AIS systems

freddy063

freddy063

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I was wondering how many boater have a AIS system installed on there boats? Anyone know how dependable there are for safety in bad weather? I installed one mostly so the bigger ships can see me in foggy weather. Just wanting to know what everyone else thinks on this type of safety item.
 
I've had mine for over ten years. Class B Transponder. They work great. Ships have Class A (20 watt signal). Most Class B's transmit at 2 watts. So, You will see the Ship long before the Ship will see you on their plotter.

I recommend AIS to all who may navigate in fog or at night - especially near ships!
 
I have a class B on my boat as well. It's nice to show other boats where I am but I would invest in radar first. AIS is only good for vessels who send and/or can receive it. It doesn't relieve you of your burden of a proper lookout.
Radar, by contrast, will show you what is out there with or without AIS.
If you already have radar, chart plotter, VHF with DSC, then I might look at AIS last.
 
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I have a receiver built in to the VHF that connects to MFD thru NMEA0183 and puts the AIS symbols on my chart.
Absolutely fantastic. In hindsight I would have bought the VHF without AIS and used the extra $200 towards a transponder.

Really want to get a transponder but, as with many things, they are over priced. I don't understand why they are $800 for a black box when they don't even have a screen or user interface.
They should be as cheap as a simple VHF. They should be NMEA2k to your plotter. Everyone should have one.
This year I'm dropping a bundle on new radar sonar, mfd. So it's gonna wait til next year..
 
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The AIS transponder is great if you are running at night especially if its long distances across shipping lanes. The transponders are significantly more then built-in receive only VHF units and require a second VHF antenna (correction: Garmin AIS will share VHF antenna).. They let other ships see you as well as them. The big sport fish boats put them on a switch so that other fishermen don't know where they are.

I went with a AIS receiver built into my VHF. Icom 506 AIS. I don't night run and stay close to home. But I am in the shipping lanes for Delaware Bay.
 
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Its one of those things that only few of us really require but nice to have if you are navigating in busy areas or night/fog. I personally don't have nor see the value for my use case.
 
I have the Garmin AIS 800 on my Fishermen 236. I navigate at the entrance to the Houston Ship channel, so as the above users said, having the AIS to see them and they see me is a great safety feature. If I collide with another fishing boat - the most likely scenario is that we will be ok. If I collide with an oil supertanker - the most likely scenario is that I will not be ok. The AIS tells me to avoid the big ships that all have AIS. I'm very happy I have it.

I do not have radar. A tow pilot buddy of mine highly recommended AIS over radar.
 
I have AIS built into my VHF, which connects to my Garmin displays. Its nice to see the larger commercial ships come up on my screen.
 
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