Post on 17-Jan-2016
description
Exploring OpenCPNSubjects
- Find the manual- Add charts- Create chart groups- Plugins- Program settings (GPS, Vector Charts, AIS, Language/Fonts) - ROUTES: create, save and change- TRACKS: create, save and display- ANCHORAGES: save and display- LAYERS: create and display- GRIB files- Voyage data recording
Version 1.3 (22 Sept 2014)
Exploring OpenCPN - Find the manualON THE TOOLBAR CLICK ON THE ‘BOOK’ ICON WITH THE ‘?’ MARK
Exploring OpenCPN - Find the manual
CLICK ON THE ‘Help’ TAB
Exploring OpenCPN - Find the manual
THE USER MANUALOPENS WITHIN YOURCOMPUTER BROWSER(Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc)
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BEONLINE
Exploring OpenCPN - Add chartsON THE OpenCPN TOOLBAR, CLICK ON ‘Options’ (the ‘wrench’) THEN ‘Charts’.CLICK ON ‘Add Directory’ NOTE THAT THE cm93 CHARTS HAVEALREADY BEEN LOADED IN THIS EXAMPLE
Exploring OpenCPN - Add charts
NAVIGATE TO WHERE YOU HAVECHARTS STORED ON YOURCOMPUTER. SELECT THECHARTS YOU WANT TO ADD.IN THIS CASE THEY ARE GE2KAPOVERLAY CHARTS OF THEPHILIPPINES.
HIGLIGHT THE DESIRED CHARTSAND SELECT ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Add charts
NEXT CHECK THE BOX ‘Force Full Database Rebuild’ THEN CLICK ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Add charts
WAIT WHILE THE DATABASE IS UPDATED
Exploring OpenCPN - Add charts
HERE I HAVE REPEATED THE STEPS TO LOAD BSB CHARTSOF THE PHILIPPINES. DISPLAYING ALL CHARTS AT ONCE CANSLOW DOWN THE PROGRAM. HAVING SELECTABLE ‘CHARTGROUPS’ IS BETTER, THE NEXT TOPIC
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart group
ON THE ‘Options/Charts’ PAGE, CLICK THE TAB ‘Chart Groups’
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupCLICK ‘New Group’
ENTER A NAME FOR THEGROUP AND CLICK ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupNOW SELECT THE CHARTS TO BE ADDED TO THE NEW GROUP.IT’S BEST TO ALWAYS INCLUDE THE BASIC CHARTS, cm93.HIGHLIGHT THESE CHARTS AND CLICK ON ‘Add’
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupNOW HIGHLIGHT THE NEW CHARTS FOR THIS GROUP AND CLICK ON ‘Add’
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart group
THE NEW CHARTS FOR THIS GROUP AND THE cm93 ARE SHOWN. CLICK ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupHERE I HAVE CREATED A SECOND GROUP OF THE BSB CHARTSFOR THE PHILIPPINES
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupTO DISPLAY A DESIRED CHART GROUP, RIGHT-CLICK ON THEOpenCPN SCREEN AND CLICK ON ‘Chart Groups’ AND THE ONEYOU WANT TO BE DISPLAYED, e.g. PHILIPPINE BSB CHARTS
Exploring OpenCPN - Create chart groupAND THE BSB CHARTS ARE DISPLAYED. TO CHANGE TO ANYOTHER CHART GROUP, RIGHT-CLICK ON THE SCREEN AS BEFORE
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsPlugins for OpenCPN 3.2 and later:
FOR ANY PLUGIN OTHER THAN THE ‘DASHBOARD’ AND ‘GRIB’,YOU MUST DOWNLOAD IT FROM THE OpenCPN WEBSITE.AVAILABLE AS OF 5 MAR 14 ARE:
Launcher v0.2, released 2013-12-24 The plugin allows the user to define several buttons to launch external commands. Primarily targetting touch screen devices.
.GRadar v1.3, released 2013-11-25 The plugin overlays the radar pictureon OpenCPN and works with modern Garmin(Ethernet capable) radar scanners only.
Climatology v0.2, released 2013-06-25 Intended to aid in planning sailingvoyages, to help visualize weather patterns, and to integrate with weatherrouting plugin to compute optimal sailing routes. Satellite weather data fromthe last 30 years is averaged, then represented using only useful bits, thencompressed to produce a much smaller database used by the plugin.
