Radar plugin v5.0.0 released

[Karanga]

I have been downloading updates from cloudsmith. I usually check appveyor to see what changes have been made and if these are significant enough then I install the latest version.
It looks like I should wait for url updates to happen in a later version.
Thank you for your help so far.
Tim

[Hakan]

Ok. I see.
But if you want the radar_pi beta you could install the official OCPN to get the download url and when installed return to you present O if you like that. ...

[Gin Tonic]

Originally Posted by Douwe Fokkema

I checked this on Windows, using the resource monitor, and a transmitting radar (simulated with TCPreplay). I found no difference in CPU load with an already activated radar_pi or a later activated radar_pi. But the average CPU load indicated in the resource monitor is high at start, going down very slowly to a stable level. When starting radar_pi later, the stable level is reached faster. I think this caused by the averaging algorithm used by the resource monitor. I found CPU load levels with running radar of 14% on an older laptop to 0.3% on a recent computer.

Douwe

Hi,

I have the same problems with CPU usage like Tim from Karanga. My system broke down several times last season depending on overheating CPU. After deactivating the plugin, all was ok. When radar is powered, the system workes also well!

[Karanga]

Here are 2 screenshots. First shows very little CPU usage. Radar_pi is disabled.
Second shows CPU usage jumps up as soon as radar_pi is enabled. The cooling fans run continuously. CPU usage does not decrease, even after 30 minutes.
As soon as radar_pi is disabled, CPU drops to normal and cooling fan turns off after a few seconds.
Maybe some of us have weird network card issues?
For me, the solution is not difficult - just ensure that radar_pi remains disabled, until I want to use it. Then I power up the radar, then I enable radar_pi. Before I exit OpenCPN, I disable radar_pi, then exit.
Tim

[Hakan]

Tim..
Strange. I've radar_pi on a couple of Windows also with radar_pi ---beta3. The PC in the boat is a very dated but running Win10 and I've not seen anything similar. I'd say when radar is transmitting the CPU usage increases from 5 to about 9%.

I'm using Navico 3G in the boat and BR24 at home. What radar type(s) did you select?

[merrimac]

Tim, can you reproduce when you only have the emulator selected instead of your real radar?


If yes, we know a little bit more what to look for.
If no, what happens if you select a different radar (that you don't own, indeed...)

[Karanga]

I have Halo24 radar.

This morning, I pulled out the RJ45 plug. So no radar connected at all. The issue persists.

I then changed radar installed, to 3G (which I don't have). Issue persists.

I then changed to emulator. Issue goes away and CPU returns to normal 3 - 5%

[Hakan]

Tim..
Speculations..
Since me and others are using the same plugin on several Win10 devices we may assume it's something different with your PC?

• All radar types except the Emulator are using the network card to find a connected radar scanner. Could there be some issues with your network card(s) or firewall(s)?
• When radar_pi tries to find a radar more threads are used for that than for the Emulator. Could a PC device restrict how threads are used by a program?
• Both the Emulator and other radar types are using the graphic card in a similar way so probably not an issue?

As said, just speculations and thoughts to find a path to follow.

[zigzag930]

Just want to thank the Devs for coding this plug-in. I put together a "headless" version of OpenCPN on a new Rpi 4. Wasn't sure if my Garmin GMR18 would work as there really isn't any mention of the older non-HD versions, but it works great.

Took a bit to figure out the static IP and setting in OpenCPN, but now that it is set up - all works fantastic.

I will try the beta on my wireless Raymarine Quantum unit, just to see if that works also.....

[Hakan]

zigzag....
Many thanks for the positive report. Great to hear and we could add this GMR18 info to the radar_pi description.
Was there any special or different procedures you found out compared to the connection info for Garmin HD?: https://github.com/opencpn-radar-pi/...n-%28Garmin%29


Håkan

[zigzag930]

I followed the instructions, but of course needed to add a "connection" in openCPN to specify the lan address.

The alias did work as listed (my adapter is eth0, so changed sudo command to eth0:1), but I decided to make a static IP address so that I wouldn't have to enter that command. The instructions listed for doing that worked ok, but they knocked out my WAN interface. I decided to make the static entry in the DHCP.conf file instead which fixed that issue.

When I get a chance, I will try out my Raymarine Quantum unit to see if it works with the plugin.

Awesome to have radar on my 17" HDMI monitor!!!!

[Hakan]

zigzag..
Very good! so we can add this radar scanner to the list of supported types.


But one thing I don't understand: The OCPN connections are for NMEA data and the radar has normally nothing to do with that so why did you have to add the Lan address there? Or does this Garmin type transfer some NMEA0183 data like a heading and if so on which port?

[zigzag930]

Well now I'm confused. I thought I needed a UDP entry to receive the data, so I entered one into openCPN's connections. I will turn it off and see if things still work. May be a few days until I can report back.

[merrimac]

v5.2.0-beta4 is now in the Beta catalog.


This fixes two issues:


1. All HALO radomes with any version number are now accepted as HALO.
2. When there is no MFD present we send out a heading packet on Ethernet so that Doppler works. If previously you saw no Doppler targets, this should fix it. They appear as light blue (moving away) or yellow (coming towards you).

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by Karanga

I have been downloading updates from cloudsmith. I usually check appveyor to see what changes have been made and if these are significant enough then I install the latest version.
It looks like I should wait for url updates to happen in a later version.
Thank you for your help so far.
Tim

You're welcome to do this but don't blame us if it breaks completely! There is a reason we only release certain builds!!