Prices range from under 200 to over 900 euros, with a wide variety of equipment options and performance ranging from meagre to superb: Anyone who needs an AIS receiver today is spoilt for choice in every respect.
When selecting the eleven test devices, we made sure that they work on chart plotters as well as on computers with navigation software. In order not to go beyond the scope of this magazine, only the most important version of each receiver was able to take part in the actual test; other versions are mentioned with their prices.
The latest models with an integrated antenna splitter are particularly exciting: this allows the AIS receiver and VHF marine radio system to be operated on the same antenna, and some models even have a connection for VHF radio reception. On the one hand, this is practical, but the test also shows that such a splitter is not always the ideal solution.
