Island Time 1,235 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Open cpn, The opensource navigation program (free!!) has just released the new version. If you have been using the stable ver 3.2 this new version gives lots of improvments. Available for Windows, Linux and MAC. NOT Andriod. Download from here http://opencpn.org/ocpn/download What's new in version 4 is listed here; http://opencpn.org/ocpn/release4.0 I'll be trying it this weekend.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve Pope 243 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Be interested in how you find it, I was just about to upload the earlier version, known to be stable, hopefully this one is too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ed 143 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Can this run on a windows phone in some form? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BNG 44 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 4.0 seems to be a little less buggy that the 3.2 version which used to crash on me from time to time on a near new and super grunty machine. So, so far so good! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Seems pretty much the same as the last one to me, never had an issue on multiple machines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bad Kitty 252 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Hey IT what is the best option for charts for this? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 There are lots of chart sources, including the whole world. They can take a bit of finding, but the NZ ones are easy. Many sources are listed here http://opencpn.org/ocpn/chart_sources and all NZ charts are here http://www.linz.govt.nz/sea/charts/nzmariner-official-raster-navigational-charts-rncs Let me know if you need anything further... Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan 4 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 whats the cheapest way to add a GPS signal to my macbook pro so CPN is like a backup chart plotter, have this via gps on iphone.ipad but would be interested to play with this on the macbook Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I bought a GPS "dongle", round thing on a wire with a USB on the other end. Trade me, under $100. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan 4 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 yeah looks the trick the pb tech one..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Cheapest not necessarily best! Do you have a GPS on the boat now? If so you can use the NMEA output from that. If you want cheap, you can share the GPS on your phone via bluetooth - free! Several apps available to do this. But IMO bluetooth is an unreliable solution. Cabled to a GPS with a good number of satellites and a decent refresh rate is best. The dongles work OK in area's with good coverage, not so good in some remote locations. An external GPS mushroom antenna works best. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan 4 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I am looking for cheap to play, have 3 gps's on boat plus ipad and iphone...... lots of backup already. just looks a cool toy to play with the free nz chart pack still looks a little rough anything you can buy thats finer detail , i think my main chartplotter uses navonics charts its a lorance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Look on the open cpn web site for other chart formats. OCPN supports quite a few. If you think that the free nz charts are "a little rough" it is because they are raster charts - drawn with dots. vector charts - like your navionics- may look better, but are, in fact, often less accurate. The free NZ ones are as accurate as any charts currently available. To connect your existing gps units all you need is a suitable rs232 to usb adapter, available on trademe, or your local it supplier. NMEA 0183 output from the gps can go directly to the rs232 serial port. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tuffyluffy 76 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I bought a GPS "dongle", round thing on a wire with a USB on the other end. Trade me, under $100. Just dont count on using it down below if your boats alloy like I did. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Haven't had a problem, but I don't have a tinnie. I normally hang it over a handle on the hatch above the chart table. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 They dont see out well thru metal or carbon fibre. A proper, external GPS mushroom is under $200.00. How important to you is your primary nav source? Different of course if it is a backup as above... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tuffyluffy 76 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Quick question for those in the know, does Open CPN work on an old 32bit laptop with XP? Im thinking of loading this up tonight for the weekend cruise after Seaclear died with the old hard-drive and I'd rather not take the 'good' laptop on the boat. Cheers TL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clipper 343 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Lazy question here, as I have not read any instructions. I spent 2 mins downloading, installing this the other night, and downloaded the raster charts from linz. When I open the software, and zoom around etc, I see only one chart at a time. Can it be set up to show multiple charts at a time? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 TL, yes it runs fine on XP. Clipper; Turn on chart quilting; Go to Options -> Display ->General -> Enable Chart Quilting. Tick the box. Another, simpler way is to use the "Q" short key to toggle quilting on/off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clipper 343 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 great, thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.