vhfinfo

VHFinfo

VHF channel information based on GeoJSON data. Plugin for SignalK included.

Purpose

While sailing you’re often expected to listen out certain VHF channels. Most of them can be found on the electronic maps, but not always in a handy way. And it requires you to know you have to look for it in advance.

By collection the VHF channel info together with coordinate information it’s easy to display relevant information in the cockpit.

VHF example display

Format used

The information is collected as GeoJSON which holds both coordinates and properties.

Repositories

htool/vhfinfo (this repo): GeoJSON in data/ and the SignalK plugin.
htool/VHFinfoSite: vhfinfo.org (map, Nearby, editor).

Viewing information

See if certain VHF information is already present on the online map.

Adding information

Open the online map, find the area, and press the pencil. Changing the map requires signing in (email link, no password). Site source and sign-in setup live in htool/VHFinfoSite.

Feature rows live in Supabase (supabase/README.md). The map reads that table, with this repo’s data/{CC}.json as fallback. Publishing writes the table; country files here are synced from it.

Drawing the coordinates on the map

Goto one of the following country linke and draw the VHF channel area as a polygon. For different types there are different instructions for drawing:

Lock

Only draw the full locks chambers (typically rectangles). It’s OK to cross over land for multiple chambers

Bridge

Only draw under the bridge, fully from side to side (typically rectangles)

Marina

Free figure polygon that covers only the (land and water if that’s simpler) marina

VTS / VTS Radar support

Here it is important to cover the documented coordinates of the VTS as close as possible, so likely a polygon. In case of half circles on sea towards a port, it’s ok to make it less detailed to reduce points)

Properties template

      "properties": {
        "name": "",           // Full name
        "callname": "",       // Short name typically used in call
        "type": "",           // Operational: Lock, Bridge, Marina, VTS, VTS Radar support, Area, Territorial. Information: information
        "channel": ,          // VHF channel number
        "update": "5 *",      // Update bulletin (eg weather) in this VHF area in 'cron format'
        "vhfdata": {
          "generic": {
            "mode": "listen"  // Radio engagement level for this AIS ship/group type
                              // 'listen':    Listen out the channel for any calls or information
                              // 'announce':  Announce you are entering/leaving the area, or intend to pass bridge/lock
                              // 'report':    More than announce, as certain info is expected. See 'note' for details
            "url": "",        // URL with generic info like opening hours, approach guide etc. or in case of non-generic purpose
            "phone": ""       // Phone number in E.164 formatting
          }
          "pleasure": {       // AIS ship/group type as string. (https://coast.noaa.gov/data/marinecadastre/ais/VesselTypeCodes2018.pdf)
            "url":  ""        // URL aimed at pleasure ships
          },
          "passenger": {
            "note": ""        // Note aimed at passenger ships
          },
          "fishing": {
            "mode": "announce"  // Overwrites mode for fishing ships
          },
          "cargo": {
            "mode": "report",
            "note": "",         // Extra details on what to report
            "url":  ""          // URL aimed at cargo ships
          },
          "emergency": {
            "url":                  // Information for emergencies in this area
            "phone": ""             // Emergency phone number
          }
        }
      }
    }

Plugins

Plugins can be create separate from this repository and just use VHFinfo as database. Listing them here could make them easier to find.

SignalK

The plugin lets you configure the search ‘beam’ by specifying the length and angle as well as the SignalK path to write to. The plugin flow is as follows:

Determine own location using navigation.position
Draw a boundry box around the location with 100Nm (configurable) ribs
Use countries_bbox.json to create bboxes and check if they intersect with the locationBox from step 2
Read features from intersecting to see which intersect with locationBox from 2 and keep them in memory (featuresInBox)
Use headingTrue, headingMagnetic, COG or bbox and location to create a searchPolygon ‘beam’ (or bbox) using the plugin config parameters
Split features in memory into operational and information, filter and sort as in Nearby ordering.
/plugins/vhfinfo/nearby (and /signalk/v1/api/vhfinfo/nearby on SK 2.x) returns that ordered list.
Write a compact live delta at vhfinfo.nearby ({ id, distance, bearing } with bearing in radians). While path / pathNr are set, also write the existing JSON blobs (no exploded leaf paths).

Nearby ordering

The Nearby list (plugin, and the same rules on vhfinfo.org/nearby) is two families concatenated: operational first, then information. A coast-radio station never ranks above a lock just because its transmitter is closer.

Operational — vts, vts radar support, lock, bridge, marina, area, territorial

Keep the feature only if its polygon intersects the search beam (heading / COG wedge). With no heading, or below the configured minimum speed, the beam is an omnidirectional box of the same length.
distance is signed metres to the polygon boundary: negative means the ship is inside (INSIDE in the UI).
Sort by absolute distance, nearest boundary first.

Information — GeoJSON type information (coast radio / remotes)

Ignore the beam. Keep the feature only if the ship is inside the coverage polygon.
distance is positive metres to the polygon centroid (the “transmitter” for a circle).
Sort by that distance, nearest centre first.

Metres in the API stay metres. The website may show values over 1852 m as nautical miles; that is display only and does not change the order.

Example A — beam ahead, lock and VTS

Heading east, 4 km / 90° beam. A marina astern does not intersect the beam, so it is omitted.

Feature	In beam?	Boundary distance	Rank
VTS sector	yes	+800 m (ahead)	1
Lock	yes	+2100 m (ahead)	2
Marina (behind)	no	—	omitted

Example B — already in the lock

Same beam. Inside the chamber the boundary distance is negative; sort still uses |distance|.

Feature	Boundary distance	`\\|d\\|`	Rank
Lock (you are in it)	−12 m	12 m	1
Marina off to starboard	+400 m	400 m	2

INSIDE is the sign of the distance, not a separate sort key.

Example C — overlapping coast radio

No heading involved. Two coverage circles overlap the ship; a third does not contain the ship.

Feature	Ship inside?	Distance to centre	Rank
Coast radio A	yes	3 km	1 among information
Coast radio B	yes	18 km	2 among information
Coast radio C	no	—	omitted

Example D — mixed list

Operational block, then information block:

Lock (−12 m)
VTS (+800 m)
Coast radio A (3 km to centre)
Coast radio B (18 km to centre)

Coast radio A is closer than the VTS in a straight line, but it stays after every operational hit.

SignalK App Store installs come from the npm package vhfinfo. A GitHub Action publishes a new patch version at most once per UTC day when country GeoJSON in data/ or the SignalK plugin in plugin/ has changed since the last release (see .github/workflows/npm-publish-geojson.yml). Publishing uses npm trusted publishing (GitHub OIDC), so you do not need a rotating npm access token. Once, as package owner on npmjs.com: Package → Settings → Trusted Publisher → GitHub Actions, with organization htool, repository vhfinfo, workflow filename npm-publish-geojson.yml, and allowed action npm publish.

API

The ranked Nearby list (search beam, signed boundary distance, information by centroid) is:

/plugins/vhfinfo/nearby

On Signal K 2.x that path is admin-only. Readonly clients (MFD tiles with allow_readonly) use:

/signalk/v1/api/vhfinfo/nearby
/signalk/v1/api/vhfinfo/options

The MFD tile (public/index.html) polls that nearby GET and subscribes to compact vhfinfo.nearby. It does not read exploded leaf paths. Compact hits are joined with the nearby payload (or a Region by id) for name and channel.

Coverage polygons are also served as Signal K regions (read-only). The catalog around the boat is a square centered on the vessel (or query position) that extends search beam length north, south, east, and west, so each edge is 2× that length. A client bbox still selects a map view. Ranked Nearby is not this list.

GET /signalk/v2/api/resources/regions?provider=vhfinfo
GET /signalk/v2/api/resources/regions?provider=vhfinfo&bbox=[lon1,lat1,lon2,lat2]
GET /signalk/v2/api/resources/regions/{id}

SignalK path

Live nearby hits are written as one compact array (no nested leaves):

vhfinfo.nearby = [ { id, distance, bearing }, ... ]

id matches the Region resource. distance is metres (signed for operational). bearing is radians relative to heading (or 0 if there is no heading).

While the plugin path / pathNr options are set (default vhfdata.nearest, 5 slots), the same nearest-of-type and numbered list are still written as JSON string blobs on those paths so the SignalK Instrument Display Plugin keeps working. Unused numbered slots are null. Leaf paths such as vhfdata.nearest.0.channel are no longer published.

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