The dashboard provides a range of functionalities, with the fundamental features covered in the "AIS Receiver Dashboard" article. In this article, we will go deeper into the specifics of the Live Map and Statistics. These features offer valuable insights into the performance and coverage of your AIS receiver, helping you monitor live vessel data and analyze reception statistics effectively. Let's explore these advanced tools to maximize the utility of your AIS receiver.

The dashboard provides a clear overview of your station's AIS reception. It displays all ships in real-time and offers useful statistics, such as the number of received messages and your station's reception range. This dashboard is the most helpful tool for evaluating and monitoring your station.

At the top right, you'll find an interactive live map showing the vessels your station is receiving. You can freely navigate the map, zooming in and out as needed. This data is real-time and fully displayed, with updates appearing within seconds. Ships will only disappear from the map if the last signal was received more than 10 minutes ago.

To the left of the map, you have the "Vessel Class Filter", which lets you view only Class A or Class B vessels. You can find more information about the difference between Class A and Class B here.

Below that is the "Vessel Type Filter", which allows you to hide certain types of vessels. For example, if you only want to see passenger ships. More information on vessel types can be found here.

Clicking on a ship on the map will display additional vessel information below the "Vessel Type Filter." This information is derived from the static messages received by the station. Ships for which no static message has been received yet are displayed as gray on the map since their ship type is unknown. There is a link that takes you directly to the MarineTraffic ship detail page for even more information.

The statistics provide many interesting additional insights and can help you identify issues or support your efforts to improve the range. If you test different antennas or install your antenna at a higher elevation, you can best check the effect using the statistics for "AIS messages per minute" or "Average and max distance." When using the statistics, hover your mouse cursor over them, and you'll see that additional information is displayed or that you can view a specific time period.

Keep in mind that the statistics only go back 12 hours and are reset periodically, and when you restart the device. For statistics that go back further, use your Station's page on MarineTraffic.

Vessel Categories - Here, you'll find information about the ships that have been received. How many different ships have the station detected, and how many of them were Class A or Class B ships? Additionally, you'll see the distribution of ship types displayed as a pie chart. Which ship type is most common in your area?

AIS messages per minute - To get a sense of how many AIS messages the station receives per minute, this statistic can be very insightful. It effectively illustrates the activity level in your area and the volume of messages you're receiving. Try extrapolating this to estimate how many messages your station receives in a day.

Average and max distance - This graph shows clearly the distance at which you're still receiving AIS messages. It depends on whether a vessel is at the outer edge of the potential reception range. It also indicates over-reach situations, offering a quick and helpful insight when you aim to enhance your coverage.

Max distance - Here's the coverage displayed as a Polar Chart. This allows you to visualize the directions with the best reception and identify potential obstructions. Typically, coverage is limited to specific directions unless you're on an island. You can also observe the difference between Class A and Class B vessels, indicated by the lower transmission power of Class B transmitters and their lower antenna height.

Number of positions - Here's the quantity of received positions displayed as a Polar Chart, indicating the direction from which the data is coming. This will often correspond closely to the maximum distance of reception.

Message type counters per minute - Here's an overview of the various message types transmitted via AIS and received by your station. If you'd like to learn more about them, perhaps this article will be helpful.

If you start the dashboard and see only a gray or blue area on the map, with the antenna symbol either far from your location or not visible at all. It indicates that the station has not been correctly assigned. In this case, please contact support and inform them that your receiver has not been assigned the correct position. This issue is rare and can be quickly resolved by support. Please contact support.