O4 Smoke Test...

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by HappySeagull

(whine) I still think "Advance Wpt On Arrival" should be ON as default. (Toolbox/Ships tab)
A brand new install on a heretofore-languishing XP machine (extracting from the downloaded exe as a portable) had it off. I am not a route guy but it seems wrong for a new user.

But, O's looking great after her time at the spa!

Features are supposed to be frozen at this point. And since it's something that the vast majority of people set once and leave it forever, it may not be that important.

I'm not sure exactly how I want to have this setting when my sailing season resumes, but I think that as a general principle, the waypoint advancement should be the least restrictive for new users (i.e., it tends to advance even if you "cut the corner"). Otherwise, there may be a lot of people who come here wanting to know "why doesn't my waypoint advance?"

Once someone gets a little more advanced and goes hunting through the options, they can decide whether they want to make the setting more restrictive.

[HappySeagull]

I know it's too late...I think the opposite of everyone else but I haven't tried it ;and I won't let that stop me from commenting

because,
I'd expect a new user to try to hit the wpts on the route and be a little suprised if they happened to make a two second(?) deviation for a log or traffic and consequently find they were now expected to head for the next wpt. I think that's a litte odd as a default.

[jongough]

Hi,
The setting that is used as the default is the way that OCPN used to work before this feature was added. The new feature was added to enable those sailing to have a route they could 'follow' without having the next waypoint activated every time they sailed away from the waypoint.

With this feature activated (tick in the box) you have to arrive at a line perpendicular to your route through the waypoint. The arrival radius is taken into account as to how close to this line you have to arrive. So you don't actually have to arrive at the waypoint to automatically advance to the new waypoint, but do have to arrive somewhere along the perpendicular line through the waypoint. My wording may be confusing, but the effect is to make the route and active waypoints more stable when sailing.

I am not sure which setting should be the default as I am sure each one will seem confusing to some of the users. Is the explanation in the manual sufficient, or does it need reworking?

Jon

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by HappySeagull

...I'd expect a new user to try to hit the wpts on the route and be a little suprised if they happened to make a two second(?) deviation for a log or traffic and consequently find they were now expected to head for the next wpt...

No more surprised than someone who passes a waypoint a little outside the radius, and is told that he should go backwards to return to the waypoint.

I remember the first time I cut a corner with a route active in OpenCPN. I said to myself, "I guess I need to manually advance to the next waypoint." I looked down and it was already advanced automatically. I thought, "Gee, that's nice."

Bottom line is that you should trust your eyes over any chartplotter, no matter what waypoint is selected. I plot very conservative routes and then cut corners based on visual confirmation that it's safe to do so.

I've never seen a 2 second dodge maneuver make a difference in waypoint advancement. Do you have a cigarette boat or something?

[jackdale]

Win 7 pro - works well so far

Win 8.1 tablet - works well so far

(after I enabled my plugins especially BSB4 and did a Force Full Database Rebuild to get my Canadian charts.)

[bdbcat]

RD....

I remember the first time I cut a corner with a route active in OpenCPN.  I said to myself, "I guess I need to manually advance to the next  waypoint." I looked down and it was already advanced automatically. I  thought, "Gee, that's nice."

Precisely!


The wording for the new option should have been:
Advance Wpt Only On Arrival"

Dave

[Rasbats]

Win 7 Pro 32 Bit

Using the VisitMyHarbour chartstick:

VMH charts initially worked in non-OpenGL but not in OpenGL mode. Found that my machine was running OpenGL 1.1!

Updated the graphics display adaptor driver and found myself running OpenGL 3.1. The RealTech VR OpenGL Extensions Viewer was useful for diagnosis:

http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/download.php

The chart display has improved a lot and VMH now runs fine in OpenGL mode.

The OTCurrent plugin also runs well in O4.

The TCurrent plugin for UK waters, available as a demo download from VMH, runs with this version, although the speed of rendering is faster without OpenGL on my machine.

Thanks again to Dave and the team.

[HappySeagull]

No more surprised than someone who passes a waypoint a little outside the radius, and is told that he should go backwards to return to the waypoint.

I have never been suprised by this. Infact to use a hiking example, a wpt is often specifically placed so as to find the next landmark visually in heavy brush or forest . There are often just as good reasons to hit the mark underway.

...soooo, just to beat this to a pulp and sort-of repeat myself, the option is to right-click the next mark and choose "activate", another possibility is to increase wpt arrival radius if your steering is commonly too difficult to arrive within 300 feet-but this isn't adviseable-just the opposite-in a very narrow channel.

I've never seen a 2 second dodge maneuver make a difference in waypoint advancement.

Then how long does it take?
Now, I know that the manual will be updated sometime but nowhere have I found more than this:
When following a Route OpenCPN normally decides to advance to the next waypoint if at least one of the following two conditions apply.

