AO27 AIS reception

[mrgregjames]

How do I improve the AIS signal reception on the AO27? The AIS LED green light only blinks sporadically and I'm not seeing any ships on OpenCPN via the wi-fi, (very strong connection). Also, my VHF radio shares the same antenna (also from the AIS/VHF splitter) and is receiving both radio and AIS data no problem, (there are three ships within a stone's throw). Any help?

[g4emm]

I cant be specific for your installation however a passive splitter may not help as there may be loss depending on your arrangement. I had one though and I did try a filtered amplifier with approx 20dB gain with a 0.7dB noise figure whilst this improved reception it still didnt match the performance of similar receivers from other manufacturers. Unfortunately I dont have detailed info on the unit or a test set for testing this unit to the advertised spec - I sent it back for repair as I thought it was faulty but it was just the same on return. I think you have got what you paid for, lots of good features but poor sensitivity at a quarter the price of other units.