The Standard Horizon GX2100 is one of the first marine radios to combine full VHF functionality with an internal marine AIS receiver. It needs only a single standard marine VHF radio antenna for both VHF and AIS communications.
This Standard Horizon radio is also capable of storing and navigating to waypoints when connected to a GPS receiver via a NMEA0183 connection. It also has the ability to couple to the CMP30 remote microphone, CVS2500 voice scrambler, remote speaker, and PA horn.
Standard Horizon GX2100 Matrix AIS
The most powerful additional feature in the GX2100 marine VHF radio is its ability to function as a standalone AIS receiver and output this data to a compatible chartplotter display. We looked at the AIS feature set using the radio controls and display screen and by connecting the unit to a Garmin 740s display.
Installation
The GX2100 is installed like any other marine VHF radio. You’ll need to mount it, connect power, and hook up a VHF antenna. To get the AIS and DSC functions to operate you will need to take a couple additional steps. The radio needs to have a GPS input for AIS functionality and the MMSI number input for DSC to work.
If you wish to display AIS data on your chartplotter you will need to make sure your unit is compatible, it must have two available NMEA0183 ports, one low speed for GPS data and one high speed for AIS data, to get full functionality. The actual wiring is a fairly simple and straightforward affair. You may also need to go into your chartplotter menu to make sure all the port settings are appropriate.
Operation
Control of Standard Horizon GX2100 functions are handled using onscreen menus, several designated function keys, or three soft keys. A rotary channel selector also functions as a menu item selector and enter key.
Here is the AIS page showing a nearby vessel named “Challenger” The small down arrow in the r