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsPlugins for OpenCPN 3.2 and later:
SAR v0.8, released 2013-04-07 Creates Search and Rescue patternswith desired parameters.
Weatherfax v0.6, released 2013-04-06 Read weather fax encoded dataas audio or image. Overlay this on top of charts
Celestial Navigation v1.5, released 2013-04-06 Implements nauticalalmanac for sun, moon, planets, and various navigational stars. Enablethe User to compute position fix from celestial measurements.
Calculator v1.3, released 2013-04-06 This is a calculator &mathematical expression parsing plugin.Would you like to know your hull speed?World Magnetic Model v0.7a, released 2013-04-06 Implements theNOAA World Magnetic Model The bundled WMM2010 model expiresDecember 31, 2014. After then, if new version of the plugin will not bereleased in time, get a new WMM.COF from NOAA and place it to thelocation you can find the OpenCPN logfile. The plugin can plot the variationon top of the chart
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsPlugins for OpenCPN 3.2 and later:
AIS Radar plugin v0.96, released 2013-03-10 Implements a radar-likedisplay for AIS targets
Google Earth Plugin v0.10, released 2013-03-07 Integrates Google Earthsatellite view to OpenCPN
BSB4 v1.2, released 2012-03-29 BSB4 PlugIn for OpenCPN providessupport of BSB Version 4 Raster charts, format used by many hydrographicauthorities throughout the world. Supported charts must have been installedwith appropriate encryption certificates in place
nv-charts Plugin v1.3, released 2012-03-29 Provides OpenCPN supportfor nv-charts (.EAP extension). Supported charts must have been correctlyinstalled with valid encryption certificates in place.
Logbook Konni v1.1, released 2012-06-21, supports OpenCPN 2.6 andlater Complex logbook with a lot of features and customizable layout.
FindIt v1.0, released 2012-06-04, supports OpenCPN 2.6 and laterStowage manager for OpenCPN, integrates with Konni's Logbook
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsPlugins for OpenCPN 3.2 and later:
VDR or Voyage Data Recorder v0.3, released 2012-05-28, supportsOpenCPN 2.6 and later Save NMEA stream to a file. Replay NMEA streampreviously saved.
Debugger v0.1, released 2012-06-07, supports OpenCPN 2.6 and later. Shows the messages travelling through the plugin API This plugin is aimedmainly at the developers and to help troubleshoot problems with NMEA data stream
Route v1.0, released 2012-10-07, supports OpenCPN 2.6 and later.Plots Great Circle routes, Limited Circle Routes and Rhumb lines.
THE ONES I HAVE INSTALLED ARE IN YELLOW ABOVE
END OF PLUGINS FOR OPENCPN 3.2 AND LATER
NEXT ARE PLUGINS FOR OPENCPN 3.3 AND LATER
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsPlugins for OpenCPN 3.3 and later:
Statusbar v0.2, released 2013-03-02 The built-in status bar is very limitedin it's configuration options and can be difficult to read. This plugin replacesit with a more configurable one. For best results, you should disable thebuilt-in toolbar on the User Interface tab in the Toolbox and set theY position of the plugin toolbar to at least the pixel size of the fontselected in the plugin preferences.
Watchdog v1.0, released 2013-03-02 The plugin implements variousconfigurable alarms alerting the user about the changing conditions aroundthe boat. Also implements an improved anchor alarm.
Warning: These plugins need extensions implemented after the current stable version 3.2 was released, you must be using at least version 3.3 beta for them to work.
