New Raymarine AIS 700: less expense, more power and anti-piracy mode

In the tradition of Raymarine, one of the top brands by FLIR systems, every boat show provides the opportunity for launching a new product. Boot Düsseldorf is no exception and, this time, the new product is the AIS 700 system.

It is a transceiver ( as you know, AIS systems can be only receivers and therefore they see the other devices without transmitting any signal) which makes installation much easier, tidier and even less expensive – which is a great advantage on small boats – while maintaining the same qualities of its predecessors.

Contrary to traditional systems consisting of two different antennas for Vhf and GPS devices,  the new AIS transceiver and the VHF voice radio work on the same frequency band. This means that it is possible to share the same antenna with VHF equipment making installation significantly much easier and less expensive, minimizing wiring and reducing the overall physical footprint of the hardware. This results into a 20% cost reduction in the installation because the purchase of a secondary antenna splitter is not required.

Equipped with a GPS RAIM receiver, the AIS 700 connects to the boat’s multifunction displays using the latest NMEA2000 and SeaTalking protocols. This way, boat owners can use older-generation and not necessarily Raymarine screens.

Moreover, transmission power has been increased from 2 to 5 Watt resulting into greater long-distance visibility.

Another important feature is the “silent mode”. The AIS 700 “silent” or “ghost” mode allow users to cease transmission of their boats’ ID packets, while continuing to receive data from surrounding vessels.

In addition to guaranteeing the total respect of privacy, this feature is particularly beneficial to sports fishermen when their boats are engaged in fishing competitions or simple amateur fishing expeditions and they don’t want to reveal their positions to other competitors.

Another situation when “silent mode” can be advantageous is, for example, during a sailing race, when sailors don’t want to reveal their positions to other competitors.

Finally, silent mode guarantees a high anti-piracy protection. By engaging the silent mode in dangerous waters, yachts can give themselves an extra level of security to help deter potential threats.