AIS Dispatcher is a simple and powerful software designed for collecting and distributing AIS data. Compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems, it allows users to receive AIS signals from one source, such as serial ports, TCP/IP, or UDP. Once received, the data can be forwarded to multiple destinations, including other applications, servers, or online services.
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OS | Windows, Linux (x86_64, ARM, RPi) |
Version | Windows: 1.5.1 (24.06.2022) Linux: 1.2 (outdated) > new Software available |
Costs | free |
Categories | AIS Forwarder |
Pro | Windows Version
New Linux Version
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Contra |
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AIS Dispatcher is the only tool capable of downsampling or delaying NMEA data, which can be very helpful in some rare cases but can also cause issues.
Reducing data to one message per vessel per a set period can be beneficial when the internet connection is highly limited, such as with satellite or mobile internet. However, since the total amount of AIS data required per month is very low, usually just a few MB, this reduction generally has little effect and significantly decreases the quality of the station.
Delaying the data results in your station being blocked, offering no benefits for your account.
Requirements
You can connect the receiver to your PC via USB or direct serial connection
You have identified the COM port assigned to the device on your computer
You have requested to share AIS data and have received the IP and port information
Your operating system is supported by this software
Configuration for Windows
Download the software for Windows from here
Unzip the file into a separate folder and start the application. The main window will be opened.
Note - The illustrations show the setup of a complete process. They have been combined for this purpose.
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The configuration is already completed here, and you can save the setting by clicking OK. In the next step, you can enter the coordinates of your station so that the software's statistics can also display the range.
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When you restart your computer, make sure to start the AIS Dispatcher and press Start. Otherwise, no AIS data will be forwarded, and your station will be shown and reported as offline. Of course, you can add the software to the Windows startup so it starts automatically with each restart, but you will still need to press Start.
Next, access your station on MarineTraffic to verify if the data is being received. Please allow a few minutes for the statistics to reflect a successful reception.
Configuration for Linux (New)
Open the Terminal on your Linux distribution and enter the following 3 commands.
wget https://www.aishub.net/downloads/dispatcher/install_dispatcher
chmod 755 install_dispatcher
sudo ./install_dispatcher
If the software has been installed without any issues, open the browser on the device and enter http://127.0.0.1:8080 to access the configuration. You can also access the configuration from any other device within the same network. To do this, you need the IP address of the device on which AIS Dispatcher is installed. Enter this IP address in the same format. For example, if the IP address is 192.168.10.123, then enter the address as follows: http://192.168.10.123:8080.
Configuration for Linux (Outdated)
Download the software from AIShub
Choose the appropriate file, i.e. ARM glibc for Raspberry Pi, Linux Glibc 2.15 for PC
Unzip the file in the Home Directory.
Call the executable file with some extra commands afterward to get the data from the serial port (-r -d -s) and forward it to different destinations (-H).
~/aisdispatcher_arm_glibc/aisdispatcher -r -d /dev/ttyACM0 -s 38400 -H 5.9.207.224:12345, 148.251.96.197:12345 -G
Next, access your station on MarineTraffic to verify if the data is being received. Please allow a few minutes for the statistics to reflect a successful reception.
-r | Serial input mode |
-d | Device name (Device ID) |
-s | Baud Rate |
-H | Destination IP - You can put in more than one IP address. Just separate them by a comma. |
-G | Turns debug on |
-t | TCP Client Input Mode |
-u | UDP Input Mode |
-i | Input Mode |
-h | TCP server host (in TCP input mode) UDP bind host (in UDP input mode, 0.0.0.0 means all interfaces) |
-p | TCP server port (in TCP input mode) |
-x | Reconnect timeout (time interval between TCP connection attempts, 10 seconds by default) |
-y | Data timeout (automatic TCP reconnects, if there are no data for the specified time, 300 seconds by default) |
-D | Downsampling time (0 seconds = no downsampling by default. Maximum=300 seconds) |
-v | Dispatch VDM messages only (dispatch all messages by default) |
-g | Show NMEA dump |
Links