Digital Yacht has launched a new and improved entry level AIS receiver.
Called the AIS100PRO, it has both NMEA and USB outputs so it’s ideal for use with PC and MAC based navigation software as well as chart plotters from manufacturers like Garmin, Raymarine, Lowrance, Standard Horizon, Simrad, Furuno and many more. Both outputs can be simultaneously connected allowing for say a PC installation at the chart table and a dedicated plotter in the cockpit or on the fly bridge, which is an increasingly popular option for navigation.
One neat feature is a NMEA input capability which allows other compatible NMEA devices such as a GPS or instrument systems to feed data into the AIS100PRO and for all this data to be combined or “multiplexed” on to the AIS output. This greatly simplifies interfacing issues on some systems with a limited number of connections.
Like all AIS products, it does require a VHF antenna or suitable VHF-AIS splitter to allow the main VHF antenna to be shared across both systems. Digital Yacht always recommend a dedicated AIS tuned antenna for the best performance as even good quality splitters will have some loss and also prevent AIS target reception when transmitting on the VHF.
