EP106 - Standard Horizon GX2400 VHF Radio UnBoxing and Install – Neither Travel nor Exercise

In the fall of 2023 I took my daughter’s 23’ Alumaweld fishing boat into my garage to do a bunch of work and maintenance on it. One of the items on the list was a new radio, the old radio on the baot had quit working properly. There is one specific technical issue related to safety that this radio addresses. It adds the capability to receive AIS information and display it on the GPS Multi-Function Device. I no longer believe AIS is an optional technology. The Coast Guard is transmitting virtual AIS Aids to Navigation, so to see those on your electronic charts you need this capability. And with AIS information you can see all of the big ships location, direction, and speed displayed on your electronic charts as well, an important safety consideration. The DSC capability of the radio has been required in marine VHF radios since 1999, and I still see many of these radios that are not hooked up to the GPS unit. To be fair, it has been difficult to do due to the continued reliance on the old NMEA 0183 networking, but it is possible even for hacks like me. The radio’s main safety capability is not available to you if it is not hooked to a GPS. If you hit the red button it will transmit a mayday along with your location if hooked up properly. The 2023 light list, just the Pacific Coast Volume which is one of seven volumes, lists over 200 AIS aids to navigation. The USCG Light List is available online at https://msi.nga.mil/Publications/USCGLL in .pdf format. I downloaded it, and simply searched for the term “AIS”. There were 466 hits, but the first 239 were in the descriptive pages prior to the actual list. I assumed the rest were Virtual Aids to Navigation, which means there are a lot of these! I realized as I was editing this video that I had originally mis-identified the Garmin GPS N2K antenna as a 24xd, when in reality it is a 19x. The unit on this boat is older, and does not have the magnetic heading sensor, but only an improved WAAS antenna. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As the title suggests, some people think I am a little strange. And for sure I like getting out and about! That is why I am the Odd Man Out. These videos are devoted to travel and exercise, or maybe exercise and travel. As always, I welcome your comments. You can contact me directly at [email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thanks for taking a look here! I appreciate your interest. You can subscribe here on YouTube, or on Instagram. Please do! I film all videos in 1080p at 60 frames per second, using a GoPro 8 Black and my Samsung Galaxy S21 phone. I edit the videos myself using the VSDC video editor. Thanks for watching! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 00:00 Introduction 00:54 Unboxing 05:05 Networking 05:53 Install 10:11 Operation of AIS 10:48 Ending