August 30, 2024

SeaTalk1 to NMEA 0183 converter, DIY

Updated 2024-08-30 ! 

!! Another SW solution is available for RPi 5 here ! using the same HW.

Thanks to Thomas, (the guy with the nice marine interface board)it's now possible to decode, one way, the SeaTalk1(ST1) sentences in a pretty simple way. You just use OpenPlotter(OP) and/or SignalK(SK) and an Optocoupler.

The thing that made it, is that Thomas has released a "how to" and Python source code, that will read the data from a GPIO pin on the Raspberry Pi, (RPi), and format it so the standard parser in SignalK can translate it to SignalK delta format. It is then available as NMEA 0183. It's even possible to send the data in to a NMEA 2000 network, with a proper hardware interface.

August 03, 2024

AIS receiver and dispatcher ! The best ?!

Updated 2024-08-03

I found this amazing application,
 AIS-catcher, just scrolling around on Youtube and it includes "all" you need for an AIS receiver staying ashore or installed on a boat.

It is compatible with a wide range of Software Defined Radios (SDRs). These include RTL-SDR dongles (such as the ShipXplorer AIS dongle and RTL SDR Blog v4), AirSpy (Mini/R2/HF+), HackRF, SDRPlay, SoapySDR, and file/network input (ZMQ/RTL-TCP/SpyServer).