OpenCPN SIMRAD/LOWRANCE Radar Overlay PlugIn

[RobbieW]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

Did you try it since Douwe implemented reading the heading data from the scan packets ?

My understanding is that the RI-10 reads the heading data from NMEA2000(Simnet) and sends it to the scanner over the Ethernet cable but not as Ethernet data (on a normally unused pair), the scanner receives it and adds the heading data to each scan packet.

Probably not, I'm running V1 - about to set off on the first trip of the year so trying it will have to wait

[merrimac]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

Windows 7. OCPN 4.0, radar plugin 1.1.
Can I tell the plugin that the radar is on a specific interface? I see that the opencpn.ini has interface=0.0.0.0 - should I allocate the radar nic an IP address, or will that have no effect on UDP broadcasts?

If you are actually using v1.1 or even better, v1.2, you will get a small dialog as long as no radar data is received that should show you that it is scanning all ethernet cards until it sees the radar. This was added because on Linux and OS X you need to bind a multicast listener to a particular interface. You can also check the log file for "BR24radar_pi: detected radar at x.x.x.x".

For example, some screenshots of the system scanning my home network are attached. You can see it scanning 10.37.129.2, 10.211.55.2, 10.0.67.20, 10.0.67.230, etc.

v1.1 no longer uses the internet address in the ini file, this is probably a remnant from v1.0. Remove it and if it comes back after you use O then you're still on v1.0 or earlier and you should definitely upgrade!

On Windows, the multicast data sent out for commands should go out over all cards. Since the addresses are multicast I'm not sure that adding a route for them will do anything.

The current setup works with any number of interfaces as long as the multicast data is sent out to the IF containing the radar. I have seen cases where this works and cases where it does not. So we may need to add some code to bind the outgoing data to the same IF.

[muttnik]

Originally Posted by muttnik

Specifying which interface is used for multicast output bypassing the routing table is all a bit platform specific and wxWidgets is a bit of a blunt tool so it's best just to tell the OS to sort it out.

Originally Posted by merrimac

So we may need to add some code to bind the outgoing data to the same IF.

Sorry I was speaking nonsense. SO_BINDTODEVICE which isn't relevant here is platform specific and what I was thinking of. IP_MULTICAST_IF is relevant here and of course isn't Linux-specific. It's not like I don't use it in my own code :-/

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by merrimac

.....
The current setup works with any number of interfaces as long as the multicast data is sent out to the IF containing the radar. I have seen cases where this works and cases where it does not. So we may need to add some code to bind the outgoing data to the same IF.

The zeroconfig is slick, and has worked well for me, but If you are thinking of making changes in this area of the code here is a thought I have had regarding discovery of the RADAR:

The Navico MFDs seem to all allow you to choose a particular RADAR scanner from a list if you have more than one installed on your network; By default a single 4G scanner shows up as two separate RADARs.

If the br24 plugin allowed for this then different instances of OpenCPN could control different RADARS. Or an MFD could control one while OpenCPN controlled another. Different instances of OpenCPN can also run on the same machine in portable mode:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1668467

One way this could be implemented would be by adding an option in the plugin preferences to allow a choice of: automatic discovery (as it is now), choosing the RADAR from a list, or something else if needed to resolve other issues, how about a future option to connect to the RADAR via a SignalK server over Wifi. Of course there is always more than one way to accomplish something.

I'm just putting this idea out there for discussion. Although I was once a programmer, that was in the stone ages and I find I can barely read the code now let alone write something.

Cheers,
JM.

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

I didn't have internet at the boat today, think I found the answer:

Yacht Electronics: Lowrance yellow Ethernet cabling

I think I was confused by the non standard colors. Will try again tomorrow.

Cheers,
JM.

Made a new Navico Yellow connector to RJ-45 cable today to connect the RI-10 box directly to my Laptop. It worked! The connections were as follows:

Navico Yellow connector to 2 pair wire.
The extra un-insulated wire was just cut off, I think it just adds strength.

Navico Cable Orange/White -> RJ-45 pin#1
Navico Cable Orange -> RJ-45 pin#2
Navico Cable Blue/White -> RJ-45 pin#3
Navico Cable Blue -> RJ-45 pin#6

It appears to work, but it would be nice to have some indication on the Info screen that the heading data is being received from the RADAR.

