AIS Setup on 0.15.1

[felizcortez]

I am trying to set up my DVB-T Dongle in 0.15.1 to support AIS in OpenCPN.  I went to the marina this evening to hook everything up.

The GPS works great and is plugged into the same powered hub as the DVB-T dongle.  

I know the DVB-T dongle is getting recognized because here is the output from  lsusb

pi@openplotter:~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 1546:01a7 U-Blox AG 
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0bda:2838 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2838 DVB-T
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. 4-port hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:8178 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8192CU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I was able to perform the calibration and came up with the following values for gain and PPM


I have Channel A 161.975M selected
Gain = 49.6
Correction (ppm) = -16

I'm not sure whether the correction should be a negative number, but thats what the calibration tool spit out?  I tried running it a time earlier and Correction (PPM) was around 5.2.  I'm using the included antenna that came with the dongle and was in the Harbor right by San Diego Bay so I thought that I should be able to see an AIS target in the marina on OpenCPN, but nothing came up after enabling AIS monitoring.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

   
   
   

[gaspbut]

Is the antenna connected properly and are you sure it does not have problems??

[shipahoy]

Are you sure you have enough power? My DVB-T Dongle did work properly when i used an extention cable on the USB.

[felizcortez]

This is the powered hub I'm using.
Protronix 4 Port USB 3.0 Hub with 5V/2A Power Adapter

I'm not using an extension cable it's plugged directly into the separate powered hub.

I bought the DVB-T module new and am using the supplied antenna and it's plugged into the input jack. I was able to get signals on multiple channels during the calibration at the Marina.

[Luckbert]

can you see the records in the diagnosis?

[felizcortez]

can you see the records in the diagnosis?

Not sure what you mean by this?  Is there a log file somewhere I can see the calibration data?

[gaspbut]

I would you suggest to try with an appropriate VHF antenna. I built one following this video on youtube " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdEglNHyHB4". Works great!

[felizcortez]

I would you suggest to try with an appropriate VHF antenna. I built one following this video on youtube " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdEglNHyHB4". Works great!

The one that is included with the kit won't work at least to test things out?

[shipahoy]

I did a complete re-install on my pi 3 yesterday.
Installed  RPI v0.10.0 NOOBS
Updated Raspian
Updated openplotter to 15.1

When I now ran calibration of SDR I got -37 ppm. Tried again after the SDR had warmed up and got -38 ppm.
With this ppm setting I did not get a single ship on the AIS. I remembered that the calibration had been around +48 ppm before, so I used this and voila!
   
(OpenCPN is running on my phone and I send the AIS and GPS data over bluetooth :-)

I conclude that there is something wrong with the calibration software...

If there are boats with AIS-transmitters in your harbour, then I guess you will be able to pick them up with the supplied antenna, but it is designed for a completely different frequency.

I have tested the following antennas:
http://www.metzcommunication.com/manta6.htm
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-NEW...87854.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-New...38821.html

The big expensive works best, but the small cheap ones from aliexpress works OK if you use a ground plane for the antenna (fasten the antenna to a metal plate).

[PaddyB]

You can make your own antenna as well, if you can figure out how to mount it..

http://arundale.com/docs/ais/aerial_comparisons.html
http://arundale.com/docs/ais/aerial.html

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