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Product support: R100 / R300

em-trak dedicated customer support is available 24/7 globally to help you get the most from your em-trak product.

Installation

Installing your R100 / R300

VHF Antenna: Connection to a suitable VHF antenna will be required for the AIS transceiver to receive and transmit. The AIS unit will require an VHF antenna (tuned to 162MHz) for optimum performance.

 

VHF Antenna Cable: Please check that the VHF antenna you intend to use has sufficient cable to reach between the VHF antenna and the AIS transceiver unit. If it is not enough you will need an extension cable. RG-58 or RG-8X can be used for short distances, however for longer runs we would recommend a low loss cable like RG-213. For reference the VHF antenna connector type on the AIS transceiver unit is SO 239 and is intended to mate with a PL 259 connector.

 

Power Cable: The AIS transceiver unit is supplied with a two metre long power and data cable. If you require longer cables to reach your power supply, please ensure the cables are capable of carrying currents of up to 2A peak and 200mA on average. Means of connecting the cables together will also be required.

 

Chart plotter:

To display received AIS position reports as other vessels on your chart plotter, you will need to connect your AIS receiver to your chart plotter. Please refer to the user manual supplied with your chart plotter for details of how to connect and configure your chart plotter for use with AIS devices. For general guidance your chart plotter should be configured to accept NMEA data at 38400 baud (sometimes referred to as ‘NMEA HS’ in the plotter configuration menu). You may also need to enable the display of AIS targets in the chart options.

 

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting your R100 / R300

The pinout for the R100 power/data cable is attached.

If you’re having difficulty displaying AIS on your chart plotter, please follow the instructions below.

  1. Some old Chart plotters do not support AIS so you’ll need to confirm compatibility by checking the manual for reference to AIS and/or VDM.
  2. Check the receiving port can be configured to 38400 baud on the chart plotter. 
  3. Make sure it’s connected correctly by simply connecting the NMEA0183 Transmit wires on the R100 (Brown is TX+, Blue is TX-) to the corresponding NMEA0183 Receive wires on your compatible Chart plotter device. You’ll need to connect the positive wires together and the negative wires together. For example:
    • TX+ to RX+
    • TX-  to RX –

The user manual details which cables do what, but for your reference, please see below for a table explaining the connections on the R100.

mceclip0.png

 

Please see below for a table explaining the connections on the R300.

mceclip1.png

If you need any further assistance, please contact us at support@em-trak.com and we’ll be glad to help.

The R300 power/data cable pin-out is detailed below:

 

B300_B330_cable_pinout.JPG

Only the USB signals are named above; the other signal names are already listed in the relevant user manual.

Certification

R100 / R300 certification

The R100 RED Declaration of Conformity can be downloaded below.

The R300 RED Declaration of Conformity can be downloaded below.

User manuals / guides

R100 / R300 user manuals / guides

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R100 user manual.

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R100 user manual in German

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R100 user manual in French

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R100 user manual in Spanish

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R300 user manual in Spanish


Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R300 user manual in German

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R300 user manual in French

Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R300 Quick Start Guide


Please follow the link below to download the em-trak R300 user manual in English

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

We would recommend;

AIS optimised ‘broadband’ antennas which typically have a wider bandwidth to give improved performance at the top end of the VHF band where AIS usually operates.

 

Please see below for typical VHF antenna specification. If you have any doubt as to the suitability of your antenna system then please do not hesitate to contact us at support@em-trak.com and we’ll be glad to help!

Typical VHF antenna specification:

Band:             Marine VHF band (nominally 156MHz to 162MHz)

Impedance:     50 Ohms

Gain:              3dBi

VSWR:          <1.5:1 at resonant frequency

Max power:     Typically >25W

Polarisation:    Vertical

Bandwidth:    Typically 6MHz

Cable:             RG58 or better. Note the IMO recommend RG214 or better for SOLAS installations

Connector:     PL-259 (sometimes called ‘UHF’)

USB Drivers

Drivers for your R100 / R300

USB drivers for the R100 are installed automatically when using Windows Update. We recommend you carry this out first so Windows can handle the installation. If you’re using the R100 on a Linux or macOS machine it should automatically use the standard USB to serial driver.

Should this prove problematic, or if you need to manually install the drivers, please download either:

  • the relevant files from the FTDI website – https://ftdichip.com/drivers/d2xx-drivers/ (if your R100 serial number is 412000119xxxxxxx or lower)
  • the attached SRT_USB drivers zip file (if your R100 serial number is 412000120xxxxxxx or higher)

USB drivers for the R300 are installed automatically when using Windows Update. We recommend you carry this out first so Windows can handle the installation. Should this process prove problematic, or if you need to manually install the drivers, please download and use:

 

Further support