OpenCPN - theoretical project build

[MV Wanderlust]

We're still boat shopping and have narrowed down our focus to 53' Defevers from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s. Most seem to have old electronics, which is pretty common, so I'm playing around with how to build a serviceable new electronics package based on OpenCPN and doing so without breaking the bank.

Let's say the existing boat has:
* Antiquated radar
* Functional autopilot (AP24, AP200, or AP 300)
* Functional depth/speed

The final result should include:
* OpenCPN running on a large Windows 10-based tablet (Opting for Windows 10 so the Google Earth OpenCPN plugin can be used)
* Autopilot can follow a track plotted on OpenCPN
* OpenCPN displays radar (magnetron or Doppler) and AIS data
* OpenCPN displays depth data (this is optional) (Will most older depth displays output NMEA 0183 sentences?)
* Windows 10 is wirelessly connected to a WiFi range extender that will automatically switch over to an LTE/4G SIM when no WiFi zone is detected

I'm assuming we'll need:
* Windows 10 tablet, at least 12". Which one works well with OpenCPN?
* Possibly GPS antenna. Were most from that era outputting NMEA 0183 sentences or were they typically proprietary?
* AIS transceiver that outputs NMEA 0183
* USB hub, to connect everything to a single tablet connection point
* Some sort of NMEA 0183 to USB converter?
* Probably a new radar dome. Which models work well with OpenCPN?
* WiFi range extender with automatic switching to LTE/4G

Surely someone has pieced together a system similar to this and can weigh in. Thoughts, experiences, and guidance are welcome.

Thanks.

John

[conachair]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

The final result should include:
* OpenCPN running on a large Windows 10-based tablet (Opting for Windows 10 so the Google Earth OpenCPN plugin can be used)

Easy these days to convert satellite images to KAP chart files which work much better than the plug in - so that opens up the other operating systems.

Personally IMHO Openplotter running on a raspberry pi is the most powerful out of the box system available . Might struggle with radar though.

https://sailoog.gitbooks.io/openplot...on/content/en/

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by conachair

Easy these days to convert satellite images to KAP chart files which work much better than the plug in - so that opens up the other operating systems.

Personally IMHO Openplotter running on a raspberry pi is the most powerful out of the box system available . Might struggle with radar though.

https://sailoog.gitbooks.io/openplot...on/content/en/

Read through the documentation on OpenPlotter. Very impressive. Looks like it could meet our needs. Thanks for the recommendation.

According to the OpenCPN documentation, it should be able to integrate radar. However, I’m not clear on how to incorporate the incoming signals from a radome or which one would be easiest to integrate with the system. Still investigating that.

[seandepagnier]

the pi is a bit slow for radar overlay. It may work with accelerated graphics, but that is not completely stable.


I am hopefully going to try out the rockpro64 soon if I can get funds together, it is about 15x faster than the pi with also much better graphics. It would make a nicer plotter (in theory)

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

the pi is a bit slow for radar overlay. It may work with accelerated graphics, but that is not completely stable.


I am hopefully going to try out the rockpro64 soon if I can get funds together, it is about 15x faster than the pi with also much better graphics. It would make a nicer plotter (in theory)

Hadn't heard of the RockPro64 so had to look it up. It has some nice specs and a very reasonable price. I might experiment with one of those, myself.