Garmin AIS transceiver vs transponder

[BOSCBIJI]

New R29 and as confused as I can probably get on this. The boat comes with a functioning transceiver (receive AIS).

Is a transponder plug and play as a replacement? It seems like it would also need a separate dedicated GOS?

Trying to understand what would be required to move to a transponder, and honestly trying to figure out if it’s truly worth it.

Welcome any thoughts advice. Hardly know what to ask.

 

[Blackbird]

I believe the radio itself is the receiver. IF you want to transmit an AIS signal you have to get a separate module that will plug into the nmea 2000 header. Ranger did not make it easy to access but you will need an antenna and power for the module as well.

 

[calcman05]

I just did a swap on my 2015 R31. I had a garmin AIS 300 which only received. I upgraded to a garmin AIS 800 which sends and receives. It has built in GPS so no need for a dedicated GPS antenna except if you want on (I grabbed a cheap older Garmin GA 38 antenna since I wanted one). It was a plug and play minus one adapter I needed for one plug, but I needed that adapter because I bought my AIS 800 used off eBay and it was missing some things.

If you buy new or buy used and it's wiped clean, you can easily plug it into your computer and program on your boat information including your MSSI. Just don't mess it up because once your program it the first time, you cannot do it again unless you are factory authorized Garmin.

Let me know if you have questions. Happy to help.

 

[BOSCBIJI]

THANKS CALCMAN -

This was my impression from trying to read through this; the GPS antenna was the only thing that would be 'new' to the current AIS 300 system, but most folks seemed to represent that the in body GPS for the AIS 800 was good enough that if placed in the helm reasonably well, it would get signal.

My old 1960's brain can't quite grok how any GPS functions without line of site to the sky, but I guess the proof is in the pudding.

THANK you...I'll chew on this a bit more.

 

[JMarshallR25]

THANKS CALCMAN -

This was my impression from trying to read through this; the GPS antenna was the only thing that would be 'new' to the current AIS 300 system, but most folks seemed to represent that the in body GPS for the AIS 800 was good enough that if placed in the helm reasonably well, it would get signal.

My old 1960's brain can't quite grok how any GPS functions without line of site to the sky, but I guess the proof is in the pudding.

THANK you...I'll chew on this a bit more.

My AIS 800 is in the head in an electronics cabinet with at least three levels of fiberglass between it and the sky. GPS works fine. Unrelated to the GPS question, it is recommended for better reception that you replace the standard VHF antenna with one specifically designed for the AIS frequencies.

 

[calcman05]

I'll have to investigate the antenna upgrade. Didn't know that. Mine seems to ping location really well, but maybe it's due to the proximity to stations or the antenna was already upgraded. Always more to learn!

 

[Submariner]

I'll have to investigate the antenna upgrade. Didn't know that. Mine seems to ping location really well, but maybe it's due to the proximity to stations or the antenna was already upgraded. Always more to learn!

I upgrade my VHF antenna. I went with a combo, tuned for AIS and VHF 16. It improved my VHF reception, and AIS performance by a lot. One minor correction to the video... since I published this, I swapped out the 5' white extension for a 4' black extension.

This is an unlisted video I published on YouTube.

 

[Jesperjo]

Chances are most people who have AIS on these boats do not use a dedicated antenna. It does improve reception, but it’s complex to install.

@calcman05 is right. It’s a pretty easy upgrade if you don’t go with the added antenna like @Submariner did. It would be better that way, but probably not necessary unless you like that sort of tinkering.

A bit of terminology to answer one of your original questions: transceiver = transmitter and receiver. In other words, the AIS 300 is not a transceiver. It’s just a receiver. That’s what comes stock on the R-29 and R-31. You can see other boats with an AIS transceiver, but they cannot see you.

The R-43 comes with either a Garmin AIS 800, or the Vesper Cortex M1, which has both functions and is a transceiver. With this setup, you can see other boats AND they can see you as well.

(FWIW a transponder is something you can reach out to and it will send something different in response, often on a different channel or a different format. That’s actually not how AIS really works. However, you will very often see AIS systems called a transponder, and you can pretty much consider “transponder” and “transceiver” to be equivalent for our purposes. If it is called an “AIS Transponder” it has both transmit and receive functions.)

Should you upgrade to a transceiver? Receiving, IMHO, is a baseline. Every boat that spends much time around other boats, especially, commercial traffic, should have an AIS receive function so you can see other boats even before you can see them visually, and determine if they pose a threat to you. If you are purely around recreational boats it won’t make that much of a difference because relatively few of them actually have an AIS transceiver, so you won’t see much. If you plan to do much cruising in commercial shipping channels, you really should have a transceiver so commercial boats can see you and hail you if needed. I posted a story the other day about a time when we were in sub-quarter mile visibility in Rosario Strait on our R-25. Without both radar and full AIS, we would have turned back and waited out the fog.