Garmin VHS upgrade to ATIS?

B

Boont Boater

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
180
Fluid Motion Model
C-242 C
Vessel Name
Free Ranger
We have a 2010 R29 and it seems that our Garmin VHS200 radio has died. I don't really get how the AIS works but it sounds like a good idea. Maybe a knowledgeable Tugnutter could explain it to me. I especially want to know if I upgrade to a 200I or similar radio will it mean that I will have that capability? Our chart plotter is a Garmin 5215.

Next summer we will be in the PNW and I am hoping to attend the Roche Harbor get-together. Perhaps I will finally become the competent boat owner that I aspire to be. :mrgreen: after I attend the seminars.
 
There is a Garmin AIS 300 which is recieve only and a Garmin 600 which is transmit and receive. Both are basically plug and play. However the 600 is a more complicated installation. Since it transmits your location you need to install a GPS antenna and another VHF antenna. The 300 is just about interconnecting the cables to existing equipment. The 5212 will recognize the new unit automatically.
You will get many comments on my next statement, pros and cons. I went with the 300 and it suits me just fine. I have done the Tennessee and the Tombigbee Rivers and 3 months in the Pacific Northwest. Having AIS receive on the rivers with the switchbacks was a great asset. I want to see the big boys and know who they are and communicate with them if necessary. The big boys are required to have AIS transmit and receive. We smaller guys are not required to transmit. I would venture to say that the small guy that rams into you won't have any AIS, so you transmitting does no good. I look at AIS as a safety convenience. See (Look out the window not at your instruments) and avoid is a good method. Until everyone is required to have AIS transmit and receive you will have a false sense of security. Receive only will give you 99% of what you need. Transmit will give you only the percentage of whatever boats have AIS and in my opinion that isn't good enough for me to have it. I would relay on my radar before AIS.
 
I had a Icom AIS receiver that fed into a plotter on our last boat - a Cape George Cutter. It is a nice option to have. We relied on it on a offshore run to/from Bermuda. We set alarms to trip if any transmitting vessel (mainly cruise ships) came within a preset range.

Craig
"Padre Pio"
21EC
 
Correction to Knotflying's first sentence. He meant to say AIS 300 is receive only. We also have AIS 300 receive only and are very satisfied with it.
 
Red Raven":1cvq8ykx said:
Correction to Knotflying's first sentence. He meant to say AIS 300 is receive only. We also have AIS 300 receive only and are very satisfied with it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the catch! I did edit the post.
 
We have the Garmin 600 transceiver. It require the use of a PC or Mac to program it. Although it has a dedicated GPS, it can share the VHF antenna with the VHF radio.

I like having the transmitter, but as others have said, it isn't a big necessity. If you travel where visibility is limited (e.g., fog or rivers with lots of bends, or lots of big commercial traffic where you have to share the channel but need to keep clear of them, then you may appreciate the added visibility you get.

But 90% of the value IMO, is being able to see the big guys, know what they're doing, and stay out of their way.

I've read that Congress has authorized the Coast Guard to create rules requiring active AIS on vessels beyond the 3 mile limit, but who knows when or if this will actually come to pass.

Jeff
 
Thanks everybody. I agree that knowing where the ships are, and getting out of their way, would be my priority. Now all I have to do it cough up the extra money for the 300 unit.
 
When we were kids, our parents always wanted to know where we were. Now that we're seniors, we want OUR kids to know where WE are. We like the 600.

T.
 
If I had a choice between radar and ais i would choose ais. On a small bouncy boat the radar beam bounces up and down and can miss objects. A radar reflector is hardly seen by the big guys as their antenna is way up. You will be visible to other boats and the coast guard if you ever got into a critical situation. The radar beam is also not really healthy to be exposed to. RF energy is cumulative.

If you call a big ship on the radio and they see you on ais, they will notice you. Ais targets are recorded at the coastguard and several other locations.

Usually you don't need a computer to program them. They are not supposed to be sold to an end user without programming and you need to provide your ships data and mmsi to the store. Without mmsi they will not transmit. I think there are some dealers selling them blank and you will need programming software to set them up. The aid 600 can coexist with the vhf using a splitter that electronically isolates the vhf when ais is transmitting and vice versa.

I consider ais a safety feature to be seen and I think every boat should have one. It's just cool to see other boats on the screen with their course plotted and a collision course causes an alarm to go off or it shows at what time your course will cross. Similar technology is in development for cars where vehicles communicate with each other to avoid collisions
 
We are glad that we have the AIS 600 version. As others pointed out, it is easier for the big guys to see us on AIS than on radar. (Whether they will do anything about it is another story.) We also think it will expedite rescue efforts, although we try very hard not to put that to the test.

Last summer we came down the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The locks only handled pleasure craft at certain hours, 0930 being the earliest. We were trying to get underway an hour earlier than that. The Lockmaster saw us on AIS and said "since you really are that close, I'll take you now." Paid for itself that day.
 
