Raymarine forum

Hello,

I have two questions.

1. What is the typical range to see AIS with the antenna on a 17meter mast? I understand you might be able to see class A AIS a bit further as they use 12.5 watts. With class B using 2. Im currently only seeing targets 3nm away or less. My VSRW is 1
6. I have changed the antenna but still seems to be 3nm.

2. When connecting the AIS 700 to a E80 in order to enable slient mode is there a way to connect the wires to the chart plotter to do this or do you need to use an external swtich?

Hello nachothecat,

Your VSWR is 1.6, or 16? 1.6 is improbably low (possible but unlikely), whilst 16 is that'll-never-work high (see the 'Reflected Power %' column of the table half-way down http://www.antenna-theory.com/definitions/vswr.php for example.) You're seeing that VSWR in ProAIS2 over a USB connection from the AIS, or with a VSWR meter?
If you've used another *AIS-tuned* antenna, that's reasonably sensitive at ~162MHz where AIS operates (many VHF antennas are great at 156MHz / Channel 16, poor at 162MHz) with completely new cabling and have the same result, I'd get the AIS checked by your local Raymarine service dealer or centre.

No, I'm sorry to say that the E80 is too old to switch Silent Mode on AIS700.

Regards,
Tom