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsDownloading Plugins
DOWNLOAD THE DESIRED PLUGIN(S) FROM THE OpenCPN SITE
http://opencpn.org/ocpn/downloadplugins
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsInstalling Plugins
FROM THE FOLDERCONTAINING THEDOWNLOADEDPLUGIN, DRAG ANDDROP IT INTO THE‘plugins’ FOLDER UNDER ‘Program Files/OpenCPN
LAUNCH OpenCPN
HERE I HAVEDOWNLOADED THEAis radar PLUGIN
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsInstalling Plugins
ON THE Options PAGE SELECT Plugins AND SCROLL DOWN TO THEAIS Radar view PLUGIN. SELECT ‘Enable’
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsInstalling Plugins
SELECTING Preferences OPENS THE SCREEN ‘Radar Preferences’CHECK BOTH BOXES AND CLICK ON ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - PluginsInstalling Plugins
THE ICON APPEARS IN THE TOOLBARIT’S USE WILL BE DEMONSTRATED LATER UNDER ‘Program Settiings’
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settingsGPS
GO TO ‘Options/Connections’ AND CLICK ON ‘Add Connection’
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settingsGPS
SCROLL DOWN THE SCREEN. USE THE ELEVATOR IN THE ‘DataPort’WINDOW TO SELECT THE COM PORT THE GPS IS USING, IN THISCASE COM1. NEXT SELECT ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settingsGPS
ON THE OpenCPN SCREEN THE GPS WILL BE SEEN AS GREEN BARSIN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER AND THE BOAT ICON WILL BE RED
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings Vector charts
MY RECOMMENDEDSETTINGS ARE THESE.NOTE YOU CAN SET THEDEPTH UNITS TO YOURCHOICE ; NORMALLY TOMATCH YOUR DEPTHINSTRUMENT
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
TO ADD THE AIS INCOMING DATA FROM THE OUTPUT OF THE INSTALLEDAIS DEVICE, GO TO Options/Connections AND CLICK ON Add Connection
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
USE THE ELEVATOR TO SCROLL DOWN THE SCREEN AND CLICKON THE ELEVATOR NEXT TO DataPort TO SHOW AVAILABLE PORTS
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
IN THIS CASE I HAVE SELECTED COM11 (MY CONFIGURATION) ANDHAVE CHANGED THE BaudRate TO 38400 (STANDARD AIS DATA RATE)CLICK ON ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
THE DISPLAY IS SHOWINNG SHIPS AT ANCHOR (YELLOW WITH ABLACK DOT) AND UNDERWAY (GREEN). ALSO THE GPS INDICATORIN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER IS A GREEN BALL INSTEAD OF THE PREVIOUS INDICATION OF VERTICAL LINES TO INDICATE AIS DATA
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
THE DISPLAY OF AIS TARGETS ON OpenCPN HAS A VARIETY OF FEATURES AND CONDITIONS.
PLEASE REFER TO THE AIS SECTION OF THE USER MANUAL FORDETAILED READING ON THIS SUBJECT.
BUT SEEING IS NOT ALWAYS BELIEVING! THE DATA BEING SENT FROM A TARGET IS NOT ALWAYS CORRECT. OTHER THAN THE INFORMATION ENTERED DURING INSTALLATION (NAME, CALL SIGN, MMSI, CLASS, SHIP DETAILS) AND THAT COMING FROM THE GPS (POSITION, SOG, COG, RATE OF TURN) IT IS DEPENDENT ON THE CREW TO ENTER INFORMATION SUCH AS STATUS (MOORED, UNDERWAY, ETA, DESTINATION, ETC).
AND DON’T BE CONFUSED BY A TARGET THAT APPEARS TO BE MOVING SIDEWAYS OR BACKWARDS. THE CORRECT ORIENTATION OF THE VESSEL ON THE DISPLAY IS DETERMINED BY CORRECT WIRING OF THE ON-BOARD HEADING SENSOR. IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE.
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
PLACING THE CURSOR OVER A SHIP GIVES A POP-UP INFORMATION BOX
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
RIGHT-CLICK ANYWHERE ON THESCREEN TO SELECT THE AIS Target List
NOTE THE DETAILS OF THE SHIP THAT ISUNDERWAY IN ADDITION TO ALL TARGETS
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AISCLICK ON THE AIS Radar View
ICON (WHEN INSTALLED) TO BRING UP THE DISPLAY OF SHIPSWITHIN THE SELECTED Range
CHECKING THE ‘EBL’ BOX(ELECTRONIC BEARING LINE)PLACES A BEARING LINE FROMYOUR VESSEL TO ANY POINT THECURSOR IS CLICKED.
THIS IS OFTEN DONE TO KEEP ANEYE ON THE INCREASING, STEADYOR DECREASING BEARING TOKNOW IF YOU ARE IN A POTENTIALCOLLISION SITUATION
BUT THERE ARE A PLETHORA OFCOLLISION AVOIDANCE SETTINGSPOSSIBLE. AS SHOWN NEXT
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settings AIS
FOR HELP ON THESE AISSETTINGS PLEASE REFERTO THE OpenCPN MANUAL
GO TO Options/Ships/AIS TargetsTO DISPLAY THE OPTIONALSETTINGS FOR AIS
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settingsLanguage/Fonts
WHEN OpenCPN IS INSTALLED ON SMALLER SCREEN COMPUTERS,SUCH AS NETBOOKS, THE FONT ON THE SCREEN MAY BE LARGE
Exploring OpenCPN - Program settingsLanguage/Fonts
A WAY TO CHANGE TO FONTS THAT ARE DESIGNED FOR THESE SMALLMACHINES IS TO INSTALL IN THE WINDOWS FONTS FOLDER A SET OFFONTS TITLED ‘DROID SANS’. THE FONTS CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM:http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Droid-Sans
GO TO THIS INTERNET LOCATION AND CLICK ON ‘Download TTF’
Exploring OpenCPNProgram settings : Toolbox – Language/Fonts
AFTER DOWNLOADINGTHE FONT FILE, UNZIPIT TO ANY CONVENIENTFOLDER.
