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Old 18-09-2009, 17:47   #1
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Feature Requests

This thread is reserved for discussion and input of feature requests for upcoming versions of opencpn.

Anything is fair game here, although the goal ought to be to arrive at some consensus of a manageable list which may be implemented in a reasonable time frame.

I'd like to see some back and forth discussion here, and something more than "I want opencpn to ....."

I will be monitoring this thread casually. I will not be arbitrating. I will choose what to work on for the next release based upon some loose metric involving effort of implementation vs affected population. Not everything will get done, obviously.

Looking forward to input.....
Dave
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Old 18-09-2009, 18:46   #2
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AIS nuisance alarms when target is on parallel course

Hi Dave

After silencing or acknowledging an AIS alarm, the alarm is re-armed after CPA has been growing instead of diminishing, I believe. For most targets this logic works just fine.

There is a negative side effect though when traveling parallel to a target (or reciprocal): Slight course changes of the own boat, due to autopilot or waves, cause CPA to grow, then diminish again.

Today, I had a ferry traveling parallel to me on a rather steady course. My own boat was hard on the wind, not so steady. About every minute the AIS alarm for the ferry went off, to be silenced automatically shortly after.

I don't have a good idea on how to fix this, besides a "suppress this target for xx minutes".

Maybe others have a better idea?

Dirk
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Old 18-09-2009, 18:56   #3
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Chart orientation

Just moving this from the monster thread to the proper thread:

Some charts do not come with North up. In the US, one example is the ICW charts, strip-charts made to fit as much as possible on a strip of paper.

I would like the option in opencpn to have all charts be displayed with North Up.
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Old 18-09-2009, 18:57   #4
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Chart orientation, display a compass rose

Related to the feature request above.

I love the embossed feet/meter/fathoms in the top right corner

Can we get something similar to show North?
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Old 18-09-2009, 19:12   #5
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Alarms: Depth

Navigating to an anchorage I would love to have a depth alarm, preset to my choice. I have a depth instrument, I don't really need the display on opencpn, but a transparent alarm like the AIS screen would be great

But this can be made even better: An alarm similar to a back-up sensor in a car would be helpful: The alarm could sound different at 15, 12, 9, 6 ... feet.

It would need a way to select the right NMEA sentence DBT or DPT and a adjustable offset for transducer depth.
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Old 18-09-2009, 19:22   #6
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Route editor

Jean Pierre mentioned this in the monster thread:

  • show total miles up to each waypoint
  • let user edit the waypoints in the route editor
I would like to add:
  • add headings for the columns in the route editor
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Old 18-09-2009, 19:57   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife View Post
Just moving this from the monster thread to the proper thread:

Some charts do not come with North up. In the US, one example is the ICW charts, strip-charts made to fit as much as possible on a strip of paper.

I would like the option in opencpn to have all charts be displayed with North Up.
Great idea and this happens all the time in when there are lots of commercial vessels. If you make it possible to disable the alarm make sure you add a visible icon to alert that the alarm is off.

Regards,
Chris
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Old 19-09-2009, 01:30   #8
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Chart List

If I understand Dave's original intent with OpenCPN, the program was primarily oriented to underway use. For example with a GPS connected, the program displays the chart (or charts) at the current location.

However if one is interested in planning, or even merely viewing charts at other locations, it seems that the only way to do this is to scale out and keep clicking or shifting the chart until in the desired vicinity, and then scale back in.

My experience with other ECS programs is that there is usually some sort of chart listing showing all registered charts, sorted by scale, name, number, or some other relevant characteristic. One then pulls up the list, locates the desired chart, and opens it. An example is the chart list in Capn. A similar list is available in SeaClear !!.

Is this possible for OpenCPN?
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Old 19-09-2009, 01:43   #9
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Chart Orientation

Others have noted that skewed (or "non-north-up") charts such as the US small craft folios often display in a convenient geographic orientation rather than a specific compass orientation. We noted earlier that this caused a minor bug with respect to radar rings on some scewed charts (which Dave already addressed - thanks, Dave).

It would be convenient to be able to orient any chart to other than "north up" (or the native orientation of skewed charts). Many ECS programs allow this, and it is useful when following a route. For example when following a route (either with or without the autopilot interfaced) I can choose "Route Leg Up" or "Course Up" and with radar rings displayed I can easily compare the OpenCPN display with the radar display.. This helps tremendously in the identification of radar targets, particularly if an AIS feed is also displayed on OpenCPN.

Would it be possible and adventageous to be able to choose among several orientations for any displayed chart on OpenCPN?
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Old 19-09-2009, 01:57   #10
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Raster ".hdr" Chart Display

This topic was mentioned at least once in the original long thread, but I cannot recall the author just now.

I have several chart compilations in the older Maptech .hdr raster format. Evidently several ECS programs eliminated the display of this format when they went to a "quilting" or "mosaic" format to mimic other seamless chart displays. This is the case with Capn Voyager Mosaic which does not display .hdr charts. To display these I am forced to run an older Capn version, and even then getting the program to "see" and register the charts involves extra effort.

