Hi Ken,
If you go to www.shinemicro.com, sign up for a Password (no cost), and then
select the region of the USA, then the Pacific Northwest, you will see a
real time updating of all the vessels in the Puget Sound area that are
transmitting AIS data. It may only serve to make you want to run and hide
from all the traffic, but it is very informative. It shows all the
Washington State Ferries, freighters, tow boat with barges, etc. That was
what convinced me to spend the $189 for the SR161 (single channel receiver,
but more than adequate for a recreational vessel).

However, the shinemicro website doesn't provide the full complement of
information available over AIS. There are other websites (e.g., of San
Francisco Bay) that provide a far more detailed report of every vessel,
size, weight, beam, draught, SOG, CPA, TCPA, destination, etc.
regards,
Harvey Karten

At 02:52 PM 2/21/2007 -0800, you wrote:

>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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Harvey J. Karten, M.D.
Distinguished Professor, UCSD
Dept. of Neurosciences
Basis Sciences Building, Rm. 3003/3009
La Jolla, CA 92093-0608
(858) 534-4938
(858) 534-6602 - fax

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Received on Wed Feb 21 15:19:41 2007