ais2adsb

This Python script converts AIS NMEA lines received over UDP to BaseStation format and sends it to a specified server e.g. Virtual Radar Server (VRS). Main purpose is to plot data on SAR aircraft picked up by AIS receivers in ADS-B plotting software. The following is an example of a SAR helicopter broadcasting AIS messages plotted in VRS using AIS messages converted by ais2adsb (courtesy of jonboy1081):

And plotted using the ADS-B data:

This is a nice example where sometimes AIS has better reception than ADS-B. The idea for this tool came from flygfantast and jonboy1081.

Usage

AIS2ADSB v0.14- see https://github.com/jvde-github/ais2adsb
Usage: (python) ais2adsb.py <AIS UDP address> <AIS UDP IP> <AIS UDP port> <SBS TCP IP> <SBS TCP port> <options>
Options:
	FILE xxxx        : read mmsi <-> ICAO mapping from file xxxx
	SHIPS on/off     : include ships in sendout
	CALLSIGN on/off  : include generated callsigns in sendout
	PRINT on/off     : print mmsi/ICAO dictionary
	SAVE xxxx        : save mmsi/ICAO dictionary to file xxxx

This is the minimal command line:

python3 ./ais2adsb.py 192.168.1.235 4002 192.168.1.239 30003

which reads AIS messages coming in on a computer with IP address 192.168.1.235 and port 4002 and sends it to VRS running at 192.168.1.239 port 30003. Below some more instructions to set up.

As a side note, if your receiver is AIS-catcher, you can send it to ais2adsb using the -u option:

AIS-catcher -u 192.168.1.235 4002 .....

There are only a few options. The FILE setting will read in a file with a Python Dictionary that maps MMSI numbers to 24-bit ICAO numbers. The Dictionary functionality allows the user to let the program use a pre-defined mapping. If not provided ais2adsb will auto generate ICAO numbers of the form FXXXXX based on the MMSI number or from a default dictionary embedded in the program. The PRINT on option will trigger dumping the Dictionary to stderr periodically (so it can be put back in via the FILE option if desired)

The SHIPS setting (on/off, default is off) will instruct the program to also include vessels in the sendout. By default only SAR Aircraft broadcasting AIS message type 9 are included. A callsign based on MMSI will be included by default, unless the option CALLSIGN off is given. A full example is:

python3 ./ais2adsb.py 192.168.1.235 4002 192.168.1.239 30003 SHIPS on FILE mapping.dict PRINT on CALLSIGN off

Installation

For Windows users who do not have Python installed there is a package available in the Release sections created via pyinstaller. Usually it is simplest though to install Python3 and pyais (if not already installed):

sudo apt install python3 pip
pip3 install pyais

Then download the current package and enter the directory:

git clone https://github.com/jvde-github/ais2adsb.git
cd ais2adsb

Set up for example VRS so that it can receive BaseStation messages as a TCP server:

The NMEA input should be send over UDP. Most AIS software including AIS-catcher can easily be set up to achieve this, see above. For now we will assume you will have a stream of messages send to the local computer (say 192.168.1.235 at port 4002). To create BaseStation messages and send to the server use the following command:

python3 ./ais2adsb.py 192.168.1.235 4002 192.168.1.239 30003

where 192.168.1.239 is the PC running VRS.

This will only pass on SAR aircraft messages. For testing it could be interesting to pass on ship positions as well:

python3 ./ais2adsb.py 192.168.1.235 4002 192.168.1.239 30003 SHIPS on

You will see in the VRS main window that the client has connected and hopefully some messages have been sent as well:

The final output in the webinterface of VRS will look something like:

Default dictionary

The default MMSI to ICAO mapping is shown below which is kindly provided by jonboy1081 and flygfantast. This is also the input format when reading in a dictionary from file:

{ 111232512:0x406C79, 111232511:0x406C82, 111232513:0x406C8E, 111232516:0x406D2C, 111232517:0x406D2D, 111232523:0x406DDB, 111232524:0x406DDC, 111232529:0x406F8B, 111232526:0x406EE7,
            111232528:0x406F2D, 111232518:0x406D21, 111232533:0x406DE5, 111232522:0x406DE6, 111232527:0x406DE7, 111232525:0x406DE8, 111232534:0x406DE9, 111232535:0x406DEA,111232537:0x406DEB,
            111232539:0x406DED, 111232531:0x43ECF4, 250002898:0x4CA98D, 250002897:0x4CA98F, 250002902:0x4CA98B, 250004879:0x4CACA4, 250002901:0x4CA98C, 111232519:0x48644B,111232538:0x485F8F,
            111503003:0x4860B1, 111232509:0x47BFE4, 111265103:0x4AB423, 111224519:0x346105, 111503031:0x7C7590, 111257008:0x47812B, 111257014:0x478131, 111247506:0x32001B,
            111211507:0x3DF1AD, 111224518:0x34220E, 11120554:0x44B918, 111224504:0x343318, 831582013:0x33FD3F, 111224522:0x346401 }

To do

• Fine tuning
• Integrate into other software
• ....