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Title: AIS Receiver
#1
Getting ready to take off cruising again and would like to buy something to receive AIS to use with GPSNavX on my little iBook (or maybe I'll even take my 20" iMac now that I have a total of 500W solar panels and 400AHr in batteries Big Grin ). I do have a few RS232->USB converters if needbe.
Recommendations?
JoeS.
 
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#2
Yes the SR161. Use with a Keyspan USB to serial adapter. Set the AIS port to /dev/cu.KeySerialX and the rate to 38,400..

http://www.milltechmarine.com/products.htm
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
 
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#3
Is the SR161 the same as the AIS blackbox sold by NASA?
If not what are the differences and can I use the SR161 in Europe?
 
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#4
Quote:Is the SR161 the same as the AIS blackbox sold by Nasa?

No they are two different units. The SR161 offers the benefit of having LED status lights absent from the Nasa AIS receiver. Very helpful for debugging a connection.

Quote:can I use the SR161 in Europe?

Both units adhere to the ITU 1371 specification as such they are not geographic dependent. AIS uses VHF frequencies.

Please take the time to read the AIS overview..
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/enav/ais/default.htm
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
 
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#5
After some googling I've found a dealer in Europe importing the SR161.
I've also noticed that the SR161 is made by Smart Radio Holdings Limited (China) (http://smartradio.diytrade.com/sdp/96914...74856.html)
and is sold under different brandnames.
In different forum people did compare it to NASA AIS blackbox and say the SR161 is much more sensitive and faster.
Plus the SR161 transfers the received data in 2 split NMEA sentences instead of one long sentence as the NASA AIS does.

Now I want to know if GPSNavX can deal correctly with data transfered by the SR161?
And does GPSNavX can display these data as transmitted by the SR161?

Ship information
Ship name
Type of vessel
Call sign
MMSI number
IMO number
Registration
Length
Beam
Draft

Voyage information
Current latitude
Current longitude
Speed over ground
Course over ground
Heading
Rate of turn
Navigational status
Destination
ETA

BTW on Milltech homepage there's a screenshot of MacENC using the SR161 AIS.

Thx.

Manou
 
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#6
Quote:BTW on Milltech homepage there's a screenshot of MacENC using the SR161 AIS.

Looks like you answered your own questions. I made the recommendation of the Milltech SR161 to the original poster of this thread because YES it works great with both GPSNavX and MacENC.
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
 
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#7
Thank you'all for your help. Just placed an order for the SR161. Big Grin JoeS.
 
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#8
I will install AIS this spring. I bought the SR 161, and a "Smart Antenna Splitter" Which lets me splice into my existing VHF radio cable and use the masthead antenna for both the radio and the AIS unit. The active splitter protects the AIS receiver from being fried when I transmit on the VHF transceiver.

My problem is I'm short one USB port. I'm using a PowerBook G4 which has two USB ports and one Fire Wire port. Before the AIS, I used one USB port for the very nice GPS receiver from GPSnavX, and one USB port for the mouse. That allowed us to run the GPSnavX navigation software using a mouse.

Now with AIS I will need one more USB port for bringing in the signal from the AIS receiver. This comes out of the receiver as a serial RS 232, and can be converted using a Keyspan RS 232 to USB converter. It will take the other USB port and we will not have a port for the mouse.

We could run without a mouse using the touch pad, but neither of us likes to work with a touch pad.

I've found some hubs that are not powered that will allow me to plug into one computer USB and have three or even four USB additional connections plug into them. <www.welovemacs.com>

Does anybody know if this is the right way to go?

Will the computer and software sort all this out? The hubs are dirt cheap and look simple, just plug and play.
 
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#9
Does your Powerbook G4 support bluetooth? I use Apple's wireless mouse and keyboard. They both run on AA batteries that last up to a month (when I remember to shut them off when not in use).
 
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#10
I've never tried to use blue tooth on my laptop, but as I understand it, the blue tooth thing plugs into a USB port so it is about the same as if I plug in the mouse and like that, I have no port left over.

I've avoided Blue Tooth because I didn't want one more source of rf in the boat.
 