Cheers,
JM.

[Tupaia]

Hi, I have just installed Lowrance 3G radar dome and are having some teething problems.


Could not get OpenGL to run on my VIA C7 - S3 Unichrome Pro IGP boat PC so resorted to laptop. Any suggestions about where I can get a fix for OpenGL on this would be great.


Anyway on laptop .....


1. Running Win10 (yes I know 2 wrongs don't make a right)
2. OpenCPN 4.0
3. br24radar_pi-1.1-win32.exe
4. NMEA Heading data via USB-Serial
5. GPS via Prolific USB Dongle
6. Ethernet plugged straight in.


What works - finds radar IP and displays perfect rendition of surroundings. The heading data is correct and so is the position but the radar is 180 degrees out compared to the heading?


When OpenGL is on I can only get a black screen with red radar no chart overlay?


I even when out side and checked I installed the dome facing forwards.


Any suggestions


Peter

[Tupaia]

Update just in case anyone else runs into this. It seems Win10 uses its own internal graphics by default. My NVIDIA was disabled. Re-enabled it and I get access to all the options. Adjusted the heading correction and everything is great. Good job guys.


Now all I need is a OpenGL driver for VIA C7....Peter

[Hakan]

Tupaia...

Congrats and thanks for your info.
Just because I'm curious, what happened with the 180 degr off set radar picture, did you have to correct that much?

Håkan

[rgleason]

Re Configuration questions. Decided not to post this in this thread.
OpenCPN and Electronics Configuration - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by Hakan

Tupaia...

Congrats and thanks for your info.
Just because I'm curious, what happened with the 180 degr off set radar picture, did you have to correct that much?

Håkan

Surprisingly yes... about +155 degrees. No idea why it should be so much but it appears to be stable.

Once I could see what was going on Opengl problem everything became clear.

Couldn't get anywhere with Opengl driver for the old VIA so put in a Atom N270 last night. Could'nt get XP to play so installed a new Win8 (I must be mad) but it runs surprisingly quick with only 2Gb of ram and OpenGL is built in. Just need to configure the ethernet ports as they don't seem to be able to find the radar.

Peter

[Tupaia]

I can now confirm that an Atom N270 with 2GB of ram will run Win 8.1 and OpenCPN.


The auto discovery on the radar setup was having some trouble, it looked like it was working, but because this particular board has 2 com ports, it was bouncing back and forth between them and not finding it. Turns out that it was the firewall blocking the connection but it doesn't tell you this. So if you try auto discover on Win8+ make sure that OpenCPN had permission for both private and public networks.


Again excellent .... Peter

[Hakan]

Peter..
Yes the firewall has to be unblocked also in W7, and the radar is seen as an external/public connection. Long time since this was discussed so it's easily forgotten. Thanks for your reminder.
Håkan

[Douwe Fokkema]

NahanniV

I also thought about using the "twin window feature" of the 4G such that the HDS plotter and OCPN would each have their own independent radar window. The problem however is that I do not know how Navico implemented this feature. I first assumed they would use 2 IP addresses (seems logical), but I see only one (so does the DHCP server that also assigns the address to the radar). Alternatively they could use a second set of port numbers for the second radar, or use some kind of multiplexing.
As my HDS plotter does not support the dual window radar, I can not make a whireshark log to analyse this.
Once the protocol is known, implementation of a dual window (one on the plotter and the other in OCPN) shouldn't be too complicated.

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by Douwe Fokkema

NahanniV

I also thought about using the "twin window feature" of the 4G such that the HDS plotter and OCPN would each have their own independent radar window. The problem however is that I do not know how Navico implemented this feature. I first assumed they would use 2 IP addresses (seems logical), but I see only one (so does the DHCP server that also assigns the address to the radar). Alternatively they could use a second set of port numbers for the second radar, or use some kind of multiplexing.
As my HDS plotter does not support the dual window radar, I can not make a whireshark log to analyse this.
Once the protocol is known, implementation of a dual window (one on the plotter and the other in OCPN) shouldn't be too complicated.

Is there anyone else with a multi window capable Navico MFD and a 4G RADAR who could do a Wireshark capture ??

Cheers,
JM.

[Hakan]

JM...
I trust in OCPN and BR24 only. Kees is out sailing for the summer. Anyone else?

Håkan