anybody using rasberry pie and cpn as an on board plotter?

[Birdseye]

Been watching a couple of you tube videos on the subject:

and

Both make it seem quite easy and a sensible option but previous experience of messing about linking bits of data kit together leave me thinking there is more to it. So what have you done and how easy might it be for someone not in the IT industry?

 

[[194224]]

I've built quite a few Pis using Openplotter (which incorporates OpenCPN). My experience is that they've performed very well in service. However I have a background in IT. Others may well disagree but it's my feeling that if you go down this road then you will need to acquire some technical knowledge. I am not suggesting it is hard by any means but you will need to learn a few things. You may find that you actually enjoy it, don't be put off and give it a go.

Those videos are a little dated now, 3 or 4 years. Have a look at some more recent ones concerning OpenPlotter and see if that inspires or completely puts you off!

Good luck

 

[mattonthesea]

The fiddliest bit is downloading the image on windows! Once you've got openplotter on an SD card, and the card into the RPi then it does it all by itself. Of course you need to plug in all the cables to the RPi first. You may also need to click on the Update button one loaded and go through the process again.

The easiest charts to use are S-OENC which you buy online. Create an account and purchase. I highly recommend buying a dongle at the same time because the charts are only licensed to tup to two computers or dongles. If a Pi is system updated/re -installed then you lose a life whereas the dongle is transferable.

You then download and install the charts from within opencpn's o-chat plugin.

For AIS and GPS you will need a serial to USB adapter. Once plugged in you follow the manual to set the other fiddly bits!

And then openCPN is just a joy to work with.

 

[GrandadPig]

Never used a Rpi but did use OpenCpn on a Brix mini solid state pc. It worked very well with a gps dongle plugged in. It was a back up to my iPad running Navionics whick was a back up to the SH plotter. It fascinated me how accurate all three were. The least accurate was my dead reckoning on paper charts!

 

[[194224]]

Agree with mattonthesea - oeSENC charts, under €30 for UK and Atlantic coast of France with a year's updates. They do others areas too of course. Wholly agree on buying the dongle also.

edit: oeSENC - o-charts shop

 

[Minerva]

I've been playing with OpenCPN on a tablet the last couple of seasons and I must say I am very impressed!

Has anyone linked the Pi / Open plotter to a Radar scanner - how easy was it to get to work. I've heard it quoted as being plug and play but curious how it was for a non-programmer.

 

[[194224]]

Has anyone linked the Pi / Open plotter to a Radar scanner - how easy was it to get to work. I've heard it quoted as being plug and play but curious how it was for a non-programmer.

Yes I have, a Lowrance radar using the OpenPlotter BR24 plugin but that has now been superseded by radar_pi. I had to butcher a proprietary Lowrance ethernet cable to connect from the Lowrance control box into the Pi's RJ45 port. The problem was simply a mechanical one, modifying the cable. No programming required.

 

[[194224]]

One pertinent point is that new Raspberry Pis are increasingly hard to source. The later Pi 4s perform extremely well but I've run it on the model 3B with good results too. They are often available second hand.

 

[Minerva]

One pertinent point is that new Raspberry Pis are increasingly hard to source. The later Pi 4s perform extremely well but I've run it on the model 3B with good results too. They are often available second hand.

That's great. And for the Pièce de résistance - if you are running the Pi at the chart table, can you have a repeater sent to a tablet in a weatherproof case in the cockpit too?

 

[[194224]]

That's great. And for the Pièce de résistance - if you are running the Pi at the chart table, can you have a repeater sent to a tablet in a weatherproof case in the cockpit too?

Yes you can.

 

[Minerva]

great, thanks!

 

[SimonKNZ]

I built one a couple of years ago, using the "hat" that has compass, accelerometer, GPS and AIS built in. It did take a bit of fiddling around to get it all working (I'm a moderately competent geek but don't use Linux very often). Quite satisfying when it all works. I have it as a backup nav system in the saloon, but providing AIS data over WiFi, which I can see on my phone or tablet running Navionics

 

[st599]

That's great. And for the Pièce de résistance - if you are running the Pi at the chart table, can you have a repeater sent to a tablet in a weatherproof case in the cockpit too?

As it's all based on an open standard you can have it provide a number of dashboards that you access via a normal browser. It even works as an access point for this.

If you use VNC you get full interaction with the Pi GUI.

Start simple, but then the world's your oyster, automatic weather downloads, wireless temperature and water level monitors, VPN to your home network to allow remote monitoring - all possible with relative ease.

 

[KeithMD]

I'm OK with powering the Pi via a 12v/5v DC convertor from the boat's 12V battery.
But any suggestions on the best way to avoid power surges affecting the Pi?
Like when someone forgets the Pi is on, and turns off the battery.
Because of Pi's being sensitive to power outage that can corrupt SD cards.

 

[st599]

I'm OK with powering the Pi via a 12v/5v DC convertor from the boat's 12V battery.
But any suggestions on the best way to avoid power surges affecting the Pi?
Like when someone forgets the Pi is on, and turns off the battery.
Because of Pi's being sensitive to power outage that can corrupt SD cards.

There are little boards designed for use with the Pi that have 2 rechargeable batteries and initiate a shutdown when the power is pulled.

 

[[194224]]

As st599 says there are several options that offer some sort of UPS protection for the Pi. I have a PiJuice, there are cheaper choices but I've no experience of their capabilities. I've never used one though in an OpenPlotter setup. The 12V/5V buck converters seem, again in my experience, to shield the Pi very well from perturbations in the 12V supply. The risk of corruption of the SD card due to untidy shut down shouldn't be ignored even though I have never had problems myself and have turned the power off abruptly many times. That said, you're right to consider it.

When I've built a new working system I always save an image of it and create spare SD cards which I can pop in should it all go tilt.

 

[dgadee]

I have just gone through this process with PyPilot. I have a computing PhD from the early 1980s and some limited linux after that but not much else. Interest but not knowledge. I would say that at the current state that it is not for everyone. It works well when it is finally set up but you really need someone to help out with the software install.

 

[dutyhog]

As an aside, does anyone know what is the oldest Mac system that the o-charts dongle works with? Their web site just says the latest, which isn’t very helpful, especially as there is no date on the FAQ.

 

[dgadee]

O-charts usially reply within a couple of hours. Even at the weekend.

 

[[194224]]

As an aside, does anyone know what is the oldest Mac system that the o-charts dongle works with? Their web site just says the latest, which isn’t very helpful, especially as there is no date on the FAQ.

I asked them, the reply:

The dongle should work without problems from MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and above.