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#11
If your Mac has built in bluetooth there is no need to tie up a USB port for a wireless keyboard or wireless mouse.

You can open system preferences and see if you have Bluetooth.
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
 
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#12
I looked, and I have some software for Bluetooth that probably came with the OS, but no hardware.
 
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#13
Jerry,

If your laptop is like mine (Powerbook G4), you already have the bluetooth hardware built into the computer. The antennae are small grey plastic patches moulded into the lid on the top right and left of the screen. All you have to do (after buying a bluetooth mouse) is match it with your computer using the bluetooth configuration software found in the system preferences.

Please read the Mac Help topic "What can Bluetooth do?" on your computer for more information.

This will enable you to use a wireless mouse and save the two USB ports for GPS and AIS.

As for the extra radio frequency, I can say that I have had no problems with my VHF or FM/AM radios onboard while the bluetooth is active.

BR
Jon
 
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#14
There are no plastic patches on either side of the screen. I went to help, what Bluetooth can do, and clicked Bluetooth File Exchange from there.

I got a screen message that said:

"No Bluetooth hardware found."

I still wonder if these little unpowered USB hubs will solve the problem. In need to connect:
GPS (USB)
AIS (RS 232 to USB)
Mouse (USB)

to two USB ports. I wonder how to best pair them up so that the information will find its way. I don't want to use a powered hub unless I can find one that takes 12 VDC. I don't run my inverter constantly, just when I need it, but we do tend to run our navigation program more or less constantly unless we are in very familiar waters.
 
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#15
Jerry,

To verify your laptop's hardware contents for bluetooth, select the following under the Apple menu:

Apple>About This Mac>More Info...>Hardware>Bluetooth
 
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#16
I did that. Under hardware there is

Memory
PCI/ACP Cards
ATA
SCSI
USB
FireWire
AirPort Card
Modems

No mention of Bluetooth. SCSI is in the list but no hardware when clicked. There are two USB Bus, and one 400Mb firewire.
 
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#17
You are facing the same problem that I encountered last summer. I posted something about converting from 12vdc to 5vdc and received 0 replies. I've spent hours searching for a power supply to buy to power a USB hub, and the only thing that I have found is a cheap plug-in converter for car use that puts out 500ma. For a 4 port USB hub you need 2 amps, if the downstream devices are not self powered. Since USB devices are all 5vdc, self powered devices would pose the same problem.

I was talking to a professional marine electronics technician a few weeks ago, and he described how to make my own voltage converter using a transistor that puts out 1 amp at 5vdc. To supply more amps, I would need to add multiple transistors in parallel. This was in idle conversation and I didn't have a chance to write down the transistor (there were a few other parts too) or make a diagram, but this sounded like a pretty simple device to build, and it is the only genuine solution I've found to this USB power problem.

You desire for one more USB port ignores the wide world of possibilities with USB devices. For example, you can put a camera in some critical area, like the engine room or a sealed void, and monitor it remotely. There are so many cheap and easy possibilities with USB that I'm quite surprised not to be able to find more voltage converters out there.
 
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#18
fish2live Wrote:You are facing the same problem that I encountered last summer. I posted something about converting from 12vdc to 5vdc and received 0 replies. I've spent hours searching for a power supply to buy to power a USB hub, and the only thing that I have found is a cheap plug-in converter for car use that puts out 500ma. For a 4 port USB hub you need 2 amps, if the downstream devices are not self powered. Since USB devices are all 5vdc, self powered devices would pose the same problem.

The Carnetix people make a nice little 3 amp 5 vdc unit that fits into their P1900 DC-DC converter. And if you Google 12 vdc to 5 vdc converter you'll get a raft of results. Allied Radio (http://www.alliedelec.com/) has a range of these but they're pretty pricey.
 
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#19
Jerry

This USB 4 port hub is powered from the laptop's USB; supports 2.0; and requires no drivers according to Targus:

http://www.targus.com/ca/accessories_cables_hubs.asp

I don't know if it is Mac OS X friendly. However, at the cost of $29, it may be worth a try.
 
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