How does OpenCPN compare to B&G, Raymarine and Garmin ? New boat install ?

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by blu3534

Good hint. Win10/11 is dangerous when using expensive traffic. Regarding noisy check out https://www.netlimiter.com/products/nl4 (a nice old-fashioned (paid) tool).



500K cats don't encounter such situations... LOL.

I will give netlimiter a closer look. From the website it doesn't seem to do anything functionally unique. Most Windows firewalls (not sure about netlimiter) are just front ends to the built-in windows firewall, but easier to use.

Why I use Norton, is that a "default, block, all" will block EVERYTHING. With other firewalls you need to individually select every application and disable it, and when you are done there are still some hidden processes that get through. (like windows update is really hard to block)

[AboutTime1]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Yes, I agree that the primary advantage of commercial plotters/MFD's is "better construction suitable for the cockpit", and that is a huge factor.

https://open-boat-projects.org/en/10...ter-1000-nits/

[AboutTime1]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I love Linux, but my God the drivers . . . Good hobby stuff but I don't have time for that on board.

You know nothing about modern day Linux.

[AboutTime1]

Originally Posted by wholybee

100% agree. I have years of experience with Linux, and always recommend against a RPi. Fine if you enjoy the needless work, but like you said, I can have a working plotter in 10 minutes on Win10. And it runs fine on the cheapest laptop you can find, so it's not even more expensive than a pi after you buy a monitor power supply and case and everything else.

I usually use NUCs (Intel) or BRICs (Gigabyte) instead of RPis. RPis are extremely limited. Several of the NUCs I have run directly on 12V DC. They are tons faster than an RPi and have a decent amount of RAM and a real hard drive. They idle on about 8 watts and run on less than 20.

I set them up with LInux.

An laptops are cheap and available in stores everywhere if it fails.

And they have a UPS built in.

Every had to repair or replace Raymarine gear in a foreign port?

I've heard horror stories about this.

[AboutTime1]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I’m an retired embedded systems engineer with 40 years in industrial , military and space systems.

Relying on generalised cheap consumer computing power is not a great idea. At the very least your primary boat systems should be hosted exclusively on dedicated hardware , nothing else should be loaded on nor should the unit be used for other purposes.

You sound exactly like the military contractors I know ! Overkill is your motto.

[AboutTime1]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Of course the multiple flavours of Linux is a problem in itself.

LOL !

[thomm225]

Another cool thing about OpenCPN is that you can download it at any time and play around with it on any computer you have.

You can download it to the computer you are using to post on CF for example.

If I hook up my GPS Dongle to the computer have at home loaded with OpenCPN, I can see my position on the charts as I'm located that near the water.

Point is you can learn a lot about OpenCPN before you ever put it on your boat.

[Bill Seal]

Would something like this
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...aptop&_sacat=0
work with OpenCPN for less esoteric navigating?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Bill Seal

Would something like this
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...aptop&_sacat=0
work with OpenCPN for less esoteric navigating?

Most anything in that link will work with OpenCPN.

Many are using Raspberry Pi 4's (4GB Ram)

https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-4-extreme-kit.html

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by AboutTime1

https://open-boat-projects.org/en/10...ter-1000-nits/

That looks pretty good, worlds better than the usual solutions.



The hardware buttons are crucial, and that's a step forward, but this is still far from as good as the "hybrid touch" controls on Navico plotters, which can be operated with gloves on. And I wonder whether it's really going to be cheaper than a Vulcan plotter, especially a one generation old Vulcan plotter, which could be had probably for half a boat buck or less.


Another issue with all these home brew devices is that the cartography is anyway more expensive than the hardware, if you cover any significant area, and is going to be much more fiddly to install and keep updated, since OeSENC and similar chart sets cover much smaller areas than the Navionics sets for normal plotters.


So in the grand scheme of things, even with a good implementation like that, it looks like a lot of trouble and not any less expense for a not as good a device. Maybe a perfectly valid solution for someone who enjoys tinkering with it.


Others have suggested a normal plotter at the helm and something running OpenCPN at the nav table. This is what I have. This makes a lot more sense, because hardware suitable for the nav table is much cheaper and easier to put together, and OpenCPN really wants a 20"+ screen. OpenCPN really shines for navigation, it's really superior to plotters for this. But not so much for pilotage, which it was not designed for.

[250224]

Originally Posted by AboutTime1

I usually use NUCs (Intel) ... They idle on about 8 watts and run on less than 20.

Intel is behind. For comparison:

- Raspberry Pi 4 idles at 3.4 W and draws 7.6 W under load
- Mac mini M1 idles at 6.8 W, has a max draw of 39 watts and, I suppose, runs circles around a NUC

(Links: https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/articl...ecs-benchmarks and https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201897)

Originally Posted by wholybee

I will give netlimiter a closer look. From the website it doesn't seem to do anything functionally unique. Most Windows firewalls (not sure about netlimiter) are just front ends to the built-in windows firewall, but easier to use.

Will be interested to hear your opinion. The docs say that they use something called "Base Filtering Engine" which is also used by the Windows Firewall. Thus I suppose Netlimiter is not just a front end.

[mgrouch]

Originally Posted by blu3534

Intel is behind. For comparison:



- Raspberry Pi 4 idles at 3.4 W and draws 7.6 W under load

- Mac mini M1 idles at 6.8 W, has a max draw of 39 watts and, I suppose, runs circles around a NUC



(Links: https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/articl...ecs-benchmarks and https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201897)







Will be interested to hear your opinion. The docs say that they use something called "Base Filtering Engine" which is also used by the Windows Firewall. Thus I suppose Netlimiter is not just a front end.

Pi4 under heavy load 4 CPU cores at 100% consumes

6.4W

without monitor.
Anything Intel is way more power hungry.
I think there is a trend now to make laptops arm based.

[thomm225]

So it looks like it's coming down to either spend $10,000-$15,000 on your electronics package if you aren't quite sure how to use the technology that is available for free....

or if you can figure out the available technology, you can have the same thing for less than $500? or $300?

This is basically a divide between the old and new world that we live in today.

Some simply haven't yet caught up to the technology that is available for free.....which isn't their fault as the technology has improved so rapidly that those of us that are older and in the business can barely keep up if we were born in the last century

My tech's that are in their 20's however would think it absolute ridiculous to pay that kind of money for something they could put together with easy for a few dollars.

These are folks born in the late 90's early 2000's if you can imagine that.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Windows 10 and 11 are complex , lots and lots of background processes , data transfers that you don’t control , automatic updates attempts and unstable third party drivers proliferate.

An embedded system should really only have the exact configuration needed to support the application and nothing more. The closer you get to that the better , Linux can be stripped right back to get closer to this , logging systems etc can be switched off or diverted , multiple ways to regain control if problems. There are also variants designed for SSD usage etc.

Of course the multiple flavours of Linux is a problem in itself.

And you have just explained why Apple uses Unix under the hood and controls the platform
To prove a bit more stability than windoze

I once looked at what a diy Mac Pro would cost compared to the actual Mac Pro I would have save $50 yes that’s right $50 for the exact item

Some stuff it just makes sense to pay the vendor

Oh and I don’t use Linux I use bsd

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by AboutTime1

You know nothing about modern day Linux.

And it sounds like you may be behind in process control

Try lowering the process level of a windows process

On Unix the command is named “nice”