Marine Traffic did pick me up once while going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, so I think I'm transmitting. My slip is in Chesapeake Harbour near Annapolis. Perhaps the base station listed on the proAIS2 target list was not a Marine Traffic base station, but aren't there any others near Annapolis? At what sort of range should I be visible with my Raymarine AIS650? I would think I would be showing up much more often.Good line of sight to the Marine Traffic receiver site near you? Are you sure it's a Marine Traffic site? Have you tried aprs.fi? They use different receivers. Do you know for sure you are transmitting?
Where in MD are you?
AIS uses two dedicated VHF marine radio bands. Thus, your range will be approximately the same as your range transmitting and receiving on your VHF. There are technical reasons why the range might be a bit longer but generally the working distances are close enough for government work.At what sort of range should I be visible with my Raymarine AIS650? I would think I would be showing up much more often.
Hmm. MarineTraffic is showing lots of boats on Back Creek and in Selby Bay. Chesapeake Harbour should show up.Marine Traffic did pick me up once while going under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, so I think I'm transmitting. My slip is in Chesapeake Harbour near Annapolis. Perhaps the base station listed on the proAIS2 target list was not a Marine Traffic base station, but aren't there any others near Annapolis? At what sort of range should I be visible with my Raymarine AIS650? I would think I would be showing up much more often.
Thanks. My system was professionally installed; I hope it's not an installation problem. There is a boat called Bernadette that has her AIS on 24/7 in Chesapeake Harbour. I don't see her on either website. Perhaps it is just a dead spot. I plan to go for a sail on Sunday. I guess I'll just have to try calling a few AIS targets and ask if they can see me.Hmm. MarineTraffic is showing lots of boats on Back Creek and in Selby Bay. Chesapeake Harbour should show up.
I went back a week on aprs.fi but didn't see you there either.
AIS is on VHF channels 87B and 88B. Have you tried listening for your own transmission?
If those simple things don't work you'll have to start looking at your installation. I live in Eastport off Harness Creek. Let me know if I can help.
*bites tongue* *hard*My system was professionally installed; I hope it's not an installation problem.
Possible. I'm surprised those town houses block anything. They are pretty lightly constructed.There is a boat called Bernadette that has her AIS on 24/7 in Chesapeake Harbour. I don't see her on either website. Perhaps it is just a dead spot.
You can also look at MarineTraffic.com (10-15 minute delay) or aprs.fi (2 or 3 minute delay) on a smartphone.I plan to go for a sail on Sunday. I guess I'll just have to try calling a few AIS targets and ask if they can see me.
You can't tell for sure. If you hear sqaucking on 87B or 88B try pulling the antenna connector off your radio (don't transmit) and see if you still hear it, although you may still hear Bernadette.How would I go about listening to my transmission? How would I be able to tell it's my data?
Well everything else is working and their wiring is neat and orderly. Prettier than I could / would have done. Hopefully the quality is there too.*bites tongue* *hard*
Agreed. That's why I'm surprised I'm not being pick up on the websites. But then again Bernadette isn't either.Possible. I'm surprised those town houses block anything. They are pretty lightly constructed.
I've been using the MarineTraffic app on my phone to see if I'm showing up. I didn't know about the delay.You can also look at MarineTraffic.com (10-15 minute delay) or aprs.fi (2 or 3 minute delay) on a smartphone.
According to PsroAIS2 I'm not in silent mode.You can't tell for sure. If you hear sqaucking on 87B or 88B try pulling the antenna connector off your radio (don't transmit) and see if you still hear it, although you may still hear Bernadette.
Note that aprs.fi lets you look at data up to a week old, so even if you don't talk to anyone you can get a pretty good idea of whether you are transmitting or not.
You aren't in silent mode are you? Within 5 minutes of power-on the indicator should be green. If it is blue you are in silent mode.
I apologize if I came across as snarky. I worked on three boats last week that needed significant re-wiring to get installed systems to work reliably. On one boat I pulled out 400 feet of wire abandoned in place.Well everything else is working and their wiring is neat and orderly. Prettier than I could / would have done. Hopefully the quality is there too.
The AIS 650 runs at the Class B specified power output. The moderator response has a typo - there is no such thing as a VSWR of 0.8:1. 1.0:1 is perfect. The AIS 650 will shut down to protect itself with a VSWR somewhat above 2.0:1. Note that the original poster found an installation problem that resolved the issue.
I'm not a fan of splitters. I encourage my customers to avoid them. You will have a 3 dB reduction (1/2 power) through the splitter and a small additional reduction due to the additional number of connectors - bigger yet if cheap crimp connectors are used. The signal reduction applies to your VHF as well as to the AIS.I have the AIS100 splitter. My antenna is on top of the mast. I'll check the VSWR with the ProAIS2 app this weekend.
Thank you. I may take you up on that at some point.If you like we can schedule a time to meet up and I'll put an antenna analyzer on your system for you.
That should not have anything to do with the splitter unless you were spending a lot of time talking on your VHF after you powered up. Static data (IIRC) for Class B is only sent every six minutes, and if you're talking on the VHF the splitter will block the AIS transmission.I did ask a few boats if they could see me on their AIS. All said they could, so I guess it's working as it should. One said my data was not populated in the system, but I think that was due to my single antenna / splitter setup. They called me back a few minutes later and said all the data was there now.
There is no excuse for an VSWR as high as 5:1.Talked to an engineer at Si-tex. Seems like you need an SWR on your antenna that is less than 5 to 1. Interference from metal near the antenna ( like on the pushpit)is a no no also. I hooked up to the mast head antenna and all is well. With a laptop plugged into the USB on the AIS you will get a readout on the current SWR after you get the fail light or after a few minutes if all is well. Seems like your vhf radio will T and R on a pretty lousy antenna.![]()
Very unlikely. If it was a software problem there would be more widespread reports of similar issues.Do you suppose the software in the AIS is just coming up with wildly high SWR.