Boat Beacon with Raymarine Axiom+ 12 RV overlay AIS data...

[HarryMacI]

Hi,



I currently have this setup on kitchen table to test before installation on boat..



I have 3 iPads with current Boating App subscription and a Raymarine Axiom+ 12 RV model E70639 with Navionics Chart 28XG_N+ (UK, IRELAND & HOLLAND) with yearly subscription.



I wish to hotspot my mobile phone and share AIS data with 3 iPads & Axiom+ I have purchased Boat Beacon and the share AIS function subscription - yearly, on my phone and have shared it with the 3 iPads using the following information, Axiom I’m having difficulty with..



Pairing information I have entered below on all 3 iPads, this shows as connected on all 3. I did try on each 127.0.0.1 on port 5353 but it did not connect..



I am seeing data as regards position of boats, on a particular area that I zoom into…



..on each iPad

Host: Boat Beacon

IP:192.168.1.121

PORT: 5353

TCP



The information on the Axiom+ is not designed to be changed by the user, hard encoded..



Raymarine Axiom+RV

IP ADDRESS : 10.3.238.236

LINK STATUS: DOWN

Subnet: 255.224.0.0



The Axiom unit is in the 10th private range of IP address’s which I cannot change.

Is there a way to overlay the AIS data on the Raymarine Axiom unit as I cannot connect to it?

Appreciated

Harry

 

[Hurricane]

Wouldn't it be better on the boat to have a proper local AIS feed into the system rather than rely on the Boat Beacon's data obtained over the internet.
Certainly for the Raymarine kit.

AFAIK the Raymarine network is only internal - this the IP range of 10.3.x.x
I can't remember how the DHCP on Raymarine works.
Your iPads don't seem to be getting Raymarine IP addresses (hence the 192.168.1.x range).
With that combination of subnets, I can't see how they could ever work together.

If you are trying to get AIS displayed on the Raymarine why not a cheap AIS engine connected to an NMEA 0183 port on the Axiom.
That would get live AIS local data and is the proper way of doing it.

 

[HarryMacI]

Yes a feed would be the solution, I havent got a big boat and this was a treat to myself - the Axiom unit and the boat beacon seemed like a convenient solution as regards no additional backbone as regards switches and wiring/termination the Axiom is NMEA2000. Getting around below deck is trying as regards wiring! Less wires less corrosion! Well I still have to get down there to install the RV100 transducer!

There will come a day when Android and iPads tablets will be able to facilitate this at a fraction of the price of Raymarine, more so Adroid which suit people at the lower end of the market. Raymarine still top end product though..

Thanks for your time and help, any links to cheap AIS engines appreciated...

Harry
Beneteau Antares 710

Transcript of email from Boat Beacon..

Is there a way to overlay the AIS data on the Raymarine Axiom unit as I cannot connect to it?

I don't think so. I doubt the Raymarine is designed to take AIS input via Wifi/internet. If it is using a fixed private subnet all your devices would need to be on the same subnet range. You could ask Raymarine themselves?

Boat Beacon updates the AIS positions once a minute when zoomed out. You can get faster updates when you zoom in to "Live view" mode in Boat Beacon. In Live View the boat icons draw at true scale and the updates are every 30s.

FYI you can only use the 127.0.0.1 address when Navionics and Boat Beacon are sharing on the same device ( it is the local loopback IP address).

 

[Hurricane]

When AIS first came out back in 2005, I bought the first version of this product.
Ais Engine 3 - Nasa Marine Instruments
Receive only.
The idea was to see how well AIS worked for the leisure boating industry.
In those days, we only had Class A (commercial shipping) transmissions being used.
I just strapped an antenna for the AIS engine onto the aft rail - see here


In those days, very few people had heard of AIS so it was an experiment really.
We did a run to the Channel Islands with a group from this forum and I was very impressed how well the AIS system worked.

So, when we bought our Princess in 2008, I had one of the first AIS leisure (Class B) transponders (receive and transmit) fitted.
Since then, AIS has turned out to be an excellent safety feature - especially if you are transmitting.

I'm not sure how much you know about the way AIS has developed but Boat Beacon wouldn't be my first choice.
Boat Beacon relies on the internet.
It displays ships positions that have been received using local AIS receive stations.
In some cases, AIS signals are received over satellite but usually the signals come from a shore station.
These receive stations feed the AIS data onto various internet servers where an app like Boat Beacon can access the data.
Obviously, if you are not in range of a mobile phone signal, Boat Beacon won't work.
Boat Beacon also feeds its position onto the same servers thus creating a pseudo AIS feed from your boat.
Even if you are within range of a mobile phone signal, there is no certainty that other vessels will see your Boat Beacon data as their systems would more likely only be receiving local AIS data over radio.
That is certainly the case for my boat and I'm sure that would be the case for 95% of other leisure vessels with AIS reception.

Last summer, I helped with a part exchange boat delivery.
We took the old boat from mainland Spain to Mallorca and we brought the new boat back - about 140 miles each way.
Neither of the boats had AIS transponders so we used Boat Beacon and it worked quite well.
It gave our friends and families an indication of how our passages were progressing.
However, it did nothing for any local shipping or vessels nearby us.

So, my advice is to think about what you want.
Personally, I would concentrate on a system that is independent of the internet.
Transmitting AIS is more expensive than just receiving it.
I was surprised how expensive that Nasa engine is these days - it used to be less that £100.

I'm not recommending this but if you are familiar with electronics, you could make your own receiver using a Raspberry Pi and a clip on AIS receiver board.

I made one a couple of years ago to "listen" for AIS signals in our local marina.
It is now one of those coastal AIS stations receiving AIS and feeding data onto the internet.
It has been running 24/7 for nearly 2 years now so DIY electronics can be reliable (thats put the mockers on it!!!)
This is its live data feed
Details for AIS Station Sant Carles Marina, Spain - VesselFinder

A Raspberry Pi is about £33 and the AIS receiver board was about £58.
You can buy a Raspberry Pi from here
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (this one is actually the latest RPi and as fast as a PC)
The AIS receiver board that I used was one of these:
dAISy HAT
You can make the AIS receiver bit from cheap TV dongles - the project is called RTL-SDR - see here
About RTL-SDR
But I found the whole RTL-SDR project to be very "hit or miss" and didn't really work at all.
On the other hand, The dAISy hat linked above is very good.
Once you have signals inside a Raspberry Pi, you can do stuff with it.
For example data could be sent to your Raymarine plotter or transmitted over WiFi to your tablets.
The tablet bit definitely works with Android but iPads are more difficult to set up.
A lot of this will require software - most is available for free but you will need a good understanding or commitment to get it all working.

Finally, being a very small computer, a Raspberry Pi can itself be a plotter (with its own builtin AIS).
The best solution is OpenCPN which is a free software package with all the features of a modern ships plotter.
I've been using OpenCPN for years.
I run it on a powerful PC but it feeds into and forms an important part of my very expensive Raymarine G Series glass bridge navigation system.
The very same software can run on a 33 quid Raspberry Pi.

If you don't understand any of this, though, it is probably best left to DIY enthusiasts.

 

[HarryMacI]

Thanks forgot to mention that I already have a feed a Matsutec HP-33a transponder, is there some way of connecting the two?

Thanks

Harry