OpenCPN and Google Earth...

[Sumner]

Not sure where to put this post but since it has to do with traveling on the boat figured here, but move it if necessary.

Some of you probably know that in Florida we used SeaClear on the ship's computer to do all of our navigation with and loved it. It was connect always also to a handheld Garmin in the cockpit with the day's waypoints downloaded to it. I like SeaClear but development on it is kind of dead so I'll keep it on the computer but I'm switch to OpenCPN as a lot of things are being added to it all the time and it is also free and uses all the free NOAA charts.

One of the additions a while back was AIS input so you can see AIS equipped boats on the screen if you have an AIS receiver (I do). Another thing that has been there for a while that I never tried is that you can overlay a Google Earth image on the chart of your current position and drag and size it to whatever size you want.



Above I moved to a favorite key in Florida's 10,000 Islands and you can see that OpenCPN also moved Google Earth there. This is really nice for seeing features like the nice beaches there that you can't see on a NOAA chart. You can zoom the Google Earth image in or out or move it but if you do nothing as the boat moves or if you move the chart OpenCPM will move Google Earth along with you.

Now you do have to be connected to the internet for this to work. I bought a Walmart mobile Trackphone Hotspot to use on the road and on the boat so a lot of places if I want to connect this should work but wouldn't work at that location in the 10,000 Islands as there is no cell service there. What OpenCPN does allow you to do is go to a location when you do have internet and then save a screen shot of that location to be viewed later.

I think I'm really going to like this as you can check out anchorages and such before arriving at them to see if they are remote or maybe in someone's front yard and it will be great in just being able to see a place before you get there,

Sumner

============================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Brian]

Ok. That's pretty cool. Thanks for letting us know about this! I use OpenCPN as my backup since I have a chartplotter on the pedestal.

Here is my OpenCPN setup:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1817

I just downloaded the plugin from the OpenCPN website:
http://opencpn.org/ocpn/downloadplugins

Had this working in minutes...

I would like to get AIS working as well, but I do not have an AIS Receiver.

What kind of receiver are you using Sum? Are you using your VHF radio as a receiver?

I could buy an AIS Receiver for ~$250, but then I would also need buy an AIS antenna, or buy a splitter to use my VHF antenna. By the time I do this I am already up to half a boat buck. This is nothing like the $30 USB GPS Receiver I am using on my 12V PC to run OpenCPN.

I already have an NMEA 2000 network. Let me know if you have a less expensive alternative for AIS.

For now I am using my ipad air for AIS.

[mastreb]

I like the idea of saving Google Earth images for later. I find that even the most detailed charts leave out a lot of information you need when pulling into unknown marinas, piers, etc., especially what rocks, shoals, and obstructions actually look like so you recognize them when you see them.

Charts also show you nothing about typical "population" of an anchorage--for example, here in San Diego if you pull into Shelter Island and are looking for a large open anchorage, you'll be shocked to find nothing but wall-to-wall boats that look like a marina because of the number of people anchored there. Google Earth shows that stuff, detailed charts do not.

I use the Simrad RS-35 as a VHF receiver with AIS to NMEA-2000 on both of my boats. Fantastic, inexpensive ($300) radio. No splitting or complex antenna wiring needed. It's wired to my NMEA-2K network and shows all AIS transmitters automatically. Don't bother with the HS-35 remote on our smaller boats (I have it, never use it) just mount the RS-35 in the opening below the circuit panel and put the handset mount over by the companionway. It's more than close enough to the helm to use.

[Sumner]

....I would like to get AIS working as well, but I do not have an AIS Receiver.

What kind of receiver are you using Sum? Are you using your VHF radio as a receiver?.....

I got a Standard Horizon 2150 about 1-2 years ago on sale for $240 when the 2250 came out. The 2150 has problems with some of the older chart plotters that don't have 2 NEMA inputs (slower for GPS location and faster for the AIS). OpenCPN can handle that but I haven't actually tried it yet. I got the radio for the Endeavour but never installed it so I'm going to put it in the Mac since I plan on using her more this spring with hopefully some longer trips and would like to have the AIS. People that have it and radar say that the majority of the time they like the AIS better. Since the 2150 is also the radio you just need the one antenna and since it was the same cost as receivers and I wanted a radio for the Endeavour with DSC also it made sense to go that way. I'll probably move the Standard Horizon that has DSC from the Mac to the Endeavour if I can change the info for the MMSI number to a different boat. Haven't looked into that yet. (Update: Looked and I can move the current radio in the Mac to the Endeavour and put in a new ship's name and other info.)

If I got real adventuresome and were going to places with a lot of larger ships I think I'd spend the $800 for an AIS transponder also so they could see me better, especially at night....



http://www.vespermarine.com/transponder ... nder.html/

.... I'll wait on that though for a while and see what I end up doing. That box is pretty neat as it is also a WiFi router and can send NEMA 2000 to another WiFi device wirelessly (not cheap though).

Sumner

============================
Our MacGregor 26-S

Our Endeavour 37

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[RobertB]

I like the idea of saving Google Earth images for later. I find that even the most detailed charts leave out a lot of information you need when pulling into unknown marinas, piers, etc., especially what rocks, shoals, and obstructions actually look like so you recognize them when you see them.

Charts also show you nothing about typical "population" of an anchorage--for example, here in San Diego if you pull into Shelter Island and are looking for a large open anchorage, you'll be shocked to find nothing but wall-to-wall boats that look like a marina because of the number of people anchored there. Google Earth shows that stuff, detailed charts do not.

I use the Simrad RS-35 as a VHF receiver with AIS to NMEA-2000 on both of my boats. Fantastic, inexpensive ($300) radio. No splitting or complex antenna wiring needed. It's wired to my NMEA-2K network and shows all AIS transmitters automatically. Don't bother with the HS-35 remote on our smaller boats (I have it, never use it) just mount the RS-35 in the opening below the circuit panel and put the handset mount over by the companionway. It's more than close enough to the helm to use.

I have the Garmin Bluechart G2 Vision card loaded in my chartplotter - it has not only high resolution satellite views but detailed navigation data that enables me to set a course and export it to the autopilot to follow.