Quark Elec

[Belliure 50]

I'm seriously considering purchasing the Quark Elec QK-A026 AIS Receiver for my OCPN setup.
I'm at my wits ends trying to get a GPS USB (Prolific) dongle and an RTLSDR working on different platforms (Rpi4, Mac, and now Ubuntu on a PC). Maybe a better solution is a standalone combo device that will talk to the Linux PC....

I have an i7 Core mini PC running Ubuntu 18.04 and OCPN 5.6.2, does anyone have a similar setup and can comment on how well it performs?

Also interested to know any tips or tricks I should be aware of regarding the Wifi connection, (or anything else for that matter)?

tia,

K

[Hakan]

K..
OpenCPN.org has all links. Not less to the manual.
Some direct links covering some of your questions:

For general info about GNSS(GPS) connections.

For connections in general look here.

[Belliure 50]

Originally Posted by Hakan

K..
OpenCPN.org has all links. Not less to the manual.
Some direct links covering some of your questions:

For general info about GNSS(GPS) connections.

For connections in general look here.

Thanks Hakan, but ive been through this manual, and Openmarine's, and BBN's, multiple times with Rpi4, Ubuntu, Mac and BBN OS. The problem with these docs is that they DON'T tell you how to proceed when it doesn't work, but such is the nature of Open software as the myriad of hardware and SW combos cant all be accounted for.


My principle problem with GPS is I get the data in, I get the connections made in OCPN, I can see the GPS sentences in the debugger (speaking of which, why don't the pause and copy buttons work??), and the satellites are displayed on the dashboard. My own position and Icon is not shown on screen though, and the top right corner icon does not change to show receiving. Additionally the Lat and Long in the dash board is about 3000 miles off. I know the GPS dongle works as I use it for other projects. There's something going screwy between the USB input and OCPN.


Dont even get me started on RTLSDR......


Hence the decision to look into an entirely stand alone combo device. I'm not yet at the point of giving up and visiting Raymarine

[Hakan]

K..
If you see the NMEA0183 sentences in the NMEA Debug window you could make a copy and save to a txt file. Publish it here and we can have look what's coming in. (You may have to rename the file and add a "pdf" extension like: file.txt.pdf to pass the CF rules.)


re: "speaking of which, why don't the pause and copy buttons work??"
I assume your on Linux then? If you close the Options windows it may work?

[Belliure 50]

Originally Posted by Hakan

K..
If you see the NMEA0183 sentences in the NMEA Debug window you could make a copy and save to a txt file. Publish it here and we can have look what's coming in. (You may have to rename the file and add a "pdf" extension like: file.txt.pdf to pass the CF rules.)


re: "speaking of which, why don't the pause and copy buttons work??"
I assume your on Linux then? If you close the Options windows it may work?

Seems the GPS issue is going to make a liar of me... I left the machine and GPS running last night and all day when I went to work, and the GPS has found itself and is now presenting on OCPN. I guess it needed way more time than usual to locate. Lat and Long are still about a mile off though, at least it doesnt think its in South Carolina anymore.


Yes, running Ubuntu 18.04. Now to go continue the wrestling with RTLSDR....

[Hakan]

OK, that "old issue". Some receivers can search satellites for several hours if being out of power a long time.
Good luck.

[capt jgw]

Re the buttons in the debugger: on my setups in Linux Mint I have close the setup menu before the buttons do anything. In other words besides the chart display the debugger is the only app running.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Hakan

OK, that "old issue". Some receivers can search satellites for several hours if being out of power a long time.
Good luck.

Yeah. Most phone based gps use the cell ( or wifi ) network to speed time to first fix and to access the ephemeris data. If that’s not there hours can go by until the gps captures all this data.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by Hakan

OK, that "old issue". Some receivers can search satellites for several hours if being out of power a long time.
Good luck.

Right, the receivers don't just listen to whatever sats are overhead, they download an almanac first that tells what sats are where at what time. That's the ephemeris data. Then they listen for the correct sats. That download can take a while and it only goes out a few weeks. If the receiver's been offline longer than that it's going to take a while to reaquire.

[Belliure 50]

Originally Posted by capt jgw

Re the buttons in the debugger: on my setups in Linux Mint I have close the setup menu before the buttons do anything. In other words besides the chart display the debugger is the only app running.

Yes that worked, thank you.


next issue isnt OCPN, compiling RTLSDR keeps terminating because it cant find various whatevers, and my Linux knowledge isnt great so i spend more time googling than using

[ChristianV]

OpenCPN provides both WiFi and USB connection options. My Quark A026 works well with it via WiFi. Good luck.