Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

VHF Marine Band radios, protocol, radio communication theory, practical advice; AIS; DSC; MMSI; EPIRB.
RickVicik
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:28 pm

Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby RickVicik » Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:09 pm

Thanks for the suggestion. Ben at Panbo.com confirmed that it is a problem and there is a firmware fix for it on the Standard Horizon website.
---rick

jimh
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby jimh » Wed Aug 22, 2018 5:18 pm

RICK--other than the glitch with the AIS radio's NMEA-2000 PGN content, how is the GX6000 radio working for your friend?

What sort of antennas and what physical separation between antennas is he using for the transmitter-receiver antenna and the AIS-receiver antenna?

Do you know if he has tested to see if AIS reception remains solid while the radio is transmitting?

RickVicik
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:28 pm

Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby RickVicik » Thu Aug 23, 2018 10:09 am

He likes the radio but has trouble with the wireless mike losing the signal when at the upper helm. He thought he could get away with mounting the wireless antenna in the lower helm and avoid running a cable up there since the distance is only a few feet and the structure is fiberglass and wood. He hasn't done the firmware update yet, so he hasn't really used the AIS. The AIS display on the GX6000 is hard to see where he mounted it. He was planning to display the AIS targets on Coastal Explorer via a NMEA2000 wireless gateway so he could use it at either helm. I can get more information after he gets it working.
---rick

RickVicik
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:28 pm

Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby RickVicik » Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:28 pm

I was finally able to install the firmware update on my friend's GX6000. It did not fix the problem. The Standard-Horizon support person we were dealing with agreed the best approach was to let my friend return the GX6000 radio for a replacement radio.

--Rick

jimh
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Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby jimh » Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:20 am

Rick--thanks for the further update on the problem with the GX6000 radio providing output AIS data via NMEA-2000 that had a very large error in the longitude of the target vessel, and the lack of a resolution with a field firmware update.

As I mentioned earlier, the GX6000 radio is probably the first Standard-Horizon product to incorporate a NMEA-2000 data interface. It appears there is a bit of a problem embedded in their NMEA-2000 data. Let's hope this can be resolved quickly to the benefit of your friend and others.

jimh
Posts: 11673
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: Standard-Horizon GX6000, GX6500

Postby jimh » Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:51 am

A follow-up on this long thread with 56-posts that began in 2016, almost five years ago: to the best of my knowledge the GX6500 radio with AIS transmitter was never available for sale in the U.S.A. The exact reason for the product never coming on the market is not known, but a reasonable inference is the product never met the required compliance with international standards regarding AIS receiver-transmitters.

The GX6000 radio did come on the market in the U.S.A. and in March 2021 is selling at a discounted price of about $400.