Adding AIS to a R25/OB ?

[Regulus]

“…Commercial boaters, or those who operate U.S.-flagged vessels outside U.S. waters, must file Forms 159 and 605 with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to obtain an MMSI.”

The FCC path is the better way to go imo. But I’m only 17 miles from Canadian waters.

Search feature for the win! This is exactly the info I was looking for this morning. So glad I didn’t have to bug everyone by asking. Thanks!

Me too! I was surprised to hear that the GPS antenna could be mounted inside and still work correctly. It would be great to be able to mount the antenna behind the helm or even in the head on the R25ob. Could always try it temporarily and see I suppose.

FYI: This whitepaper was my thinking on why I wouldn't put it inside the cabinet https://www.sigmobile.org/mobisys/2014/ ... nirjon.pdf

Pauly

 

[Submariner]

I was surprised to hear that the GPS antenna could be mounted inside and still work correctly. It would be great to be able to mount the antenna behind the helm or even in the head on the R25ob. Could always try it temporarily and see I suppose.

The external GPS antenna for my Vesper XB-8000 is in the dash, behind the helm, next to the chart plotter. It reports an accuracy with +- of about 12 foot. Good enough for AIS on a 27 foot boat.

Photo of GPS antenna for AIS mounted behind the dash in the helm.
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.com/ais?pgid=kxco1vh7-7ade5b85-d334-40e8-be15-8447af89af8e

Zoomed out picture of above.
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.com/ais?pgid=kxco1vh7-200d9857-2f40-49b4-be90-cc4d9a37931c

PS. Nevermind the Sirius XM antenna also shown in the above picture. I ended up moving XM radio up next to the anchor light.

 

[Regulus]

Oh I didn’t realize you used the puck. I thought you had the external antenna up on the mast. I guess that was for internet?
Looks like it comes with the external antenna, the puck must be extra.

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[Submariner]

Oh I didn’t realize you used the puck. I thought you had the external antenna up on the mast. I guess that was for internet?
Looks like it comes with the external antenna, the puck must be extra.

The Garmin chartplotter has an internal GPS antenna. I was seeing +/- 10 foot of error.
The Vesper has an internal GPS antenna and came with this big mushroom external GPS antenna. The internal Vesper GPS antenna couldn't get decent GPS signal. I ditched the mushroom antenna and bought the small puck as you see in the photo above. That's what I use today and it works well. +/- GPS error is 10 foot as reported by the Vesper.

Then I installed a 24XD GPS receiver (Nema2000). I stuck this up inside the smoke stack and ran the N2k cable around to the back of the helm. This took my GPS +/- error to less than 4 ft. The VHF radio, the Chartplotter, and Autoglide all use that GPS information.

24XD GPS Receiver inside smoke stack
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...kxcqzo6u-863c3ebd-6123-48f5-9bad-28bd464fff4b

24XD GPS Receiver from outside the boat
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...kxcqzo6u-f105b23c-3cfd-4b16-8272-0a8f631f3ef2

Sirius XM antenna
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...kxcpitky-24b280fa-4a0a-49f5-9e81-3833d0ea5e79

All antennas (Mobility 42G, GXM54 weather antenna, XM radio)
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...kxcpitky-cc7c2f3e-880c-479e-93ef-0be21aa865e1

The Mobility 42G antenna I installed on the mast has a GPS antenna in it as well. I currently have that connected to the 5G router which does use GPS position. But I've also considered running this to AIS instead. That's another 20' run from base the mast to behind the helm.

 

[FlyMeAway]

One thing to remember is that AIS *cannot* get GPS data from anywhere other than it's own internal receiver. This is not a limitation of Vesper's, it's a design specification for AIS. For your other instruments, you can pick whether to use GPS from the AIS or from some other N2K source.

 

[Regulus]

Do you remember which puck you bought? I assume any SMA connector based puck would work.


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[Submariner]

Do you remember which puck you bought? I assume any SMA connector based puck would work.

