Maptech

[Playtime]

Any suggestions?

Have you had the GPS working with any programme on that machine? If not, then maybe you need to sort out the driver - see the manufacturer's instructions for how to get the GPS driver loaded.

If you have had it working, when you run OpenCPN, is there any other programme running at the same time that uses the GPS? If so, close the other programme and restart OpenCPN. A COM port can only be connected to one programme at a time (unless a virtual port is created which you are probably not into - yet!).

If it still doesn't work, look in Device Manager and check that COM8 actually has the GPS attached.

If all that fails, I give in (again!).

 

[RobBrown]

Playtime - thanks for sticking with me! Yes GPS is definitely working as I identified the com port it was using by its status on both Maptech Chart Navigator and Imray IDC, and confirmed by Xport, and used the chart software to check the GPS was giving a position. It is possible I still had one of other chart/GPS softwares open, so I will try again with just the OpenCPN running, but it seems to me the options offered in the GPS software are not determined by what is actually running- they look to be preselected in the Tools /GPS setting, as certainly don't have "none", or a Garmin or Network GPSD or sharedAIS port set up. There are no com port options given at all in the drop down menu. Frustrating!!

 

[Danny]

Playtime - thanks for sticking with me! Yes GPS is definitely working as I identified the com port it was using by its status on both Maptech Chart Navigator and Imray IDC, and confirmed by Xport, and used the chart software to check the GPS was giving a position. It is possible I still had one of other chart/GPS softwares open, so I will try again with just the OpenCPN running, but it seems to me the options offered in the GPS software are not determined by what is actually running- they look to be preselected in the Tools /GPS setting, as certainly don't have "none", or a Garmin or Network GPSD or sharedAIS port set up. There are no com port options given at all in the drop down menu. Frustrating!!

You're right - OpenCPN appears to use a COM port enumerator that lists all the COM ports on the PC -even those in use by other s/w.

 

[RobBrown]

Wonder why my Open CPN software doesn't list them then. Downloaded from the standard site and the situation was the same with the 2.5 version downloaded originally and the 2.6 beta version I am now using , which got around the name display problem, but doesnt seem to have d/w the lack of coms port options in the GPS tab

 

[Hoolie]

Re-doing the coms port handling is on the "things to do" list, but is complicated and needs someone with the skills to do it. The original idea of just one input port is obviously not up to it with current DSC radios, multiple GPS etc. Dave has asked for volunteers ... ...
In the meantime the best you can do is find out which port is used for GPS and if it's not listed just type it in and Ocpn will use it.

 

[Playtime]

I've had similar problems when the COM port has been previously allocated to another programme.

If in doubt, restart the PC, check the COM port parameters are correctly set for the GPS (4800 etc) using Device Manager, and ensure that no other running programme is using that port. It's probably worth running Task Manager if in doubt and checking Processes as well as Applications. If all looks correct, then start OpenCPN and check that COM8 (or whatever it is this time) is visible and correctly set in Spanner/GPS.

It should work but COM ports can be tricky.

 

[RobBrown]

I'll give it a go!

 

[RobBrown]

Hurrah.

Success! Thanks to all- virtual beers all round! Eventually got it to recognise by typing in COM8 into the drop down menu. Took a few goes, but accepted it eventually. A bit flaky, but prob because of strength of signal, as using it indoors @ home. Now onto the AIS function Next week when down to the boat

 

[Playtime]

Hooray!

AIS should be OK if you've got the right serial input. It's 38400. There's a drop down in the AIS tab in OpenCPN where you can choose the port (similar to GPS). If you can't see the expected COM port listed then go back through Device Driver etc. as you did for GPS.

If you persevere you will probably get BSB4 (Maptech) charts working as well.

Once it all works, when you close down the PC, shut OpenCPN but then use Hibernate rather than Shutdown. More chance of it all working OK when you fire up again. It's also quicker to restart.

 

[Danny]

...Eventually got it to recognise by typing in COM8 into the drop down menu...

Done some digging... OpenCPN appears to enumerate the coms ports (and prefill its NMEA Data Source dropdown box) by reading the data for all the keys at the following Windows registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\SERIALCOMM

If a key contains "COM.." as its data (up to COM31 max) then it's added to the list.

I suggest that you run Regedit and check this registry location. I suspect that the USB serial port driver "forgot" to register COM8. If it's not there I'd try uninstalling the driver(s) for the USB serial port device and reinstalling. If you can get the key and data created then OpenCPN will list the port.

Unfortunately the method that OpenCPN uses lists all the serial ports on the PC - even those already enabled by another software.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Success! Thanks to all- virtual beers all round! Eventually got it to recognise by typing in COM8 into the drop down menu. Took a few goes, but accepted it eventually. A bit flaky, but prob because of strength of signal, as using it indoors @ home. Now onto the AIS function Next week when down to the boat

Great stuff !! Well done for perservering.

If you can see anything when you click on "Show Currents" you are ahead of me, because I cant.

 

[RobBrown]

Nick

Yes I can- but not in UK or Europe- N America only. If you have the CM93 Vector charts, zoom out to see both sides of the Atlantic, then when you click the currents button in Tools, you will see the green currents icons all round the E coast of N & Central America/Caribbean. You can zoom in on any of these.

Tides icons are visible for a number of sites in UK & Europe, but not in the nos you would get on a commercial software package and so far as I am aware, there is no integration of the data for passage planning, tho no real complaints, as it is freeware!

Rob

 

[Quester]

I've now found that the old Maptech files that I have been trying to load are in the old HDR format that Maptech used before .BSB file format. The chartlets with extension .A01, A02,A03....etc. are 1" square tiles which Maptech Chart Navigator and Capn Voyager stitched together. The following is an extract from OpenCpn docs about supported file formats.

"Before Maptech started to produce BSB charts, the HDR format was used in the late eighties to mid nineties. These charts consists of many picture tiles in pcx format, more than 100 tiles is not unusual. The tiles can be merged to one picture and then used as any other picture to make an OpenCPN compatible chart. For details on this process see the Chart Conversion Manual* and this post and the following posts in the forum. A script for merging the pcx tiles to one picture is available [here]."

I'll report back if I manage to stitch them into a usable format

 

[Quester]

Converting .PCX files

Having looked at the scale of this conversion described in the OpenCpn documentation I won't be doing this any time soon with 2,585 chartlet tiles in 40 chart directories!