I use just the NASA engine and a separate VHF aerial linked into Chartwork's
Winchart NautiQ navigation software.
Information given is always MMSI, SOG and COG. Usually the boats name, call
sign and destination is also displayed. If you zoom right in on the chart,
there is an indication as to the boat's length and position of the
transmitter (fore and aft).
Have not used it to cross the shipping channels when going from England to
the Netherlands but will do so within a few weeks.
Advantages:
1) You can identify the ship and call them using MMSI
2) You have their course and speed

Disadvantages: (Probably due to software still under development)
1) The labels giving the vessel's details are unnecessarily large and
there is considerable overlapping. (My home port is near Felixstowe which is
the largest port in the UK)
2) There is no way of "switching off" stationary vessels to reduce the
clutter.
3) There appears no way of setting your projected position in say 5
minutes time or the ships projected position in 5 minutes

Non the less I think it will be very useful
"Pascal Goncalves" wrote in message
om...
I found this, appears to be a new AIS standalone unit, target to
leisure boat market, that operates similar to a traditional radar.
Costs about 260 pounds.


http://www.nasamarine.com/

Anibody know this? Any coments ?

Pascal