DRAG AND DROP THETWO .TTF FILES INTOTHE WINDOWS FONTSFOLDER
IF CONNECTED TO THEINTERNET YOU CAN DOA DIRECT DOWNLOADBY CLICKINGON THIS LINK TO GETTHE ZIPPED FILE
Exploring OpenCPNProgram settings : Toolbox – Language/FontsGO TO Options/User Interface PAGE.ON THE ELEVATOR UNDER ‘Fonts’, SELECT ‘Chart Texts’ THENCLICK ON ‘Choose Font …’
Exploring OpenCPNProgram settings : Toolbox – Language/Fonts
THIS WINDOW APPEARS.MAKE THE SELECTIONSAS SHOWN THEN CLICK ON ‘Ok’
Exploring OpenCPNProgram settings : Toolbox – Language/FontsTHE SMALLER, LESS CLUTTERED TEXT IS DISPLAYED. IF YOUWANT OTHER STYLES REPEAT THE ABOVE
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESCreate a route
BEGIN BY SELECTING THE‘Create Route’ TOOL ON THETOOLBAR
THE CURSOR TURNS TO A‘PENCIL’ SHAPE
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESCreate a route
CLICK THE PENCIL POINTER AT DESIRED LOCATIONSTO DESCRIBE THE ROUTE
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESCreate a route
CONTINUE DROPPING WAYPOINTS UNTIL THE ROUTE HASBEEN CREATED THEN PRESS THE ‘ESC’ KEY TO STOP
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESCreate a route
OPEN THE ‘RouteManager’ FROM THETOOLBAR
ON THE ‘Routes’ TABSELECT THE NEW(Unnamed Route) THEN CLICK ON‘Properties;
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESCreate a route
HERE YOU CAN GIVE THE ROUTE A NAME (e.g. SAMPLE ROUTE)ROUTE PROPERTIES SUCH AS THE LENGTH AND THE WAYPOINTINFORMATION IS PRESENTED
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESSave a route
TO ‘SAVE’ THE ROUTE GO TO THE Route Manager, HIGHLIGHT THEROUTE AND CLICK ON ‘Export Route’
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESSave a route
NAVIGATE TO WHERE YOU SAVE YOUR ROUTES (e.g. such asMy Routes under My Documents) AND OPEN THE FOLDER
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESSave a route
CLICK ON ‘Save’ AND THE ROUTE IS SAVED TO THE HARD DRIVE
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESChange a route
TO CHANGE A ROUTE, RIGHT-CLICK ON A POINT OF THE ROUTEAND SELECT ‘Insert Waypoint’
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESChange a route
PLACE THE CURSOR ON THE NEWLY CREATED WAYPOINT ANDMOVE IT TO THE DESIRED LOCATION (But see next slide)
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESChange a route
IT MAY HAPPEN THAT YOU CANNOT MOVE A WAYPOINT ON THENEWLY CREATED ROUTE. THIS IS BECAUSE ALL WAYPOINTS HAVEBEEN LOCKED. GO TO OPTIONS/USER INTERFACE AND UNCHECKTHE BOX ‘LOCK WAYPOINTS …’
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESChange a route
CHECKING THE Route Properties SHOWS THE CHANGES TO THE ROUTE .. LONGER DISTANCE AND THE NEW WAYPOINT
Exploring OpenCPN – ROUTESChange a route
THE ROUTE PREVIOUSLY SAVED DOES NOT CONTAIN THE NEWINFORMATION. FROM THE Route Manager EXPORT THE ROUTEAGAIN LETTING IT OVERWRITE THE OLD ROUTE
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSCreate a track
CLICK ON THE ‘Toggle Tracking’ ICON TO ACTIVATE TRACKING NOTE THAT THE ‘Dashboard’ HAS BEEN ACTIVATED ALSO
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSCreate a track
TRACKING IS CONFIRMED BY THE ICON BECOMING SHADED
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSCreate a track
THE VESSEL’S TRACK IS DISPLAYED. NO, MY BOAT WASN’T DOING99 KTS – I USED SIMULATION TO CREATE THESE IMAGES
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSCreate a track
THE SIMULATION IS STOPPED HERE TO DESCRIBE SAVING THE TRACK
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSSave a track
IN THE Route Manager HIGHLIGHT THE TRACK AND CLICK ON ‘Export Track’
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSSave a track
NAVIGATE TO WHERE YOU SAVE YOUR TRACKS AND ‘Save’ THE TRACK
YOUR CHOICE
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSRename a track
