OpenCPN Version 4.4 Released

[bdbcat]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
---------------------

13 June, 2016

OpenCPN Version 4.4.0 Released



The OpenCPN Development Team is proud to announce the release of OpenCPN Version 4.4.0

This version is a feature upgrade and maintenance release of OpenCPN.

OpenCPN is a cross platform electronic navigation system (ECS) supporting a variety of cartography standards and hardware interface protocols. Versions are available for Linux, Windows, Macintosh, and ARM computer architectures.
Since widespread introduction in 2008, OpenCPN has gained a solid reputation.

OpenCPN is running on hardware from tiny Raspberry Pis with 4" screens up to networked workstations. Specific user scenarios and needs are easily accommodated by using the Plug-in architecture and the wide scope of user settings.
A responsive international user and developer community together with integrated documentation help make installation and use of OpenCPN a pleasure.

Some of the features of OpenCPN include

Quilted Raster(RNC) and Vector(ENC) digital chart display
Full compliant support for official vector charts in S-57/S-63 format and InlandENCs
Industry standard GPS receiver interfacing, with "moving map" on-screen vessel tracking
AIS receiver interfacing with configurable target safety monitoring
Integrated Route, Track, and Waypoint database, with industry standard Import/Export capabilities
Tide and Current prediction, with on-screen overlay of predicted data.
Broad International Language support
PlugIn architecture allowing on-going third-party functional enhancements


OpenCPN is released under the GPLV2 license. The executable program and its source code are available for immediate, free, and unlimited download from several public sources.

As a successor to OpenCPN Version 4.2, OpenCPN Version 4.4 contains many several features and enhanced functions.

Among them are:

..Support for GRIB V2 format files.
..Measurably improved performance and reliability over all supported platforms.


We hope you enjoy the new features of OpenCPN Version 4.4, and look forward to your continued feedback and support.

More information is available at opencpn.org

The OpenCPN Development Team
Dave Register, Lead Developer

[AISEAG]

Thanks to everyone.

Serge

[oldfatgit]

Thank you, looks good. Can't wait to get aboard and test it out.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Wanderlust]

Congratulations on a job well done.

Except I am experiencing a problem with Grib display as per the attached image.

I was fiddling with different settings for gribs displayed, and when I clicked on "Zoom to Centre", the whole area of the grib went opaque and I can't get the normal display back. The Overlay Transparency slider makes the blocked out area transparent and enables the chart to be viewed, but then the numerics for wind strength aren't visible.

Results are also different with OpenGL on or off. With OpenGL off, once I zoom in just a little closer, the blockout disappears completely, and everything looks normal, but returns when zoomed out again. The on/off trigger appears to be about 0.5x zoom. Shutting down OpenCPN and rebooting the PC doesn't resolve it.

With OpenGL On, zooming in/out has no effect in resolving this.

Windows 7 pro x32.

[Wanderlust]

OK, I have spent a bit of time to understand what is going on with the grib display issue I reported above, and it appears it is mostly OK.

I discovered that the "blocked out" area is the intended display for Surface Temperature. I had interpreted some features as an indication of a bug:

• it shows over land areas as well as sea
• it is so dark the chart is unreadable behind it (reduce opacity from 100% default helps)
• it doesn't appear at all until the chart is zoomed out.

If I untick the option to display surface temperature, everything works as normal.

Perhaps with warmer sea temperatures the visibility may be better. But for me, with water temperatures around 24-25 degrees, the display is not useful because it is so dark, and there are no discernable graduations. I found a workaround was to select the colour scheme for air temperature. That is a lot lighter and works better.

I also discovered an excellent hidden gem - the context menu option to display a table of all available weather data for that location. Right click any location within the grib area to be able to display "Weather table". That will be really useful!!

So, in summary, all is good, although I find the default colour scheme for surface temperature is too dark to be useful. However it acts differently with OpenGL on. The surface temperature colouration stays on regardless of zoom level.

[did-g]

Originally Posted by Wanderlust

• it shows over land areas as well as sea
• it is so dark the chart is unreadable behind it (reduce opacity from 100% default helps)
• it doesn't appear at all until the chart is zoomed out.

So, in summary, all is good, although I find the default colour scheme for surface temperature is too dark to be useful. However it acts differently with OpenGL on. The surface temperature colouration stays on regardless of zoom level.

With opengl off if the overlay is too big it's not displayed, you should have something saying so in the bottom left corner.

yes sea colors are dark and data cover land, don't know why, either it's not sea temp. or it's an artifact from the model and we have to use a land mask.

[sy_gilana]

Wonderful, I thought this would solve my spinning pinwheel problem, but alas no.

Linux Mint 17 with Cinnamon.

The problem happens when any vector chart scale changes, or if a vector chart is selected from a raster chart ie every time the chart lib is accessed.

The pinwheel AKA the hourglass, it is the cursor in "I'm thinking" mode

[bdbcat]

gilana...

Does the "pinwheel" stay spinning forever, or can you stop it by any action?

Dave

[jean_pfoumf]

Hi
same problem (pinwheel) since betas 4.2... directly when starting Ocpn on Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa Xfce. Never stop. OpenCpn processor activity 1 or 2%.

Jean

[seandepagnier]

jean,
which window manager?

[rooiedirk]

I had something simular. For me, the solution was rename the opencpn.conf file. Then at starting O will make a new one. You have to do all settings again, but it did help for me.
Likely my old .conf file was somehow corrupt.

[sy_gilana]

I am using Nemo.
There is nothing I can do to stop the pinwheel in one session.

[jean_pfoumf]

@boat_alexandra

Xfce

[sy_gilana]

Dave, et al. I am slowly pecking away at this.
I went to charts and removed the CM93 directory (just off the pick list not off the HDD)
So now I have the large scale default world background, and home-made .KAP charts loaded only.

I could not create the error at all.

Put it back, and problem appears again.

[fgd3]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

Wonderful, I thought this would solve my spinning pinwheel problem, but alas no.

Linux Mint 17 with Cinnamon.

The problem happens when any vector chart scale changes, or if a vector chart is selected from a raster chart ie every time the chart lib is accessed.

The pinwheel AKA the hourglass, it is the cursor in "I'm thinking" mode

What a relief to see someone else has this problem, too. I have it on 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04. As soon as I try to display a vector chart I get the spinning pinwheel. The only way to make it go away is to close the program and restart it. If I move the mouse pointer to the title bar the spinning pinwheel is replaced by the regular pointer arrow but when the pointer moves back to the chart window the spinning pinwheel returns. This does not happen on my 32-bit Ubuntu 14.04 installation.

Fabbian