Radar plugin 5.2.0 beta released

[merrimac]

Dear OpenCPNers,

Douwe has invested a few more months of his life and reverse engineered the standalone version of the old BR24 adaptation to Raymarine written by the mysterious ab2nkovs so that the multi-brand radar plugin now supports a whole heap of Raymarine radars.

Due to the amount of radars produced by Raymarine we're not totally sure which ones are supported and which ones are not, but on the "old" side it goes back to the original first E series with analogue radar cable that had Seatalk hs. Here is what we think is supported: https://github.com/opencpn-radar-pi/...-model-support -- if you have a Raymarine radar + OpenCPN please test yours with the plugin and let us know whether it works for you, including the model number.

Douwe also re-wrote the radar detection code, so that now Raymarine and Navico radars share this code, and hopefully he smashed the last remaining HALO detection bugs.

So we'd like every Navico radar user to test this plugin as well.

There is also a fix for Garmin HD to repair the radar bearing alignment.

To test, just switch to the Beta plugin channel and download radar_pi-5.2.0-beta2.

[LeaseOnLife]

just to bring this back to the top of threads... works here with Navico 4G (older HW, Firmware 26-OCT-2012) on Kubuntu Groovy, Kernel 5.10.3

[mooselips]

Any chance of getting a Garmin Fantom working? I have a unit now for testing I could use (Fantom 24).

Due to the major difference with the Fantom and how it communicates I see that it may be a long way off from getting it to work with OpenCPN.

I am working with a marine electronics company testing to see how OpenCPN works with radar and overlays. They were interested in getting the Fantoms working because they feel the HD and xHD units were long in the tooth and don't really use them any longer.

I am a computer technology teacher also, so I can pull logs and test, but I am a horrible coder.

Mike

[Hakan]

mooselips..
Yes it's a great job to investigate how each radar scanner is working. But the very first thing is to have one, a corresponding MFD (or some other device that can control the radar) and "some" time. For Windows Wireshark is a really good tool to learn what's happening and to sample upstart and each and every command and its radar reply. All divided into single files for each event.

Here are some hints. https://github.com/opencpn-radar-pi/radar_pi/wiki/Adding-new-radar-types

And this is how it all once started with Navico: Roboat: Radar
There's rather good description of the work method.

For sure a Fantom support would be appreciated.

[mooselips]

Thanks Hakan,

I should be able to do this. I have the Fantom until the end of the month at least and could get another after that probably (This is a loaner that will be installed on a boat).

I have two Garmin MDF's here that the radar can connect to. I need to make some cables tonight (I don't have a Garmin Network hub, so I need to pull out and join one of the ethernet cables, I can't remember which wire, but I have that saved somewhere).

I have a Windows 10 computer with OpenCPN and Wireshark on it. I am not very familiar with Wireshark, but I should be able to figure that out.

I will work tonight on getting the system up and running. I was about to just box up the Fantom and return it to the marine electronics company and get an Garmin xHD 18.

I am starting to read through the ROBoat document now.

Mike

[Hakan]

Mike..
Very good. I saw you "speaking" with Hasse and that's good. He was making a lot work on the Garmin HDx interface at radar_pi.
Good luck
Håkan

[mooselips]

Thanks Hakan,

I am getting started on this. I am at that strange point in a project where you have many technical details, but are still missing some of the big picture concepts that allow you to know what other technical details you need.

Mike

[Hakan]

Mike..
Sounds not at all strange for me. The feeling of tackle an maze is as it is. But as you have done start somewhere use to clear up things later on. I hope you and Hasse continue forward. If later needed there are possible also more coders available when it comes to that part. Pls keep updating on the radar_pi issue. It's usually read by all of us.
Håkan

[Douwe Fokkema]

Automatic tracking of Doppler targets with Halo Doppler radars

Inspired by a remark from Kees: "For the HALO radars we know how to get this data out and paint the "doppler detected" targets in a different color. What we don't do yet (what the Furuno radar + MFD combo apparently can) is to automatically convert any doppler target into an ARPA target." (https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3307318)

I implemented a prototype of this feature in the radar plugin. So in the latest development version of radar_pi there is now a test version of the automatic tracking of Doppler targets as ARPA targets. This means that any targets which the Doppler marks as "approaching", are automatically located and tracked by the ARPA system. These targets will be handled by OpenCPN as AIS targets, including the collision prevention actions. An example of how this could function is shown on: https://youtu.be/J1pyIZYiAO0
The target you see on the video (vessel moving down a narrow canal) would have been impossible to track with the existing ARPA. Thanks to the Doppler feature it is tracked automatically.

We can still use some testers of this feature. Are you sailing with a Halo Doppler radar? Let me know and I will get you an early version for installation.

Douwe Fokkema

[toolbar]

Wow, that looks great!

I have a Halo 20+ with OpenCPN, but the boat is on the hard during the European winter.

Paul

[Karanga]

Originally Posted by Douwe Fokkema

Automatic tracking of Doppler targets with Halo Doppler radars

Inspired by a remark from Kees: "For the HALO radars we know how to get this data out and paint the "doppler detected" targets in a different color. What we don't do yet (what the Furuno radar + MFD combo apparently can) is to automatically convert any doppler target into an ARPA target." (https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3307318)

I implemented a prototype of this feature in the radar plugin. So in the latest development version of radar_pi there is now a test version of the automatic tracking of Doppler targets as ARPA targets. This means that any targets which the Doppler marks as "approaching", are automatically located and tracked by the ARPA system. These targets will be handled by OpenCPN as AIS targets, including the collision prevention actions. An example of how this could function is shown on: https://youtu.be/J1pyIZYiAO0
The target you see on the video (vessel moving down a narrow canal) would have been impossible to track with the existing ARPA. Thanks to the Doppler feature it is tracked automatically.

We can still use some testers of this feature. Are you sailing with a Halo Doppler radar? Let me know and I will get you an early version for installation.

Douwe Fokkema

I am a liveaboard (so on the boat full-time) , with a Halo24, latest OpenCPN and radar_pi into a Win10 laptop and have Wireshark installed. No MFD. I am happy to help with beta testing of features

[SoonerSailor]

After January, I will be able to test the 5.2 beta against the HALO24 I have yet to install on my boat. 5.1 worked on my RaspberryPI 4b, but I could not get it to work on any of several Windows10 computers. Here's hoping!

[Hakan]

Sooner...
Douwe will need as many testers as possible, very good.
I'm on Win10 and everything is running fine here. Could you describe your Win obstacles?
Håkan

[SoonerSailor]

I did post my difficulties about a month ago at the GitHub repository:
https://github.com/opencpn-radar-pi/radar_pi/issues/156

[Hakan]

Ahaa, that one I remember although I don't have a Halo myself.

Do I understand you correct if you not yet have been able to test the radar_pi 5.2.0 beta2? If so we do look forward to your report.