How may I determine whether my Raymarine AIS transceiver is transmitting?

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

How may I determine whether my Raymarine AIS transceiver is transmitting?

Should the Raymarine AIS transceiver be interfaced to a Raymarine MFD, then the most common means of determining whether a Raymarine AIS transceiver is transmitting would be to examine the AIS Silent Mode state via the MFD's user interface. For example, an operator of an a/c/e/eS/gS-Series MFD operating with LightHouse II software may examine the AIS Silent Mode state via the command sequence MENU->AIS->AIS OPTIONS->SILENT MODE from within the MFD's Chart application.

Should the Raymarine AIS transceiver feature a status LED (ex. AIS650, AIS500) and should the AIS transceiver be installed in a location which would permit its status LED to be viewed, then the AIS transceivers Status LED may then be used to determine whether a Raymarine AIS transceiver is transmitting. Should the AIS transceiver's Status LED be illuminated and green, then the AIS transceiver would be deemed to have acquired a GPS position FIX and to be transmitting.

The most definitive means of determining whether an AIS transceiver is transmitting would be to contact a nearby vessel which is equipped with an AIS receiver to verify that data from your vessel's AIS transceiver is being received. Many Certified Raymarine Installers will keep a VHF radio with AIS reception capability in their tool kit for such purposes. When doing so, it is recommended that the receiving vessel be supplied with the MMSI number programmed into the AIS transceiver as well as the vessel name.

Care should be exercised when using web sites such as marinetraffic.com for such confirmations, as such sites may not display target data for vessels which have not registered with and have been fully processed by the site.


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