1. The "normal range" is less than the declared arrival radius.ok, that's easy.
2. Ownship is moving away from the target waypoint, and has been for more than two seconds. hmmmmm?

I think I get the shortcut thing and, in a similar way , I regularly ignore instructions from a car-gps and let it "recalculate"...I just don't get why taking "shortcut" is a default.

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by HappySeagull

...Then how long does it take?
Now, I know that the manual will be updated sometime but nowhere have I found more than this:
When following a Route OpenCPN normally decides to advance to the next waypoint if at least one of the following two conditions apply.

1. The "normal range" is less than the declared arrival radius.ok, that's easy.
2. Ownship is moving away from the target waypoint, and has been for more than two seconds. hmmmmm?

I think I get the shortcut thing and, in a similar way , I regularly ignore instructions from a car-gps and let it "recalculate"...I just don't get why taking "shortcut" is a default.

I think you're comparing apples and oranges. A dodge maneuver rarely requires you turn completely around and head away from the waypoint. So you wouldn't be heading away from the waypoint at all in a dodge maneuver.

However, if you pass abeam of the waypoint, you'll be going away from it and ready to go to the next waypoint. That's the very common scenario described in #2.

Why would someone take shortcuts? How about if there's a big cargo ship approaching your waypoint? As I mentioned, my routes are all plotted conservatively - well away from shore (within the confines of my river and upper bay). But I'll routinely cut the corners upon visual confirmation that I'm not wandering into a collection of crab pots or other uncharted obstacles.

I think the default is fine as it is. I'm just one opinion, though.

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by Rasbats

...The OTCurrent plugin also runs well in O4...

Could you try it in course-up mode while underway or running a VDR recording? Alternatively, try it with manual rotation [] activated and charts rotated. I am still having the problem with the current arrows pointing the wrong direction if the screen is rotated. Basically they point the same direction even if the chart rotates under them, so they're only correct in north-up mode.

I reported this on Flyspray.

[HappySeagull]

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

I think you're comparing apples and oranges. A dodge maneuver rarely requires you turn completely around and head away from the waypoint. So you wouldn't be heading away from the waypoint at all in a dodge maneuver.

However, if you pass abeam of the waypoint, you'll be going away from it and ready to go to the next waypoint. That's the very common scenario described in #2.

Why would someone take shortcuts? How about if there's a big cargo ship approaching your waypoint? As I mentioned, my routes are all plotted conservatively - well away from shore (within the confines of my river and upper bay). But I'll routinely cut the corners upon visual confirmation that I'm not wandering into a collection of crab pots or other uncharted obstacles.

I think the default is fine as it is. I'm just one opinion, though.

I am trying to think conservatively too... and anyways aren't right angle turns the minimum correction in several instances? if only because many obstructions cannot be seen "beforehand"...

(I was out trying this feature in the dinghy....but so far I am lacking a trained whale...)

[jongough]

The original name for this modification was 'Sailing'. The mod was done to help when sailing and to stop the active waypoint moving on when you were no where near the waypoint.

I am not sure if you sail boats, but in the best case going to windward the most advance sail boats achieve ~30deg to the apparent wind, the typical cruising sail boat is somewhere between 45deg and 60deg to apparent wind. Even if you achieve 30deg you still have about 5deg of side slip through the water. Now take into account the difference between apparent wind and true wind and you and add ~10deg. In my case the best I can achieve in flat water, no current, light (10kn) winds is 45deg to apparent wind including slip. In normal conditions I consider it good to get 50deg, and more likely 55deg.

The above adds up to a difference between tacks (wind from port then starboard sides) going to windward of around 100deg or more. So if you are sailing to a waypoint that has wind 10-20 degrees to either side of it I am likely to be sailling away, distance increasing, from the waypoint on one tack. This was causing the waypoint to move to the next one. When you are still 10-20 miles away this was rather anoying. Having moved to the next waypoint the probablity of moving away from that one actually increases so the waypoint jumps to the next one and so on. What happens is that the route goes inactive very quickly when you may be hours away from even the closest waypoint.

Long explanation I know, but I wanted to have a route to follow even if I was not able to be on the direct line some/most of the time. The name of the change got changed to make more sense, but the label in the options panel may need to be re-worded to make it clear what is happening.

Jon

[dpons]

I'm having a problem with 4.0. The background map does not show, even within an empty chart group.

Debian 7, compiled from sources ("git").

Otherwise, seems fine.

[nohal]

dpons...
We have stripped the data from the standard build, read Modularized Packaging | Official OpenCPN Homepage

Pavel

[dpons]

Originally Posted by nohal

dpons...
We have stripped the data from the standard build, read Modularized Packaging | Official OpenCPN Homepage

Pavel

Thanks, Pavel, I'll try that.