To provide a low cost digital data reception service to vessels at sea, ISI FISH recommends the radio satellite solution developed by Omnisat: a Land-Sea communication service and a data reception kit.
USA company Omnisat, based in Dulles, Virginia, provides a Land-Sea communication service (downstream connection) which uses the WorldSpace satellite digital radio broadcasting system, available in areas covered by the geostationary satellites AfriStar and Asiastar.
The information (audio, graphical and text) is sent in digital format via satellite to a specific channel for each vessel and received on board via an omni-directional radio antenna in the L-band.
The data is then decoded by the radio reception interface and displayed on the on board PC.
This service is highly economical in relation to existing satellite telecommunication systems and requires little investment: a reception kit comprising an antenna and the interface.
It is robust and unaffected by weather conditions.
It is suitable for small vessels as the antenna requires little space and communication costs are low.
The main advantage of this service is that it provides each vessel with a personalised email address via which it can receive digital data on board, at sea and on land.
Through this service, SeaStar data and other documents (text or graphics) can be received via the vessel’s email address.
