Hi,
I am enjoying a conference in Rome this week, and I want to add to the AIS chat
before I get back and the discussion becomes too stale.
For some time I have been eyeballing the GX2150 VHF/AIS with the hope that
Standard Horizon would come out with an update which included a built in GPS(I
even call SH and asked about it, but there are no indications of SH doing so).
Standard Horizon is having a Fall rebate of $50 on the GX2150, and I found a
great price of $299 for a GX2150 at GPScity.com. At total cost of $250, I
could not pass this up and so I purchased a unit. It arrived two days before
my flight out to Italy, and rather than preparing my conference talk, I was
wiring and test the GX2150 ( hey, my talk is not until Wednesday).
To provide the NMEA GPS I was planning on running a line from my gps enabled
sounder, but then I looked into connecting one of those GPS pucks to the vhf
instead. I ordered a $30 GlobalSat BR-355 PS/2 GPS(which arrived a day before
the GX2150), cut off the PS/2 connector, wired the unit to provide 5V using a
simple 5V regulator chip, and connected grounds and vhf NMEA input to the GPS
NMEA output. Instant success. If anyone is interested, I can provide more
details and photos when I get back.
See the workbench photo showing the GPS info screen:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2yqv14140eh0kl7/Photo%20Sep%2024%2C%208%2047%2049%20PM.jpg
Very happy with the GX2150, I just ordered a RAM3 remote mic which has a matrix
dot screen so I will have AIS info and a VHF in the cockpit. I have also
been in communications with the folks at SailTimer (I have one of their wind
vanes) and vYachts to get a bios compatible wireless NMEA multiplexer(~$130).
This way, I will be able to use iNavX and display both wind and AIS information
in the same app. Digital Yacht makes a unit which will work (WLN 10) but it
costs over 2.5 times the vYacht unit.
All in all, it is a nice do it yourself project at a very reasonable cost.
--
Paul Eugenio
S/V Johanna Rose
Carrabelle, FL
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