OpenCPN Radar Overlay PlugIn

[ket]

Hi,
I have a 24HD Radar unit that i am attempting to connect to my laptop (Under linux)...
The plugin seems to work perfectly at settings changes and at controlling the radar unit..

However it never seems to provide any radar data (as visible on the screen)..

I have attached the wireshark capture of the ethernet communications if this helps anyone

Thanks,

[bdbcat]

Ralim...

More detail needed:

In master mode?
Do you have a Garmin chart plotter attached as well?
Anything in the gradar debug screen?

p.s. no wireshark attachment found here...

Dave

[ket]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

Ralim...

More detail needed:

In master mode?
Do you have a Garmin chart plotter attached as well?
Anything in the gradar debug screen?

p.s. no wireshark attachment found here...

Dave

Hi Dave,
My apologies on missing this information…
Running master mode as I do not have a chart plotter available to me at the moment, so sadly I cannot provide any extra captures from one.

Nothing showed up in the debug screen or on the terminal I launched from (looking for debug), all the messages appear to indicate the radar is operating correctly.

Damn I will re-upload the file when I can get to the laptop again.

Thanks Dave

[kantala]

Greetings from a Canadian in Malaysia, and thank you for this great Nav program. We came to OpenCPN 3 or 4 years ago, and were in a small minority of users. In the last couple of years though we notice that more and more people are using it, even those who used to be the most critical. It's not just open source, it's better! Thank you Dave, and all you others who made it happen.

Ok, to the point. GRadar. Thank you for creating this too, it's a huge labour and we truly appreciate your efforts. But we have some questions.

We have a GMR 18HD and a Garmin 2108 plotter, bought in Singapore last year at an excellent price. We don't need or use the plotter as such, and compared to our previous radar, a Vigil RX, the GMR 18HD is awful. In particular, the user interface is really bad, as is much of its other software. So I am very excited about GRadar, which will be a great improvement. However we just can't get it up and running.

We're trying with Gradar v.10, dated 23-06-2012, on OpenCPN 3.2.2, with Win7 on 2 machines, and with Virtual Windows on a Mac. No joy. We've tried using Master mode with no plotter, and also in parallel mode with the existing plotter. We've checked and double checked the wiring as indicated in the GRadar doc, no luck. The same wiring will run the radar through the plotter, but not at the computer. We've tried the IP address as indicated, and several others that seemed intelligent alternatives. We've looked for clues in the Log, and we've run Wireshark frequently.

Here's what happens. When we start OpenCPN the Radar Log starts immediately. First it shows "Scanner State Unknown". If we're lucky it may then show "Warmup', followed later by "Standby", but never more than that.
There doesn't seem to be any pattern about this. It may or may not move on from "Scanner State Unknown", whether we turn on the radar before or after OpenCPN.

Wireshark usually shows a packet length of 66 bytes. Sometimes this increases to 606 bytes or more, which means that the network is alive. But OpenCPN never changes from having the red dot on the Radar button, and we get no user interface & no radar display. Even if we run the radar in parallel with the plotter, so that we know it's working properly, OpenCPN doesn't display anything except the Log. The GRadar toolbar button does nothing. GRadar starts the Log the moment we start OpenCPN, whether we want it or not, and we can't turn it off except by disabling it under Options-Plugins.

I attach a capture from Wireshark, filtered for IP. (Take off any .doc suffix if there and save as 'Any File' when downloading). However, I'm not sure that this will help. It feels like there is something very basic wrong with our setup, something that neither I nor my more capable friends can figure out. Maybe there is something really simple that we're overlooking.

Here are a few thoughts:
- Does the GPS have to be connected? We haven't done that yet (we have some USB-serial issues).
- Should we preload the AIS 'radar' plugin?
- Pin 5 on the F2F connector is an interesting question. Do you count from left or right? The diagram suggests from the left, while technical manuals suggest counting from the right. One end is upside down with respect to the other to simplify the circuit board. Does this affect the count?
- Does that matter anyway, since no matter which side you start counting, both the pins show the same behaviour? Pin 5 from the left and pin 5 from the right both show 12 volts initially and then ground potential when either of them is grounded. We've tried every which-a-way and it makes no difference.

Does anyone have any clues? And of course, thanks in advance for even taking the time to read this post.

Ciao - Michael

[kantala]

Hi again

I see that my attachment failed. Here's trying again...

Ciao - Michael

[kantala]

OK, trying again, and again. No, no luck, those tries didn't work either. Sorry, I'm out of ideas.

Ciao - Michael

[bdbcat]

kantala...

Thanks for the note.
I am working this problem now, and will have more info shortly.

A couple of basic points, to get us on the same page:

1. To get the GRadar control panel, right click on the chart and select "Radar Control".

2. From the Radar Control, you will be able to select mode, log enable, etc.

3. Focus your efforts on Slave Mode to begin with, since you have a plotter connected.

4. In Slave mode, the wiring of the ethernet cable is not relevent. The plotter activates the scanner as directed, and the external switch is not needed.

