Can my Navigation System display AIS Targets?
All PC- and Mac-based Navigation Programs
New Raymarine & FURUNO Radars/Chart Plotters
Many other New Chart Plotters (Garmin, Northstar, SI-TEX, Standard Horizon, others)
See Products Page for a complete listing.
With a Class A transponder: Maybe
Few commercial ships display AIS targets on their radar
With a Class B transponder: Probably Not
Few commercial ships display AIS targets on their radar
To reduce screen clutter Class B targets will be filtered from radar
Range is only about 8 NM (2 Watts versus 12.5 Watts for Class A)
GPS Position updated every 30 sec. (every 210 sec for Class A)
Messages only sent if the channel is free from Class A Messages
Class A cannot understand Class B Identification Messages
Even if they do, they cant get out of your way
Why should I buy a Dual-Band AIS Receiver?
A Single-Band AIS Receiver only receives half of the messages: A Single-Band Receiver is too slow for collision avoidance purposes
Can I use my voice VHF antenna for AIS? Not recommended because:
1. Making passing arrangements via Voice VHF prevents receiving AIS GPS Position updates
2. Antenna splitter reduces range of voice VHF and AIS receiver
How do I test that SafePassage is working properly?
1. Connect SafePassage to a PC computer or a laptop.
2. Determine which COM port is connected with SafePassage.
3. Download the SeaCAS Diagnostic Utility from http://www.seacas.com/SeaCasUtility.exe or from the CD that came with SafePassage.
4. Use the utility to genereate at least 3 minutes of output.
5. E-mail the output to custsvc@seacas.com or print it out and fax it to +1-206-600-1768. Please note the SafePassage Serial Number and your contact information on the e-mail or the fax.
For more detailed instructions see http://www.seacas.com/DiagnosingSafePassage.pdf
How do I install the SafePassage USB Driver? SafePassage USB Driver Installation Instructions
To download the driver, connect to the internet and go to http://www.seacas.com/WindowsUSBDriversR9052154.zip or place the SeaCAS SafePassage CD in your machine and use Windows Explorer to find "WindowsUSBDriversR9052154.zip" on the CD. Then Download or copy this file to a new directory and extract all files to that directory.
To download driver installation instructions, connect to the internet and go to http://seacas.com/InstallingSafePassageWindowsXPUSBDriverv1.1.doc or place the SeaCAS SafePassage CD in your machine and use Windows Explorer to find "InstallingSafePassageWindowsXPUSBDriverv1.1.doc" on the CD.
Once you have installed both the USB serial converter and the Com Port Emulation Driver:
Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the "Hardware" tab and click "Device Manger") and select "View > Devices by Type".
SafePassage appears as an additional COM port with the label "USB Serial Port". Note the number of the com port and use it to configure your navigation software.
For help in configuring your navigation software for AIS please log in to http://www.seacas.com, register yourself and your new SafePassage and click on "Support" and then "SeaCAS Users Knowledge Base" or contact your navigation software vendor.
