![]() The XB-8000 came with a GPS antenna, but we purchased a 12 foot waterproof USB cable in order to reach from the mounted location topside to our lower steering station where we operate our navigation laptop. For the AIS antenna we chose a Shakespeare Centennial Style 5104 Antenna. ![]() The reviews of the unit on Panbo lead us to believe this was just what we were looking for. We also wanted a unit that could display AIS position data on our laptop navigation software (Fugawi) and that might connect to everything using NMEA 2000 if we decide to upgrade to a more “modern” network interface.Īfter some searching we settled on the Vesper Marine XB-8000 transponder, a relatively new device (2012) from a company with a good reputation. We weren’t quite sure how it would all fit together, but knew is should be possible. We’d already installed a WiFi network onboard connected to an Island Times radio antenna (powered by a Ubiquity bullet), so we were looking for an AIS that could interface with our WiFi network as well as provide NMEA 0183 data to our Garmin GPSMAP 545S and 545 chart plotters. After reading several blogs and discussions about cruising the inland rivers and on the strong recommendations of several Trawlers and Trawlering List subscribers and friends who have recently completed cruises of the inland rivers we felt that AIS was a good resource for safer navigation in an area frequented by big commercial tows and blind curves! Here is a brief description of our setup along with the hardware and software making it all work together.
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