DIGITAL YACHT AISNet+ Quick guide

Quick Start Guide for AISNet V2.01
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
AISNet+
Internet AIS Receiver
Base Station With Built In VHF-AIS
Splitter

Quick Start Guide for AISNETSP VR 1.00
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
1. Introduction
Congratulations on the purchase of your AISNet Internet Base Station AIS Receiver. This version has a built in antenna
splitter allowing a VHF antenna connected to a standard marine VHF to be shared with this AIS base station and the VHF
–greatly easing installation. It is recommended that your receiver is installed by a professional installer. The AISNet
requires connection to the internet via a local area network (LAN) and it is recommended that this is carried out by
someone with suitable IT experience and knowledge of ethernet networks.
Before operating the unit you should familiarise yourself with this Quick Start manual and the manual for
your personal computer and network router.
2. Before you start
You will need the following items and tools to complete the installation:
•The AISNet Receiver
•A VHF antenna connected to the marine VHF
•RJ45 Cat 5 cable to connect between the AISNet and your Ethernet network
•Access to a 110v/240v AC mains supply where the unit is to be installed.
•M3 or M4 screws or other fixings appropriate to the mounting location.
To setup the AISNet and display the received AIS targets locally you will need:
•A PC or Mac with a free USB port
•The AISNet2 configuration program (copy on supplied CD-Rom)
•Navigation software that can display AIS targets (copy of SmarterTrack Lite for Windows on supplied CD-Rom)
3. Installation
Before starting installation select a suitable location for the AISNet Receiver. The unit is designed for mounting at home
or in an office and is not water resistant. It should be installed in a cool, dry location and can be mounted on a vertical or
horizontal surface. When locating the unit you should consider:
•Routing of power and antenna cables to the unit.
•Proximity to the existing VHF transceiver location
•Provision of sufficient space around the unit for cable connections.
•Routing of USB data connections to a PC from the unit (if necessary).
•Maintaining the compass safe distance of 0.5m.
Installation Step 1
•The unit requires siting close to the existing VHF installation. A 0.5m patch cable is supplied to interconnect
between the VHF and the AISNET.
•Switch off power to the VHF and disconnect the antenna
•Connect the VHF antenna direct to the VHF antenna connection on the AISNET
•Run the co-axial patch lead between the AISNET VHF Radio connection and the VHF transceiver
•Run the USB interface cable from the AIS Receiver to a suitable PC computer.
•Do not make any connections yet.
The USB Interface Standard specifies that USB cables should be no longer than 5m without using a special
powered USB extender cable –ensure that the total USB cable length from the AIS Receiver to the PC is <
5m.
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Quick Start Guide for AISNETSP VR 1.00
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
Installation Step 2
•Use suitable fixings (not supplied) to fix the AISNet to a flat surface –using the dimensions and details shown in
the drawing below. Note that the unit may be installed in any orientation.
Dimension drawing
Installation Step 3
•The supplied mains adaptor has suitable plug fittings for Europe, USA and the United Kingdom. Select and fit the
plug required for your location. If the AC Mains socket has a switch, ensure the switch is OFF and then plug the
adaptor in to the AC Mains socket. If the AC mains socket does not have a switch do not plug in the adaptor yet.
•Plug in the 12v DC Jack plug (2.1mm centre pin positive) into the power socket on the AISNet.
•Plug one end of the RJ45 Cat 5 network cable (not supplied) in to the AISNet and the other end in to a spare
network socket (LAN) on your ethernet network. On small home/office wireless networks, you will probably have to
plug straight in to one of the LAN connectors on the back of the wireless router.
•The VHF can be repowered
Installation Step 4
•In order to display AIS targets locally on a PC or Mac, it is necessary to use the AISNet USB cable. Windows PCs
need to be turned on and connected to the internet before plugging the USB cable in, so that Windows can
automatically go online and download the USB drivers.
•Then it is necessary to find out what device name the AISNet has been given by Windows (COM3, COM4, etc.) or
by the Mac (/dev/cu.usbmodem1234 or similar) and select this on your navigation program remembering that the
data speed is 38400 baud for AIS and not 4800 baud that is the normal NMEA0183 speed.

Quick Start Guide for AISNETSP VR 1.00
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
•You do not need to power up the AISNet for the USB interface to operate and AIS reception can be achieved with
the AISNet just taking its power from the USB cable. However, the network interfacing will not operate without the
main power supply being connected and turned on.
Installation Step 5
•Now that we have all of the connections made, we can apply power to the AISNet. Turn ON or plug in the AC Mains
Adaptor and the green POWER LED on the front of the AISNet should illuminate.
•Assuming that the AIS/VHF antenna is connected and there are AIS targets within the reception range of the
AISNet (typically 20NM or more), the yellow RECEIVE LED on the front of the AISNet should flash each time an
AIS target is received.
•If the network interface is powered up and working then the green NMEA LED will flash and once a TCP
connection is established the green TCP/IP LED will illuminate.
•By studying the LEDs, the status of the AISNet can be determined and if everything appears to be working then
installation is complete and you should proceed to section 4. Network Configuration.

Quick Start Guide for AISNETSP VR 1.00
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
4. Network Configuration
This Quick Start Guide assumes the reader has experience of setting up a PC network. If you have an unusual network
configuration or need further assistance to setup your AIS Base Station please contact [e-mail].
Most Small Office or Home (SoHo) networks will
have a wireless router that is either connected to a
“Broadband Modem” or has an ADSL telephone
router built-in. A “Broadband Modem” refers
generically to any of the common broadband
internet connections i.e. cable modem, ADSL,
DSL, ISDN, 3G or even satellite connection.
The most common setup is for the Router to
assign IP addresses to the devices that connect to
it using DHCP. If this is how your network router
operates, then the settings detailed in this
document will work. If your network has static IPs,
then you will need to allocate an unused IP
address for the Base Station.
Configuring the AISNet Network Settings
Download and install the latest AISNet Configuration Tool (from the Digital Yacht website). When you run this program,
you should see the window shown in Fig 1. Click the “search” icon and the program will search for the AIS Base Station.
After the search is complete, you should see the Mac Address of the AISNet in the top of the Module List –see Fig 2.
Typical Home/Small Office Network
Figure 2
Figure 1

Quick Start Guide for AISNet V2.01
TEL + 44 1179 554474 www.digitalyachtamerica.com [e-mail]
Ensure the IP Configuration Method is set to “DHCP”,
operation mode is set to “TCP CLIENT” or “UDP”
which are two protocols that have been tested with
Marine Traffic and should also work with other online
AIS services.
Now enter the Host IP address and Remote Port
given to you by the On-Line AIS service in the
relevant boxes. These are the unique settings that
identify to the AIS server that the data is coming from
you, so it is very important that you get these right.
The Local port can be any unused Port on your
network, if in doubt just use the default Local Port of
2000.
Once you are sure that all of the settings have been
set correctly, click the “Setting” icon and your settings
will be copied in to the AISNet Base Station memory.
To apply the settings, you can either click the “Reset”
button (not the “Factory Reset” button) or power cycle
the AISNet. Either way after a few seconds the
AISNet will restart using the new settings.
Now check the website of the on-line AIS service that you wish to send AIS data to. The example below is for Marine
Traffic but each service should have a page where you can check that your data is being received.
Figure 3