More later

Dave

[bdbcat]

kantala....

OK, more info.

On Windows, it turns out that you do need GPS active to show the radar overlay in OCPN 3.2.2. The reason is that the screen is intentionally not redrawn if there is no GPS position to update.

We should (and will) do a better job of noting this situation in the log, and onscreen. Makes sense to not show the image, really, since without a GPS position, where is the origin of the radar data? You would need to manually pan the chart until the overlay lines up with known targets. But if you know where the targets are, why do you need radar? etc...

Also, there is a major upgrade to the Garmin radar PlugIn. It has not been released for Windows yet, but I will build a copy and attach it here shortly for your testing.
Here is some info.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1260409

More later
Good Luck
Dave

[dougwm10]

Can anyone supply a definitive list of Radar Scanners that can be successfully connected and used with the GRadar plugin ?

ie Catalogue numbers, sizes, types etc

It would also be helpful if those people who have units which are connected and working successfully and / or unsuccessfully could post details of which scanners they are using.

[bdbcat]

Doug...

I am using the Garmin GMR 18 HD.
https://www.gps4us.com/GARMIN-GMR-18...dar--P681.html

or

Garmin GMR 18 HD 18" Radar Dome 010 00572 02 | eBay

Should be able to buy this scanner for less than $1100 delivered.

Dave

[Neptune's Gear]

Or you can use the br24 plugin. Supports the navico scanners, 3g and 4g. That's
Navico, Simrad, Lowrance etc...

A bit more expensive than the Garmin ones, and a bit better specs..

[bdbcat]

NZ8720...

More specifics, if you please.

1. Is the OpenCPN PlugIn dll available? Where may we download from?
2. Is the current source on github?
3. Are there verified/confirmed navico scanners (model numbers) that are known to work?

I don't mean to be fussy about all this, but anyone would want to be real sure about the details before dropping the $$ to purchase a scanner.

First hand information and some screenshots would be great.

I personally am thrilled that we are making progress on the Navico scanners.

Thanks
Dave

[Neptune's Gear]

Hi Dave, I'm just a user, not a developer. Speak with Dave Cowell or Kees Verruijt, they are the ones who have developed it for the Navico scanners.

Yes it works. I use a Lowrance 3g scanner - I think Kees has a 4g. They are all the same protocols as far as I know. All made by Navico, and just branded Lowrance, Simrad, whatever.

I posted some screen shots a little further back in this thread...

BUT it is still basic radar only at this stage. No EBL, no Guard Zone etc. There is still work to be done on tuning etc. But it works!

Cheers
Matt

[kantala]

Hi Dave

Thanks for your insights, very helpful.

We had a good day yesterday, and made great progress. I can't believe we missed that right click, what a difference. I suspect that some of our other problems were caused by an intermittent Ethernet wiring failure. I am SO over the 'Made in China' ****. The sooner we move on to quality dependable products the better. What's the benefit in getting cheap stuff if it fails and causes aggro?

No question the Linux version works better, the Windows version is obviously in development. But at least we got it working. I'm tempted to run OpenCPN from a Linux stick, which would solve several problems. We did figure out the GPS thing too.

Our plotter has only one Ethernet port. For us, therefore, GRadar is best in Master Mode. We did use a network hub to look at the other modes, but as a note to others in this position I would say make sure you know the difference between network routers, switches, hubs, etc. You must be sure that the plotter and computer are sharing the same information. Wireshark may help with this when setting up initially.

I agree with you, the best thing would be to have the type of GRadar display as a choice, with a stand-alone picture if desired. There are many (most?) times when I would prefer to have the radar image as a stand-alone, when we are offshore obviously, but also much of the time when passage-making near the coast. As a default, the GRadar should probably then show 'Heads-up', with 'North-up' as an option if a GPS is attached (which it usually would be).

I detest the Garmin menus and the endless clicking of buttons to swap from one menu to another in order to perform even the simplest task. So it was a pleasure, for example, to have the Gain available on screen, beside the image. That alone was worth the price of admission.

The displayed image on the Linux version was excellent. One of us thought that the plotter did a slightly better job showing gradations or shades of colour. But we never did agree on this. Just a thought.

I am so very grateful to you and your team for doing this development. I feel so useless being unable to do more than merely comment on and apparently criticize your work.

Ciao - Michael

[Neptune's Gear]

Interesting Kantala, I've not used the linux version (although I'm working on that now on an andriod tablet).
I think that once you have experience of quality overlays, you won't use standalone mode.. I've done about 40,000 nm now with a PC based system (Was Nobeltec, now OCPN) and I almost never use the standalone display any more. It is great to have the Radar confirming the charts are OK...
Best of luck with your system!