Opencpn/gps issue

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Phil23

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
207
Location
Russell NZ
Vessel Name
MV Unique
Vessel Make
Salthouse Coastal 35
Can someone help me please I have Opencpn V4 installed with charts an working I have a BU353S4 installed and working ie when turned on shows satellites in range and associated data however my GPS is not talking to my charts. When OPencpn opened and gps working there is no icon or other indication on my charts that they are working together
 
I should have mentioned I am running Windows 10 and all was fine until I had to reset my computer
 
I recomend you contact the manufacturer of the software.......
 
Got to find the correct Com Port.


Are you opening the GPS debug window to see if data is being transmitted?
 
Yes GPS is transmitting data and I am in the right comport I have also checked with my devise manager which shows all good, correct comport and driver
 
At opencpn.org click the "Forums" tab at the top of the page. That will take you to the users forum. You'll find lots of help there.
 
what_barnacles said:
I believe thats the same gps I use with opencpn on win10, no issues.
Click to expand...

Yup, same here.

I don't use it as my main navigation tool, but could if my Garmin failed. It's great for sitting down on the couch or at a table and planning trips or next day runs on the laptop. Something I can't do with the chart plotter which is hard mounted to the console.

I'm looking at installing an all-in-one PC with a 19' screen at the main console and running OpenCPN or similar software on it. Cost is between $400 and $800 depending on the PC you buy. Has anyone else done this?

Example:
Dell OptiPlex 3030 - All-in-one - 1 x Core i5 4590S / 3 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 500 GB - DVD-Writer - HD Graphics 4600 - GigE - WLAN : 802.11a/b/g/n - Win 8.1 Pro 64-bit $767

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9718913&CatId=3839
 
There are times when I have had an issue. Moving the USB to another USB port and restarting the computer usually works.

OpenCPN is not perfect, but for free, it works fine for my purposes. Perhaps the fact that it does not and will not integrate active captian features is the reason some push to avoid it. No bother to me, though.
 
Edelweiss said:
I'm looking at installing an all-in-one PC with a 19' screen at the main console and running OpenCPN or similar software on it. Cost is between $400 and $800 depending on the PC you buy. Has anyone else done this?
Click to expand...

I run mine on a dedicated laptop with a 15" widescreen. That laptop lets me take it off the boat. You dont really need a lot of horsepower as the screen redraws are pretty minimal with a slow boat.
 
Edelweiss said:
"I'm looking at installing an all-in-one PC with a 19' screen at the main console and running OpenCPN or similar software on it. Cost is between $400 and $800 depending on the PC you buy. Has anyone else done this?"




I have an onboard PC, not all in one though. I have a marine monitor made by Big Bay which is waterproof and very bright when needed in the sunlight. I run Coastal Explorer, which comes with 2 licenses so I installed it on my laptop as well that I use at home to plan routes. On each machine I pointed CE to read and store routes, waypoints, etc., to the same dropbox/cloud folder so whether the route is created at home or I change/create it while underway, there is only one file and it gets updated each time I save it or when the program closes. The next time I open CE, whether at home or on the boat, it is always up to date with any changes or additions. No need for updating one or the other with a flash drive. The onboard PC is networked to my Furuno GPS, depth, water temp, and heading sensor. I have an AIS receiver plugged into it as well. The only function it doesn't have is radar, which the Furuno handles well anyway.

ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1461449078.750354.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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I have used both Coastal Explorer as the only navigation tool on my friend's boat for a week's cruise and I used OpenCPN on a netbook as backup which became my sole electronic navigation tool when my chartplotter's GPS failed for the last two days of a week long cruise.


I like them both. I do believe that OpenCPN has succumbed to feature creep while trying to satisfy the various members of its "committee" and will never be as robust as a solid commercial product like Coastal Explorer.


But if you need support, go to cruisersforum.com, not here. CF is the semi-official OpenCpn support forum and has its own sub forum there. The BU353 issue has been discussed many times there and the only real solution I know of is a com port utility called, Xport.


David
 
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We just ran OpenCPN on Windows 10 and an iPad Air 2, side by side for ~2.5 months/1200 plus miles across Lake Okeechobee, through the Everglades, to the Bahamas and back to FL. The iPad has Garmin Blue Charts and the PC has CMap charts. As a pair they're pretty hard to beat. Each one has it's strengths but we have 2 chart plotters with an investment of less than $1200. What's not to like. :)
 
I'm in a similar boat! :) I kinda wish I had an iPad sometimes just for the Blue Charts, but I run Navionics on my Samsung Note 8 tablet. It works well for me, especially with the upgraded barometric charts. I'm now finding fishing holes my other charts don't display.

I've been using OpenCPN for many years on an old $300 11 inch netbook. It runs great but needs occasional rebooting every few hours. Not sure why, but it's no big deal. It's my old netbook that had its motherboard corrupted so it's very likely my problem is hardware-, not software-related. I've got layers of redundancy, though, so I don't care. It's cheap and it works and it backs up my Garmin plotter and my Navionics. When I replace my current laptop, it'll serve the same duty, maybe with even better results. . Life is good!!

Time to go fishing!!
 
Hi guys thanks for all your comments and the debate, I have uninstalled and reinstalled both OpenCPN and BU GPS several times and my problem still exists bringind me to the conclusion I must have an OS or hardware problem as I do not know where else to go.
 
