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stormalong · 12-07-2018, 01:30

I am confused about how to use wxtide32 harmonic file in OpenCPN.

I have added the file in the charts-tides under the file supplied by OpenCPN but it appears to do nothing.

I have looked at old threads here on the cruisers forum (very old) and the OpenCPN help file.

Am I misreading that the wxtide harmonic file is compatible?

Can OpenCPN process more than one harmonic file at a time?

Wxtide32 offers many more reference stations here in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and I would like to take advantage of that.

rgleason · 12-07-2018, 07:32

Reading the manual may help
https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...tive_data_sets

rgleason · 12-07-2018, 08:20

Also do a search on "tide" and "harmonic tables" on this forum.

reflectionsv37 · 12-07-2018, 21:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgleason

Reading the manual may help
https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...tive_data_sets

Well Rick,

I've read the manual, searched the forums, searched the internet and tried everything I can to make the wxtides32 harmonic file to work in OpenCPN and have never succeeded. And I have tried multiple times.

If there is anyone out there who has made it work, please let us know how you did it. I've come to the conclusion that OpenCPN cannot successfully process that file. Perhaps there's something in the file that OpenCPN cannot deal with.

I'm in South East Asia and would really appreciate someone suggesting a solution or alternative.

rgleason · 13-07-2018, 12:08

Sorry, there was forum discussion about modifying and improving the existing file because times were bad/wrong. Also there has been forum discussion and examples of files that are more detailed that could be added and used. There are OpenCPN users who are familiar with the tide format and modify it for their purposes.

Sorry these resources did not turn up with some searches. I am afraid we need better documentation of this.

Also, not to bring up a sore point, or change the subject, but you guys did a whole lot of improvements to User Icons and the documentation has not really caught up!

This is a page I started, but it needs review and improvement. https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...r_manual:icons

The website has this download page https://opencpn.org/OpenCPN/info/usericons.html

Any chance you could review it and clarify and write about some of the finer points?
I think the page is important enough to become a part of the manual.

Perhaps the same should be done for wxtides!

Gather the collective wisedom and get it into the wiki.

yachtvalhalla · 13-07-2018, 22:01

I was given a set of harmonics which you can download from here.

Replace the files in the 'tcdata' folder under OpenCPN in Program Files.

They work.

Also, running OpenCPN in a portable configuration the tide information works.

CANNOT UPLOAD IMAGES TO THE FORUM But you can download them from this link.

Terry

stormalong · 13-07-2018, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by yachtvalhalla

I was given a set of harmonics which you can download from here.
Replace the files in the 'tcdata' folder under OpenCPN in Program Files.
They work.
Also, running OpenCPN in a portable configuration the tide information works.
CANNOT UPLOAD IMAGES TO THE FORUM But you can download them from this link.
Terry

Glad to see a solution for Asia.

I am looking for more tide and current stations for the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Northwest. That is why I would like to use the wxtide32 data. I am using wxtide now to cover the area and it is accurate. It would be a big advantage if I could have this info right on my chart.

reflectionsv37 · 14-07-2018, 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgleason

Sorry, there was forum discussion about modifying and improving the existing file because times were bad/wrong. Also there has been forum discussion and examples of files that are more detailed that could be added and used. There are OpenCPN users who are familiar with the tide format and modify it for their purposes.

Sorry these resources did not turn up with some searches. I am afraid we need better documentation of this.

Also, not to bring up a sore point, or change the subject, but you guys did a whole lot of improvements to User Icons and the documentation has not really caught up!

This is a page I started, but it needs review and improvement. https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...r_manual:icons

The website has this download page https://opencpn.org/OpenCPN/info/usericons.html

Any chance you could review it and clarify and write about some of the finer points?
I think the page is important enough to become a part of the manual.

Perhaps the same should be done for wxtides!

Gather the collective wisedom and get it into the wiki.

Rick,

I'm land traveling right now but I'll be back in a few days. When I get back to a full sized keyboard I'll give that a good read and see what I can add to it. The new icons sure aren't a sore point for me. I love them!

And I can't wait to try Terry's harmonic files. I don't know how many hours I spent trying to make the harmonic file from wxtides32 to work. It will be great to have a workable solution. Thanks for that!

cagney · 20-07-2018, 05:13

I think that the problem is that the Wxtide32 zip-file is lacking a HARMONIC file to go together with the HARMONIC.IDX file.
There is also a binary ".tcd" tidal file included in the zip-file, that does work with OpenCPN .

Thomas

stormalong · 26-07-2018, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by cagney

I think that the problem is that the Wxtide32 zip-file is lacking a HARMONIC file to go together with the HARMONIC.IDX file.
There is also a binary ".tcd" tidal file included in the zip-file, that does work with OpenCPN .

Thomas

That is the solution. Thank you very much. Could we get that into the documentation?

rgleason · 26-07-2018, 11:18

I know little about tides and the harmonic files but these are some of the links.

http://www.wxtide32.com/
https://flaterco.com/xtide/installation.html

I can add Terry's file to the wiki and make a link to it.

Can someone provide a description?

What areas does it cover?
How recent is it?
What is the source?
How accurate is it?
How do you make it more accurate locally?

stormalong · 26-07-2018, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgleason

I know little about tides and the harmonic files but these are some of the links.

www.wxtide32.com
https://flaterco.com/xtide/installation.html

I can add Terry's file to the wiki and make a link to it.

Can someone provide a description?

What areas does it cover?
How recent is it?
What is the source?
How accurate is it?
How do you make it more accurate locally?

From the wxtide32 website:

Predicts tides from 1970 through 2037.

More than 9,500 stations worldwide with 160 in England, Ireland and Scotland.

More than 300 tidal current stations, all in North America.

My .tcd file is dated 2004

I believe it's origins are a British government source. IIRC the British had at one time claimed copyright infringement against wxtide32 but later allowed them to use it.

Where I live (The Pacific Northwest, ie. Washington state and British Columbia) the accuracy is very good. I cannot speak for the rest of the world.

The wxtide32 software has the ability to define local stations. I do not know the mechanism or if that updates the .tcd file.

reflectionsv37 · 26-07-2018, 21:08

I was nearly certain that I had also tested the tcd file when I was attempting to make the WX32Tides files work.

So I just tried again. And it didn't work! At least for South East Asia locations. Continuing to look, I discovered that the WX32Tides tcd file was showing up in other locations, i.e. Brazil.

So what is different about Asia? A little more research and I discovered, by viewing the locations in the WXTides32 program itself, that locations in Asia like Bangkok are defined in the Harmonics file and the ones for Brazil are in the tcd file. Oh well!!!

Off to try Terry's file!!

And I haven't forgot about you Rick! I'll try to get to your request in a day or two.