OpenCPN Version 1.3.2 Released July 10, 2009

Introduction to OpenCPN

General Information

Chart Information

Get Help - Be of Help

Getting Started

Hot Keys

FAQ's

What is OpenCPN?

OpenCPN is a simple, concise chart plotter/navigator. It is designed to be used continuously at the ship's helm station while underway. It will allow the operator to easily track his/her position on accurate chart images. Additionally, OpenCPN can display tide and current predictions. If you have a suitable AIS receiver it will display AIS information transmitted by AIS equipped vessels.

OpenCPN is a complete and fully functioning program. It is licensed to you under the GNU public license. This and future upgrades will always be free to download without any gotchas. The source code is available and if you have programming skills, modifications can be made to suit your particular situation. See the GNU Public License for details.

Why should I use it instead of a commercial product?

a) It is Open Source software, meaning, among other things, that it is FREE TO DOWNLOAD and use. Escape the commercial paid upgrade treadmill!

b) It is "concise," meaning that the feature set is optimized for daily use, and excess features (aka "bloat ware") are not present. The application is thus smaller and faster, running acceptably on as little as a 300 MHz Pentium-II Windows-98 computer. Especially, it starts up and shuts down quickly.

c) OpenCPN conforms more closely than many other consumer ECS's to international IMO specification S52 for ENC display. This is a worldwide standard, and promotes portability among watch-keeping officers on all ECDIS equipped ships and boats.

d) Based on extensive human factors engineering, the main objective of S52 is to reduce clutter and extraneous information. For example, the colors are very carefully selected to produce the most effective viewing under real bridge conditions. Thus, in high stress conditions at sea (crossings, low viz, etc.), the proper situational awareness is maintained.

Is it reliable for day to day use?

OpenCPN is currently in a Beta release stage. Traditionally, this means that there may be a few bugs. However, for normal usage, it runs just fine.

On a personal note, OpenCPN has, for years, been the full-time everyday navigator aboard M/V Dyad, a trawler catamaran cruising from Newfoundland to the Bahamas.

Of course any prudent mariner will have navigation tools and paper charts for the areas they will be sailing. Nothing that is electric and sails in salt water is 100% reliable. Low tech backups work even when wet.

I'm not techno savvy, is this easy to use?

Some familiarity with competitive products is assumed. Usage is fairly intuitive.

How accurate is it?

OpenCPN's accuracy is dependent upon the accuracy of your GPS and the underlying chart database. As for all such programs, OpenCPN does not remove from the operator the responsibility to LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.

With that said,

OpenCPN will plot the boat position to within about 100 ft of its true position most of the time.

OpenCPN will warn the user if the chart data accuracy does not allow for safe navigation.

Do I need GPS?

OpenCPN is optimized as an underway tool, so GPS data is necessary to allow boat position plotting. However, OpenCPN can be used without GPS for planning purposes, such as route and waypoint entry and time/distance calculations.

Where can I find the charts I need?

OpenCPN comes with a few sample charts. These are included to provide instant opportunity to experience the potential of the program. S57 vector charts (the equivalent to CM93/3) are now available for free download from NOAA. Find all the charts you need, both raster (RNC) and ENC's, for your region through NOOA OCS Website: http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/charts.htm

Links to a wide selection of ENC's for U.S.inland waters and other countries visit: http://www.dacust.com/inlandwaters/index.html

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If I need help, where can I find it?

I check the SCCA Bulletin board at:

http://ssca.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=12

I also check in at the Cruiser Forum at:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/opencpn13653-8.html

How can I help?

If you'd like to develop enhancements to OpenCPN, check out the project on SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn/

Current items of interest are:

a) Testing: Use it, cruise it, abuse it, take notes. Your feedback is appreciated.

b) Icons, color palettes, etc: Graphic designers invited.

We welcome all comments and ideas, and especially look forward to your bug reports. I can be reached by email at: bdbcat@yahoo.com

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Getting Started with OpenCPN

Version 1.3.2 is a major feature enhancement release adding the following new functions and features:

1 Mouse wheel zooms the chart.

2. Multiple Keyboard Hot Keys added.

3. And, as usual, miscellaneous bug fixes and user optimizations.

For a complete listing of all changes read the Release Notes and Change Log included in this distribution.

We assume here that you have downloaded the proper file for your operating system and have installed it, maintaining all the default folders.

On Linux machines the x-executable file is in usr/bin/OpenCPN.

When your launch OpenCPN for the first time you will be greeted by a green tinted screen with ragged outlines of coast lines. A Bulls Eye shows the default location on the U.S. coast at 31.8439 N and 080.7019" W

The outline of the installed ENC chart shows as a green square.

Let's get familiar with the Tool Bar.

