New Watchman Plugin

[rgleason]

Nmea Data Alarm -
No GPS for > seconds (works)
No AIS for > seconds (does not receive data)
AIS Collision Alarm > time or distance (Feature request)

Off Course Alarm -
Off Course by greater than > (degrees) :
- Permit entry of a value from 0 to 360 (only 0-180 now)
- The alarm does work within a restricted range.
With Boat Course = (degrees)
- Permit entry of a value from 0 to 360 (only 0-10 now)
- Or Press "Current Course" button & completes with GPS COG.
(Button does not populate this value from COG)

Depth Alarm - (add)
Depth less than < (feet or meters) (range? some sensors only go to 200')

====
Voyage Data Recorder & Opencpn Debugger
-Ability to replay and select restart location, or move forward -slider.
-Join with Opencpn Debugger, checkbox show nmea data with different types nmea and pause.

=====
Lets think about this some more before we put to Flyspray. Your English is fine. -Whats your native language?

[kubek]

rgleason,

Great summary!
I have only one suggestion for that.
I would live (0-180) in "Off Course by >" this value is reasonable
(180 - means completely opposite direction).

Kubek

P.S. My native language is polish.

[rgleason]

Find some appropriate Alarm sounds as wav files:
Nmea (GPS & AIS)
Off Course
Depth
Then possibly figure out how to lengthen-shorten and increase-decrease sound files using programming.

[Viking Sailor]

Depth should have both "to shallow" and "to deep" triggers. Shallow to keep you off the beach, deep to keep you from drifting out to sea, and both to keep you near a depth contour.

[rgleason]

Viking, thanks.
Depth Alarm - (add)
Shallow -Depth less than < (feet or meters)
Deep - Depth greater than > (feet or meters)
Follow Contour using above, both enabled.
(range? some sensors only go to 200', check for Null?)
Nmea Data Alarm -
No GPS for > seconds (works)
No AIS for > seconds (does not receive data)
AIS CPA Distance to Collision Alarm < (nm or miles) [may be redundant]
AIS TCPA Time to Collision Alarm < (minutes) [may be redundant]

kubek, -leave (0-180) in "Off Course by >" this value is reasonable
(180 - means completely opposite direction). -Agreed.

kubek, perhaps Sean intended the Off course alarm to be set with 10 degrees and programmed it for "Boat course" incorrectly?
We need to get the Boat Course "Current Course" button working correctly too.
Also have you ever had the current AIS alarm show anything but N/A? I don't believe it works. If you have seen it working, what VDR file were you using? Thanks.


Is having AIS alarms in Watchman redundent? Think about use & programming issues, getting values into the plugin from Ocpn..maybe this is not a problem.

[wdkester]

I haven't been following this closely, but, after GE and dashboard, it's the one I'm most likely to use. So, referencing the off course alarm, I can see a situation where one might want different limits for port and starboard error. eg. an error to Port might actually get you to your destination and different error to Starboard might be an obstruction that puts the boat in danger. I'm arguing for :
1. Different error settings for Port and starboard. Also-
2. It seems to me that COG is more useful than compass direction, but some might find a use for it. If so then it should be selectable.

[seandepagnier]

There are many possible alarms, and even more options for each one. I cannot implement even a small fraction of possibilities, but I am always accepting patches!

I like to see bilge alarm, wind speed/direction alarms, and depth alarm, so I invite anyone to send me the needed hardware to receive this data and I can implement it, or if someone else can implement it and send a patch it could be included

[rgleason]

Thanks Sean, good ideas. Summary

Nmea Data Alarm -
No GPS for > seconds (works)
No AIS for > seconds (does not seem to receive data always N/A)
AIS CPA Distance to Collision Alarm < (nm or miles) [may be redundant]
AIS TCPA Time to Collision Alarm < (minutes) [may be redundant]
-Are AIS alarms in Watchman redundant?

Off Course Alarm -
Off Course by greater than > (1-180 degrees) (works) :
- Port and Starboard off course settings- eg towards destination, danger.
With Boat Course = (degrees)
- Permit entry of a value from 0 to 360 (0-10 now)
- Or Press "Current Course" button & completes with GPS COG.
Current Course Button does not populate this value from COG.
Sensor Choice - GPS-COG or Compass.

Depth Alarm - (add)
Shallow -Depth less than < (feet or meters)
Deep - Depth greater than > (feet or meters)
Follow Contour using above, both enabled.
(range? some sensors only go to 200', check for Null?)(range? some sensors only go to 200')

Bilge Alarm - (add)
-Connect to a sonar dive dive alarmWind Speed-Direction alarms
High Wind speed - knots, mps, kps
Low Wind Speed - knots, mps, kps
Wind Direction - degrees Set button from instrument
Port Wind Direction - change
Star'd Wind Direction - change

Alarm Settings
Separate sound files for each alarm.
Visual alarm popup has the alarm and value.
Dismiss button for all alarms.
Turn off all alarms button?

