Herodotus wrote in
:

Hi Larry,

I need your advice again

I recently purchased a standalone Sitex AIS receiver - the little one
that has a small screen and which receives its GPS input by NMEA from
my Garmin.

It has a small externally mounted piezo alarm - no ID markings that is
simply too quiet to ensure that I am alerted or awakened if I drop off
to sleep. I would like to replace it with a louder piezo unit and am
of the vague understanding that as piezos draw little current that a
louder and larger one will not burn out or otherwise 'stuff up' the
AIS unit..

Is this correct?

I wouldn't guarantee that at all. I'd need to see the circuitry.
Raymarine has an inaudible collision alarm in its radar/plotter, too.
You can hardly hear it sitting right in front of it. I've never seen the
Sitex unit or its schematic, so couldn't or shouldn't guess at modifying
it.



I have emailed Sitex with this question and had as yet no response.

When I get this treatment from a marine electronics company, I send them
another email warning them I'll be returning it to its seller if I get no
response. I'm surprised Sitex isn't a better company from all I've
heard. Maybe it got lost.


Also, at the moment I swap the masthead VHF aerial between the cockpit
located VHF radio and the AIS unit. In the absence of a proper VHF
splitter I reason that I won't need the AIS much in approaching ports
and if I need to talk to a ship I have time to change over the
aerials.

As I have a chart table located VHF radio and the one in the cockpit I
have a proper A-B switch (rather like the old printer A-B switches but
more solid and metalic) at the chart table for the aerials. I cannot
locate one of these any more.

The only AIS splitter that Defender had is one that is specific for a
Furono VHF radio and which cannot be easily adapted (by me at least)
for other brand use. At US$149 I sent it back as they said if it
didn't work to return it.

Do you know of anywhere I can purchase/make either a mechanical A-B
switch or an electronic automatic anntenna splitter?

You have 2 radios and one antenna...now going to put 3 radios on one
antenna? Is this a good idea? What happens if the antenna fails? No
radios!??

Let's kill two birds with one stone. You don't need AIS from the top of
the mast unless it's to impress the girls with your range. So, let's add
an "emergency antenna" to a handrail and hook the AIS to it, permanently,
until the masthead antenna fails then swap the cables around to a radio.

I recommend the Metz Manta 6 with a handrail mount:
http://www.metzcommunication.com/manta6.htm
Warranteed for life. Best antenna made. Doesn't even require a ground.

Clamp it to "something", anything horizontal and hook it to the AIS. It
will only show you targets on the AIS 3 miles over the horizon, which is
probably more targets than you want to see, anyways....hours of notice.

Let's mount another Metz out on the yardarm for that other radio and get
rid of all this antenna switch crap and ideas of multiplexing, before it
tears up the transmitters when it fails. Coax is cheap.


Thanks and cheers
Peter

BTW, I may be visiting Charleston later this year on my way back to
Curacao as I am contemplating buying a Folbot and need to try a couple
of them out. It is also a reasonable excuse to visit the heart of the
South.


Holy smokes! I bought a Folbot 17 foldup from Jack Kissner, the original
founder of the company, back in 1967! He used to put our boats on a huge
16 Folbot trailer, already erected, and hook it to his HUGE Olds 98 sedan
and off we'd go to one of the rivers in the Southeast for a week back
then. We'd leave some cars at the boat landing where we'd eventually
come out of the river and all load up into the rest for the trip UPSTREAM
(thank god) to the starting boat landing, paddling DOWNSTREAM with the
current, stopping on some nice beach the current had made in the middle
of the swampland miles from anywhere to camp out maybe a day or two
before packing it all back in the Folbots and heading downriver again
until the next place fit our fancy. We'd fish on the way downriver for
our dinner at the camps for all. What a great way to go
boating....cruising down a nice river.

When we got the the destination landing, the drivers of the cars,
including Mr Kissner, would ride in one car back to retrieve the
Olds/boat trailer and other cars while those left packed up for the sad,
sad trip home....exhausted, happy and smiling from ear to ear....(c;

I didn't know they'd started production again and would love to come get
you at the marina and take you to the factory tour, which isn't far from
my home. I'll bring my station wagon and we can load 'er up on top on
the way out. How's that?...(c;

Sea Ray Regattas have nothing on Folbot regattas....(c;

I wonder if they're still making the wooden parts just like wooden snow
skis....almost impossible to break hard-laminated wooden strips,
beautifully finished.

http://www.folbot.com/about/history.html

I see they're not $200 any more.....hee hee...(c;