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hi youtubers jeff cote here with  ask pys we've got a fellow voter asking  a really relevant question and we give  this question asked to us a lot  especially  when people are considering adding new  features on their navigation system  robert asks i'd like to add ais to my  boat but can you tell me the difference  from radar  is there is this a product you would  recommend  so first of all let's try to understand  what ais is ais stands for automatic  identification system uh it's a way for  boaters  to exchange information with one another  over vhf frequencies and you're  exchanging boat name  boat position your speed on ground your  course on ground  and uh there's different types of  transponders there's class a  transponders and class b  transponders basically people that  choose to transmit  have class b transponders the big boats  the ones that are regulated and have to  transmit have class a  transponders and all this information is  going over the air via vhf  and it's really ending to any meaning  there is no middle  person that is actually handling this  information  boaters are actually having ais  receivers on board and if you have one  you'll be listening over vhf frequencies  uh for ais data and that information  then is populated on chart plotter or on  a ipad depending on what how you choose  to see it and you can actually see ais  targets  now these boats have to transmit of  course and they have to water  have what are called ai's transponders  and these devices are  literally now you can see on your chart  plotter all the big freighters around  you you can see  in our territory there's a lot of  commercial tugs uh and you can still see  you know recreational boaters uh boats  that are 25 feet 30 feet 100 feet  it doesn't matter all these boaters are  actually showing up here chartplotter  and not only that  your chart plotter knows where they are  they know where they're going and they  know what the speed they're going  and with that information you can have  collision avoidance  so they'll tell you if you're going to  be colliding with another vessel that  might be far away  and eventually the two vessels will meet  over a period of time  so that's what ais does and we have a  whole presentation just on ais if you're  curious and you can spend a little bit  of time doing that  looking at our other youtube videos and  in comparison to radar  now remember ais is you need to  obviously transmit to be heard  if you're not transmitting nobody's  going to see you so people that choose  to not have an ais transponder will not  be seen by other boaters  and unlike radar radar you don't unless  of course you're a small boat maybe  fiberglass and you don't have a radar  reflector you might not show up as well  on a chart  or a chart plot or radar screen so radar  you don't need to really  have a transponder to be seen by a radar  radar  pretty much sees most things certainly  all metallic things all  land so when you're weighing the pros  and cons of ais or radar  it's tough most of the time i tell  people like  you should have both now radar is  probably double the price or the cost of  ais so if you're really budget conscious  and you can only afford one then and you  can or even  forward one of them then ais is probably  half  the cost of a radar and you might  consider ais  radar is amazing i mean it shows you  land targets it shows you  other boaters and again nobody needs to  be  enabled or have a transponder for you to  see them on your radar  screen so what i would say  if you were going to consider the pros  and cons of one over another if you're  absolutely certain that you will  never ever ever ever be in a place with  no visibility i.e  there will never be fog you will never  do landfall at night  and you're always going to be boating in  great visibility  then ais would be probably the right  choice for you  that being said if you don't if you are  ever gonna do landfall or navigating at  night  um and uh or you're gonna be navigating  a place with no visibility in a  like with fog then radar is an absolute  black and white must  and if you had don't believe me just  wait  just wait you you go in a fog bank and  you can't see anything you can't even  see barely the bow of your boat  it's an experience that will change your  life and when you come back to shore you  will be getting radar you will  prioritize radar  so ideally you want both but if you have  to choose and you never go out at night  and you will never have limited visibly  on your boat  then start with an ais  thank you for watching this video if  you've got further questions  and you're wondering about your own boat  please ask questions below or send us an  email with your questions and we'll get  to them  hopefully as soon as possible also we're  trying to keep this channel ad free  so please donate on the paypal so that  we can keep doing these productions  and also potentially buy one of our  lovely hats on our 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