Free online charts

[easug1]

For those who don't want to run XP, there appears to be several open source (i.e. hobbyist-generated freeware) software packages out there for reading .bsb format chart files. One is here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn/files/

I haven't tried installing this or any of the other open source chart reader packages yet; I just found them via Google. But now with all you guys talking about free, Government-provided electronic charts being available online, I'm curious enough to boot up my Linux box and see how the open source package performs.

I should have time to play with openCPN this weekend. I'll let everyone know how it works out.

Earle

[Carter Brey]

For those who don't want to run XP, there appears to be several open source (i.e. hobbyist-generated freeware) software packages out there for reading .bsb format chart files. One is here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn/files/

I haven't tried installing this or any of the other open source chart reader packages yet; I just found them via Google. But now with all you guys talking about free, Government-provided electronic charts being available online, I'm curious enough to boot up my Linux box and see how the open source package performs.

I should have time to play with openCPN this weekend. I'll let everyone know how it works out.

Earle

Earle,

I'm running both Opencpn and SeeMyDenc on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux. Here are a couple of screenshots.

SeeMyDenc:

[img]http://pws.prserv.net/cbrey/SeeMyDenc.jpg[/img]

Opencpn:

[img]http://pws.prserv.net/cbrey/Opencpn.jpg[/img]

Have fun,
Carter

[The Patriot]

... [details snipped] ...

Matt, what is your estimate for the cost of this setup, exclusive of the GPS and software?

[The Patriot]

... I'm running both Opencpn and SeeMyDenc on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux. Here are a couple of screenshots ...

You must have a very fast boat. I note that your post is dated 2042 Wed 03 Feb 10, but your screenshot on Ubuntu shows 0234 Thu 04 Feb 10. Your boat is either located in Poland, or undergoing a Lorentzian Transformation due to relativistic effects. Clever.

[easug1]

Well, I downloaded the source code for OpenCPN, compiled it under Fedora Core 11, downloaded a few local charts from NOAA, and ran the app. I was impressed, although the interface takes a bit getting used to. Now I need to set up a virtual NMEA0183 data source to try it in GPS mode.

BTW, for those trying to install OpenCPN under Fedora 11, make sure you install the wxGTK libraries; they aren't installed by default and OpenCPN needs them to compile and run. Yes, I'm a Linux geek. And my wife was hoping buying a boat will get me away from experimenting with computers...

[Carter Brey]

... I'm running both Opencpn and SeeMyDenc on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux. Here are a couple of screenshots ...

You must have a very fast boat. I note that your post is dated 2042 Wed 03 Feb 10, but your screenshot on Ubuntu shows 0234 Thu 04 Feb 10. Your boat is either located in Poland, or undergoing a Lorentzian Transformation due to relativistic effects. Clever.

Armond,

I'm in Europe, and posted the screenshots from London before I had a chance to change the TZ variable on my laptop from Central European time (we were just in Paris) to Greenwich time.

Either that, or I'm sailing in a cyclone off Fiji as I type this and my speed-over-ground is approximately twice the speed of light

Good eye!

Carter

[Warren Kaplan]

... I'm running both Opencpn and SeeMyDenc on Ubuntu 9.10 Linux. Here are a couple of screenshots ...

You must have a very fast boat. I note that your post is dated 2042 Wed 03 Feb 10, but your screenshot on Ubuntu shows 0234 Thu 04 Feb 10. Your boat is either located in Poland, or undergoing a Lorentzian Transformation due to relativistic effects. Clever.

Armond,

You have never sailed with Carter. It is not uncommon for him to sail through a couple of time zones in 24 hours. On his annual trips from City Island out to the areas around Block Island and further east putting mucho mileage under his keel in one day is standard operating procedure for him! So your above observation is definitely not unfathomable!!

[The Patriot]

... Armond, [y]ou have never sailed with Carter. It is not uncommon for him to sail through a couple of time zones in 24 hours ...

I'd be interested to learn the details on his gimballed humidity-controlled cello case in the forepeak.

