two although that is using the older splitter/separator it is suggested that you not use 20 year old coax and the least amount of splices. The new splitters which are actually electronic switches that instantly cancel one signal when it detects the other being used are leaps and bounds over a coax splitter problem is they are more expensive than installing a seperate AIS antenna so most will opt for the coax splitter.
There’s also a problem with seperate antennas they should be mounted around 6’ from each other which may not be doable in many cases. In my case they are 2’x3’ apart not ideal but it’s still a better quality signal than splitting the signal manually.
 
As alluded to by @Havana Shamrock, much of the debate around antenna vs. splitter centers around outdated conventional wisdom. Modern electronic splitters do not divide the signals like the old ones did (which gave splitters a bad rap).

I would even argue that many of the dual antenna setups I've seen are actually worse than using a high quality splitter. Often the antennas are mounted to close together. Another issue is that many installations use a bottom loaded (read short) antenna for the AIS which effectively negates any advantage to having separate antennas. For line-of-sight, height is king.

All that said, the absolute optimum setup is dual full length antennas mounted at least 2 meters apart and as high as possible. If that cannot be achieved, a modern high quality splitter setup is a really close second, As a point of reference, I changed from a VHF with built in AIS, to a Vesper unit with this splitter. I'm actually seeing more targets on my MFD than I was before, when I used the built in AIS in the VHF. Anecdotally, I've not noticed any degradation in my VHF receive/transmit performance, though to be fair that is a less scientific observation.
 
bobeast.....my new and soon to be installed Garmin 300 AIS VHF radio along with the Vesper XB-8000 AIS Transponder and splitter you reference above. I learned today that the AIS functionality of the VHF can in fact be "turned off". Would that be preferred since the Vesper will be handling all of the receiving?

Jaybeaux
 
bobeast.....my new and soon to be installed Garmin 300 AIS VHF radio along with the Vesper XB-8000 AIS Transponder and splitter you reference above. I learned today that the AIS functionality of the VHF can in fact be "turned off". Would that be preferred since the Vesper will be handling all of the receiving?

Jaybeaux

That's exactly what I did. I also set the GPS source on the MFD, to make use of the GPS in the Vesper as opposed to the GPS built into the MFD. The Vesper unit actually picks up more targets than did the 300 AIS I have installed, so I'm convinced the splitter didn't introduce any degradation. I guess the downside to all this, is that I paid for an AIS feature in my VHF that I won't be using. Of course when you make these decisions you don't know what you don't know.

An additional thing to consider is putting the AIS + Splitter on its own switch. That way you can run the AIS when you are one the hook and take advantage of the anchor alarm without drawing power with your other electronics.
 
An additional thing to consider is putting the AIS + Splitter on its own switch. That way you can run the AIS when you are one the hook and take advantage of the anchor alarm without drawing power with your other electronics.

That's a great point. Thanks for the Tip!

Looking at my owners manual, what does the Accessory Switch have on it? I never use it. Is it the 12-volt cigarette outlet? Maybe that is a good place to put it. Thoughts?
 
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