Quote:
Originally Posted by bdbcat
RD...
I'll take a look at the code, but I think this may not work.
1. A single TCP connection can be either input, or output, but not both.
2. If set for output, O will try to act as a TCP server at the specified address/port. Does PolarCom have a TCP client at that port?
3. Autopilot output over a TCP or UDP connection is not tested. You are a leader again
Dave
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Specific responses to your three comments/questions:
1. That surprises me. I thought a TCP connection could be full duplex (just like TCP connections between a computer and a router). I did not know that, in this case, the master doesn't allow the slaves to talk.
2. I had PolarCOM set up as the server, so
O with output turned off would be the client, and
O with output turned on would cause it to break. I went back and tried PolarCOM as the client and turned on
O output, but could not get any bidirectional communcations.
3. After your comment, I went back and tried a UDP connection between PolarCOM and
O, and was getting bidirectional
communications. But
O's autopilot commands were echoing back from PolarCOM and creating some pretty chaotic behavior. I tried filtering out some sentences, but that did not seem to help. And I have no way of knowing whether PolarCOM would forward the AP commands to the correct port, because I'm not at the
boat.
But for now, I have a very workable solution. XPort does a great job of opening and maintaining the Bluetooth connection, and I know from 3 years of using it that it also sends
O's autopilot commands back out the same COM port. Its only deficiency is that it only works with one COM port. So I'll use it for the
GPS data, and to split between two instances of
O if I choos to run both. For the
AIS feed, I'll use PolarCOM TCP server to send half-duplex feed of the data into
O (one or two instances). Using both utilities gives me everything I want for now. I need to confirm all this on the
boat, but it seems to work in my house when sending NMEA
logs from my old netbook, through a USB-serial connector to my BT transmitter, and ultimately into my tablet.
(By the way, VERY NICE upgrade in
O 3.2/3.3, having VTG and RMB/RMC sentences going out even when a
route is not activated. That allows my autopilot to display SOG and other data when in standby. Previously on 2.5/3.1 my autopilot would only get that data when a
route was activated, which is relatively rarely.)