If you can join a WiFi network and paste one line, you can feed Telltale. No coding, no marine-electronics degree, no account hoops.
provision.sh installs everything.⏱️ Most people are fully up and running the same evening the box lands — 10–20 minutes for a plug-in option, an evening if you're soldering a kit from scratch.
Three ways, cheapest to most plug-and-play. More money = less fiddling.
| 1 · DIY gateway | 2 · Buy-a-box | 3 · All-in-one | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Cheapest google 'ESP32 NMEA2000 gateway' + N2K plugs if needed |
Cheap google 'Elfin EW11' + a spare PC/phone |
Pricier google 'Matsutec AR-12' |
| What it is | ESP32 + CAN transceiver — flash & wire it, or buy it built | Elfin EW11 (serial→WiFi) + our free bridge script | Matsutec AR-12 — one USB box |
| Soldering | Kit: 3 wires · Assembled: none | None | None |
| Needs a computer aboard | No — it uploads itself | Yes — any Pi/old phone/laptop | Yes — a laptop/tablet |
| Gives your GPS position | Yes (from your instruments) | Yes (from your instruments) | Yes — built-in GPS |
| Needs existing instruments | Yes — taps N2K/0183 bus | Yes — taps NMEA 0183 out | No — works on a bare boat |
| Best for | Tinkerers; cheapest possible | No-solder, still cheap | A boat with no electronics |
A different job: one box at the clubhouse records everyone, 24/7 — so any race is captured in the background, ready to open as a replay in a few clicks. Nothing to switch on come race day.
Loads of clubs already own the perfect receiver without realising it. Many fixed-mount VHFs and chartplotters have an AIS receiver built in — e.g. Standard Horizon GX6000 / Quantum, Icom M605 / M506 / M510 (+AIS), and most MFDs. If yours does, it's already wired to the clubhouse's tall VHF antenna — and height + a clear view of the water is the single biggest factor in how far you hear. That aerial beats any dongle setup.
It already spits AIS out as NMEA, so you skip the dongle entirely and just bridge that stream to us:
Then AIS-catcher reads that existing feed (no dongle — -e 38400 <port> for serial, or a
TCP/UDP source) and forwards it on with one line. Add the WiFi and PC the club already has, and the only spend is a
small adapter — often nothing. Best aerial + gear you already own = the cheapest, best-performing station there is.
No AIS source yet? Add one — cheapest first:
On Windows, download ⬇ AIS-catcher (free, from us) and follow the Contribute page. On a Pi, one line installs it — the ready-to-paste command's on the Contribute page too. Set it once, forget it — nothing to do on race day.
Ready? Get your free feed key →
We keep exact prices off — they date fast and vary by supplier. Google the item names above for current NZ pricing (you'll often do better buying direct or in bulk). All parts are commodity off-the-shelf — Telltale is device-agnostic, so anything that outputs NMEA 0183/2000 or AIS works.