Found this on Ebay. I realise it would be fairly short range but if has a range of say 10 miles it should suffice for a yacht I think.
Anybody have experience with one of these or have the tech knowledge to assess the value of one of these units??http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Marine-AIS-ship-radar-tracking-kit-includes-USB-receiver-GPS-dongle-antenna-/201629784494?hash=item2ef21259ae:g:oDIAAOSw4UtWTQVr
If you have a VHF antenna already mounted on your mast then just connect it to the device thereby greatly extending the range. You probably also already own a USB puck GPS so all you would need to buy would be the receiver saving a bit of money. It even has NMEA 0183 output via RS-422. Seems like a top bit of kit.
I checked out the power supply to my laptop. It is output 3.7A at 15V. Thats roughly 4.5A at 12V. Ok given it is an old laptop with DVD drive, lets say a modern one would be half that, at 2A. Still quite a high power draw. Maybe a tablet would be better?
That is awesome. So is this a standaline ais?? Just plug sll into laptop. What programme do you use on a mac
I think most lappies will draw about that kind of power, mine is relatively new and the power supply is [email protected].
A better option would be to run the AIS module through a Raspberry Pi, incorporate that with OpenCPN and you would end up with a complete chart plotter using one of the 12 volt 7" screens.
Select to expand quoteLooseChange said..
If you have a VHF antenna already mounted on your mast then just connect it to the device thereby greatly extending the range. You probably also already own a USB puck GPS so all you would need to buy would be the receiver saving a bit of money. It even has NMEA 0183 output via RS-422. Seems like a top bit of kit.
What I thought was a good advantage with that unit is that it obviates using a splitter on your VHF antenna.
I am not a great fan of integrated systems ie. having plotter, sounder, log, wind instruments, AIS, auto pilot and radar networked together whereby if one of the inputs goes down the whole network may be compromised.
For $170 as an add in to a PC with a charting program it seems to be great value. I will always have a stand alone sounder/fish finder and a hand held back up GPS. I have a Garmin GPS Map dv 75 plotter/sounder and I will have a Simrad tiller pilot which I may or may not network with the Garmin.
Then of course I have the Lenovo 9" tablet with Navionics so there is plenty of redundancy with nav electronics. 
Not that I believe it is really necessary but having AIS on board seems to be the flavour of the month these days and at $170 this unit puts it the financial reach of everybody.
Electronics and software just keeps getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. You only have to look at what science is going into drones today.
So loaded up with all this technology I will just have to make sure I do not have to tow a two tonne barge around loaded up with batteries to keep it all going. 
Select to expand quotecisco said..
What I thought was a good advantage with that unit is that it obviates using a splitter on your VHF antenna.
I am not a great fan of integrated systems ie. having plotter, sounder, log, wind instruments, AIS, auto pilot and radar networked together whereby if one of the inputs goes down the whole network may be compromised.
For $170 as an add in to a PC with a charting program it seems to be great value. I will always have a stand alone sounder/fish finder and a hand held back up GPS. I have a Garmin GPS Map dv 75 plotter/sounder and I will have a Simrad tiller pilot which I may or may not network with the Garmin.
Then of course I have the Lenovo 9" tablet with Navionics so there is plenty of redundancy with nav electronics.
Not that I believe it is really necessary but having AIS on board seems to be the flavour of the month these days and at $170 this unit puts it the financial reach of everybody.
Electronics and software just keeps getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. You only have to look at what science is going into drones today.
So loaded up with all this technology I will just have to make sure I do not have to tow a two tonne barge around loaded up with batteries to keep it all going.
Interestingly the seller sells the same unit on his web page for $125 including postage. Google is your friend, seek and ye shall find.
I'm thinking you could get a acer or any tablet that has usb ports over the computer??
Select to expand quoteLooseChange said..cisco said..
What I thought was a good advantage with that unit is that it obviates using a splitter on your VHF antenna.
I am not a great fan of integrated systems ie. having plotter, sounder, log, wind instruments, AIS, auto pilot and radar networked together whereby if one of the inputs goes down the whole network may be compromised.
For $170 as an add in to a PC with a charting program it seems to be great value. I will always have a stand alone sounder/fish finder and a hand held back up GPS. I have a Garmin GPS Map dv 75 plotter/sounder and I will have a Simrad tiller pilot which I may or may not network with the Garmin.
Then of course I have the Lenovo 9" tablet with Navionics so there is plenty of redundancy with nav electronics.
Not that I believe it is really necessary but having AIS on board seems to be the flavour of the month these days and at $170 this unit puts it the financial reach of everybody.
Electronics and software just keeps getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. You only have to look at what science is going into drones today.
So loaded up with all this technology I will just have to make sure I do not have to tow a two tonne barge around loaded up with batteries to keep it all going.
Interestingly the seller sells the same unit on his web page for $125 including postage. Google is your friend, seek and ye shall find.
www.aircrafttrackingavionics.com.au/contactus&links.htm
I guess you mean that one LC thanks 
A comment regarding VHF splitters. High-quality VHF splitters have a bypass mode whereby they revert to a pass-through wire in the event of a power failure. And in the unlikely event it fails, you can always manually bypass it.
IMO, if you're going to have a second antenna, IMO, it should be an emergency VHF antenna for voice calls, not one dedicated to AIS.
