DrVarnik on YouTube has posted a tutorial video on how to receive, decode and plot AIS information. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a system used for automatic tracking of large ships and passenger boats. It is a similar idea to tracking aircraft with ADS-B. His method uses a RTL-SDR for receiving the AIS signals with SDRSharp, decoding received signals with AISMon and plotting the decoded information with OpenCPN. He uses VB-Cable for looping the audio from SDRSharp to AISMon, but if you have a ‘Stereo Mix’ or equivalent feature with your soundcard, that will be unneeded. Best results will be achieved using a narrow-band vertically polarized antenna tuned for 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz (marine VHF). A directional antenna would also likely be a benefit. You can find some designs to try lower down the page. For safety, please only use this guide on land! Wouldn’t want you getting lost at sea.
This video shows the progress made on Cocoa Radio since the last video. The spectrum that is visualized in the waterfall and graph is AFTER the downconversion mixer and FIR filter. As I move the red line (software tuning) around on the display, it changes the tuning of the downconverter, and you can see the spectrum change. Also, when I change the IF bandwidth, you can see the effects of the filtering. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done, but these results are encouraging. – Source
Broadcast from the top of Mt. Umunhum. Was very surprised at the accuracy of the RTL dongle. I am using unamplified rabbit ears to pick up the signal. – Source
Messing around with a EzTV645 W/ the RTL2832U and FC0013 Tuner Chip. Software being used is SDR# (SDR Sharp). I’m having some issues like getting mixed FM boardcast signals no matter where I’m at and multiple images of the same signal. I was told this was normal but I messed something up while soldering in a pig tail to replace the current RF connector. Too sensitive to ESD See for more information – Source
$20 TV tuner as an IF receiver for my 10 GHz transverter. Two beacons are received, one on Frazier Mountain and the other from Palos Verdes. My station is in Redondo Beach with a clear view to the n – Source
Messing around with a EzTV645 W/ the RTL2832U and FC0013 Tuner Chip. Software being used is SDR# (SDR Sharp). I’m having some issues like getting mixed FM boardcast signals no matter where I’m at and multiple images of the same signal. I was told this was normal as I thought I messed something up while soldering in a pig tail to replace the current RF connector. See for more information – Source
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