====
Voyage Data Recorder & Opencpn Debugger
-Ability to replay and select restart location, or move forward -slider.
-Join with Opencpn Debugger, checkbox show nmea data with different types nmea and pause.

[rgleason]

Some changes.

Nmea Data Alarm -
No GPS for > seconds (works)
No AIS for > seconds (does not seem to receive data always N/A)
AIS CPA Distance to Collision Alarm < (nm or miles) [may be redundant]
AIS TCPA Time to Collision Alarm < (minutes) [may be redundant]
-Are AIS alarms in Watchman redundant?

Off Course Alarm -
Off Course by greater than > (1-180 degrees) (works) :
- Port and Starboard off course settings- eg towards destination, danger.
With Boat Course = (degrees)
- Permit entry of a value from 0 to 360 (0-10 now)
- Or Press "Current Course" button & completes with GPS COG.
Current Course Button does not populate this value from COG.
Sensor Choice - GPS-COG or Compass.

Depth Alarm - (add)
Shallow -Depth less than < (feet or meters)
Deep - Depth greater than > (feet or meters)
Follow Contour using above, both enabled.
(range? some sensors only go to 200', check for Null?)(range? some sensors only go to 200')

Bilge Alarm - (add)
Low water level alarm
-Average Frequency last day
-Average duration last day
-Average Frequency last 30 days
-Average duration last 30 days.
High water level alarm
-Similar
-Connect to a sonar dive dive alarm

Wind Speed-Direction alarms
High Wind speed - knots, mps, kps
Low Wind Speed - knots, mps, kps
Wind Direction - degrees Set button from instrument
Port Wind Direction - change
Star'd Wind Direction - change

Alarm Settings
Separate sound files for each alarm.
Visual alarm popup has the alarm and value.
Dismiss button for all alarms.
Turn off all alarms button?

====
Voyage Data Recorder & Opencpn Debugger
-Ability to replay and select restart location, or move forward -slider.
-Join with Opencpn Debugger, checkbox show nmea data with different types nmea and pause.

[kubek]

Hi,

I have tested updated version of "New Watchman Plugin" and "OFF Course Alarm" works fine. But still "Current Course" button doesn't populate COG in "With Course Of".

Kubek

[rgleason]

Thanks Kubek for testing, that still appears to be a problem, I will try it using VDR to get a boat heading somewhere, to see what happens.

For others:
rtlsdr plugin (win & linux) updated and new compile and some changes by Sean. See Plugins Thread Post #80

[rgleason]

Some alarm ideas from mattj51864's request:

"Here's my list in order of priority to me:"

1) XTE alarm - When sailing with a wind vane, it would be nice to have an alarm go off if you started to wander off course due to a wind change. An XTE alarm would alert you so you could make changes to sails and wind vane direction to get back on course. It might also be the first warning you get if your autopilot quits...

2) Waypoint arrival alarm - Similar to above but will alert you when you need to make a course change. Not as important when using an autopilot, but very important if using something like a wind vane.

3) Watch alarm - A timer (length determined by user) that is reset whenever you interact with the program. If you should doze off while on watch, it will wake you up after a set amount of time. Press a button or click to reset timer at any time. It would be nice to have a warning appear before the alarm sounds, i.e. a dialog box would appear and flash for 30 seconds (user settable) or so before the beeping started to keep from waking everyone up if you forget to click...
--- Watchman has this without some of the detail.

4) Boundary Lines / alarms - In Nobeltec I could mark boundary areas that would set an alarm off if crossed. I used them to mark shorelines / obstructions that might be encountered. Very useful when single handing at night when you might dose off... if lines are set at reasonable distance from dangers, gives you notice if you wander too close.

5) Depth alarm - good for both while at anchor and while exploring those uncharted inlets. Useful for detecting anchor drag or if you missed a shallow spot when checking out an anchorage.
--- Watchman has this.

6) Weather alarms - many boats have weather stations connected with NMEA output. Wind speed might be nice as a reminder to reef the sails... though I admit, this is usually obvious unless you're sleeping and have less experienced crew on watch... Another would be rapid change in barometric pressure.

7) Alarm clock - alarms set to specific times to signal watch changes or other events.

"There are plenty of other alarms that might be nice as well. With all the NMEA data that can be available on a boat these days alarms for engine monitoring (oil pressure, temperature), low voltage, high voltage, high water... I don't have any of these data sources on my boat yet, but maybe someday..."

