New AIS brands: Em-Trak, Digital Deep Sea, & Watcheye
Em Trak -- or Em-Trak or em-trak (why do brands defy grammar conventions when it often leads to misspellings elsewhere?) -- is a completely unfamiliar name to me, but it's pretty darn obvious that the interesting array of new AIS gear displayed on their web site is closely related to the new AIS modules SRT debuted yesterday. The cases may be different (and jazzier) in some cases, but I'm seeing some of the same new features along with ones apparently added by Em Trak...
Consider the B100 Class B AIS, for instance. Though very small, it's got USB, NMEA 0183, and NMEA 2000 output, as well as built-in 0183 multiplexing and the "Rmax" message processing technology SRT announced yesterday. But it's also got an SD card slot, which will not only make MMSI setup and software updates easier, but will let a user log voyage data, other AIS vessels included. I don't know what the B100 will cost yet, but it already has FCC approval and is even NMEA 2000 certified, so we may find out very soon.
Plus I notice that the B100's receive-only sibling, the em-trak R100, is already for sale at West Marine for $190, which seems quite reasonable for a true dual channel receiver, again with USB/0183/2000 output {correction: USB and NMEA 0183 only}. Aside from the MarineGadget Radar, whose specs don't compare, the R100 is the only AIS receiver I know of that will run on USB power (optionally), which could be really handy when, say, delivering boats.
Another new name in AIS is Digital Deep Sea, though, as announced, that's obviously a good name for the commercial side of ever-expanding Digital Yacht. The Digital family also seems to have close relations with SRT when it comes to AIS devices, but the new Deep Sea CLB100 has its own extra heavy-duty case. Note how port labels, a wire color table, fuse size, and even the tech support phone number are all printed clearly on the case. Nice.
And, finally, I got an email recently from a Dutch start-up called Watcheye Navigation. They too seem to be marketing SRT AIS hardware, but they can pair it with Stentec's WingGPS charting software and they've also developed their own iPad AIS app, seen below. Watcheye also created a useful guide about how to transmit AIS over a laptop's own WiFi, but it's a little challenging because the screen shots are in Dutch.
at June 16, 2011 2:18 PM 
My Transas CTRX and Nais 300 also talk to Wingps for years, so nothing new there
hendrik