Tactics Plugin

[rgleason]

Would a new version of NmeaConverter help with this problem?

First, there isn't a standard PNG for polar targets. Not a big issue as you can make a custom one or a custom 0183.

Maybe extend the Nmea spec with some custom sentences and the special performance sentences to those custom sentences and have Tactics or Dashboard able to read them? - Sounds like a lot of work.

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Any idea what these values represent?

Sean,
here is the description of NKE's 5 custom "Performance" sentences, which the NKE instrument bus will read/accept.
French though ... :-)
-----------
Performance
Vitesse et rendement cible (code PNKEP01)
$PNKEP,01,x.x,N,x.x,K*hh<CR><LF>
| \ Vitesse cible en km/h
\ Vitesse cible en Nœud
Cap au prochain bord (code PNKEP02)
$PNKEP,02,x.x*hh<CR><LF>
\ Cap sur bord Opposé/prochain bord de 0 à 359°
Angle optimum de gain au vent et rendement au près et au portant (code PNKEP03)
$PNKEP,03,x.x,x.x,x.x*hh<CR><LF>
| | \ Rendement portant de 0 à 99%
| \ Rendement au près de 0 à 99%
\ Angle optimum de 0 à 359°
Angles pour optimiser le CMG et VMG et gain correspondant (code PNKEP04)
$PNKEP,04,x.x,x.x,x.x,x.x*hh<CR><LF>
| | | \ Gain VMG de 0 à 999%
| | \ Angle pour optimiser le VMG de 0 à 359°
| \ Gain CMG de 0 à 999%
\ Angle pour optimiser le CMG de 0 à 359°
Direction et vitesse courant (code PNKEP05)
$PNKEP,05,x.x,x.x,N,x.x,K*hh<CR><LF>
| | \ Vitesse courant en km/h
| \ Vitesse courant en Noeud
\ Direction courant de 0 à 359°
---------

Thomas

[George64]

Today I sailed with this plugin installed and havind the VDR recording. I noticed some percentage I could not relate to my polar. Before jumping to conclusions, is there a way to post a 4Mb recording?

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Originally Posted by George64

I noticed some percentage I could not relate to my polar. Before jumping to conclusions, is there a way to post a 4Mb recording?

I don't need the whole VDR file, maybe you can just snip out the portion with the example ? Do you remember the time ? You can edit the VDR e.g. with Notepad++ and search for the time in the RMC sentences (be aware of GPS data in UTC !) ...
Start snipping a couple of minutes earlier and after. That should do.
And I'd need your polar file as well, plus a screenshot of the performance settings (or your opencpn.ini) and a description of the problem ...

Thomas

[George64]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

I created a snippet that indicates what I mean in the fluctuation of the performance percentage. In case you what a larget snippet, just let me know.

As you kan see on the screen shot, on the right side there is also the true wind indicator. This one shows nothing. I could not figure out why or what was the reason for the indicator not to show any data.

The polar file is filled with data I got from the ORC database NED ORC sailboat data.

Thanks for your help.

p.s.
to read the files, please remove .pdf

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Originally Posted by George64

Hi,

As you kan see on the screen shot, on the right side there is also the true wind indicator. This one shows nothing. I could not figure out why or what was the reason for the indicator not to show any data.

The polar file is filled with data I got from the ORC database NED ORC sailboat data.

Thanks for your help.

p.s.
to read the files, please remove .pdf

George64,
I'm not sure if I understand the question right, but
you have to set the tick at "Force True Wind Calculation" and it'll work (as long as you use the tactics_pi instruments).


If I misunderstood, please explain more in detail...

Thomas

[George64]

@Thomas thanks for your reply. I'll give it a try later on when behind my Windows laptop.

Did you recognize the somewhat 'strange' performance percentage?

[George64]

By adding the tickboxes Thomas showed, I did get the true wind in the Tactics plugin, however the direct wind angle and speed are not shown on the dails on the right hand side see the lines I drew). Or is this a bug and needed it to be reported?

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Originally Posted by George64

By adding the tickboxes Thomas showed, I did get the true wind in the Tactics plugin, however the direct wind angle and speed are not shown on the dails on the right hand side see the lines I drew). Or is this a bug and needed it to be reported?

George64,
are the dials on the right side dashboard_pi or tactics_pi ?
The true wind calculation is only available within tactics_pi instruments, but not dashboard_pi ...

Thomas

[tom_BigSpeedy]

Originally Posted by George64

Did you recognize the somewhat 'strange' performance percentage?