From left to right

ZOOM IN and ZOOM OUT - Magnifying Glass

These change the scale (size on your screen) of the chart you are working with. This allows you to see more details. OpenCPN now supports the use of the scroll wheel to accomplish this

Next is -

SCALE IN and SCALE OUT.

These buttons will allow you to change the scale of chart you are using.

If a larger scale chart (large scale = greater detail in a smaller area) is available for the location of your mouse pointer, you will see more than one segmented bar in the lower left hand corner of the chart window. The segmented color bars in the Status Bar represent: Blue for Raster; Green For ENC's; Brown/Yellow for CM93 charts – The current chart displays as a lighter shade of its color.

When you hover the mouse pointer over the bar, a thumbnail of the chart will appear under the SCALE IN/OUT icons. By clicking on the appropriate bar, or using the appropriate HOT KEYS, you will switch to the chart shown in the thumbnail. This feature is especially useful if you wish to view an ENC or a Raster chart of the same area.

CREATE NEW ROUTE

Click it. Using the cursor keys navigate to the appropriate chart. Left-Clicking sets a waypoint – Right-Clicking displays the route context menu.

If creating a route which extends off the currently displayed chart, move the route cursor into the desired area, Right-Click and select 'MAX DETAIL HERE' or 'Scale Out'. This will give you a chart showing the area under your mouse pointer without ending the route. Continue creating the route, using Right-Click drop-down menu, zoom wheel, or courser keys as necessary to change chart, scale, and/or zoom or to move the chart under your cursor. Practice to see which combination and methods work best for you.

Activated Routes are Red

Deactivated Routes are Blue

The current version of OpenCPN, (1.3.2) has no provision to hide multiple routes, so all your routes will show on the chart all the time.

HACK: To keep the chart clear of useful but un-needed routes follow these steps:

- Create your route.

- 'Export to GPX' with a descriptive file name and save it in a created folder called GPX_Routes.

- Delete the route from the chart.

- When needed simply use the 'Import GPX' to open the route file.

AUTO FOLLOW – the big GREEN +

Click on this to center the chart display on your current GPS location and engage Auto Follow, sometime called 'Cruise Mode', for navigation.

OpenCPN will automatically place the boat's position at the center of the screen. If the boat leaves the current chart, OpenCPN will open a new chart with roughly the same scale at its current location.

Wrench icon.

Click this icon to open the Tool Box.

TOOL BOX

Settings – Selections are self explanatory with this exception: Automatic Anchor Mark. This is what it does:
If the following are ALL true:
1. In "Cruising" mode, meaning that speed has at some point exceeded 3.0 kts.
2. Current speed is less than 0.5 kts.
3. OpenCPN has been up at least 30 minutes
4. OpenCPN is exiting normally
5. And, there is no "Anchorage" waypoint within 0.25 NM of current GPS location....
Then, OpenCPN will drop a waypoint at the current location, with the name - "Anchorage created on [Date Stamp]".

Thus waypoints are automatically created for known good anchorages as you shut down the computer. The 0.25 NM condition prevents clogging up frequently visited anchorages with closely spaced waypoints. The other conditions help to prevent spurious waypoints.

Charts- Set and/or remove your chart directories

Vector Charts - ECN Settings

AIS - Your settings and preferences

The AIS function makes it is easy to interrogate targets.

It will calculate and display CPA and TCPA.

Fonts -

- Console refers to navigation info window displayed when a route is activated.

- Marks Font properties of waypoint marks.

Etc – More display preferences

Show ENC Text

Click to show S57 Text on your ENC's

Note: This will may not appear to work if you have “Show Important Text Only” selected in the 'Settings/Vector Charts' tab. It serves no function on Raster Charts.

Show Currents

To show or hide current velocity and direction arrows. Click the base of the current arrow to display data for that location.

Show Tides

Shows Tide Stations on chart. Right Click the 'T T' icon to display tide information for that location. Close the box to hide the information.

Hint: The tide icon, 'T', remains the same size regardless of chart scale. Zoom out and the icons will be easier to find.

Half Moon

Clicking this icon will cycle through preset screen/color/brightness settings for night viewing.

?

Link to this Document and 'About'

The About OpenCPN box. On the first of three tabs you will find the version number 1.3.2 as of this writing, and copyright info. The middle tab shows the names and email addresses of the

authors of this work and the third tab displays the GNU General Public

License. This document describes the conditions under which this application is licensed to you, the user.C

Chart Title Block

The background color of the chart title block, usually RED (no GPS), or GREEN (GPS OK) will show stunning bright YELLOW if the chart georeferencing is deemed unsuitable for navigation. This is a judgment call, and is very rarely seen, only with very old BSB V1 charts.

The Big Red X

Hit this button or the one above it to shut down OpenCPN. You can also use the Hot Key Ctrl + Q to exit the program.

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Navigating with OpenCPN

Load Your Charts

Open the Tool Box and choose the tab marked "Charts".

