Integration with QtVlm - Data files and Import/Export

[maitai]

Draw a grib Esteem is a tool to simulate what happen if you stay for instance at a fix TWA (or at a fix heading, i.e. loxodromy). One crank is five minutes (crank=vacation=5mn in our terminology)

[hoolie]

Originally Posted by maitai

Draw a grib Esteem is a tool to simulate what happen if you stay for instance at a fix TWA (or at a fix heading, i.e. loxodromy). One crank is five minutes (crank=vacation=5mn in our terminology)

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your post.

I have installed the software and as has been posted above by rgleason I have had difficulty in finding how it works. Indeed the first time I used it the routage function gave me a track entirely over land! Not very useful.

But I'm sure the capability is there but how to access it?

[maitai]

First thing to make sure is that your start point is not in land.

Apart from that I cannot help you if you don't give more details. There is a wiki in english so please refer to it too, we know it's not 100% complete but it does have some useful explanation

QtVlm/en - VlmWiki

[hoolie]

Thanks - I'll try a bit harder ... ... ...

I'm sure it will be fine in the end,

[rgleason]

Hoolie, I had some initial difficulty too, but this program is quite good. I would first start with trying a "Routing" once you have had some success with that (and you will know), you can do a route with multiple marks.

To do a "Routing"
1. First make sure you have selected a Polar for the boat: Go to Boat / Boat's Settings and look down until you see "Polar" and pick any boat polar in the dropdown menu.
2. Presumably you have signed in to qtVlm with your user and pass.
3. Get a current Grib file of the area: Zoom out or in using + & - at top, pan by using arrows to get the area you want. Upper left - left mouse button down and draw a box to lower right, let go of left mouse button. The area should show as a shaded square. In menu go to fourth globe "Download from VLM" and download a grib. Save it to your grib area. Now you should have a grib file on the screen.
3. Then Locate the Boat: Right click on water and pick "Move boat here"
4. Then create a waypoint that you are going to go to: Right click in the water, select "Place a new mark", in the popup window, under name and type of mark, pick "Mark" (optional), then Change to "Marque-1" to make it a unique name. Then under "Route" section pick "Sequence" number 1 (optional for Routings, used for Routes). Close the window. Then go to the main menu and pick "Routings" / Create a Routing. In the dialogue window under Finish and Start section, check "Routing for boat" then pick Marque-1 for finish. You can set other values, but that is enough. Pick OK.
5. The program should draw the isochrones and draw the optimal route.

Hope this helps. Rick

[rgleason]

Draw a grib Esteem is a tool to simulate what happen if you stay for instance at a fix TWA (or at a fix heading, i.e. loxodromy). One crank is five minutes (crank=vacation=5mn in our terminology)

Is a "Crank" or "Vacation" or "5mn" a choice somewhere? I have seen this term in reading about the virtual race game. The central computer takes a "vacation" and then computes where all the virtual players are located and then posts the results.

In using this program with a real boat, I am guessing that you don't want to use up computer time and energy, so the program must take a "vacation" or "crank". Is it normally set to 5nm?

Thanks

[hoolie]

Thanks Rick
I'd got the basics, but routes/routings seem a challenge. Your posts have been very helpful but I think there's an awful lot still to learn!
I think there are elements of Gallic logic with this package - no criticism, but I live in France and see the signs ... ...

[rgleason]

Yes, that may be true, but I think Maitai is very smart. I have been trying to make an Excel spreadsheet that has a matrix for True and Apparent Wind, COG, Leeway, Current etc that shows dynamically the Vectors and the resultant, and I am having difficulty. Can you imagine figuring out optimal routing with polars that includes current and wind gribs. ...not easy.

I do think the "Route" could be made easier sometime with at third Tab for "Marks List" which allows the user to add and and remove marks from the list and to change the order (move a mark up or down in the list).

The way we must do it now is through assigning Marks or POI via "Edit Mark" to a particular "Route" from a drop down list and then selecting the sequence order and if it is numeric or alphanumeric. This is not as intuitive to me as the way suggested above, which is similar to how Routings also work.

I am excited by the potential of this program. See what Sinbad7 and others have been doing importing the optimized routes into Opencpn.

[maitai]

Originally Posted by rgleason

In using this program with a real boat, I am guessing that you don't want to use up computer time and energy, so the program must take a "vacation" or "crank". Is it normally set to 5nm?

That could eventually become a parameter. In case of a real-boat this is hardcoded to 5mn, which is a good value in fact. The program is not going to wake-up every 5mn don't worry. It's just an internal time-step used for calculations.

I do think the "Route" could be made easier sometime with at third Tab for "Marks List" which allows the user to add and and remove marks from the list and to change the order (move a mark up or down in the list).

I note the idea on the (very long) todo list

I think there are elements of Gallic logic with this package - no criticism, but I live in France and see the signs ... ...

Related to that, the wiki is maintained by users mainly. So if the english part is not good enough... You see what I mean

[rgleason]

Good suggestion Maitai about the Wiki. I do need to learn it first & am getting there, hopefully this thread will help that effort. Thanks very much for your help.

By the way, I've converted several very large Routings to Routes, then selected the optimize without loss of detail checkbox to the right on the "Route" dialogue box. It works great. Then I checked the Simplify check box and watched the route jiggle as at calculated reducing points by 178. Then to be contrary I checked the optimize box again and it shaved off another 10 minutes. Which when you look at routes from New England to England or Spain is probably much smaller than the inherent errors in grib files over 7 days. The software seems to work very well now that I understand it better.

[maitai]

qtVlm 3.3.1 has been released. See here: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1058020

[hoolie]

Originally Posted by maitai

qtVlm 3.3.1 has been released. See here: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1058020

Download link? Please!

[maitai]

As usual: QtVlm Download

Take the setup-3.3-1.exe which does it all.

[hoolie]

Thanks!

[rgleason]

Dear Maitai, I downloaded the short/small version of qtvlm win_exe3.1.1.zip and tried to execute it, but it shows a message of
"missing mingwm10.dll.." should I do the full version instead?
Rick