What do you mean with strange performance percentage ?
Your polar starts at 50° TWA:

But your're sailing angles lower than 50°

Then you'll get a "no polar data", which is correct.
Please give me a hint what you mean ...

Thomas

[George64]

Thomas,

Before or during running Tactics_pi, I didn't see a true wind via the Dashboard_pi. While running Tactics_pi and having the "Force True Wind Calculation" box ticked, I did see true wind data in the Tactics_pi.

I was not aware true wind is not shown in Dashboard_pi. Thanks for explaining.

Could also explain the fluctuation in the percentage? If you need more from the VDR-file, please let me know.

Thanks!

[rgleason]

George64,
I know the plugin works. Right now my Opengl does not work, otherwise I would have shown you a screenshot of Simple2.txt VDR file running with Tactics_pi. You must have Opengl working for Tactics_pi.

Also you should right click somewhere to enter a Tactics waypoint to be able to see laylines and all the data.

I would suggest that you download the tactics_pi.pdf user manual and the Sample1.zip, Sample2.zip, Sample3.zip files from OpenCPN Beta File Thingie and run those files with the VDR plugin to get an offline idea of how the plugin works. Each file is different, going upwind primarily, or downwind, etc. so they give you experience without having to have a real live data stream. They are located in the adriatic sea (Thomas's racing grounds) and should provide a good benchmark for comparision and learning. Also we know the data in them is good. So try those first.

See for example http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2141601

Thanks

[rgleason]

George

OpenCPN Beta File Thingie rguser rgpass

Go to TACTICS_PI directory.
Download the pdf and the 3 sample.zips and expand and use them with VDR Player.

[George64]

Thanks for your respond and explanation. I'm in no doubt the plugin is working! Just noticing a few things and trying to find the background.

I ran the example file and noticed the true wind on the tactics_pi dails. This differs from my file. Having a look at the data, I noticed my vdr-file seems to lack some nmea-sentences. I've made a comparison (4 columns, the first two are from the example file and the last two are my own file)

• Sample Own
• !AIVDM VDM !AIVDM VDM
• $AIALR ALR !AIVDM VDM
• $AITXT TXT !AIVDO VDO
• $AIVER VER $ECDTM DTM
• $GPBOD BOD $ECMWV MWV
• $GPBWC BWC $GPGGA GGA
• $GPGGA GGA $GPGLL GLL
• $GPGSA GSA $GPGSA GSA
• $GPGSV GSV $GPGSV GSV
• $GPRMB RMB $GPRMC RMC
• $GPRMC RMC $GPVTG VTG
• $GPRTE RTE $PSRF156 156
• $GPXTE XTE $PWDC WDC
• $IIDBT DBT $SDDBT DBT
• $IIDPT DPT $SDDPT DPT
• $IIGLL GLL $VWMTW MTW
• $IIHDG HDG $VWVHW VHW
• $IIHDM HDM $VWVLW VLW
• $IIHDT HDT
• $IIMTW MTW
• $IIMWD MWD
• $IIMWV MWV
• $IIRMB RMB
• $IIRSA RSA
• $IIVHW VHW
• $IIVLW VLW
• $IIVTG VTG
• $IIVWR VWR
• $IIVWT VWT
• $IIXDR XDR
• $IIXTE XTE
• $IIZDA ZDA
• $PGRMT RMT
• $PWDC WDC

The example file (sample2.txt) and my own file have the following nmea sentences in commen:

Available
VDM
GGA
GSA
GSV
RMC
DBT
DPT
GLL
MTW
MWV
VHW
VLW
VTG
WDC

I have not yet figured out completly what NMEA-sentence contains the info the tactics_pi needs, however my first thoughts are that I'm not having all data on the board net as input for OpenCPN, and there for the true wind is not calculated correctly. Any thoughts?

The fluctuation I notice in the performance (polar speed display), that could be, based on what I read in the manual, caused by the rounding done on the polar data. If I look at the polar data entered, there are some gaps. How does the formula for the performance calculation deal with these gaps?

[rgleason]

George,
From a very quick look at what you posted, it looks like you are getting the necessary data and like you have duplicate data

$GPRMB RMB and $IIRMB RMB

$GPVTG VTG and $IIVTG VTG

Is this creating a problem with different nmea data? Do you have a GPS and some other device running? Depending on what others say, using nemaconverter or the OpenCPN Connection filter might simplify this list down to what you need.

I suggest looking at

NMEA Sentences | Official OpenCPN Homepage
and
NMEA Revealed

Identify the sentences you need for that data, and then look at what you are providing.