[Matt Cawthorne]

Computer costs are always changing. You would have to follow up with the links provided. I installed this system over a year ago. Rough guess 240 for the computer and memory, 80 for the power supply, 200 for the touch screen, 120 for the case, 60 for the solid state hard drive. I already owned the laptop dvd writer, software, GPS and associated cables. All told, about 700 dollars. Less than 1 boat unit. Sneaking into Cuttyhunk harbor on a dark and stormy night after 2+ days at sea in advance of a line of thunderstorms in order to get a good nights sleep...Priceless.

My guess is that today you could get a Fit PC2 for less than 300 dollars. It is based on the newer Atom processor. I will do an power usage test on my pico itx unit next time I am at the boat.

A Netbook would be the same order of magnitude. I am not certian if that would have a com port. My guess is that power usage would be higher, but I don't really know that for certain.

[Matt Cawthorne]

Carter,
I have been testing Ubuntu 9.10 on my machine at home. I tried loading the Maptek software there through WINE, but it fails miserably. Do any of the free software packages display your current position from a GPS? Since they are open source that feature could be added. Perhaps we can encourage the hobbyist to add that feature. I know of a youngster who could probably program it in if we could just focus him a bit.

Matt

[Ralph H]

Matt,
You may want to take a look at this site. There is a reference here to Sea Clear 2 running on Wine. This program is free and will give you the capability to navigate using NOAA charts with your GPS NMEA input (from a Garmin gps 18 ~$100 for instance) and supports AIS, and NMEA inputs from your other instruments as well.


http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

Ralph

[The Patriot]

... I have been testing Ubuntu 9.10 on my machine at home. I tried loading the Maptek software there through WINE, but it fails miserably. Do any of the free software packages display your current position from a GPS? ...

As Ralph mentioned, SeaClear II runs under Wine and quite well. MapCal II, an important part of SeaClear II, also works. SeaClear II is able to display both GPS and AIS data via NMEA 0183 through a serial connection (or a serial-USB converter cable). Under Wine there are a few glitches installing the SeaClear II documentation, but otherwise it's a go.

However the real gunslinger (mentioned earlier by Carter and others) is OpenCPN, which is available in a Debian package and installs easily on Ubuntu (the .deb package can be converted to .rpm for installation on Fedora as discussed in the OpenCPN forums on Cruising Forums). OpenCPN (currently 1.3.6 plus a few betas) is truly open source, which SeaClear II is not even though it's "free." SeaClear II has seen little or no development in recent years, while OpenCPN is under very active development. That doesn't mean OpenCPN is full of bugs and clunky. It's quite robust and capable and can display most non-proprietary chart formats including .bsb, CM93, ENC, .HDR, etc. It also displays Grib weather and AIS data, and has good route handling capability with .gpx import and export. I have used it on board since August 2009 running alongside several other packages, including Coastal Explorer, Fugawi, Chart Navigator Pro, SeaClear, MaxSea, Nobeltec Admiral, Capn Voyager, and probably a few others that just now elude me (even moderation can be carried to excess). OpenCPN is truly fine.

Take a look at www.opencpn.org , especially if you have a background in development and want to join the fun

[bobdugan]

For those of you who use Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X, you aren't locked out of the programs mentioned in this thread if you install Linux on a virtual machine.

For Windows check out -> VMWare Player (free) or Virtual PC (free)

For OS X check out -> VMWare Fusion or Parallels

You install the virtual machine, then install Linux on the virtual machine. The install processes are pretty straightforward.

Linux takes some getting used to though.

Bob

[valenteach]

Just in case anyone is interested I thought I would mention the BSB to TIFF file utility that exists for converting the NOAA Raster charts (RNCs) to an editable TIFF format.

I like to have PRINTED zooms of various chart sections with me to backup the NOAA vector charts on my laptop/GPS, because if I lost use of my a laptop in rough water or at night trying to read the tiny sounding numbers on the standard NOAA printed charts is getting to be not so easy. I use an image editing program and because the RNCs are high res, I'm able to custom make the zoom charts I need and print them using my large format Epson printer.

The tool is a windows executable that comes in the BSB C lib package:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/libbsb/files/

(Note that I'm talking about the Raster versions of NOAA charts, not the ENC vector versions that are the files used by nav software programs). I use MacENC for charting--the free version does everythign except save waypoints so it is a good tool for testing and viewing charts on a Mac with OSX).

[John Stevenson]

I am finding the site changed to: http://www.bigdumboat.com/cpnabout.html

The forum at Cruisers Forum: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f134/