Introduction
In recent posts I have been looking at using my new GNSS receiver on various maps such as OpenStreetMap and OpenCPN (Ref.1/4). Yesterday I received an email from a colleague who told me about AIS Catcher, a new multi-platform AIS software (Ref.5). I downloaded it and tested it from my home QTH. Tech Minds has an excellent video showing you how to get it going initially (Ref.6). Even in my home location (which is not close to the Toronto harbour) the software pulled in many contacts as shown in Figure 1.
Equipment Block Diagram
Figure 2 shows the equipment block diagram. The GNSS/GPS receiver is connected to OpenCPN by a serial Nema0183 link at 4800bps (For full GNSS connect at 921600bps). AIS CH87B/88B is received on the RTL-SDR connected to OpenCPN by a network UDP localhost port 10110. In order to use AIScatcher for AIS reception, the appropriate Windows binary is downloaded as a zip file. When unzipped, you can see an .exe file and also a start.bat file. AIScatcher is very similar to aisdeco which I explored in 2020 (Ref.7). The .bat file adds the various options to the .exe in this case sending the output to a network connection for OpenCPN.
Toronto Harbour Test
Figure 5 shows the Red Boat position and AIS contacts received in the Toronto Harbour area.
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References
#1. – “Propagation Testing with GNSS on OpenStreetMap”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/propagation-testing-with-gnss-on-openstreetmap/
#2. – “GNSS on OpenStreetMap”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/gnss-on-openstreetmap/
#3. – “GNSS Receiver”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/gnss-receiver/
#4. – “GPS/GNSS Receiver Testing”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/gps-gnss-receiver-testing/
#5. – “AIS Catcher|
https://aiscatcher.org
#6. – “Tech Minds Video AISCatcher”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wRIYuFXOqE
#7. – “RTL-SDR for AIS”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/nav/rtl-sdr-for-ais-2/
