Active Captain Integration?

[svPearlLee]

There is a wealth of local navigational knowledge available via Active Captain, and I currently access that using MX Mariner on Android while traveling. Is anyone working on this for OpenCPN?

[pkrawetzky]

I just found out OpenCPN developers are not allowing an interface to Active Captain. I think that is the wrong decision and needs to be re-evaluated.

Active Captain is a widely used tool for navigation. Many other software products (licensed versions) already have the interface. I truly believe it would be in the best interests of OpenCPN to also interface to it. OpenCPN is a great product and it continues to grow. It's time to make the interface.

[nohal]

pkrawetzky...
As I am the guy who has been working on the plugin and had to deal with Jeff's lovely personality out of his marketing newsletters, I have read his comments on Facebook with *utmost* interest.
So here is the reality of the so called ActiveCaptain Open API (State before it was deleted from their servers without any explanation or notice before the end of 2014):
- Data not available offline at all
- Totally insecure and vulnerable to man in the middle attacks and identity theft
- The only function I refused to implement, which seems to be interpreted by JS as "So he took the mostly completed plugin and threw it away." (opening a browser at activecaptain.com to make updates to the markers) was broken completely by design, so I asked him to implement a real API for it, otherwise it won't be included in the plugin.

As to the statement about the code not being available, it is and has always been at https://bitbucket.org/nohal/ac_pi - feel free to fork and finish it.

I am far from calling Jeff a total liar, so let's say we most likely have a different perception of reality. I am also personally done with this subject and ActiveCaptain in general once and for all.

Thanks

Pavel

[seandepagnier]

Jeff thinks that any data you enter into his database becomes his personal property. He doesn't want anyone to be able to make a copy of the database and host it on their own server. This was enough reason for me to have zero interest in active captain.

There is now both squiddio and goodanchorage, which are promising alternatives.

[pcmm]

why worry about openCPN integration on a mobile device just install SeaIQ naviagtion software it has active-captain integration. and for jeff not wanting his dabase downloaded. I don't blame him, that database is his income he needs to maintain control of it.

[kerrydeare]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Jeff thinks that any data you enter into his database becomes his personal property. He doesn't want anyone to be able to make a copy of the database and host it on their own server. This was enough reason for me to have zero interest in active captain.

There is now both squiddio and goodanchorage, which are promising alternatives.

Does this mean I have to return my "Active Captain" baseball cap?

[pkrawetzky]

No app for android so that won't work.

And I agree. Jeff should keep his database proprietary. That's not up for discussion.

Thanks to all but since there doesn't seem to be a move on anybodies part, I'm done with this conversation. I'll find another tool that can do what I want.

[CarCode]

There is something I don't understand. Perhaps somebody might teach me.
When I use ActiveCaptain with PolarView from PolarNavy I'm able to dowload the data of the interesting area and view them later offline. I found the data stored in a SQLite database of my laptop in my home directory. Right now it's some hundred megabytes. Regarding the download and update procedure for the ActiveCaptain data with PolarView I have no problem. So I see no differences between e.g. squiddio and ActiveCaptain beside the fact that the ActiveCaptain database is much more bigger and more up to date.

Gerhard

[pkrawetzky]

The difference is popularity of AC over any other database. They are developed by different people as well so it's intellectual property. Each one will always contain different information.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[bdbcat]

Gerhard...

Not sure what the focus of your comment is, but....

The AC database is huge compared to e.g. squiddio, due to the number of contributors.

The fundamental difference that affects OCPN is this:

By AC business policy decision, the AC database is simply unavailable to open source projects like ours. Garmin, PolarNavy, and many others have licensed access to the AC database, presumably under strict non-disclosure agreements. Names like Garmin ensure wide distribution, and thus, the great popularity.

This option is not available to OpenCPN, nor to potential PlugIn developers, whether they be core OCPN developers or not.

We can only hope that open source alternatives like squiddio gain traction and build the database content to a widely useful scope.

Dave

[wdkester]

You can run Active Captain for free on an iphone with the Garmin ap. You will only have a background map, but location services are on. I would guess that you would get the same thing with Android.

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by wdkester

You can run Active Captain for free on an iphone with the Garmin ap. You will only have a background map, but location services are on. I would guess that you would get the same thing with Android.

As far as I can tell, Garmin still has not released their free Bluechart app for Android. So that option is only available to iOS users. Android users can download the free ActiveCaptain Companion app which will cache the entire AC database into your phone or tablet. You can also cache a basemap for your area, but it is a low-res road map, not a high-res marine chart. But, along with your gps location, it's good enough for selecting the POIs that are of interest.

I believe the ActiveCaptain companion has also implemented some audio warnings of local hazards as well, because last year when I was around Rock Hall I accidentally left it running in the background and started hearing warnings about Swan Point bar and other local hazards. It actually took me awhile to figure out why my phone was suddenly barking orders at me.

[coupdemistral]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

We can only hope that open source alternatives like squiddio gain traction and build the database content to a widely useful scope.

Dave

Bdcat
while it is true that AC has great coverage for the US, coverage in areas like the Med, Australia, Northern Europe has grown tremendously over the last 6-9 months thanks to strong user growth in those areas (much of it being generated by the plugin, which was released only toward the end of last year). A few sample comparisons I just made show that squiddio is starting to have higher POI density in certain areas.

[rgleason]

I like both squiddio and goodharbors, but all of them required wifi internet access anyway initially. So if ocpn users really want AC they can use their browser and inet AC account.
That it is integrated into opencpn is nice but certainly not essential.

I think the silence is deafening and the reasons are deep rooted and philosophical.