Use the top window pane to locate and highlight the directories containing your charts. When you have a chart directory highlighted, chose "Add Selection". The directory you selected will then appear in the bottom pane of the window and be added to the OpenCPN chart database.

Repeat this for all the chart directories you wish OpenCPN to be able to display.

When you have finished selecting and adding chart directories, choose "OK".

A window with a progress bar will open showing that OpenCPN is recognizing your selections.

NOTE: OpenCPN can share chart directories with any other installed chart navigation system. There is no need to make a separate directory for OpenCPN charts.

Get your GPS working.

Open the Tool Box .

In the 'Settings' tab select the NMEA Data Source from the choices shown in the drop-down box, and choose the port to which your GPS is connected.

If you are using a standard serial port, then choose the proper physical port number to match. If, on the other hand, you are using a USB GPS, then you will select the virtual serial port which was created by your GPS device driver. You may need to try several selections to find the correct port.

Hint: For XP/Vista: Using the Device Manager, look for a serial port which appears and disappears dynamically as you plug and unplug the USB GPS cable. This is your virtual GPS serial port.

When the properly configured GPS is connected, powered up, and recognized, then OpenCPN will show a pale green background in the upper right window of the tool bar. This bar also displays the current chart's PATH and File name as well as its Chart Name and Edition Year.

If no GPS is present or recognized, the chart identification window will have a pale red, or plum colored background.

NOTE: OpenCPN automatically configures baud rate, bits, parity, etc. These do not need to be separately specified.

Connect To Your Auto Pilot

OpenCPN may be interfaced to any NMEA compatible autopilot which recognizes the RMB NMEA sentence. The serial port may be selected on the Tool Box dialog.

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Hot Keys

- Arrow Keys, Moves the chart view

- Ctrl + Q Quits OpenCPN

- Ctrl + L-Arrow - F10 Smaller Scale Chart (Scale In)

- Ctrl + R-Arrow - F11 Larger Scale Chart (Scale Out)

- Ctrl + Z or + Zoom In or X (Zoom Out)

- Ctrl + X or - Zoom Out

- Ctrl + O or F12 Show/Hide Chart Outlines

- Ctrl + S or F-3 Show / hide ENC Text

- Ctrl + 1 Normal Brightness

- Ctrl + 2 Dusk Brightness

- Ctrl + 3 Night Brightness

- Ctrl + M Drop Marker at current cursor position.

- F-8 & F-9 Auto Follow ON/OFF

- Ctrl +space Man Over Board, sets MOB Marker at current GPS position.

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FAQ

What are all those 'U' things all over my chart?

The feature being rendered is S57 Text relating to 'M_QUAL'.

This is a meta-object describing the quality of data shown. The Attribute of interest is CATZOC, or "Category of Zone of Confidence". The value on most US ENC's is "6", or "un-assessed". Thus, the 'U'.

You can turn this symbol off in OpenCPN by de-selecting the box next to M_QUAL in 'Tool Box' / 'Vector Charts' tab 'Mariners Standard' selection list box.

To learn the acronyms used in this application search the S57 'Object and Attribute' catalog at: http://www.s-57.com/

I have routes and way points in Sea Clear and I would like to import them into OpenCPN. Can I do it?

Yes. I had originally created and maintained all my routes and waypoints in SeaClear, exported them, loaded them into GPSUtility (for Windows) and saved them as text files.

To import into OpenCPN I opened all my text files (routes and waypoints) with GPSUtility, saved that out as one big gpx file, and loaded it into OpenCPN. Works like a champ.

I've edited them and saved them back out as GPX files with no trouble.

Individual routes can be edited and saved in appropriately named GPX files.

Whenever I try to open a particular chart the OpenCPN crashes. What's going on?

Chances are the chart file is corrupted. Note the name and number of the suspect chart and replace it with a fresh download.

NOTE: A list of the charts with their names and file names can be found in the README.TEXT that accompanies the charts downloaded from NOOA.

Some unzip utilities for Linux are problematic when opening ECN's. If there are many corrupt charts in your download, try using a different unzip utility.

OpenCPN and Great Circle Navigation

Raster charts display bearings and headings as straight, measurable lines on the chart. Similarly, Vector ENC's are rendered as Mercator projections in OpenCPN and most other ECS's for the same reason.

For typical coastal navigation, errors which occur using rhumb line instead of great circle calculations are small for the distances usually covered by one chart.

Great circle navigation is more useful when one wants to travel the minimum possible distance between two widely spaced points on the globe. I cannot personally imagine using one chart for one electronically navigated leg across an entire ocean. However, if I crossed an ocean with OpenCPN , I would lay out a route with great circle points manually plotted every couple of degrees, and engage the autopilot. Maybe the weather would cooperate.....

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Fair winds and following seas -

Dave and the OpenCPN Team