Set up your own AIS Shore station

What equipment and software do I need to cover my Area from the shore?

Obtain an AIS receiver, hook up an external VHF antenna and connect to the internet. Here are the three steps:

1. Hardware

AIS receiver

Buy one from a local marine electronics shop or order one online.  The following devices (with serial and/or USB output) are popular in our network of AIS stations and can be easily found in many online stores:

The simplest and most reliable way to connect your AIS receiver to the internet is via a relatively in-expensive serial to internet converter like one of the following (the USR ones cost less than $50 and we recommend the USR_TCP232-401) :-
 Alternatively you can use one of these internet enabled AIS receivers to connect directly:-
Or connect it to a PC and run a free PC Ship Plotting application to read and relay the data. See the section on software below.

Aerial

You can use a regular Marine VHF aerial or use an AIS specific one which will provide slightly better reception. They start at around $50.  The aerial position is very important in providing good coverage as VHF relies on line of sight transmission. There are two factors;  a clear view of the area of sea you want to cover and the height of the aerial. At sea level it will only pick up about 6 miles range. At 100m (300′) above sea level it will pick up ships 25 miles away! The aerial must be mounted in a position where it has a view over the area you want to cover. The higher the better.

 

2. Software – only needed if you are using a PC

If you are using an AIS Receiver connected to a PC you will also need software for processing and uploading the data to us.

The following is what we use and is free:-
– AIS Dispatcher (Thanks to ‘AIS Hub‘ – Just extract the contents of the ‘zip’ and run the program – linux version also available)

Alternatively, you can use the following program: – Shipplotter. There are instructions on how to setup ShipPlotter to share to us here http://pocketmariner.com/?p=1675

3.Connect to the internet

Configure your device or software to send the data to the following destination and port  :-

boatbeaconapp.com  (54.225.113.225)  UDP port 5322
or ask us and we can setup a dedicated port for your station so you will be able to view your live data on the web (e.g. http://boatbeaconapp.com/station/5353 )
That’s it! Start seeing vessels in real time in your area!

Please contact us if you need help on setting the connection up. I am already using ShipPlotter software. How can I contribute? If you already have an AIS receiving station and you are using the ShipPlotter software to process and publish your data, then you can easily send us your data as well without interrupting your current setup. Just configure ShipPlotter to send the data to our server too. Go to ‘I/O settings’ and locate the ‘UDP peer-to-peer output section’. Enable the output to Remote IP ‘54.225.113.225‘, Remote port 5322. That’s it. The same settings may apply to other chart-plotter programs capable of processing AIS messages.