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champ8242 · 17-01-2022, 01:58

Very good write-up Hakan!

This text should not stay just here, valuable for other users and they (probably) won’t find it in the forum anymore. This kind of help should go into an FAQ instead of a user manual.
Maybe wait till the users problem is solved but already this part could be a hint for others.

Jef & Marin, Netherlands · 17-01-2022, 16:15

Hi Hakan,
Thanks for your elaborate answer.

You write "Since it responds to ping the Ethernet cabling and the interface box would be OK". Is it correct that one ping is answered by the interface box and the other ping by the radar itself? In that case all data connection should be OK.

Note that at the moment, the radar control window of openCPN does not appear anymore. I have the impression that even if there is no ethernet connected, this should appear. Correct? Do I need to do a fresh installation of openCPN?

I have not been up the mast yet. We have had much rain and wind here the last days. That is why I hoped to do some debugging from below. And when I remove the radar for testing, I would also have to remove the radar cable from the mast, seeing the multi-pole connector between cable and radar. I only want to remove the cable when it is without doubt that the problem is in the radar.
Seeing that the radar control window does not appear anymore on my W10 PC, I would like to test the radar using the Mac. But in the fresh OpenCPN 5.6.0 on the Mac, the radar PI does not appear. I appreciate information about this. It is a Macbook Pro 15" from 2016 with an Intel processor. The OS is recent, Big Sur. NMEA data input is through multicasting wifi from my multiplexer via a router and works fine.
Thanks again,
Jef
Taravao, Tahiti

Hakan · 17-01-2022, 23:54

Jef..
IP connection:
The radar scanner itself use to have two IP addresses if I remember correct. One like 10.56.x.x and one like 169.254.x.x.

The radar control:
To show that you can use either the tools menu radar_pi icon or the charts right click menu: "Show Radar" or "Show Navico 4G". Don't you see that? If radar_pi is installed it should work.
On the radar control "Window" button click "Info" to see the info window. There you can see if the scanner is connected and if other necessities like OpenGL are present.
For chart overlay you'll also need position and heading as noted on the info window.
Without these the scanner will not start but that's not new for you I suppose?

Mac:
What I know it would work there. So if you go to Options->Plugins-> "Update catalog master". Isn't there a "cartooned" radar_pi to select and install?
Any Mac:er out there?

Douwe Fokkema · 18-01-2022, 03:57

[QUOTE=Jef & Marin, Netherlands;3556067]
Now after a few days of trying to get it going, the radar control window does not appear anymore.
The info window appears when I disconnect ethernet, and disappear as soon as I connect ethernet.
Previously, but not anymore, a taller info window appeared when I disconnected the USB NMEA input, due to the radar PI complaining that there was no heading input. That was nice for seeing the info window. For some reason this does not happen anymore.
But all other functions of openCPN are still working as normal.
The 2 IP addresses shown in the radar.ini file react on a ping. I guess the IP addresses are for the radar itself and the interface box.
The radar plus interface box take 0.25A @12V whatever I do.
When I disconnect the ethernet connection, and reconnect, I see in the windows task manager/performance/ethernet communication happening in two directions. After this there is only data coming from the interface boc to the PC, no outgoing ethernet.
/QUOTE]

The connection box is completely passive, it is the radar that is responding to your pings. So the cable should be OK.
Normally the info window will disappear when the pi detects the radar. And the info window will also be shown when radar overlay is on and the heading input is missing.
You should always be able to get the control window (the one with the commands). If not visible, right mouse click, gives OpenCPN context menu, click "Control Navico 4G A" (or B). Through Window, Info you should then be able to get the Info box (window).
I suspect there is something wrong with your radar. But I we could take a look at your OpenCPN log file. Before making the log, change VerboseLog=0 to VerboseLog=13 in the ini file, this will log all the comms.

Douwe Fokkema

Jef & Marin, Netherlands · 19-01-2022, 13:30

Hi Hakan and Douwe, thanks for your valuable input.
I have bitten the bullet and removed the radar from the mast, between rain spells. It turned out that the drive belt was broken. Sorry to have bothered you with my questions....

This drive belt is an orange/red 1/8" polyurethane drive belt, made from long extrusion. It is made into a drive belt by melting the ends and joining these together; then superfluous material is cut off with sharp knife, or grinded off.

I guess Navico have not always had this process under control; there is almost no force on the drive belt, and if the joining was done well, it should never have failed. (Maybe they just had to include some planned obsolescense now that there is no radar tube wearing out)

I have re-joined the drive belt using a rope cutting soldering tool. When you google "joining polyurethane drive belt" you will find some tips how to do this.

One problem in fixing the problem was that at some moment the radar control window had disappeared, and I did not know that it was possible to re-launch it.
Using ping on the IP addresses was valuable to check the ethernet connection.
If you like, I can write and send you some small text for the manual or an FAQ about debugging this problem, including what you see in the info window ("unknown status"). I have a screenshot of that. And including that certain Pings should still respond. The IP addresses are in the radar .ini file.

Thanks again,
Jef

Hakan · 19-01-2022, 13:55

Jef..
Very good you fixed the belt. I've heard it's not that easy to get a new from any Navico dealer. Spare parts seems not valuable or profitable to store these days?

Jef & Marin, Netherlands · 19-01-2022, 14:06

Length of the belt is 56.4mm in stretched state. Diameter 3.3mm, 1/8” but 3mm would also work well.

10 meters of 3mm belt is 15$ on Amazon. Should be enough for 18 belts. Someone could start a small business on Ebay.

The shop where I buy O-rings, bearing and oil seals in the Netherlands has the stuff on stock for less than 2 euro per meter

catamaran-dan · 06-02-2022, 16:01

Dave……I have a raspberry pi and my OpenCPN has somehow become corrupted where my charts no longer work. How can I reload Open CPN from my laptop to my Pi?

Dan

Piele · 27-03-2022, 11:09

Hello,

I am trying to replace my old Garmin plotter with a Raspberry 3 and Openplotter.

In the meantime I got almost everything working. AIS and GPS comes from the Camino 108. GPS output to the VHF also works fine.

Only my Garmin radar I do not get to run.

I have built a network cable and a bypass to PIN 5.
My question now is where do I connect the cable from PIN 5? Does this belong to the ground of the battery 12 V?

I have installed the plugin in Opencp and also configured eth0 as follows
IP address: 172.16.1.1
Netmask: 255.255.240.0.

I would be very happy if someone could help me!

Many greetings

Hakan · 27-03-2022, 11:57

Piele..
For a Garmin HD and xHD you may find more info in the manual
It would work on a RPi3 even if the performance may be limited.

Piele · 27-03-2022, 12:02

Thank you Hakan! I know this manual. I have already checked the site of Opencpn and the pdf which I found there. But I didn’t understand what I have to do with pin5. When I connected pin5 to my ground nothing happens. The radar didn’t started.

Best regards

Hakan · 27-03-2022, 12:26

Piele..
Now I don't have a Garmin myself but since it says "chassis" it would be the radar antenna chassis and implying a use of a shielded cable from the connector to the antenna. That would also be equal to battery negative.
What do you see when radar plugin is working and you've selected your Garmin scanner type?
You have to see a established network connection and then on the radar control click the "Standby/Transmit" button as described in the manual.

Piele · 27-03-2022, 12:38

At the moment Opencpn didn’t found the connection/radar. Opencpn show the picture with the information that nothing is on 172.16.1.1. Thursday I will be back on the boat and can make a screenshot.