I had mentioned the "Shipplotter" program in the thread a while back. I
downloaded and used the program last summer when I was sailing back from
Port Townsend to Bellingham. I believe, given enough time, I could have
made it work. I think my problem was the gain adjustment on the signal from
my VHF to my laptop. So no, you don't need special hardware to use AIS,
assuming you have an aux audio output on your VHF and a laptop and the
software, and patience.

If someone sells a turn-key solution for $189, then depending on what your
time is worth, that might be a cheaper alternative than rolling your own
system.

Ken Pearce
Bellingham, WA
s/v Shantih, Baba-30

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Received on Wed Feb 21 14:52:27 2007