New Class-B AIS Transponder from VESPER MARINE

VHF Marine Band radios, protocol, radio communication theory, practical advice; AIS; DSC; MMSI; EPIRB.
jimh
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New Class-B AIS Transponder from VESPER MARINE

Postby jimh » Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:53 pm

VESPER MARINE of New Zealand appear to have recently introduced a new AIS Class-B Transponder, their model XB-6000. The XB-6000 appears to provide all the features of the more expensive XB-8000 model, except it does not have a WiFi base station or WiFi interface.

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VESPER MARINE model XB-6000 AIS Transponder

VESPER says several features of the XP-6000 (and XB-8000) are unique, including:

--having a 50-channel GPS receiver with 5-Hz update
--being able to provide GPS position data to other devices via NMEA-2000 and NMEA-0183
--having ability to translate a number of sentences or parameter groups between NMEA-0183 and MNEA-2000
--having lowest power consumption of any Class-B AIS Transponder

The XB-6000 has an MSRP of $595, but is often available at discounted retail for about $555. The external GPS receiver antenna provided may also be optionally deleted to save an additional $56. Further price reductions are offered for on-line purchase, so that one can buy the XB-6000 without external antenna for about $474. That is an extremely good price. See

http://www.milltechmarine.com/

for more details about their pricing and offers.

I have added the VESPER XB-6000 to my AIS Class B Transceiver Round Up page in the REFERENCE section at

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/AISB.html

Like all AIS Transponders, the XP-6000 must be connected to a VHF Marine Band antenna with low VSWR on the AIS transmit frequency of 161.975-MHz and 162.025-MHz. Most general-purpose VHF Marine Band antennas are not sufficiently broadband to have good VSWR at this segment of the marine band, so a specialized antenna tuned specifically for AIS transmission may be needed and is recommended.

The VESPER XP-6000 is not intended for on-deck mounting. Its internal GPS antenna will work if mounted below a fiberglass deck that is free from a lot of metal obstructions. The best mounting position is to fasten the XP-6000 unit to a vertical bulkhead with the connectors oriented downward. That puts the GPS antenna in the best orientation to the overhead sky. Of course, the unit can be mounted anywhere and its external GPS antenna mounted in an optimum location on deck or to a railing and connected using the 30-foot cable provided.