Navico Radar plugin beta 3.816 released

[merrimac]

The BR24 plugin team is happy to announce the first beta v3.816 for the 3.0 release, hot on the heels of the OpenCPN 4.8.0 release. The reason for that is that on Microsoft Windows it requires 4.8.0 -- older versions will not work.

The primary feature for this release is the capability to convert radar targets into MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) and ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) targets which are then shown as OpenCPN AIS like targets both on the chart and on the PPI radar windows.


To make this function we had to add AIS targets to the PPI radar windows, a useful feature in itself.

The menu structure has been improved and stability increased, in particular on shutdown.

The binaries for MacOS and Microsoft Windows can be downloaded from
https://github.com/canboat/BR24radar...tag/v3.0-beta1
The Ubuntu Beta PPA should be tracking our github repo and pick up the release automatically, I believe.

Here is a screenshot showing ARPA targets, VRM/EBL, separate PPI window, radar overlay, etc.



Many thanks to Douwe who spent many hours implementing the (M)ARPA functionality.

[ejs]

Hi,
Have the changes been made to make this version work with the Halo Radars?
Cheers, Eric

[Douwe Fokkema]

Originally Posted by ejs

Hi,
Have the changes been made to make this version work with the Halo Radars?
Cheers, Eric

No, not done. We have no Halo radar to test with. But could you make a Whireshark recording of your radar. Go from off to standby to TX. Then some zooming. If there is a second B radar in the Halo start that one as well. I will then have a look and judge the differences. Mail me at df at percussion.nl

Douwe Fokkema

[merrimac]

Darn, one of the changes made the last day caused the code to lock something which was already locked, and this made the UI hang on Microsoft Windows.

The beta 2 new release (v3.817) is available at:

https://github.com/canboat/BR24radar...tag/v3.0-beta2

[Hakan]

Translators:
The Crowdin pot-file for plugin BR24Radar_pi is now updated and ready for translations.

Håkan

[rgleason]

Congratulations Douwe, Merrimac, Hakan and Radar Team.

The reason for that is that on Microsoft Windows it requires 4.8.0 -- older versions will not work.

Is this because the plugin API was changed to v1.14? with Opencpn 4.8.0?
I am trying to keep a record of the Plugin API Changes. Thanks.

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Is this because the plugin API was changed to v1.14? with Opencpn 4.8.0?

Yes.

4.6.0 was the first _production_ release to contain API 1.14, but I had forgotten a keyword which meant that the new calls were unavailable on Windows. This was fixed in 4.8.0. Since the changes are only useful to plugins making their own OpenGL canvas that want to show AIS/ARPA targets the only likely consumers are the radar plugins, and the Garmin plugin doesn't have PPI displays yet. Thus the Navico radar plugin is the only one that uses this functionality.

[Douwe Fokkema]

Originally Posted by ejs

Hi,
Have the changes been made to make this version work with the Halo Radars?
Cheers, Eric

I now have a test version that works with Simrad Halo radars, with thanks to Eric for the testing. The setup for the Halo version can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/s/f3unovs0di...win32.exe?dl=0
If you prefer a dll only: https://www.dropbox.com/s/suoz3dsavi...-halo.dll?dl=0 and remove the -halo from the filename.
This version is Windows only, for other platforms you can compile from:
https://github.com/douwefokkema/BR24radar_pi/tree/halo

We have not yet decided how we will integrate the Halo radars in our releases. Let me know about your experiences and report any test results to me: df at percussion.nl

[ejs]

Hello,

Everything I can think to test works perfectly on the Halo, over the GoFree Wifi. I had to enable multicast in the GoFree to get the full rate data transmission required. I have attached a screenshot of both radar windows (at two different ranges and heading types) along with the overlay on.

Big thanks to Douwe for making this happen !

Cheers, Eric

[NahanniV]

Are you ready for v3.0 beta 3 ?

I'd like to download and test, but don't want to waste my limited bandwidth.

[merrimac]

We're probably going to release Beta 3, which we think will be the last, later this week (I need some time to fix one final optical improvement.)

We anticipate no further changes in the production release other than translations, we would like to have the major three translations for OpenCPN use (Swedish, French and Dutch) done. It is interesting to see that the OpenCPN population is quite different from the world population :-) -- I guess this reflects where recreational long distance sailing is popular.

[rgleason]

ejs:

Everything I can think to test works perfectly on the Halo, over the GoFree Wifi. I had to enable multicast in the GoFree to get the full rate data transmission required. I have attached a screenshot of both radar windows (at two different ranges and heading types) along with the overlay on.

Are you using wifi to transmit Radar to OpenCPN devices?
https://opencpn.org/wiki/dokuwiki/do...r24_radar#wifi
Reports are that it is slow...

Can you explain how you are using the GoFree wifi with Halo and why you needed multicast and full rate data transmission? My understanding is the Halo is hardwired ethernet similar to the BR24, 3G & 4G Broadband radars. However your setup & experience may be helpful to others.

---
Douwe I noticed this feature in the Simrad Halo radar:

5 Modes with Auto Harbour/Offshore Selection

• Custom,
• Harbour,
• Offshore,
• Weather,
• BIRD modes

tune Halo ..signal processing to help ensure the targets you’re interested in can be seen vividly – even in the toughest environmental conditions. Automatic selection of Harbour and Offshore modes configures your Halo Radar to suit your surroundings, while a ‘Custom’ mode enables easy manual tuning to suit any purpose or condition.

I believe the 4G has Harbor, Offshore and Weather, perhaps a Custom Mode (I don't remember)

Is there any possibility of setting these modes in the plugin?

Thank you for the huge development of this plugin!

[rgleason]

I checked the Radar Installation Manual, and then realized that the Auto Harbor, Offshore, Weather Radar selections are possibly associated with particular Chartplotter settings of "Gain, Sea Clutter, Rain Clutter, Radar Interference".

So I checked the Zeus Touch Operator Manual and did not find these choices described there. https://bandg.com/downloads/zeus-touch-owners-manual/
under "Radar". But I know they exist. I suppose you need a wireshark recording to get these Auto settings?

[Hakan]

Originally Posted by merrimac

We're probably going to release Beta 3, which we think will be the last, later this week (I need some time to fix one final optical improvement.)

We anticipate no further changes in the production release other than translations, we would like to have the major three translations for OpenCPN use (Swedish, French and Dutch) done. It is interesting to see that the OpenCPN population is quite different from the world population :-) -- I guess this reflects where recreational long distance sailing is popular.

Crowdin is previous week updated to reflect the very recent code changes. There are a few new translations to add after that upload. (EE, FI, SE are 100% ready)
Thanks for your help.
Håkan

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by rgleason

I checked the Radar Installation Manual, and then realized that the Auto Harbor, Offshore, Weather Radar selections are possibly associated with particular Chartplotter settings of "Gain, Sea Clutter, Rain Clutter, Radar Interference".

So I checked the Zeus Touch Operator Manual and did not find these choices described there. https://bandg.com/downloads/zeus-touch-owners-manual/
under "Radar". But I know they exist. I suppose you need a wireshark recording to get these Auto settings?

Way ahead of you. We've already talked to Eric about this and once we get a PCAP file, and Douwe or I take the dive in and spend a few days to pinpoint the exact commands that the HALO sends without having one present, we will try to add support for those. That will be released in a later release, obviously.

It's not that super important though. You can always tune manually; these are just hints for the auto-tune of gain and sea state.

Note: If you want better feedback from us, talk to us on github. Github reliably sends us email, unlike CF...