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What's New?

Edge version

new additions:

  • HydraSDR support
  • Debian packages will store HydraSDR and RTL-SDR libraries in /usr/lib/AIS-catcher now as DLLs instead of statically linking
  • allow multiple commands in init_seq for serial devices, separate via a comma. Fix issues for MacOS
  • messages from serial devices supporting AIS-catcher format can pass on warning/info and error messages via the program

Remove duplicates

When combining multiple input streams, overlapping reception can result in duplicate messages. To remove duplicates from output channels, use the experimental unique option. For example, the following removes duplicates from both console and a UDP stream: 

AIS-catcher -o 1 unique on -u 127.0.0.1 5012 unique on

In JSON, set the unique key to true (remove duplicates) or false (default). Note that this could come at a performance cost that increases with the number of MMSIs so keep an eye on that.

Downsampling Options

Two additional options, position_interval and own_interval, downsample position messages and VDO messages by limiting each MMSI to at most one update per specified interval (in seconds). Both default to 0 or, equivalent, false(disabled).

Example: 

AIS-catcher -u 127.0.0.1 5012 position_interval 30

Alternatively, these options are available in the Web GUI:

image

Thanks to user Manny for suggesting these options.

Note: These options are intended for users aggregating across multiple receivers to reduce bandwidth, and have not been optimized for large vessel counts.

Version 0.66

  • Improve documentation for configuration via JSON
  • Fix chart colors when running web viewer in iframe on Firefox
  • Technical details of equipment added to shipcard (press information icon in sender field)
  • CS unit for class B is displayed in shipcard of the web viewer if available
  • Serial devices can be initialized with an init sequence
  • Remodelling of realtime NMEA tab with options to filter on MMSI and share NMEA lines with decoder tab for message parsing
  • Option to track NMEA in webviewer for a specific ship or station
  • Shortcut to measure distance between two objects or points is now SHIFT-CLICK to select the first point. This should improve behaviour for devices that cannot distinguish between a left and right mouse click.

Version 0.64 - 0.65

Various updates to improve stability, security and minor bug fixes.

Version 0.63

Enhanced Features

  • NMEA 4.0 Tag Blocks: support for NMEA tag blocks (msgformat nmea_tag for networking or -o 7 for screen). Note that when reading the timestamps are overwritten by default which can be switched off with -go stamp off

Version 0.63

Enhanced Features

  • Data throughput: significant reduction in data throughput to community hub
  • Online NMEA decoder: Built-in NMEA decoder in the local webviewer
  • Kiosk Mode: Full-screen display mode for dedicated monitoring setups
  • MSGFORMAT Configuration: Flexible output format definitions for customized data presentation. Introduction of msgformat binary_nmea to save on bandwidth
  • Extended Binary Messages: Additional binary message types now decoded and displayed
  • Verbose JSON Output (-o 6): Enhanced JSON format with detailed field descriptions (WIP)
  • Debian Trixie Support: Compatibility with Debian 13 (Trixie)
  • Filesystem-based Map Tiles: 
      # Serve map tiles from filesystem
  AIS-catcher -N 8100 FSTILES /path/to/tiles
  # Filesystem overlay maps
  AIS-catcher -N 8100 FSOVERLAY /path/to/overlay

For complete edge changes, see the commit history.

Version 0.62

ADSB Integration

Connect to ADSB feeds to visualize aircraft alongside vessels: 

# Beast format
AIS-catcher -t beast localhost 30003 -N 8100

# BaseStation format
AIS-catcher -t basestation localhost 30002 -N 8100

Binary Message Decoding

The WebViewer now decodes and displays regional binary AIS messages (availability varies by location).

Offline Mapping

# MBTiles format support
AIS-catcher -N 8100 MBTILES map.mbtiles
# Or as overlay
AIS-catcher -N 8100 MBOVERLAY map.mbtiles

RTL-SDR V4 Support

Debian packages now include statically-linked RTL-SDR library with V4 dongle support.

AIS-catcher for Android

  • Auto-start decoding when USB device connects
  • Built-in webviewer on configurable port

Version 0.61

MQTT Integration

# Publish messages
AIS-catcher -Q mqtt://127.0.0.1:1883
AIS-catcher -Q wsmqtt://127.0.0.1:1883
AIS-catcher -Q mqtt://127.0.0.1:1883 admin MSGFORMAT JSON_FULL TOPIC data/ais
AIS-catcher -Q mqtt://username:password@127.0.0.1:1883 admin CLIENT aiscatcher

# Subscribe to messages
AIS-catcher -t mqtt://username:password@127.0.0.1:1883

Protocol Expansion

  • WebSocket text transmission (ws://)
  • SDR data streaming (sdr://)
  • Text over TCP (txt://)
  • GPSD integration (gpsd://)
  • RTL_TCP support (rtltcp://)
  • Raw IQ data (tcp://)

Web Viewer Improvements

  • Map-first default view
  • Enhanced color palette
  • Draggable ship information cards
  • Context-aware card positioning
  • Configurable vessel track display (on hover/selection)

Configuration

  • NMEA2000 settings in JSON configuration
  • System daemon auto-restart (10s interval)