OpenCPN SIMRAD/LOWRANCE Radar Overlay PlugIn

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by Hakan

Peter..
re: "You may also have to suppress the COG messages from the AIS stream."
Why suppress COG?
Håkan

For example, I have a Digital Yacht AIS (own GPS) with a Vesper head that is also connected to OpenCPN. When the vessel is stationary the COG reported for own vessel by the AIS (GPS) is often unstable because the GPS can only report an accurate COG when in motion. If you relay on the GPS only the heading constantly flutters either due to rolling or satellites within a particular location. By suppressing the COG messages in the AIS data stream OpenCPN becomes stable even when the vessel is stationary.

In context of the radar I think that the faster baud rate of the AIS - COG messages override the heading this causes the radar to also be unstable.

Peter

[Hakan]

Yes the boat is jumping around at anchor but I don't care much and if I then use the radar it will follow that motions nicely. But I see your point, was just curious. Thanks
Håkan

[Vesta]

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who made the Navico plug-in and OpenCPN possible, a big thank you from all of us here !

I'm running OpenCPN 4.1.1317 and Navico Radar V1.3, with a 4G coupled directly to the PC LAN port and SG-25 data via N2K and a 2000>0183>USB converter(?) to the PC.

It works like a dream, and I only have one tiny item for the wish list and a question.

I couldn't bring myself to write "works like a dream BUT"

The wish list item: when I dim the OpenCPN display the radar menu/butteon bar stays bright. I could close it, but than the radar stops and starts when I need to use the bar.
Dimming the bar like the main button one would be great !

The question: when I set the range to, say, 50m, the red circle around the radar image is set to a radius of 100m and a diameter of 200m etc. Do I mis the purpose of this ?

w fr greetings, Leo

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by Vesta

The wish list item: when I dim the OpenCPN display the radar menu/butteon bar stays bright. I could close it, but than the radar stops and starts when I need to use the bar.

Don't use the radar button on the main OpenCPN toolbar to close, just close the radar control dialog using the OS button on top. Once you have done that you can have it re-appear by using the right mouse button on the main chart canvas and choose "Radar control ...".

Originally Posted by Vesta

Dimming the bar like the main button one would be great !

Unfortunately, we've implemented the buttons using standard OS controls and those don't like to be dimmed much. This is the same as when you open the OpenCPN settings window, not everything on this dims nicely -- including the buttons, and our control is just buttons. So we'd have to re-invent this.

The current 2.0 branch "radarwindow" uses a strategy where it auto-hides the control after 10s, so when you're just watching the screen you don't see these buttons.

Even better would be to re-implement all the button implementation and draw them ourselves, forgoing the standard controls. As you can imagine this takes a lot of time, and at the moment we're short on man power as it is.

Originally Posted by Vesta

The question: when I set the range to, say, 50m, the red circle around the radar image is set to a radius of 100m and a diameter of 200m etc. Do I mis the purpose of this ?

We're emulating the ranges that the Navico chartplotters call the actual ranges transmitted. For instance, at 50 m the actual max range is indeed 98m.

[Vesta]

Thank you Kees,

will try out the button ops as you said.

As for the range, I hope to have a stationary 'sea trial' next week. Near St.Andries locks on the river Waal, nice sized area to work in and plenty of traffic. Will spend the better part of the test figuring out what the actual range is. Or ranges are for that matter, hope to come back with some clear results.

I had an email exchange with Douwe some months ago about distance rings, it would be great to be able to set your own 2 or 3 rings in a given display, just like the warning zones.

w fr greetings, Leo

[Tia Bu]

Is it possible to use this plugin with Open CPN on a Windows tablet with an ethernet/USB adapter?

Has anyone done it?

I'm assuming it does NOT work with the Open CPN Android app. Is this correct?

I've done a good bit of searching and reading, but haven't found the answer. Apologize if it's been covered elsewhere.

Thanks!

[Tia Bu]

And I'm assuming from what I've read that an ethernet to wifi adapter will NOT work. Is that correct?

Trying to figure out how to get radar on tablet in the cockpit. Know the Furuno First Watch would work and be handy, but the Simrad/Lowrance Broadband looks like a superior product.

[Hakan]

Tia Bu..
If you've OpenCPN with OpenGL, LAN connection, GPS position and a compass heading it would be possible. But I'm not sure if any tablet has OpenGL?

A wifi connection could be possible provided a suitable router but it's not at all straight forward. I haven't succeed but there are positive reports.

I use a tablet in cockpit but it's via VCN connected to a main laptop.

Håkan

[Tia Bu]

Thanks. What do you mean by VCN? Can you display both chart and radar on your tablet this way?

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

Thanks. What do you mean by VCN? Can you display both chart and radar on your tablet this way?

It's VNC (not VCN) like remote desktop.

I have used it to view OpenCPN including RADAR plugin on a tablet.

Cheers,
JM.

[Tia Bu]

Great! Thanks! That looks like the answer.

[merrimac]

I use the plugin with a Windows tablet (core i5, 2 yrs old) and a USB Ethernet dongle in my doghouse. That works fine. It's not wireless but I need to plug the tablet into power anyway as it only runs a few hours on battery. I also don't really like Windows 10 without a real mouse, certainly on a boat.

VNC or Microsoft Remote Desktop is a great solution for a cockpit version that needs to be completely wireless.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[ve7mdl]

Picked up a Simrad 4G at the Vancouver Boat Show. Using PI version 1.2 with the latest published O beta. Windows 10.

I do not have a fluxgate compass yet, but I was - perhaps mistakenly - under the impression that I should be able to run the radar in stand-alone mode. The icon turns green, but I am not getting any radar picture and it refuses to show the configuration ribbon, except for a brief moment.

What am I doing wrong or are my expectations too optimistic?

Cheers, ....Erik.
m/v B.C. Girl.

[Vesta]

Erik,


I'm using OpenCPN 4.1.1317 and Navico Radar V1.3, with the 4G coupled directly to the PC LAN port. Stand-alone works OK. But that's on a PC and using W7. I do know that older versions of the plug-in required position and heading.


w fr greetings/73, Leo PA5LS

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by ve7mdl

I do not have a fluxgate compass yet, but I was - perhaps mistakenly - under the impression that I should be able to run the radar in stand-alone mode. The icon turns green, but I am not getting any radar picture and it refuses to show the configuration ribbon, except for a brief moment.

What am I doing wrong or are my expectations too optimistic?

Radar overlay without a compass heading is never going to work reliably IMO. . There is a "radar only" mode in v1.3 but it is a kludge -- it basically just paints black over the chart display. You can enable that in Options > Plugins > BR24radar_pi > Preferences.

v2.0 will add extra separate radar windows (one for each range) that will work without a heading. I'm getting good results but it ain't ready for prime time yet. You can watch the development in the 'radarwindow' branch on github. I hope to release this in spring 2016 but it may become early summer.

I've attached a screenshot to show you what we're working on. We could use a good C++ developer :-) to help speed things along. (It's a recording, so it has nothing to do with the chart shown, don't mind that.) Note that the radar windows can be 'docked' and 'undocked', and these positions are remembered over a restart of OpenCPN. ATM I'm struggling with how to do the UI for the controls a bit -- when to show it, etc. Stability is already quite good, I've refactored the code considerably after a nudge from Sean -- it was a frightful mess.