Vesper® XB-8000 Class B AIS Transponder Owner's Guide

The XB-8000 Install Guide has important information about wiring and antenna placement.

The install guide shows how to connect an optional switch to place the XB-8000 in Silent Mode. This mode allows the XB-8000 to continue to function as a GPS and AIS receiver but will not transmit the vessel's position or other information. This is useful for those times when a user wants to remain private. Control silent mode from the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section) or the WatchMate® App for iPhone and iPad or Android phones and tablets.

The GPS smoothing feature is optimized for vessels that do not exceed 45 knots. If the vessel is fast, then disable the smoothing feature. Otherwise, GPS position will be lost when travelling in excess of 48 knots.

To do this, download the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section) and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu. Connect to the XB-8000 via USB or Wi-Fi. Select the GPS tab and untick the Smoothing option.

Refer to the XB-8000 Installation Guide for details about the Status LED. In normal operation the Status LED will be solid green. During the first minute startup period it will be solid orange and flashing orange when it is acquiring a GPS fix.

For further details and troubleshooting, use the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section). To use the utility, download and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu computer. Connect to the XB-8000 via USB or Wi-Fi.

Select the Status tab to determine why the Status LED is not green. All status items must be ticked. This page can also be used to view the antenna VSWR and various statistics for each AIS channel.

The GPS tab is used to view the current satellite status and may be used to help determine the best location for the GPS antenna.

The XB-8000 will not transmit until vessel details have been configured. The dealer may have already configured this information and this procedure can be used to verify the information is correct.

There must be an assigned MMSI number for the vessel. If the vessel doesn't have an assigned MMSI, contact the relevant authority in the country of residence.

Once the MMSI number has been configured, it cannot be changed. If the MMSI number needs to be changed, contact an authorized dealer or Vesper Marine.

The vessel details may be configured or viewed using either the WatchMate App for iPhone and iPad or Android phones and tablets. It is also possible to use the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section). To use the utility, download and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu computer. Connect to the XB-8000 via USB or Wi-Fi.

Once connected, choose the "Configure Vessel Data" tab where current vessel details will be displayed. Enter the MMSI and other details carefully since this information is transmitted to all vessels within range. Select the most appropriate vessel type and enter the location of the GPS antenna. The location can be entered in either meters or feet. Measurements in feet are converted to whole meters for transmission. As a result, not all measurements in feet can be represented.

The XB-8000 transponder comes already configured as an Access Point. This is the most common way to use the XB-8000 and it allows the user to connect up to five other devices via Wi-Fi. A separate Wi-Fi router is not needed.

The default network name (SSID) is VesperXB. Select this name from the Wi-Fi connection screen on other devices. The default password is printed in the owner's manual.

Change the SSID or password by using the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu computer. Vesper Marine recommends the password be changed. To do this, download the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu computer. Use the USB cable that is included with your XB-8000 transponder to connect to the PC. Some versions of Microsoft Windows have the driver pre-installed, but if not or if installing on Mac OS, it can be downloaded. Use the XB-8000 USB connection to make changes to the Wi-Fi configuration.

Once the software has been installed and connected the XB-8000 via USB, run the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility, select the proper COM port and press the Connect button. The COM port is displayed when the USB is first plugged in. It will remain the same even if it is unplugged and plugged in again later.

Select the Wi-Fi tab, enter the new password and press the Save button.

If the vessel has an existing Wi-Fi router, configure the XB-8000 to connect to it rather than create its own network. This allows the user to maintain a single network connection on your other devices without having to switch networks to get access to the XB-8000 transponder. This also allows for larger networks than the five devices supported by the XB-8000 in its Access Point configuration.

To configure the XB-8000 to join an existing network use the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu. To do this, download the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section) and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu. Use the USB cable that is included with the XB-8000 transponder to connect to the computer. Some versions of Microsoft Windows have the driver pre-installed, but if not or if installing on Mac OS, it can be downloaded. Use the XB-8000 USB connection to make changes to the Wi-Fi configuration.

Once the software has been installed and connected the XB-8000 via USB, run the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility, select the proper COM port and press the Connect button. The COM port is displayed when the USB is first plugged in. It will remain the same even if it is unplugged and plugged in again later.

Select the Wi-Fi tab and untick "Configure as an Access Point". It will take about a minute for the XB-8000 to reconfigure itself and display a list of networks within range. Press the "Scan for Networks" button to update the list if the  network isn't shown.

