RTL-SDR AIS Ship Tracking
From cod3v
Introduction
Need a radio dongle, antenna. Use Arduino and RPi.
Radio Dongle
Antenna
The frequency of AIS signal is 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz, and have the max range of about 70 km.
Quarter wave / dipole. One vertical 1/4 wave element connected to the center of the coax cable and 4 (or more) more grounding elements pointing towards the the ground at 45 deg.
Coax collinear antenna. Very high omnidirectional gain. Multiple short coax cables where the outer conductor is connected to the inner conductor in an alternating fashion.
Yagi antenna. Very directional antenna that will pick up signals in the direction it is pointed: Very large gain.
Slim Jim.
Refs:
