Navigation Devices ?

[monstads]

Originally Posted by conachair

Sorry , not so. Boats have been sailing for centurys with all the nav happening at the nav table. No sudden need to have it all in the cockpit.

Desperately trying to keep the thread on topic, has anyone in the world got opencpn running on a Raspberry Pi yet??

I've been able to compile it in a QEMU ARM emulator, running the Raspberry PI Fedora distribution. Had issues with the emulators keyboard and mouse behavior that I decided not to fight.

My PI is supposed to ship next week, so I will definitely be trying to put OPENCPN on it. I do have a feeling that it will run (or walk) on the PI, but that it will be too underpowered.
Latest thinking is using the PI as a sensor / nmea bridge to something like MXMariner on an android device. Oh, and play movies on a HDTV at night ..

[Sailcraft]

Hi Eric,
I have just set up and trialed a new laptop based system, (after years of tiral and error). The new set uses Opencpn with a Globalsat BU353 gps antenna and a AIS usb receiver with the AIS data dispalyed on Open CPN and it works very well, especially the AIS alarm bells when a ship comes withing my chosen alarm range. Sadly only the GPS antenna would fall within your budget. Regards MB

[Canibul]

I apologize up front for an extremely dumb question, but can one of you guys steer me to the first step in using openCPN? We just bought a boat that came loaded up with pirated nav software (MaxSEA) and if it makes sense, I would just as soon use something legit and modern that is getting support. Our cruising area is the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Central America. We have a bunch of laptops on board, running Windows XP and 7. The XPs were bought used off eBay because they have serial ports to hook up with several older Garmin GPS.
How do I get started looking into openCPN?
I don't mind making financial contributions to software I use, either.

[Sailcraft]

Dear Canibul,
Sounds like a load of fun with the old PS,s and systems. I have used Capn Voyager for years as it is simple, until OpenCPN came along and it is bliss due to the total lack of complication. I am sure there are others on CF who can provide expert advice on this issue. I am ocusing on the joys of having AIS and Plotter on one stand alone laptop with both GPS and AIS powered by USB ports, no hard wiring, antenna splitters or power supplies. Both reseivers (USB) cables are serial port adaptors. Simple. Cheers MB

[conachair]

The Pi works but very slow.
Yachting and Boating World Forums - View Single Post - YAPP: A Sailing Raspberry Pi

[delcrest]

HI all, what navigation software / charts are you using for the rest of the world, been playing with opencpn but not having any joy trying to convert scanned charts to .KAP files, its just toooo involved and i am afraid i could have made a error in the calibration with out knowing it, for the USA ( free noa charts) it seems great, for the rest of the world i am not so sure

[zeehag]

strange how i manage to sail and navigate with paper charts, grmin and radar without problems......

[David M]

The advantage to having an electronic chart in the cockpit is that at a glance you know your position on a chart and your course over ground. This is helpful not so much out in open waters where you have the time to leave the helm to go below and plot your position but when you are inland, in a narrow channel or in any other kind of situation where not being exactly where you need to be might put you in trouble.

For my job an electronic chart is a huge time saver. I don't have to take the time to plot a position on paper. I still keep paper charts as a backup though.

[zeehag]

i use my garmin in cockpit, paper in cabin.