How to configure Digital Yacht AIS Transponder

In order to facilitate the use and configuration of our AIS transponders, our new AIS transponders now have a built-in web interface. This is the case for the Nomad 2, iAISTX, iAISTX Plus and AIT5000 (since March 2020). These devices create a WiFi network on board and configure themselves by connecting to WiFi. The configuration of the transponder can therefore be done through a computer, a tablet or even a smartphone and most importantly, no software is required. Our other transponders can only be configured through a computer by connecting the USB and downloading a specific software (ProAIS2).

If you have an AIT1500, AIT2000, AIT2500 or Nomad, then you must go to the next section.

After installing and powering the device, here is the procedure to configure the AIS transponder through the web interface.

You need to connect to the WiFi network created by the AIS transponder (The network name may differ depending on the model: DY-AIS-xxxx or iAISTX-xxxx).

The WiFi password is: PASS-xxxx (xxxx is a 4-digit code unique to your device and is the same as the 4 digits on the WiFi network name).

Example: if you have an iAISTX and its WiFi network name is: IAISTX-4D5C then the WiFi password is: PASS-4D5C.

Then, open a web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.) and either enter the IP address of the transponder

http://192.168.1.1

This is the section in which you enter the MMSI and Static data to program the transponder.

On the web interface homepage, click Settings. Scroll down to the Vessel Details section, where you can start to enter the boat data.

The ship name and call sign will automatically appear and be stored as capitals, regardless of whether you entered them in upper or lower case.

The MMSI number can only be programmed once, so particular care should be taken to check that it is correctly typed in. All other data can be changed at any time.

Select the Vessel type by clicking on the drop-down list and selecting the vessel type most applicable to your vessel.

Finally enter the four offset measurements of where the GNSS (GPS) antenna is mounted on your boat. These values are to the nearest meter and it is better to round up rather than down. For most pleasure craft these measurements are just for information for any vessel receiving the data, but for larger boats and commercial vessels they are important as some chart systems draw the AIS targets to scale on the electronic chart, based on the measurements you enter.

Once you are happy that all your boat static data has been entered correctly, remembering to double check the MMSI number, click the Update Settings button and the details will be stored in the AIS non-volatile memory.

Now power cycle the AIS, waiting a couple of seconds between powering OFF and then back ON again.

Once the AIS is configured, it is sometimes useful to check how the transponder is performing or to remotely switch the transponder into Silent Mode. This can all be accessed by clicking the Status panel on the iAIS TX web interface Home Page and viewing the AIS Status section (Fig 5).

The web interface gives a real-time display of the LED Status of the unit (useful if it is hidden behind a panel), shows the status of the key factors that affect the transponder  Supply Voltage, GPS fix and VSWR value  and also provides a GNSS satellite status graph showing the satellites being tracked and used for navigation.

A series of simple Tick and Cross icons give an immediate indication of correct operation. You also have the RX and TX count to show how many targets have been received and how many successful transmissions the AIS has made.

Please note: when you first display this web page, you will need to wait until the AIS makes a transmission before it can check/tick the AIS Antenna and AIS has transmitted a position report status. Also, if you close the browser window and re-open it, all of the TX and RX counts will return to zero.

To put the AIS into Silent Mode, click the Silent button and the blue Silent LED will illuminate (Fig 6). If left in Silent Mode for more than a few minutes, the green Power LED will go off and the yellow Timeout LED will illuminate.

To start transmitting again, simply click the Silent button again and the blue Silent LED will go off. As soon as the AIS makes its next transmission, the green Power LED should illuminate, indicating that everything is working correctly and that all self-tests have passed.

Sometimes it is useful to monitor the NMEA data that the AIS is outputting to any wireless device running a navigation app.

From the AIS web interface Home Page, click the View Data panel and you should see the page shown in the image above.

As well as viewing the data, it is also possible to record a log file of the data, which can be useful for diagnostics.

Click the Start Log switch, wait a suitable amount of time to collect the data you need, and then click the Stop Log switch. To Save (download) the log file, click the Save Log button.

The Pause button can be used at any time to freeze the scrolling data to make it easier to read.

By default, the AIS unit is in Access Point mode. This means it creates its own password-protected wireless network and automatically provides network settings to any device that connects to it (via DHCP). You can change the default network name and password, if required, and the wireless channel that the AIS uses (Channel 1 by default).

If you already have a wireless network on the boat and you would prefer the AIS to be part of this network, rather than create another one, you can make it operate in Station mode. Select Station mode and then choose from the drop-down list the network you would like to join and enter that network password.

Once you are happy that everything is correct, click the Update Settings button and the AIS will store the new settings and reboot (normally takes about 20 seconds).

Please note: when operating in Station mode, the AIS also maintains its own wireless network and operates in a combined AP+STA mode. Should you have any difficulties in connecting the AIS to another network because the other network is turned off, has a fault, or you entered the password incorrectly  you can still connect to the AIS own wireless network and access the web interface to check settings.

The network settings can be accessed from the AIS web interface Home Page by clicking the Settings panel, located at the top of the page.

The proAIS2 software is included on the CD-ROM supplied with all of our AIS transponders. If you do not have the CD-ROM or your laptop cannot read a CD-ROM, then you can download the software for Windows by clicking here or for Mac by clicking here. The functionality of the proAIS2 software is the same on Windows or Mac.

Installation of the proAIS2 software also installs the USB drivers, and we recommend not plugging the transponder USB cable into the PC/Mac until after you have installed proAIS2. Once the installation is complete, plug the USB cable into the computer to complete the USB driver installation.

The transponder receives enough power from the USB connection to power the processor and ancillary circuitry required to configure the transponder. However, the GPS will not get a fix, the NMEA interfaces will not be working, and the transponder will not transmit while on USB power.

For more information on installing proAIS2 on a Mac, please refer to a previous article by clicking here.

Digital Yacht are not the only company that supply proAIS2 with transponders, but to our knowledge, we are the only company to produce a video showing how to configure and diagnose Class B transponders with it. So we hope that not only Digital Yacht users but also owners of other brands will benefit from this video.

To find out how to use the proAIS2 software to configure an AIS transponder, please watch the video below…