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Old 23-09-2009, 15:39   #61
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife View Post
Barnakiel:

Opencpn does the "pre-visualising the crossing situation", actually rather well.
Like this?



Picture from Watchman add attached.

b.
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Old 23-09-2009, 15:54   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by barnakiel View Post
Like this?
b.
Not exactly, but same / similar information.

Opencpn shows you on the chart
  • the current position of the AIS target
  • the predicted position of the AIS target at CPA
  • your own boat current postition (naturally)
  • the predicted position of your own boat at CPA
And it does that well while multiple targets coming towards you, like here in NY harbor.

The AIS alert windows shows you, for each target, numbers like:
position speed and course of target
range and bearing to target,
CPA, TCPA....

Heck, if tomorrow there is no real life screen shot of an "AIS situation" from somebody else, I will weigh anchor and get one.

Barnakiel: Competition is good, do you have a link to a website for watchman?
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Old 23-09-2009, 20:37   #63
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A few features to make navigation easier with opncpn

1. I've mentioned this before but a "look ahead" button that give user more of the chart forward would be very helpful for navigation on ICW so you can see the turns and AIS targets.

2. A way to select vector only, raster only, and all charts would be helpful. In some areas when I zoom in for detail or pan out I really want either a vector or raster chart and it invariably comes up with the wrong one. Please don't change the blue and green buttons at the bottom though. These work perfectly.

3. A way to search for tide and current stations close by. It comes in really handy when approaching bridges for mast height concerns or planning daily navigation around the large tidal swings up the east coast.

4. Have the current arrow add an indication of strength in addition to the direction. This could be with stripes or thermometer on the back of the arrow or something similar to grib files indicator arrows.

Thanks.

Chris
SV Toucan Dream
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Old 24-09-2009, 05:55   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris blair View Post
1. I've mentioned this before but a "look ahead" button that give user more of the chart forward would be very helpful for navigation on ICW so you can see the turns and AIS targets.

2. A way to select vector only, raster only, and all charts would be helpful. In some areas when I zoom in for detail or pan out I really want either a vector or raster chart and it invariably comes up with the wrong one. Please don't change the blue and green buttons at the bottom though. These work perfectly.

3. A way to search for tide and current stations close by. It comes in really handy when approaching bridges for mast height concerns or planning daily navigation around the large tidal swings up the east coast.

4. Have the current arrow add an indication of strength in addition to the direction. This could be with stripes or thermometer on the back of the arrow or something similar to grib files indicator arrows.

Thanks.

Chris
SV Toucan Dream

Chris, thanks for good ideas, good to see people navigating with opencpn!

Comment on #4: I believe the length of the current arrow shows the strength of the current. On the screen shot I selected a current icon with no arrow, the graph shows slack current. I do like your idea with the thermometer stripes. One knot - 1 stripe, 5 knots = 5 stripes ? What is the max current for anywhere in the world? Is 10 knots more than max?

For #3: In the short term, I recommend WXtide32 (on Windows). It has a nice search and filtering facility
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Old 24-09-2009, 07:49   #65
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Opencpn never open on the chart I have left when closing. It will be fine it it does.
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Old 24-09-2009, 14:44   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife View Post
Not exactly, but same / similar information.

Opencpn shows you on the chart
  • the current position of the AIS target
  • the predicted position of the AIS target at CPA
  • your own boat current postition (naturally)
  • the predicted position of your own boat at CPA
And it does that well while multiple targets coming towards you, like here in NY harbor.

The AIS alert windows shows you, for each target, numbers like:
position speed and course of target
range and bearing to target,
CPA, TCPA....

Heck, if tomorrow there is no real life screen shot of an "AIS situation" from somebody else, I will weigh anchor and get one.

Barnakiel: Competition is good, do you have a link to a website for watchman?
Barnekiel. Have a look at the screenshot. This is how opencpn visualizes the CPA. See the blue dot in line with the course predictor of the AIS target. This is the calulated positon of the AIS target at CPA. Then there is a second blue dot in line with the own ship course predictor. That is the calculated position of the own ship at CPA. A yellow-red line connects the blue dots. This helps to identify the AIS target when having multiple AIS targets in alarm range.

The magenta circles around the blue dots are for visualization only, they do not come from opencpn.
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Old 25-09-2009, 08:15   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jpiebrig View Post
Opencpn never open on the chart I have left when closing. It will be fine it it does.
hm, I'd prefer it opens with my ship centered and a few miles land or sea visible around, might be important in a hurry, specially after a crash
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Old 25-09-2009, 12:25   #68
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Blubaju,

Yes, you are true of course ...
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Old 26-09-2009, 07:34   #69
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Adjust date & time for all current arrows (and tides)

Trying to plan a trip up the Delaware Bay, then through the C&D Canal, then to an anchorage in the Chesapeake Bay. Timing the currents is crucial to make this 120 miles trip.

I would like to be able to adjust date and time in opencpn so all current icons get recalculated.

It could look like this: Buttons for +/- 1h increments, a button for "NOW", pull-down menus to select +/- 2, 3, 6, 12, 24 hours. The user needs to be warned that the display is not set for the actual time.

The same facility could be used to time-shift grib files.
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Old 27-09-2009, 06:01   #70
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Renumber/rename waypoints

It'd be nice to be able to renumber waypoints so they are in order for the route. Optionally, rename them. Sometimes renaming them to match the mile markers on the river makes it nice.