Lenny and Louise":1fhwid8j said:
We are glad that we have the AIS 600 version. As others pointed out, it is easier for the big guys to see us on AIS than on radar. (Whether they will do anything about it is another story.) We also think it will expedite rescue efforts, although we try very hard not to put that to the test.

Last summer we came down the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The locks only handled pleasure craft at certain hours, 0930 being the earliest. We were trying to get underway an hour earlier than that. The Lockmaster saw us on AIS and said "since you really are that close, I'll take you now." Paid for itself that day.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind with an MMSI number in your VHF once you hit the distress button your location is broadcast. As far as the locks go I would call the lock on my cell phone and coordinate with the lock master.
 
You might consider a different radio there are many reasonably priced units that can accept a MMSI number and have a distress button. We are not all that fond of the Garmin VHS radio or where it is mounted. We chose to go with a standalone Vesper AIS model Watchmate 850(transmit and receives)with it's own antenna and has it's own screen and it's own built in GPS receiver. It has minimal power consumption and has an anchor watch provision. It's mounted overhead to the right side of the helm area. Vesper has excellent customer service and has a great reputation. We like ours. More choices.
 
We ended up with a Simrad RS35 radio with AIS. It was considerably less expensive then the Garmin 300i (comparable to the Garmin 200 VHS) and it fit into the hole left by the Garmin unit (more or less). It has NMEA 2000 compatibility and sure enough when it was plugged in all the ships within several miles popped up on the Garmin screen all the way out the Golden Gate. I'm not getting their names, etc. so I may have to do some tweaking. Even if I can't get the ship ID stuff, I'm still way better off then I was.
 
Not sure if it has been conveyed enough, but the ability to transmit your presence with ais is even more valuable.
Why do you only afford yourself the warning from other vessels if you don't give them a chance to see you with your transmissions. If every one had only ais receivers the whole system is useless

My view in this is that I want to be seen by the big boys whose radar is way up on their bridge. They practically have a blind spot of a mile or so. No that I want to get close to them but as you know, ship happens

Look at it like driving on the road without lights. Sure you can see others who have their lights on. But if you don't turn yours on they might not see you in return
 
Stwendl you can go back up and look at Knotflying's answer. My answer is $$$$$$$$. We've boated for quite a few years with no AIS, this will be an improvement 🙂
 
stwendl":1v5038ky said:
Not sure if it has been conveyed enough, but the ability to transmit your presence with ais is even more valuable.
Why do you only afford yourself the warning from other vessels if you don't give them a chance to see you with your transmissions. If every one had only ais receivers the whole system is useless

My view in this is that I want to be seen by the big boys whose radar is way up on their bridge. They practically have a blind spot of a mile or so. No that I want to get close to them but as you know, ship happens

Look at it like driving on the road without lights. Sure you can see others who have their lights on. But if you don't turn yours on they might not see you in return
Click to expand...

Your ability to be seen when transmitting is only by those who have AIS. The big boats are required to have them. Chances are their maneuverability to react fast enough to avoid you is limited. You need to avoid them. Hence, receive has proactive capability over transmit. Should you be dead in the water then being able to contact them as far in advance of a collision makes AIS receive more important so you can contact them. You having radar on in limited visual conditions will aid in seeing those without AIS. Until AIS transmit and receive is required by all boaters, see and avoid is the best protocol and AIS is an aid, not the be all and end all. As a matter of fact if you go to this link, a document authored by the Coast Guard, it states that 50% of AIS transmissions have errors. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/2015datapalooza/presentations/Safety.4_Winkler.pdf Of the errors it is 1/3 ID error, 1/3 measurment error and 1/3 both ID and measurment.
 
In my opinion, go with the AIS 600. Send and receive. It will allow you to see other boats as well as you being seen by them. This is a good option in limited visibility. It will also alert you of other vessels around corners if you are traveling rivers or waterways. If other vessels have the AIS and register them, you can identify the boat by name which is valuable if you need to contact them by radio. Keep in mind, Coast Guard regulations require that if you have radar, it MUST be on while operating you boat.
 
The Garmin brochure for their AIS 600 states that an extra antenna is not needed, as the 600 has a built in splitter. To be clear, it states that the VHF radio and the 600 can use the same antenna without conflict...the 600 quits transmitting when the VHF is transmitting. Consumer reviews are on both sides as to the need for the extra antenna. Obviously, adding an extra antenna is something to be avoided if it is not needed. Whaddya think? Any real experience out there?

We are doing the loop next year and having AIS seems like a necessity.

THANKS

TK
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

  • Tugnuts.com is the community hub for Ranger Tug, Cutwater, and Solara owners. Since its inception in 2008, the Tugnuts forum has grown into an active and thriving community of more than 9,000 members. It serves as both a meeting place for the best boating community online, and an invaluable archive of information.

  • User menu
Back
Top