OpenCPN User ManualExternal links in this document have this sign:  and should not clicked without internet access.
Table Of Contents
Getting StartedWelcome!
Getting started using OpenCPN consists of 3 basic steps:
Completing these 3 steps will get you started and allow you to check outthe program. Later, after exploring the program, you may want to readthrough the Basic Featuresand Advanced Featuressectionsto really get a good grasp of what the program offers. If you stillhave questions or would just like to get in touch with other OpenCPNusers, there is also a fairly large community behind OpenCPN. You canfind us in this Cruiser's forum.
Installing OpenCPN
Windows (98/ME)*/2000/XP/Vista/7- Download the installation package for Windows from opencpn.org/download.
- Use the stable release for navigation en route, or if you just started using OpenCPN.
- Run the downloaded installer.
- If upgrading from a previous version of OpenCPN, there is noneed to uninstall the previous version. Simply install the new versionand it will upgrade OpenCPN, saving all your existing configuration andpreferences.
- If this is a new installation, click on the Toolbox icon
 and configure your GPS source, chart directories, and other settings.* up to version 2.1.0 (from beta version2.2.1026, Windows 98 and Windows ME are no longer supported)
Linux32/64 bit Ubuntu/Debian Distributions32 bit Fedora / Cent OS- If you are installing OpenCPN for the first time on a computerwith Ubuntu, or any other Linux flavour, you have to go through a fewsteps to make sure that all dependencies are met. Ubuntu uses "deb"packages and Fedora uses the "rpm" packages.
- On Ubuntu, start "System->Administration->Synaptic". InSynaptic go to "Settings->Repositories" and tick the box"Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)". Close Synaptic.
- Download the correct .deb or .rpm from opencpn.org/download.
- Use the stable release for navigation en route, or if you just started using OpenCPN.
- Click on the downloaded package. An installation manager willguide you on most Linux distributions. All dependencies shouldautomatically be installed.
- It is also possible to install the package via dpkg or rmp, onthe condition that all dependencies are met.To make sure that this isthe case on Ubuntu, open a terminal window to get a command line,(Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and copy and paste thefollowing line: sudo apt-get install libwxgtk2.8-0 libwxbase2.8-0 libglu1-mesa libgl1-mesa-glx zlib1g bzip2 . Then proceed with the commands below
- For Ubuntu: $ sudo dpkg -i <downloaded_file.deb>
For Fedora: # rpm -Uvh <downloaded_file.rpm> - The binary will be installed to /usr/local/bin/opencpn.
- If this is a new installation, click on the Toolbox icon and configure your GPS source, chart directories, and other settings.
Other 32 and 64bit Linux Distributions and the BSD operating systems.- Currently other distributions requires compiling the source.This will involve resolving various dependencies and is for folkscomfortable with developing on Linux.
- Download the source from opencpn.org/download or directly from the Git server. The SourceForge link for this project is sourceforge.net/projects/opencpn/.
- Interested in maintaining a package for your favorite Linux distribution? Follow the SourceForge link above.
- This also includes the different BSD distributions. Report your experiences back to the forum.
Mac OS X- Currently there is no stable version for Mac OS X available. You may try the Beta version for testing fromopencpn.org/download.
- Mac OS X applications are usually delivered as DMG files, so does OpenCPN for Mac OS X. For installation open thedownloaded dmg file and drag the OpenCPN app icon over the Application icon in the dmg window.
- Mac OS X stores the by OpenCPN created files like logs,configuration file and others into the folder /Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/.opencpn.log file is in /Users/your name/Library/Preferences/Logs andopencpn.ini is in /Users/your name/Library/Preferences/ folder.You might see also a folder /Users/your name/Preferences/cm93 and afile called chartlist.dat in folder /Users/yourname/Library/Application Support/OpenCPN/which holds your chart list.
Different versions of OpenCPN- Use a "stable", official release for actual navigation. Thelatest stable release is always available at the top of the downloadpage or from Source Forge.
- Beta releases are snapshots of the development process, and maycontain errors or temporarily be unstable. Show stoppers are normallyfixed very quickly however. This is where the latest features first areseen. Most of the time the beta releases are quite stable and theOpenCPN team appreciate it if more experienced users test the releasesand report back. The place to report bugs and suggest features is the Tracker.To reach the Tracker from the OpenCPN Web pages click on the "Tracker"tab at the upper right (above the blue bar).
- To see what version you are using either look in
 (About) or at the top of your display. A lot of information isalso available in the log file. See below:
Location of Important Files. Log and config files.
- It is important to know the location of the log file and the configuration file, opencpn.conf or opencpn.ini,on your computer. If you ask questions on the forum, there is a fairchance that you will be asked about the content in these files. Once youget familiar with OpenCPN, have a look at the files!
- The configuration file is where all data, that needs to bepersistent between sessions, is stored. In the same directory as thesefiles is the SENC directory, where all the processed S57 ENC vectorfilesare stored in a local format.
- To find the location of the log file go to the ToolBar click on"About OpenCPN", the button furthest to the right. Look at the bottomof the "About" Tab, highlighted below. The illustration is from a WinXP.A quick way to view the logfile is to copy the full file path and thenpaste this into the address field in a web browser.