SMA connector based puck. Nothing fancy nor expensive.

https://onboardwireless.com/Portable-GPS-Antenna-with-SMA-Connector_p_12.html

 

[Submariner]

One thing to remember is that AIS *cannot* get GPS data from anywhere other than it's own internal receiver. This is not a limitation of Vesper's, it's a design specification for AIS. For your other instruments, you can pick whether to use GPS from the AIS or from some other N2K source.

One thing I learned...

The Garmin GPS 24XD has a magnetic heading sensor. This is useful in that it'll report the direction the boat is facing when not in motion.

The Vesper (and I assume other AIS units may as well) will take some data from the Nema2k bus. Specific to the Vesper XB-8000 AIS unit, it will receive the following data from N2k:
Vessel Heading, Speed, Water Depth, Distance Log, Wind, Water Temp.

The Vesper AIS will transmit the following data to the N2k bus:
Position, COG and SOG

I hadn't calibrated the GPS 24XD magnetic heading sensor. It was about 90 degrees off. Others who saw me on AIS on their chart plotter would see my boat on a course heading due north with my boat icon facing due west. Looked like I was driving sideways at 25 knots.

 

[Regulus]

Makes sense on the calibration note. I wrote that down in my upgrades journal. Currently my first three upgrades are going to be the Lenco Auto Glide, AIS, and various LED lights.

Pauly

 

[FlyMeAway]

Worth noting that technically, use of any GPS antenna other than the one provided with the can Vesper void the warranty on the unit (per the install manual).

If AIS is also ever a factor in a collision you're involved in (which of course is highly unlikely), it could result in liability issues (your AIS isn't installed per manufacturer specs).

Why not use the included antenna?

Do you remember which puck you bought? I assume any SMA connector based puck would work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Submariner]

Worth noting that technically, use of any GPS antenna other than the one provided with the can Vesper void the warranty on the unit (per the install manual).

If AIS is also ever a factor in a collision you're involved in (which of course is highly unlikely), it could result in liability issues (your AIS isn't installed per manufacturer specs).

Why not use the included antenna?

I didn't go with the "included" antenna because it's an external antenna meant to be installed outside the boat. The reviews I read on that particular external Vesper antenna mostly cited significant UV damage after a relatively short period of time. I also didn't want to run it outside of the boat. I could have just stuck it behind the helm. I've heard of others who've done that. But being an external antenna and bulky, there was no way for me to really mount it behind the dash. I didn't want it just stuffed back behind my helm to bounce around and rub against everything. The little puck antenna is also rated for outside, but was a much cleaner install, is secured down behind the helm with command strips with no rubbing and no vibration issues. It was also able to get adequate GPS coverage from behind the helm.

The other issues you cited I'm not worried about.

 

[Mini Moon]

I added the Vesper Cortex to our R25OB last weekend. I installed it below the 'step' to the left of the cabin door (lots of space for the wifi antenna). This puts it close to the 24/7 fuse block and next to the Garmin Reactor 40 computer for easy NEMA 2k connection. The only difficult part was running the wire to the GPS antenna which I mounted on the rail near the VHF antenna. The wire runs up beside the starboard porthole, above the wooden trim towards the aft cabin and then pops out the roof. (hint, remove the screws from the lower wooden trim so the porthole trim comes out easier). An afterthought, the GPS antenna might work just fine under the step through the fibreglass and save all the hassle of removing trim, fishing wires. Once the VHF antenna was disconnected from the SH radio, it was easy to route aft to the Cortex without adding an extension to the cable.

The Garmin chart plotter picked up the AIS signal right away.
The handheld is wired to the same circuit as the original SH radio, just changed the fuse capacity.

Do you have any photos of this install. I have a 25 OB and am looking at doing the AIS install and found that behind the dash is pretty cramped. It sounds like you found a great solution to this with a different location. Would be very interested in how you made this install happen and how it is working for you.

Thanks!