Since the display of the older .hdr charts was apparently abandoned in favor of the quilting option, and since OpenCPN shows only a single chart at a time, is possible to permit display of these older .hdr raster charts in OpenCPN?
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Old 19-09-2009, 04:36   #11
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Chart orientation

Kerry,

your suggestions all get a +1 from me. Chart orientation should include North up, Route Leg Up, and Course Up.

Course up could be either COG (the way the boat goes) or HDG (the way he bow points). I would prefer HDG to match my radar display, but HDG wouldn't be available on systems without electronic compass. HDG would work at standstill though. COG would be available on any GPS system. But which COG should be used at standstill, when the GPS calculates random COGs?

Selection of chart orientation: I suggest preserving the screen real estate: 1 Toggle Button plus function key, cycling through the different modes, like the dimmer does since 917 with F5
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Old 19-09-2009, 04:51   #12
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More supported chart formats: HDR + Mapmedia

Quote:
Originally Posted by kerrydeare View Post
I have several chart compilations in the older Maptech .hdr raster format. Evidently several ECS programs eliminated the display of this format when they went to a "quilting" or "mosaic" format to mimic other seamless chart displays. This is the case with Capn Voyager Mosaic which does not display .hdr charts. To display these I am forced to run an older Capn version, and even then getting the program to "see" and register the charts involves extra effort.

Since the display of the older .hdr charts was apparently abandoned in favor of the quilting option, and since OpenCPN shows only a single chart at a time, is possible to permit display of these older .hdr raster charts in OpenCPN?
I also have some older hdr charts around and I am all for supporting these.

Then I have a couple of older mapmedia CDs, file extension is ".map" I would like to have supported.

There is a newer mapmedia format, file extensions is ".mm2" I think. I believe these files are encrypted and probably can not be supported by opencp.
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Old 19-09-2009, 07:40   #13
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Thanks Dave for 917, lot of problems are solved.

I imagine that we are a minority who are sailing in some parts of the world where no details charts are available. That is a problem and, personally, I try to by-pass the difficulty due to the lack of precision by activating the track function. The first time, when the visibility, the conditions are good I make route at sight by recording the track. Then afterward if the conditions do not allow to navigate at sight, in the daytime or at black night, I use this track. I zoom as much it is possible (overzoom) and I follow it as close as possible, slowly, carefully. Sometimes the zoom is so important that the screen is all white and I only see the boat and the track. And so, for example, it is possible to enter a pass which is no more than 40 or 50 yards large.

Look at the two first screenshots. It is a 1:80000 scale chart (maximum details chart I have found for the place) - zoom x1 and then overzoom x32000. If you don't see, the distance between the boat and the track is 9 feet !

In the second line of screenshots, I try to do the same with Opencpn (simulation, fortunately !) with the same 1:80000 scale chart - zoom x1 and then zoom x5, maximum zoom we get. The distance between both sides of the track is 0.06 mille ! Nothing to add, impossible to get in the anchorage if you don'see anything.

You are lucky to get great detail charts for all the US coasts (and it the same for a lot of place in the world) and so you can easily use Opencpn. And I would like to do so because I think it is a great navigation soft and I like it.
But here is the problem : is it possible to get the same overzoom in more or less long term ? Or any other solution ?

And for the Opencpn track, look at the screenshot, it is not a thin line but a very large track (0.06 mille) and it is very difficult to see the small line in the middle, it doen't appear. And the charts with all these large tracks are not easy to read, they cover all. Is it possible to get only a thin line, the same whatever the resolution or the zoom is ?

Thanks Manimaul for the new ship icons. May be a little smaller, but very nice.

Jean-Pierre
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Old 19-09-2009, 09:33   #14
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... I imagine that we are a minority who are sailing in some parts of the world where no details charts are available ... I try to by-pass the difficulty ... by activating the track function ... for the Opencpn track ... it is not a thin line but a very large track ... and it is very difficult to see the small line in the middle ...
I have not gone "exotic" recently but I had the same thought yesterday on a local river here in NJ USA. The track currently looks like (forgive the term) a "smudge." Were I in the Bahamas where government charts are not very helpful and using Jean Pierre's technique (which I have done many times), I would have difficulty staying on a proved track the second time through. For simplicity I am ignoring privately printed charts for this locale which are actually quite good. IIRC Capn for example allows one to set track characteristics in addition to those presently available in OCPN. Some of these are color and line width. This has made life more relaxing for me in the past.

Aside: Those of us not writing code who nonetheless persist in asking favors (as I've done several times in this thread) sometimes feel a bit ashamed of our behavior. Not often, but sometimes. If any developers are in my neighborhood, feel free to stay over at our place. Breakfast and dinner included.
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Old 19-09-2009, 10:10   #15
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Too wide track and more overzoom

Another +1 to Jean-Piere's request, another reason though:

I would like to use the track feature to see how I swing at anchor and detect a possible drag, specifically in tidal areas, when the boat swings around every 6.x hours. (lets don't go into discussions about anchoring techniques....)

Without overzoom and a smaller track I can't really see how I swing with 70ft of rode plus the 44ft of boat (GPS antenna on the stern).
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