 - On Linux the "opencpn.log" is in your home directory.
The "opencpn.conf" is in a hidden directory, called "opencpn", also in your home directory.
For a quick way to view the files you can try these commands.
$gedit `echo $HOME/opencpn.log`
$gedit `echo $HOME/.opencpn/opencpn.conf`
Of course you can swap "gedit" for your favorite editor. - On Windows 2000, XP and Vista and Windows 7 thetwo files, opencpn.log and opencpn.ini are in the same folder. So tofind the location of opencpn.ini just go to the folder where the log is.Note that some folders in the path to the log and ini files may behidden. Change settings to be able to view hidden and system files.
- For Mac OS X see above in Mac OS X section where to find these files.
Installing ChartsTo install charts OpenCPN must be pointed to a directory containing recognized Chart Formats. Don't point OpenCPN to individual charts. You must specify the directory that contains the charts. Download some charts (see Chart Sources)and organize them in a fashion that suits you. You may want toconsider storing them in a directory where they will not be tamperedwith or moved accidentally.
Open the Toolbox by clicking . You are sent to the first tab "Settings". Tick the box "Show Chart Outlines". That will help you visualize the loaded charts.
Then click the tab "Charts":
Under "Available Chart Directories" navigate to your chart-directory.Above we have found the NZ charts in the /opt/Navigation/Charts/BSB3directory. When clicking the button "Add Selection" the selected chartdirectory appears in the box "Active Chart Directories". Thescreen-shots are from Linux, but this process works similarly on allplatforms. All that remains is to click the "Ok" button. OpenCPN willthen process your selection. You can now start using your charts.
Note that in OpenCPN you must add directories (folders) containing charts, not individual charts.
Start using your charts.
You can click and drag the chart with your mouse. The scroll wheel zoomsin and out. Right clicking brings up a context menu with useful actions.Exactly what the menu contains depends on the circumstances. Read therest of the manual for a full explanation.
If you are running OpenCPN for the first time you may see a blackbackground instead of the charts you installed. That simply meansOpenCPN is pointed at a location that is not on any of the charts youinstalled. Scroll to a location on one of your installed charts asdescribed under "A few hints" below.
Starting with vector charts?
If you are new to vector charts on OpenCPN follow this quick-start guide:
- Go to ToolBox
 ->Vector Charts and copy the settings below for the Display Category.
 - Press this button
 in the ToolBar to toggle text display.
These are not the perfect settings, but you will see most of what you expect from a vector chart.
As soon as you have made yourself reasonably comfortable with OpenCPNand before using Vector Charts for actual navigation, make sure youunderstand all the settings in the ToolBox-> Vector Chart Tab byreading here.
A few hints.
- If all is just black, with maybe some blue lines, you areviewing the background world vector shoreline chart. You must move tothe geographical position of the charts you just loaded. As you comeclose you will see the outlines of your loaded charts, in red for rastercharts and in green for S57 vector charts. Click in the rectanglecreated by the outlines, to activate, and view the chart.
- If you ticked the "Show Chart Outlines" box under the "Settings"tab the loaded charts will be outlined in red for raster and green forvector charts. In CM93 the charts will be outlined in purple. Thesmallest scale charts in CM93, the Z scale and A scale charts, will notbe outlined. Neither will all available charts be visible as outlines atthe same time. The reason for this is computing speed and clarity.Generally the next level or two of larger scale charts are shown. Whenlarge scale plans are available directly from A scale charts, with nointermediate charts, the outline of the larger scale charts will bevisible from a zoom level between 1.5 and 2.0. Generally in areas whereonly A or Z scale charts are available, expect potentially dangerousomissions. Warning, do not use CM93 small scale charts alonefor navigation without referring to other sources.
- When using a vector chart for the first time OpenCPN has toprocess the data, and transform the information to an internal displayformat. This can take some time, depending on your computer. Thisinternal SENC chart is then saved for future use.
- Be aware that it is possible to "Over-zoom" charts in OpenCPN. Awarning will appear on the display. Please respect that warning. It isrecommended to not zoom more than a factor 2, for safe navigation. Theactual zoom-factor appears in the lower right-hand corner of thedisplay.
- It is safe and reasonably efficient to put all your charts except theCM93 database in one large directory, and set that directory inToolbox->Charts. The CM93 database contains its own file anddirectory structure. The top-level directory only, of this databaseshould be loaded, as described above, into OpenCPN.
If you do a lot of chart downloads, updates, etc., then it will befaster to break the charts folder into smaller groups, and specify themindividually in the Toolbox->Charts dialog. - The option "Force Full Database Rebuild" ismainly aimed at users converting or correcting existing charts, in asituation where minor changes are made to the geo-referencing or outlineof the chart, or other attributes in the kap file header section.
- OpenCPN, supports Mercator charts, Transverse Mercator Charts and Polyconical Charts(US Great Lakes). Charts using other projections will be displayed asif they were Mercator charts, but they will not be used for quilting.Most charts are using Mercator projection, so this limitation is not toobad.
