Wave File and shipplotting.

[holyshipmon]

We are toying around with the notion of adding VHF audio files from hobbiest radio operators receiving marine broadcasts to our google maps that plot ships and other vessels. The idea would be that a radio operator could receive a signal from an area which we are already tracking ships, upload the audio file(or some other realtime audio type feed) to our site, and listen to and track the ships that they are listening to. We have incorporated ship photos to this site so not only would one be able to see a pic of the ship, track the ship, but they would also be able to hear traffic in the area and maybe hear/see the actual ship they are tracking all real time(except the pic of course).

Anyone that can explain how a radio operator can turn their VHF feed into a real time internet wave type file would be appreciated.

Any examples you may have of VHF in this capacity would be greatly appreciated as well.

Any other feedback on this idea would be great as well.

Thanks,

Chris Shelby
www.shipplotting.com

 

[fredclausen]

Only thing I can think of would be something like www.liveatc.net, which uses icecast/shoutcast server streaming. Basically, your hobbyists would stream real time audio to the central shoutcast server, and the enthusiasts could listen in with any mp3 program.

The liveatc.net staff has incorporated logging of the feeds so that you can go back and listen to air traffic from up to 10 days in the past for covered areas.

 

[OceanaRadio]

Chris,

As I suggested in SP in the hopes that you or someone would volunteer to enable such a system for AIS users, Teamspeak is the most efficient and preferred method for obtaining streaming-audio. It is not done by a file, that is not real-time.

The provider of the audio-feed simply connects a patch cord from their VHF or HF radio to their soundcard Line-In connection, and the Teamspeak software program streams it to a hosting server, where it is sent back to the participating Teamspeak members. An audio-feed can be received in near real-time (internet delays can be 1-5 seconds due to the bandwidth of streaming audio), and listeners can then hear for example, Marine Ch-14 Port Control on their left-channel stereo speaker and Marine Ch-16 Hailing and Distress on their right-channel speaker. The host-server can handle multiple provider-feeds and a menu allows users to select which (and how many) channels they want to monitor. High speed DSL or cable-modem internet connection is required for any kind of streaming audio.

Yahoo Chat Rooms as well as any Instant Messenger system with audio have always been able to do the same thing, but they are without a central library of desired feeds to choose from and only one feed direction at a time can be handled on those. I used to run several audio-feeds through such chat rooms for maritime and aircraft monitoring, but abandoned those feeds about the time Teamspeak was becoming popular some years ago, and have no personal experience with it. But I still know some experts who use it extensively if you run into trouble setting it up.

Regards,

Jack
Virginia Beach VA

 

[holyshipmon]

Jack

Thanks for the info. Aric is the computer guy but he will be detained the next couple of months learning to fly jets for the Navy(rough huh?) so I thought I would start asking questions and gathering information about this concept. We will work towards this on our www.shipplotting.com site and think it will tie multiple hobbiest groups together at one common site. Should be cool if we can put ship tracking, ship photos, and then live audio all together. Thanks for the advice and comments. I am sure once the computer guy is back in business he will be hitting you up for some direction.

If you or anyone else reading this comes up with any other ideas feel free to shout it out.

Chris Shelby
www.shipplotting.com