AIS or VHF compatibility
Any AIS on standard NMEA 2000 or NMEA 0183 is read as it is, with no setup per brand. Most AIS units and many VHF radios also carry a GPS, and some a compass, so they add a second position or heading source that has to be ranked behind the boat's own.
At a glance
| Family | Models | Zora |
|---|---|---|
| Any NMEA 2000 AIS on standard PGNs | Class A, Class B, receive-only AIS on NMEA 2000 | Works |
| Any NMEA 0183 AIS on a serial port | AIS with an NMEA 0183 output | Works |
| Any NMEA 0183 AIS over the boat network | AIS over TCP or UDP | Works, untested |
| AIS from other makers | AMEC, Digital Yacht, Furuno, Garmin, Lowrance, Raymarine, Simrad, SRT Marine | Works, untested |
| Vesper Marine Cortex | Cortex | Works |
| em-trak AIS | B953, em-trak Class A | Works |
| Navico NAIS-400 | NAIS-400 | Works |
| Icom MA-510TR | MA-510TR | Works, untested |
| Icom VHF radios with a GPS | IC-M605EURO, IC-M410BB | Works |
| Raymarine Ray240 VHF | Ray240 | No |
| VHF and HF radios on NMEA 2000 | Icom IC-M506, Icom IC-M510, Raymarine Ray90, Raymarine Ray91, Simrad RS40, Simrad RS100, Garmin VHF 215, Garmin VHF 315, Furuno FM-4800, Furuno FM-8900S, Standard Horizon GX6000, Sailor 6222 VHF DSC, Sailor 6300 MF/HF | Works, untested |
What the three answers mean
- Works with Zora. Zora drives this.
- Not supported. Zora cannot drive this. It is still visible on the bus.
- On the roadmap. Not built yet. It is on the list, with no date.
- Works, untested. Built, and not yet checked on a boat. Works, partly untested. The row names what has not been checked.
Any NMEA 2000 AIS on standard PGNs
Works with Zora. Targets, their names and static data, and the unit's own GPS, read from the bus as fitted.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: Class A, Class B, receive-only AIS on NMEA 2000. Also called: ais, nmea 2000 ais, n2k ais, ais transponder, ais receiver, class b.
Any NMEA 0183 AIS on a serial port
Works with Zora. Targets and the unit's own GPS from its NMEA 0183 output. AIS talks at 38400 baud, not the 4800 used by most instruments.
Needs. The talker wired to the server's RS232 or RS485 pins, both RS485 data lines landed, and Zora's serial source set to that port at the talker's baud rate, and the boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: AIS with an NMEA 0183 output. Also called: 0183 ais, ais serial, vdm, ais 38400, ais rs422.
Any NMEA 0183 AIS over the boat network
Works with Zora. NMEA 0183 AIS from a unit or multiplexer on the boat network, over TCP or UDP.
Not yet tested on a boat.
Models: AIS over TCP or UDP. Also called: wifi ais, ais tcp, ais udp.
AIS from other makers
Works with Zora. Read as any AIS on standard NMEA 2000 or NMEA 0183.
Reported working on a boat, not yet tested by us.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: AMEC, Digital Yacht, Furuno, Garmin, Lowrance, Raymarine, Simrad, SRT Marine. Also called: amec, digital yacht ais, furuno ais, garmin ais, lowrance ais, raymarine ais, srt.
Vesper Marine Cortex
Works with Zora. AIS, position and heading, read from the bus as fitted. The heading from its built-in compass has read from 20° to 192° off the boat's compass, so it is ranked behind the boat's own.
Needs. The boat's compass ranked first among heading sources, never the magnetometer inside an AIS or VHF, and the boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: Cortex. Also called: cortex, vesper, vesper cortex.
em-trak AIS
Works with Zora. AIS and position, read from the bus as fitted. It repeats another compass's heading onto the bus, which makes it look like a second heading source.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it, and the boat's compass ranked first among heading sources, never the magnetometer inside an AIS or VHF.
Models: B953, em-trak Class A. Also called: em-trak, emtrak, b953, em trak.
Navico NAIS-400
Works with Zora. AIS and position, read from the bus as fitted. Its GPS sits metres from the boat's own, so it is ranked behind it.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: NAIS-400. Also called: nais-400, nais400, simrad ais, b&g ais, lowrance ais.
Icom MA-510TR
Works with Zora. Class B transponder with NMEA 2000 and NMEA 0183. On NMEA 0183 its AIS output runs at 38400 baud only.
From the manufacturer's documentation, not yet tested on a boat.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: MA-510TR. Also called: ma-510tr, ma510tr, icom ais.
Icom VHF radios with a GPS
Works with Zora. The radio's GPS position is read from the bus. It is ranked behind the boat's own GPS.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: IC-M605EURO, IC-M410BB. Also called: icom, icom vhf, ic-m605, ic-m605euro, ic-m410bb, m605.
Raymarine Ray240 VHF
Not supported. NMEA 0183 only. It takes GPS in and sends DSC distress and position-reply sentences out, and has no AIS.
Models: Ray240. Also called: ray240, ray 240, raymarine vhf.
VHF and HF radios on NMEA 2000
Works with Zora. What the radio puts on NMEA 2000 is read from the bus, including its GPS position where it has one. That position ranks behind the boat's own GPS.
Reported working on a boat, not yet tested by us.
Needs. The boat's own GPS ranked first among position sources, with the GPS inside an AIS or VHF ranked behind it.
Models: Icom IC-M506, Icom IC-M510, Raymarine Ray90, Raymarine Ray91, Simrad RS40, Simrad RS100, Garmin VHF 215, Garmin VHF 315, Furuno FM-4800, Furuno FM-8900S, Standard Horizon GX6000, Sailor 6222 VHF DSC, Sailor 6300 MF/HF. Also called: vhf, vhf radio, hf radio, dsc radio, marine radio.
An ais or vhf that is not on this page
An ais or vhf that is not listed here is unknown, not incompatible. This page says what has been checked, and nothing has been checked about the rest.
Contact support with the make and the model, and how it is connected on the boat.