IN THE Route Manager CLICK ON THE Tracks TAB. CLICK ON THE TRACK TO HIGHLIGHT IT THEN CLICK ON PROPERTIES
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSRename a track
CHANGE THE NAMETO WHAT YOU WANT
CLICK ON ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSDisplay a saved track
IN Route Manager SELECT THETracks TAB AND CLICK ONImport GPX
NAVIGATE TO YOUR SAVED TRACKS,SELECT THE DESIRED ONE AND CLICKON Open
Exploring OpenCPN – TRACKSDisplay a saved track
THE TRACK IS SHOWN ON THE CHART. YOU CAN DELETE FROM THE Route Manager OR BY RIGHT-CLICKING ON THE TRACK AND SELECT‘Delete
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
SHOWN BELOW IS THE ARRIVAL AT AN ANCHORAGE
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
ZOOM IN TO SHOW WHERE THE ANCHOR WAS DROPPED
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
RIGHT-CLICK AND CLICK ON ‘Drop Mark (Ctl-M’)
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
A TRIANGLE APPEARS AT THE SELECTED POINT
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
RIGHT-CLICK ON THEMARK AND CLICK ON‘Properties’
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
THE SMALL TRIANGLE IS HARD TO SEE SO WE WILL CHANGE THE SYMBOL. CLICK ON THE ELEVATOR NEXT TO THE NAME
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
SELECT (CLICK ON) THE ‘Anchorage’ SYMBOL
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
HERE I HAVE CHANGED THE NAME TO SOMETHING EASY TORECOGNIZE IN THE FUTURE. WHEN DONE CLICK ON ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
THE ANCHORAGE IS NOW DISPLAYED BUT NOT SAVED!
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
HIGHLIGHT THE ANCHORAGE AND CLICK ON ‘Export Wpt ..’
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESSave an anchorage location
NAVIGATE TO WHERE YOU SAVE ANCHORAGES, CHECK THEFILE NAME FOR ACCURACY AND CLICK ON ‘Save’
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESDisplay a saved anchorage
HERE WE WISH TO RECALL THE PREVIOUSLY SAVED ANCHORAGE
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESDisplay a saved anchorage
IN Route Manager SELECT THE Waypoints TAB THEN CLICK ONImport GPX
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESDisplay a saved anchorage
NAVIGATE TO YOUR SAVED ANCHORAGES, SELECT THE DESIREDANCHORAGE AND CLICK ON ‘Open’
Exploring OpenCPN – ANCHORAGESDisplay a saved anchorage
THE SAVED ANCHORAGE IS DISPLAYED
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Why Layers?
Temporary information during a sessionthat can be displayed at will
Permanent information in the programthat can be displayed at will
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSOn OpenCPN open the Route Managerand click on the ‘Layers’ tab
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Click on the ‘Temporary Layer’
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSThe ‘Import GPX File’ window opens. Navigate to the fileyou want to have in the temporary layer, highlight it andclick on ‘Open’ In this case the Philippine Anchorages
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
The file appears under the Layers tab. Click on‘List contents’ to display the anchorages underthe ‘Waypoints’ tab.
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
The anchorages appear as waypoints and are shownon the chart with the anchorage symbols
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
If you close OpenCPN and reopen it the temporarylayer is no longer there .. hence ‘temporary’
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
For layers to be permanently available they mustbe placed deep within the computer system
The location is dependent on the Windows operating system … i.e. Windows XP, 7 or 8 butThe OpenCPN program helps you find the location !!