Select the network to join by clicking on its name. Enter the network password, if required. The XB-8000 transponder supports WPA and WPA2 personal (PSK) Wi-Fi security.

The default is to use DHCP which allows the Wi-Fi router to choose the address for the XB-8000. This is convenient but the address can change by switching the XB-8000 transponder off. To assign the XB-8000 a static IP address, untick the "Use DHCP" option and enter the IP address to use. This must be an IP address in the correct range which the router has available for use as a static IP. See the manual for the Wi-Fi router for details regarding static IP usage and the correct address to enter.

The XB-8000 will now connect to the network. When it is done, the selected network will appear in the list with a tick next to it.

If using DHCP, click on the blue "More Details" arrow to see the IP address that has been assigned by the router. Use this address to connect to the XB-8000 from other devices on the network.

This screen also allows the user to disconnect from the current network. However, selecting another network from the list will also disconnect the XB-8000 from a previous network. Each time it connects to a network enter the password, if required.

Getting started with iNavX can sometimes be confusing. Install it from the App Store, download free charts or create an account to download additional charts, and configure it for use with the Vesper Marine transponder. To get started, here's a tutorial.

This video shows the steps to connect iNavX to an XB-8000 AIS Transponder over Wi-Fi. Once connected, the XB-8000 transponder will supply GPS position to iNavX and AIS targets will be overlaid on the iNavX charts.

For troubleshooting and advanced installations, view the status and adjust the NMEA 2000 configuration. To do this, download the vmAIS Configuration and Status Utility (see downloads section) and install it on a PC, Mac or Ubuntu computer. Connect to the XB-8000 via USB or Wi-Fi.

Once connected, choose the "NMEA 2000" tab. This tab shows the current NMEA 2000 connection state. It will be green when the XB-8000 is connected to the bus and working properly. If there is a problem detected on the bus, the status indicator will be orange. If the XB-8000 is not operating on the NMEA 2000 bus the status indicator will be red.

Note: It is normal for the red and orange indicators to flick back and forth every few seconds when there is no NMEA 2000 connection to the XB-8000.

From this tab, select which individual PGNs to receive and transmit. For example, it is possible to choose to not output GPS data if the NMEA 2000 network already has another source of GPS data. Select the output rate for each PGN in milliseconds.

Note: GPS data is updated either once per second or five times per second depending on configuration settings. To output the data more frequently, the same data will be repeated each time until the next update.

PGN's Received:

127250 Vessel Heading
128259 Speed
128267 Water Depth
128275 Distance Log
130306 Wind
130310 Water Temperature
130311 Water Temperature
130312 Water Temperature
130316 Water Temperature
129283 Cross Track Error
192284 Navigation Data
129285 Route/WP Information

PGN's Sent:

129025 Position
129026 COG & SOG
129029 GNSS Positions
129540 GNSS Satellites
129038 AIS Class A Position
129039 AIS Class B Position
129040 AIS Class A Extended Position
129041 AIS Aids to Navigation Report
129794 AIS Class A Static Voyage
129798 AIS SAR Aircraft Position
129801 AIS Addressed Safety
129802 AIS Safety Related Broadcast
129809 AIS Class B "CS" Static, Part A
129810 AIS Class B "CS" Static, Part B
129283 Cross Track Error
192284 Navigation Data
129285 Route/WP Information

In addition to the WatchMate for iPhone and iPad and the WatchMate for Android , there are a growing set of third-party mobile apps for a phone or tablet that support Vesper Marine transponders with Wi-Fi. 

Use any PC or MAC navigation software that accepts AIS and GPS data over either a serial port or a TCP connection. For a serial connection, use the USB port on the Vesper Marine transponder. For TCP, use the Wi-Fi.

Some examples of navigation software that supports the XB-8000 over both USB and Wi-Fi are Rose Point Coastal Explorer, openCPN and macENC.

There are two options for using navigation software that doesn't support TCP connections. The easiest is to use the USB port on the Vesper Marine transponder. When the USB drivers are  installed (downloaded from above) and then plug in the transponder, the driver creates a "virtual com port" on the computer. It will assign it a name like COM9. Configure the software to use that port at 38,400 baud.

Another option is to use Wi-Fi to connect the computer to the Vesper Marine transponder. Then use software to create a "virtual com port" on the computer from the TCP connection.  HW Group VSP3 Software works well for this purpose.