[rgleason]

Watchman current feature list:
Landfall alarm GPS fix ___ miles from coastline
Nmea Data Alarm No gps for x secs, No AIS for x secs.
Speed Alarm Speed over ground > X and < X
Deadman Alarm No activity for X min
Anchor Watch Radius, boat location
Off Course by > X degrees, with course of X degees.
Alarm action sound, command, message box, repeat

Some updated changes to Feature Requests.
Nmea Data Alarm -
No GPS for > seconds (works)
No AIS for > seconds (does not seem to receive data always N/A)
AIS CPA Distance to Collision Alarm < (nm or miles) [may be redundant]
AIS TCPA Time to Collision Alarm < (minutes) [may be redundant]
-Are AIS alarms in Watchman redundant?

Off Course Alarm -
Off Course by greater than > (1-180 degrees) (works) :
- Port and Starboard off course settings- eg towards destination, danger.
With Boat Course = (degrees)
- Permit entry of a value from 0 to 360 (0-10 now)
- Or Press "Current Course" button & completes with GPS COG.
Current Course Button does not populate this value from COG.
Sensor Choice - GPS-COG or Compass.

XTE alarm (add) -Cross track Alarm - Shows perpendicular distance left or right of course. When sailing with a wind vane, it would be nice to have an alarm go off if you started to wander off course due to a wind change. An XTE alarm would alert you so you could make changes to sails and wind vane direction to get back on course. It might also be the first warning you get if your autopilot quits...

Waypoint arrival alarm (add) - Similar to above but will alert you when you need to make a course change. Not as important when using an autopilot, but very important if using something like a wind vane.

Depth Alarm - (add)
Good for both while at anchor and to exploring uncharted inlets.
Useful for detecting anchor drag or if you missed a shallow spot when checking out an anchorage.
Shallow -Depth less than < (feet or meters)
Deep - Depth greater than > (feet or meters)
Follow Contour using above, both enabled.
(range? some sensors only go to 200', check for Null?)(range? some sensors only go to 200')
Bilge Alarm - (add)
Low water level alarm
-Average Frequency last day
-Average duration last day
-Average Frequency last 30 days
-Average duration last 30 days.
High water level alarm
-Similar
-Connect to a sonar dive dive alarm

Wind Speed-Direction alarms
High Wind speed - knots, mps, kps
Low Wind Speed - knots, mps, kps
Wind Direction - degrees Set button from instrument
Port Wind Direction - change
Star'd Wind Direction - change

Watch Alarms (add) -
A timer (length determined by user) that is reset whenever you interact with the program. If you should doze off while on watch, it will wake you up after a set amount of time. Press a button or click to reset timer at any time. It would be nice to have a warning appear before the alarm sounds, i.e. a dialog box would appear and flash for 30 seconds (user settable) or so before the beeping started to keep from waking everyone up if you forget to click...
--- Watchman has this without some of the detail.

Alarm clock (add) - Alarms set to specific times to signal watch changes or other events.

Boundary Lines / alarms - In Nobeltec I could mark boundary areas that would set an alarm off if crossed. I used them to mark shorelines / obstructions that might be encountered. Very useful when single handing at night when you might dose off... if lines are set at reasonable distance from dangers, gives you notice if you wander too close.
Perhaps this is where to implement this feature, if not perhaps somewhere else.

Weather alarms - many boats have weather stations connected with NMEA output. Wind speed might be nice as a reminder to reef the sails... though I admit, this is usually obvious unless you're sleeping and have less experienced crew on watch... Another would be rapid change in barometric pressure.
--worth considering.

Alarm Settings
Separate sound files for each alarm.
Visual alarm popup has the alarm and value.
Dismiss button for all alarms.
Turn off all alarms button?

====
A note of encouragement about the future (more complexity):
"There are plenty of other alarms that might be nice as well. With all the NMEA data that can be available on a boat these days alarms for engine monitoring (oil pressure, temperature), low voltage, high voltage, high water... I don't have any of these data sources on my boat yet, but maybe someday..."

==
...have tested updated version of "New Watchman Plugin" and "OFF Course Alarm" works fine. But still "Current Course" button doesn't populate COG in "With Course Of".
===

[rgleason]

Newly compiled Watchman Plugin:

watchman_win32_pi110_vo6_ov33814_pi.dll

Sean's note in Github: "Under and over speed alarms and some bug fixes"

Find it in:
Opencpn Beta - File Thingie rguser, rgpass
Directory: Plugins-Win-Opencpn-3.3.604

Looks almost the same to me, but the alarms are probably working better.
Let us know what you find out!

[rgleason]

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