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
In all cases of Windows on OpenCPN click on the ‘About OpenCPN’ icon (book with ? on the cover)
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSThe Layers folder will be installed at the OpenCPN ‘Config file’ Location e.g. for XP @ C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\opencpn
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSAnd for Windows 7 and 8 it will be @ C:\ProgramData\opencpn
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSIf you have trouble finding these locations it will benecessary to make a setting in Windows Explorer toshow hidden files. Go to ‘Tools’ and click on ‘FolderOptions …’ Then on the ‘View’ tab check the button‘Show hidden files, folders orDrives’. Click ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Here (for XP) the ‘opencpn’ folder is opened
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSCreate a new folder ‘Layers’ within the ‘opencpn’ folder
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSIt’s only necessary to create this folder once.All future layer information will be placed in this folder.
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
I have now navigated to a .gpx file of ‘All PhilippineAnchorages’ and copied that file to the clipboard.
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Return to the ‘Layers’ folder and right click on it
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Paste the file into the ‘Layers’ folder
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
The anchorage file appears in the ‘Layers’ folder
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSThe anchorages are now shown on the Layers tabof OpenCPN
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
To show the contents of the anchorage file underThe ‘Waypoints’ tab, click on the button ‘List contents’
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
Each of the anchorages is listed here and displayed on the chart
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSTo go to a waypoint location on the chart,click on the button ‘Center View’
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSThe anchorage is displayed on the chart
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERSANY .gpx file can be put in the Layers folder. Here Ihave some information about currents in the Philippines
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
As before, the file is copied ….
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
… pasted into the ‘Layers’ folder …
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
… and when OpenCPN is launched it appears underthe ‘Layers’ tab
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
The information about current is shown at the circles,easily displayed or not using the Route Manager
Exploring OpenCPN – LAYERS
POINTS TO REMEMBER
ANY .gpx file can be put in a layer.This includes routes, tracks, anchorages and otherInformation that has been saved in the .gpx format.
Waypoints in a layer are locked and cannot be changed.This prevents the unplanned movement of a waypoint while clicking on the screen. It is therefore not necessaryto lock waypoints in ‘Options/User Interface’ and willallow you to modify the location of waypoints whilemaking routes without unchecking this option.
Exploring OpenCPN - GRIB filesTHIS DISCUSSION ASSUMES YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY SAVED GRIB FILESAND THE GRIB PLUGIN IS INSTALLED IN OpenCPN. AT Options/Plugins CHECK THAT THE GRIB PLUGIN IS ENABLED AND THEPREFERENCES ARE AS SHOWN. THEN CLICK ON ‘OK’
Exploring OpenCPN - GRIB files
ON THE OpenCPN TOOLBAR CLICK ON THE GRIB ICON
CLICK ON Open File
Exploring OpenCPN - GRIB filesNAVIGATE TO THE LOCATION OF SAVED GRIB FILES. IN THIS CASE I HAVESAVED zyGriB FILES AS SHOWN. NOTE THE LOCATION IN WINDOWS 7
SELECT THE FILE ANDTHEN CLICK ON ‘Open’
Exploring OpenCPN - GRIB files
THE DISPLAY SHOWS WIND BARBS AND IN THE BOX INFORMATION ATTHE CURSOR. THE WAVE SYMBOLS SHOW SET BY THE DOUBLEARROWS AND DRIFT BY THE ‘BARB’ .. e.g. 2 kts
Exploring OpenCPNVoyage data recording
Use VDR for AIS Simulation - Run VDR to play AIS NMEA files. Or... use the VDRplugin to record your passages and replay them later! These are just a few examples,of how to use this versatile plugin.
When VDR is activated in ToolBar -> Options -> Plugins -> VDR, two Buttonsappear in the ToolBar
The left button is for recording, and leads to a "Choose file" dialog to select the fileto record to.
The right button is for playing an existing file, and also leads to a dialog where thefile must be selected.
PARAPHRASING THE OpenCPN MANUAL:
Exploring OpenCPNVoyage data recording
Once selected VDR starts to play the file, the small dialog below shows on the screen.
You can control the speed with the upper slide. Far left is slow, natural speed, while moving the slide to the far right equals fast forwarding.
The lower part of the dialog shows the progress.
Exploring OpenCPN
I hope this has been useful . It tookseveral bottles of red wine to complete.I will blame any mistakes on the wine.Questions? Email: yachties@yahoo.com
Terry Sargenthttp://yachtvalhalla.net22 Sept 2014
BYE !