I just took a look at the OpenCPN thread on CF. I've not used the software, but just reading the sheer volume of issues addressed in the 121 pages on one thread would seriously detract from boating time. Even then, I don't think I could trust the software. Considering the potential time involved to learn and troubleshoot this software, it seems very expensive.
 
drb1025 said:
I just took a look at the OpenCPN thread on CF. I've not used the software, but just reading the sheer volume of issues addressed in the 121 pages on one thread would seriously detract from boating time. Even then, I don't think I could trust the software. Considering the potential time involved to learn and troubleshoot this software, it seems very expensive.
Click to expand...

Go to windows forums like sevenforums, eightforums, tenforums.com and you will see many thousands of people having problems with windows too.
Windows 10 Forums
Windows 8 Forums
Windows 7 Help Forums

I run Ubuntu, just upgraded to 16.04 LTS. It works well for me, but lots of people who want to make it do extra stuff etc..., it is just the nature of coding and people who code.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/
 
I'm back to paper charts and a wind strength wand I guess!!!!!!!!
 
OP:

You should have gotten a mini cd with the driver diagnostic program for the gps.

What I would do is run the diagnostic program on the cd and verify it can talk to the gps. If there is a way to reinstall the driver then do so.

If that fails then open the device manager via settings on windows. Once that open you should be able to see the list of connected devices change as you plug in the gps and unplug it. Mine shows up under Ports > Prolific usb to serial comm port (com3) when it is plugged in and disappears when I unplug it.

Once you see it right click and select properties. I have 4800 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop, no parity, no flow control. under advanced I have use fifos selected.

The old standby for windows is to uninstall the driver from here. Unplug the device, reboot the machine, and then after windows is fully up run the cd to reinstall the gps.
 
Sometimes windows has issues with remembering a usb device when first plugged in. It does not like the device moved to another usb port. So may have to uninstall the device and reinstall it. Then there are the hidden usb devices in device manager, you may not see unless you boot into safe mode. Maybe boot in safe mode and delete all gps devices, then restart and see if it gets redetected.
 
I guess what I don't understand is how when we all have boats worth many tens of thousands of dollars, and that are sometimes our homes, "free" and $300 aren't pretty much the same thing. I think the $300 you spend for Coastal Explorer (or pick your favorite commercial, supported product) is among the best money you will ever spend on your boat. Heck, a gallon of bottom paint costs that much. Of all the places to try to save $300, this one seems really severely misplaced.
 
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Not for some of us....
 
I think I said it poorly. Every $$ matters. It's the prioritization of how some people spend it that puzzles me.
 
twistedtree said:
I guess what I don't understand is how when we all have boats worth many tens of thousands of dollars, and that are sometimes our homes, "free" and $300 aren't pretty much the same thing. I think the $300 you spend for Coastal Explorer (or pick your favorite commercial, supported product) is among the best money you will ever spend on your boat. Heck, a gallon of bottom paint costs that much. Of all the places to try to same $300, this one seems really severely misplaced.
Click to expand...

For me, it's a backup to a backup, but the fact that it's free and it works is a huge plus. $300 matters to me because I operate on a fixed budget and every dollar counts. From where I stand, $300 is half a battery bank...or a galvanic isolator...or a new backup VHF...or a new fishing reel. Spending that on a 3rd tier piece of equipment doesn't make sense.

But if I wanted to add a new large monitor and run it as my main nav system, then it makes all kinds of sense to spend the $300.
 
For me it's my primary because it is mindlessly easy to use.

I use it more than my Raymarine chartplotter for a variety of reasons.

It cost me $29 versus over $1000 for the chartplotter only section of the MFD. Fortunately both sets of charts were free...but the Ray charts cost to update where the Open CPN are free...

Don't get it? Yep, I don't get why anyone would go the other way and love to spend money on something inferior in my experience...well maybe not inferior but OpenCPN, gets me 2500 miles a year without an issue and a pleasure to work with. No bells and whistles installed, but have not needed them either.
 
FlyWright said:
From where I stand, $300 is half a battery bank...or a galvanic isolator...or a new backup VHF...or a new fishing reel. Spending that on a 3rd tier piece of equipment doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

:pirate: It's also 12 cases of Corona and a gallon sized can of beer nuts! :thumb:
 
Personally, I love OpenCPN simply because I can modify it to suit my own needs.

I've built plugins that extend it's capabilities, I've experimented with driving my autopilot through it, and I've got it to run satisfactorily (is that a word?) on a $35 Raspberry Pi.

But I'm too old to tell other people what to like. I'll leave that to the Admirals. :flowers:
 
See this example of a Pipo perfectly integrated with OpenCPN used as a Plotter.

Pipo X9 (64 GB) with OpenCPN.
Meanwell SD-25A-12 galvanic isolated power supply.
TPLink Nano router (TL-WR702N) used with TightVNC and VNCViewer to connect to a Tablet.
 

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For the record guys I got so dam bloody mined about not being able to solve this problem I went out and purchased a brand new Lenovo tablet with Windows 10 O/S and downloaded BU353S4 it works perfectly data flow and L&L changes as puck relocated time is correct as it date etc. I them installed OpenCPN 4.2 again plus charts all good however my problem as with the other laptop still exists. I have other associates using openCPN 4.2 without problems I dont believe it is my BU353 as functions perfectly so what the heck do I do now
 
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