Other waypoints, like proximity boundaries. Where I can define an area to avoid, and a warning alarm would sound if I enter.

-dan
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Old 27-09-2009, 10:56   #71
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It'd be nice to be able to renumber waypoints so they are in order for the route. Optionally, rename them. Sometimes renaming them to match the mile markers on the river makes it nice.
-dan
You can rename waypoints & mark them with different symbols, I think. Right-click on a waypoint, select 'Mark WP/Properties'. in the dialog box, you can rename the waypoint &/or select a symbol. This works with tracks, as well.

Or maybe you're talking about something entirely different?

jerry
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Old 27-09-2009, 11:35   #72
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Originally Posted by jerrymc View Post
You can rename waypoints & mark them with different symbols, I think. Right-click on a waypoint, select 'Mark WP/Properties'. in the dialog box, you can rename the waypoint &/or select a symbol. This works with tracks, as well.

Or maybe you're talking about something entirely different?

jerry
Nope, that's what I was talking about, except I was trying to do it through the route properties box. Didn't think about having to go to the mark to do it. Thanks, jerry.

So, the request now would be a much lower priority (even lower than the very low it was before), to be able to do it from the route box. And an option to simply renumber them so they're in order.

-dan
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Old 27-09-2009, 23:50   #73
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Hi,

zyGRIB is open source for downloading and viewing weather info, I would like to combine OpenCPN and zyGRIB programs together to have everything i want to go sailing...

I use Ubuntu Linux, I plan to install a computer on my little 30ft Nicholson using Linux for it's power saving utils and is not bloated, I used to program under Visual Basic 6 in Windows, I'll have a go combining these two together..am rusty at programming...been a few years..

Are you interested in the results?

Thanks for the great software BTW,
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Old 28-09-2009, 03:00   #74
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Quote:
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zyGRIB is open source for downloading and viewing weather info, I would like to combine OpenCPN and zyGRIB programs together to have everything i want to go sailing...

I use Ubuntu Linux, I plan to install a computer on my little 30ft Nicholson using Linux for it's power saving utils and is not bloated, I used to program under Visual Basic 6 in Windows, I'll have a go combining these two together..am rusty at programming...been a few years..
Grib integration is indeed on the requested feature list for this programme. Note that a parallel open source navigation package, open pilot, has some grib file support you can possibly improve and adopt.

Otherwise, just magic suggests producing bsb overlays from grib files via libbsb. This may be a way of producing a simple conversion filter to feed grib files into openCPN as it stands.

In the long run, there are plans of having KML overlay support for OpenCPN; as far as I understand it, this is an open format for layers. The decoded, graphical grib file could then be entered as multiple layers.

For sailing, we could really use software routing as well. This is currently solely provided by the more expensive proprietary software. It is on the zyGRIB feature requests.

For the volvo ocean race game, this chap has programmed an online routing planner using actual noaa weather data. you can play around with it here (it permits hypothetical route planning anywhere). Upon prompting he said he would contribute the code to a free software real world navigation programme.
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Old 29-09-2009, 01:55   #75
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Here is a summary of all the improvements I suggest .
Some have been already mentioned in the monster thread (and may be lost)
The points are sorted to give priority to navigation tools . (Off course , this is only suggestions from my point of view)


point 1)A hot key to switch leg/route in navigation window


point 2) possibility to see in a small pop up the bearing and length of any leg of an active route when pointing on it (or clicking) . This would be very useful to see the "next" leg informations without opening route properties

an example of what it could be

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point 3)BSB zoom and scales
It's difficult for me explain what is the problem ,so let's take an example :
I have for a zone 4 map scales : 1-BSB 1/7500 ,2-BSB 1/20000 , 3 -BSB 1/49700 , 4-BSB 1/161000
Starting with a large scale (1/7500) an zoom = 1x and going to smaller scale , we can see the result :

1/7500 zoom=1x → F8 → 1/20000 zoom 2x → F8 → 1/49700 zoom=2x → F8 → 1/161000 zoom=2x
Opencpn try to keep the same size and when the scale goes down , the zoom goes up
I would prefer to keep the zoom = 1x because if I choose a smaller scale , it's because I want to see a larger surface .
But for me the worst is when starting with a small scale and going to larger scale. The result :
1/161000 zoom=2x → F7 → 1/49700 zoom =0,59 →F7 → 1/20000 zoom=0,29 → F7 → 1/7500 zoom=0,29
A zoom of 0,29 is totally unusable for a scale 1/50000 and under
What can it be ? I would suggest that when moving to larger scales ,the zoom should be 1x and no less . And it could be the same when going to smaller
an example of what we get each time we go up scales and we have a very detailed map:
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point 4)Route and WP activation :
When a route is activated , the fist WP of the route is activated without consideration of the boat position .

The route data calculation is wrong if the starting point is not the beginning of the route. And to activate the right WP could be not so easy .
I suggest to always calculate what is the actual next WP after the boat in route an activate it



point 5)The track properties shows the actual distance ,the “planned” speed and “planned” time . I suggest that the total time should be the last -first track points interval and the speed distance/time


point 6)Add a function “delete all Tracks” and put all functions “delete all ….” in the “Max detail here …...... “ menu instead of routes , WP and tracks menus


point 7) Possibility to modify WP in the route properties window
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