Garmin® Introduces the new AIS 300 Receiver

Garmin the global leader in satellite navigation, is pleased to announce the AIS 300 – a black box receiver that enables wireless monitoring of other nearby Class A and Class B Automatic Identification System (AIS)-enabled vessels that may pose a collision risk. 

The AIS 300 receiver is NMEA 2000 certified making installation and integration into a Garmin system quick and easy. Garmin is the first manufacturer to offer an AIS receiver with NMEA 2000 support. 

Nigel Craine, Marine Product & OEM Manager for Garmin said: “An AIS traffic monitoring system plays an invaluable role in crowded channels or under low-visibility conditions, allowing mariners to identify and monitor other vessels in their vicinity and minimise the risk of collision.

“The receive-only AIS 300 offers an affordable solution for mariners who want to listen to AIS traffic from both commercial and leisure vessels.”

To ensure no loss of critical information, the AIS 300 receives both Class A and Class B signals simultaneously and allows mariners to independently monitor both channels. A built-in passive splitter eliminates the need for two VHF antennas – giving you more space and making installation easy, without the need for additional hardware. This feature ensures that all VHF and AIS communication are received with minimal interruption. 

The new black box AIS 300 receiver is NMEA 2000 certified and can be easily integrated into the Garmin network on both 12-volt and 24-volt systems.  In addition, the AIS 300 offers a NMEA 0183 output with selectable speeds.

When combined with the AIS 300, the boat’s chartplotter can display and provide detailed information including ship identification data, position, course and speed for vessels equipped with an AIS transmitter within range. 

Users can make the AIS target’s position appear on their electronic chart for a variety of ranges.  When integrated with a Garmin chartplotter and VHF radio via NMEA 2000, users can initiate a call to any MMSI target directly from the chartplotter screen by selecting the “call with radio” function. 

Mariners may also activate the AIS target, which will draw a heading line from the target in the direction of travel, as well as providing a graphic representation of turn direction and rate of turn. 

The AIS 300 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of £359.99 and will be available in May 2010.  For more information on this and other products in Garmin’s marine line up, visit www.garmin.co.uk/onthewater