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Milltech Marine News

January 2012 - NEW!
Come see our presentations at the Seattle Boat Show!
This year we are doing three presentations at the Seattle Boat Show - one on DSC (Jan 27 - 5pm) and two on AIS (Feb 1&3 - 5pm). Click here for more information.
12/9/10
Comar CSA-300 Class A AIS -- $2499!

Just approved by the USCG and FCC, the Comar CSA-300 is now shipping. For vessels needing Class A AIS, this new product combines the latest features, small size and a great price.
8/20/10
AMEC CAMINO-101 Class B AIS -- $495!

Just approved by the USCG and FCC, the AMEC CAMINO-101 Class B AIS Transponder sets a new standard for quality, performance and price. (Includes GPS antenna!)
8/16/10
Comar AIS-2-2000 NMEA 2000 AIS Receiver

The Comar AIS-2-2000 is a high-value, high-performance, dual-channel AIS receiver that is stunningly quick and easy to install in NMEA 2000 networks.

Comar AIS-MULTI and AMEC CYPHO-101 win Practical Boat Owner "Best Buy" award!

PBO has long been our favorite British sailing magazine. Now we have even more reason to like it as the January issue's "Gear Test" recognizes our two favorite AIS receivers!


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Home > Support > AIS-MULTI & AISWatchMate Tech Note

AIS-MULTI & AISWatchMate Tech Note

Using the Comar AIS-MULTI, Vesper Marine AISWatchMate and GPS products

By Doug Miller, Milltech Marine Inc.

At Milltech Marine we sell a range of products mainly focused on the AIS market as well as products to enhance the AIS experience.

Often customers want to connect both a GPS and an AIS receiver to a navigation computer but they only have one serial port or USB port available. Many of our AIS receivers, including the Comar AIS-MULTI and the Smart Radio SR161 and SR162 receivers, support multiplexing an inbound GPS feed with the AIS data stream and then outputting a combined AIS and GPS data stream to another device such as a computer. This single serial data stream can then be passed to a computer or other display such as the AISWatchMate.

This wiring diagram shows a sample setup for the following:
 

 
A description of how each product works follows:
  • The Comar AIS-MULTI multiplexes an inbound GPS signal from the Garmin GPS 17HVS and provides a combined AIS and GPS signal to a computer and AISWatchMate. The AIS-MULTI also acts as a VHF antenna splitter for both the AIS-MULTI and a VHF radio.
  • Garmin GPS 17HVS is used to provide GPS data to other marine devices – either directly (e.g. the DSC radio) or multiplexed in with the AIS sentences via the AIS-MULTI (e.g. to the AISWatchMate and navigation computer).
  • AISWatchMate uses the combined AIS and GPS datastreams from the AIS-MULTI NMEA output port.
  • Navigation computer uses the combined AIS and GPS datastreams from the AIS-MULTI via the built-in USB port.
  • A DSC-enabled VHF Radio also gets GPS data from the Garmin GPS 17HVS.

The connections from the various devices are as follows:

  • The signal out from the GPS 17HVS (white wire) is connected to the NMEA IN+ on the AIS-MULTI (red data wire) and the GPS input wire on a DSC radio (color depends on the model of radio).
  • The NMEA OUT+ on the AIS-MULTI (yellow wire) is connected to the signal in on the AISWatchMate (green wire).
  • The VHF antenna is connected to the AIS-MULTI and the antenna output from the AIS-MULTI is connected to the antenna input on the VHF radio.
  • The USB interface from the AIS-MULTI is connected to the navigation PC.
  • The various common grounds and NMEA negative signal wires are connected together.
  • The positive 12vDC power leads for each device are connected to appropriate breakers leading to the battery.

More information on these products can be found on our products pages.