OpenCPN AIS plugin (for Windows)

[battenfan]

Download OpenCPN
(You need to figure out how to install maps yourselves. There's a bundled plugin for a few areas.)
Download plugin RTLSDR

Reading forums, it seems easier to get it to work in Linux than Windows.
Here's some info, you can probably skip the step about Zadig if you've already had it running with SDR#.
The default ais program, rtl_fm, doesn't work, I'm probably missing some file. I can't make heads or tails of his README file. He is mixing Linux and Windows instructions. So I added rtl_ais.exe and pthreadGC2.dll in the plugin directory.
Download rtl_ais

It's useful to check fft on SDR# if you might need to adjust for ppm error. Messages should be coming in on 161.975 and 162.025 MHz within 1.2 MHz.

 

[battenfan]

I disabled the RTLSDR plugin as it doesn't work. rtl_ais is receiving messages but vessels appear only sporadically on the chart.
Neither did its auto error correction, it suggested ppm -97 when +80 were spot on for my dongle.

Better to start rtl_ais from command line (or Launcher plugin?) and add a "Connection" in Options and read from rtl_ais' UDP port.
Nmea Server for Tests | Official OpenCPN Homepage

Works like a charm.