OpenCPN - Free software navigation package

[idpnd]

I'm surprised OpenCPN has not had any mentions here - it's a free of charge, free software navigation system that is under development but apparently fully usable. Features of the most recent version, 1.3.0, include CM93 vector charts, AIS support and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn - OpenCPN project page at Sourceforge

http://bigdumboat.com/cpnindex.html - Lead developer's homepage

Enjoy!!

 

[Dave D]

Now THAT is a link I'll bookmark! Thank you so much!

 

[idpnd]

Now THAT is a link I'll bookmark! Thank you so much!

You're welcome! Remember this is being developed publically; please provide any feedback, bug reports or feature requests at sourceforge or the cruiserforum discussion linked above.

 

[Alan]

Very Cool!!

 

[Snotter]

I don't see bottom contours on the attached picture.

 

[fullsails]

Open Navigation Software

What area is the software for inland or sea?

 

[PKFK]

You guys in the USA are lucky - "free charts???"

There is unfortunately no such thing as free charts in Canada....the CHS (Canadian Hydrographic Survey) licenced out (sold out might be a better word) all the Canadian charts.

This is why when you buy a plotter, it can come with all the US coastal charts for next to nothing - included with the plotter.

In Canada, we get to pay hundreds $$ for cards with subsections of the available charts.

The OpenCPN looks like an excellent initiative if one can get the data for the charts at a reasonable cost - but don't bother searching for cheap / free Canadian carts - they do not exist !

Kudos to the OpenCPN developers !

Paul

 

[Rick D]

Herring... Any Relation?

I noticed one of the developers name is Herring. Any relation Phil? I downloaded the program. Thought I could use my NOAA charts from SeaClear but had to download a new set. No big deal. I like the route planning a lot. Not sure if it as good as seaclear for planning and navigation but I have not tried it real time yet. We'll see...

 

[Cpt. Jon]

The developer was anchored out in front of our house last week for several days. Someone did mention OpenCPN on this board and as I was looking into it on the website I realized his boat was right out front. I offered the usual run to the grocery store etc if they would like come fresh stuff, but by the time I figured out who they were they had pulled anchor and moved on. We exchanged a few email and they seem like really nice genuine people.

I have not yet had the opportunity to install OpenCPN, but it does look pretty nice! The developer and his wife have been using it for several years onboard their boat.

Pretty cool!

jon

 

[idpnd]

What area is the software for inland or sea?

The area depends on the charts you feed the software with; it works with a variety of charts, such as (unencrypted) BSB charts up to version 3. OpenCPN also supports C-MAP (CM93) vector charts, which have worldwide coverage and are originally published by Jeppersen (Boeing subsidiary). These may be purchased off resellers to the amateur marine market and are also commonly shared online & passed around (illegally) within the cruising community.

Users from the US are always pleased as their government is forced to publish taxpayer-funded data by law. The NOAA raster & vector format charts both work on OpenCPN. Everybody else has to purchase charts of commercial resellers. There are some free downloads here; the charts for Brazil are published in raster format for instance.

In the case of the free programme Seaclear, there's a guide for scanning and calibrating paper charts for use with the software.

The developer was anchored out in front of our house last week for several days. Someone did mention OpenCPN on this board and as I was looking into it on the website I realized his boat was right out front. I offered the usual run to the grocery store etc if they would like come fresh stuff, but by the time I figured out who they were they had pulled anchor and moved on. We exchanged a few email and they seem like really nice genuine people.

Hehe! He's turning into a bit of a celebrity in the community I guess.

 

[Royal Flush]

Charts appear only 1 at a time

I've only spent two hrs with it so far. The Charts appear to be viewable singularly. Ie planning a cruise spanning charts seems to be taking a bit too much effort to pull it off.

 

[Rick D]

All Hooked Up

I have it on my boat with my GPS bud and AIS connected. I very much like the AIS display. Better than SeaClear IMHO. I planned a route and it just paged to a new chart when I moved off the edge of the one I was using. I had it on for a while underway and it seemed useful and simple. I am using it tomorrow on my trip to Catalina so we'll see how that goes. I did notice the selection of range for the radar rings didn't work. They continually show one mile. Anyhow, so far, so good.

 

[idpnd]

"Chart quilting" to blend charts (instead of abrupt changes) is currently on the feature wishlist.

Regarding the radar rings, please file a bug report at sourceforge (link above) or cruisersforum (the lead developer is often present at the discussion).

 

[Manny]

Thanks for the link to the software! I was pretty excited to see a free Macintosh Navigation software package. I downloaded the software the other night to just to check it out. It dawned on me afterwards that I have an old Powerbook that isn't serving any purpose, an old Garmin handheld that isn't being used, a serial cable for the Garmin handheld, and also an old serial to usb converter (again not being used). I re-downloaded the software onto the old laptop, a few of the Chesapeake Bay charts from NOAA, the driver for the serial/usb converter. I set everything to NMEA and it all seems to work!!! It was quick and painless. I'm taking the setup down to the boat this weekend and going to test it! I'll report back what I find. Hopefully this info will be of interest to Mac users.

Manny

 

[Rick D]

Open CPN Freeware Charting Program Update

I used it for a trip to Catalina Island. I laid out two routes. In general, I was satisfied. It is simpler than SeaClear and intuitive in its operation. Like SeaClear, it is a lot better than the chartplotter for viewing and sorting out clutter. I liked the AIS operation much better than SeaClear and the route making is a piece of cake. I missed having a ruler and boat heading info even tho I have a compass at the nav station. The program crashed once, but it may have been me. Unlike SeaClear, there is no visual that the program has lost the GPS. Moving charts was much easier than SeaClear, and I tended to swap charts quite a bit more as a result. The only glitch I noticed is that the radar ring lines give varying choices for range, but only one mile would work for me. Nice job!

 

[idpnd]

I missed having a ruler and boat heading info

Thanks for the review and screenshots. Your requests are on the feature wishlist at sourceforge; you may also get the same functionality using navmonpc by the way.

Best regards,

Max

 

[Darwin19229]

OpenCPN vs SeaClearII

I have been using SeaClearII on a Dell Netbook for awhile. What is the major difference between SeaClearII and OpenCPN?

I still like the idea of having a multipurpose device (laptop) vs a single use Charting display.

Regards

 

[Rick D]

Re: OpenCPN vs SeaClearII

Functionally, very similar. I think the user interface on OpenCPN is a bit simpler. The program overall is simpler. The best way is to download it and play with it.

 

[idpnd]

Haven't been around in a while. No, I haven't actually got a Catalina, yes, I just wanted to spread the word about above software, and no, I don't make a profit on that

The difference between opencpn and seaclear II ist that the former is under active development and supports vector charts (aka ENC charts). Since most of you seem to be based in the US, where the government is forced to hand out free charts by law, you may wish to get the superb quality charts here.

If you happen to be cruising elsewhere, the programme also supports the excellent CMAP vector charts - albeit only up to the unencrypted version CM93/2. (They are updated regularly, and NOT from 1993 as the name seems to suggest by the way).

As these are quite compact, they are shared around by the community and on the internet quite widely, so you may run into a copy at some stage

 

[Gary_H]

I have both Seaclear II and OpenCPN on my laptop but I haven't really navigated with OpenCPN simply because I was aleady used to Seaclear. I will give it a try soon though. It sounds pretty good from what people are saying.