Herodotus wrote:
...
I have a Ratheyon radar and a Garmin 128 GPS. I bougt a Sitex AIS
standalone unit and it reads the data easily from the GPS - no
multiplexor, just bare wires.

I have several GPS units that _talk_ to a laptop running Capn 8.3 and to a
Furuno radar display. The GPS units are wired so that the output can be
switched from one unit to the next, permitting only one _talker_ on the
circuit (i.e., NMEA 0183 compliant). The GPS units can also be switched to
bypass the laptop and _talk_ directly to one of several autopilots, and to
the Furuno when the laptop is not in use (e.g., offshore passages).

I like electronic toys and now want to add an AIS receiver (looking at the
Smart Radio models) since Capn 8.3 is able to receive and display AIS
information. I think I "get" the wiring requirements for the AIS, but am
puzzled by one aspect: does the AIS receiver need an _additional_ GPS data
source if I am already supplying GPS data to Capn 8.3. In other words, if
Capn 8.3 is getting GPS sentences from, say, the Garmin GPS, and I somehow
feed it the sentences from the Smart radio, will these data be combined to
achieve the desired outcome, the display of AIS information on the Capn 8.3
chart display?

Hope this question is not too poorly put.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare