@SweetPea11
Send an email to ShipXplorer Support, asking them to link SXAISD0000128 to your account. They can and should do it.
Me too. I thought I was following the instructions when I setup my account, but I’ve ended up with two site numbers.
Have you had a successful contact with support?
My contact went unacknowledged.
I’d also like to know how to set the location.
S.
@SweetPea11 Swe
@geckoVN
The ShipXplorer Map and other pages are just like one’s at Radarbox24. This makes me think this site belong to them.
That said, the issue of “station not linking to account” frequently appears in Radarbox24 forum, and Moderator always advise complainant to send email to support. The complainant mostly report back that support has resolved their issue. Based on this experience, I suggested to send email to ShipXplorer Support.
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Their receivers look closely related too.
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Thanks,
I shall when I get time.
S
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On Wed 7 Sept I received an email from Alan Joseph at ShipXplorer which said in part
Dear RadarBox Feeder,
RadarBox’s sister company, ShipXplorer is currently seeking AIS Data sharers who can share AIS 162 MHz data to increase ship / vessel tracking coverage globally.
The ShipXplorer AIS 162 MHz Dongle Receiver (USB) + ShipXplorer AIS Antenna (SMA - 10 meters cable) will be sent to you for FREE.
If you would like to share AIS 162 MHz data with ShipXplorer, please apply for an AIS Receiver & Antenna today by:
Submitting this form - https://forms.gle/RECFaJiASoaVn5ja6
Please submit the form ONLY if you can fulfill the 3 criteria mentioned below.
You are located within 5 km of any sea coast or port.
I think that is fairly conclusive.
S
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@dvsvejk
@geckoVN
@SweetPea11
@Jranderson777
Seems this one does NOT have an integral LNA and/or 162 MHz Filter. Product Specs at Amazon & ShipXplorer Store lack details, do NOT tell anything.
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Probably not surprising, but disappointing all the same.
It does say “Reception optimized for AIS” (need to see inside).
If that is the case, then the RTL-SDR V3 is the better buy.
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My unscientific troll thru various AIS forums indicates others find the RTL-SDR v3 or FA Orange sticks provide very good performance when married with AIS-catcher. Since many folks possess these items already they are a good option if one is starting out with AIS. I’m still amazed at what I receive with a crappy throwaway antenna less than 6m off the ground in an upstairs bedroom.
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In my case with generic DVB-T, the optimum gain setting (by trial & error) was 38.6 & ppm correction 39
When tried FA orange, the optimum gain setting (by trial & error) was 18 and ppm correction 2 (worked ok even with -p 2 removed)
In both cases, the performance (message rate, signal strength, number of vessels, max range) was almost identical.
My main problem is NOT gain/lna, as the length of coax between antenna and dongle is only 6 inches. My main problem is RF interference by strong communication signals existing in my urban environment, which overload dongle’s front end. That is why I am very keen to find if ShipXplorer’s blue dongle got a 162 MHz band-pass filter or not. If it got a filter, I will purchase it.
I think I read on another forum that it does not have a filter nor amp.
@Jranderson777
@dvsvejk
@geckoVN
@SweetPea11
I found two sellers
(1) GPIO Labs 162 MHz AIS Filter.
Without Enclosure:
Price: US $27.00
Shipping US $15.00
Estimated Canadian taxes US $5.46
Total USD $47.46 = CAD $63.80
With Enclosure:
Price: US $36.00
Shipping US $15.00
Estimated Canadian taxes US $7.20
Total USD $58.20 = CAD $76.29
(2) Uptronics 162MHz AIS Filtered Preamp
Price: £36.99 + 2 x sma male-to-male adaptors £5.00 = £41.99
Shipping £10.25
Total: £52.24 = US $60.28 = CA $81.03
I have two RTL-SDR dongles (quite old grey case model).
I feed both from same antenna via a VHF splitter. One has the Uputonics filter and the other does not.
Using AIS-catcher V0.39
I get at least 10% more targets using the filter. Much greater difference when weather fine and there are a lot of pleasure boats on the water. I think that maybe because they have lower power transmitters and the filter helps gather enough signal to decode them. I am in a reasonably RF-quiet location
Located South UK near The Solent and Isle of Wight. This link shows the NON-filter system as I am still testing filter..
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What VHF splitter are you using?
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A parallel LC circuit, resonant at 162 MHz, and placed between core and shield of antenna coax, will act as near open circuit (high Q) at resonance frequency of 162 Mhz, letting 162 mhz signal to go to dongle, and will short circuit off-band frequencies. This will be a crude band-pass filter
Coil Ls wound over a 1/8 inch (3.2 mm)dia drill bit (drill bit removed after coil is wound):
Number of turns = 4
Length of coil = 8mm
Mean dia of coil = dia of dril bit + dia of wire = 3.2 + 1 = 4.2 mm
-
Ls = Calculated Indutance of coil = 25 nH
-
Cself = Calculated self Capacitance of coil = 7.4 pF
-
Total parallel Capacitance required to achieve resonance at 162 Mhz = 38.6 pF
-
Cp = Additional capacitance required = 38.6 - 7.4 = 31.1 pF (25 pf fixed + 2-10 pf trimmer)
Another Filter Design (3rd Order Bandpass)
Click on Screenshot below to see larger size
Click again to see full size