Other projections, such as Gnomonic, are mainly used in older largerscale BA charts, for smaller areas, for example harbor plans, in scales larger than 1:50,000.
The errors introduced in OpenCPN by treating these charts as Mercator are generally small,but be aware of this limitation.
A Linux/Unix Note
These operating systems have a problemhandling chart names containing spaces and non ASCII characters. Atypical example is Swedish chart names. To sort this out use the utilityprogram detox.Detox changes the file names so space becomes "_"; "(" and ")" become "-"; and "å","ä" and "ö" become "a","a" and "o", etc.
To see what "detox" suggests to do, try a dry run first, like this:
detox -n File_with_swedish_charts > outfile
Chart FormatsOpenCPN supported chart formats:BSB / RNC / KAP Versions 1, 2 and 3.
(BSB Version 4 and later are not supported due to proprietary encryption algorithms.For OpenCPN version 2.4 and later, currently beta versions, a BSB4 plugin is availablebut ONLY for the Windows operating system.)
NOS/GEO Version 1
Subsequent versions are probably supported but need to be tested. However, this format is obsolete for new charts.
CM93 Version 2.
(C-map Version 3 and later are not supported.)
S57/S52 (ENC).
(S63 Encrypted ENC is not supported. This is the format for the majorityof newly produced vector charts from many national hydrographicoffices. S63 charts are exactly the same as S57 except the they areencrypted to keep them from being illegally distributed.)
Formats, that with some effort, can be used.Generally chart pictures in gif, jpeg, pdf, png, tif, bmp and other formats can be used,when properly geo-referenced, to generate KAP file (BSB / RNC) that OpenCPN can display.For the details about this process see the chart threadin the forum. Also, make sure to browse around the forum asthere are a handful of other interesting chart related threads.
WCI charts generated with SeaClear and MapCalcan also be transformed to BSB charts and used by OpenCPN.The key is to open a WCI chart in MapCal and convert it to a BMP picture, and thentransform this picture to a tiff file, using for example ImageMagic.More about using MapCal, a part of SeaClear, for chart conversions, is available here.
OziExplorer
charts consisting of picture in one of the standard formats, together with a georeferencing ".map" file, can beconverted to a bsb kapfile. A Ruby script for this conversion is availablehere.Ozi charts of the ozfx2 or ozfx3 format can not be converted with thistool. These Ozi formats are not documented and proprietary, and cannot be displayed in OpenCPN.
Before Maptech started to produce BSB charts the HDR format was used in the late eighties to mid nineties. These charts consists of many picture tiles in pcx format,more than 100 tiles is not unusual. The tiles can be merged to onepicture and then used as any other picture to make an OpenCPN compatiblechart. For details on this process see theChart Conversion Manualand this postand the following posts in the forum. A script for mergingthe pcx tiles to one picture is available here.
The HDR format is from an era when computer-memory and processingpower were less powerful than today, as a consequence these charts arenot of the same quality as more modern charts. Furthermore, most ofthese charts are not using WGS84 as reference datum. These charts shouldnot be the first choice, but can be useful if nothing else is available.
Other formats that are not supported.The Hydrographic Chart Raster Format (HCRF), used by the UnitedKingdom Hydrographic Offices' ARCS (Admiralty Raster Chart Service),Australian Hydrographic Services' Seafarer products and the NZMariner, New Zealands Official charts,are not supported. This is also due to proprietary encryption algorithms and copyright issues.
Mapmedia's various chart formats are not supported, for the same reasons as for the other proprietary charts.
Chart SourcesWhere to find free charts- To get you started quickly, here are three sample raster charts from Puerto Rico:
- Right click and use "Save Link As", or similar. Just clickingshows you the actual file as a text file (this is an advanced subject,to be treated later). Don't use these charts for navigation.Download their current versions from NOAA's Web site.
- For those interested in U.S. waters, raster charts and S57vector charts are now available for free download from NOAA. Find allNOAA charts, both raster (RNC) and vector (ENC) charts, for your regionthrough NOAA OCS Website at: http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/charts.htm
- Official Inland Electronic Navigation Charts (IENC) of U. S.inland waterways are available from the US Army Corps of Engineers athttp://www.agc.army.mil/echarts/inlandnav/
- Links to a wide selection of ENC's for U.S. inland waters and other countries are available at:http://www.dacust.com/inlandwaters/index.html
- Brazil publishes free raster charts (RNC) for their whole coastand new charts for inland waters are published regularly.There is alsocoverage for part of Antarctica. Here is a direct link to the download page:Brazilean ChartsDon't miss the link to CARTAS DE RIOS at the bottom of this page.
- The East Asia Hydrographic Commission provides free offshore S57 vector charts for the South China Sea area at:http://scsenc.eahc.asia/main.phpThe motivation for releasing these charts is well worth reading.Realizing that official and high quality small scale ENCsconforming with the established IHO standard were not available for theSCS, the EAHC MSs decided to cooperate closely and resolve thesituation so that mariners could use most up-to-date chart informationfor voyage planning and enhancing safety of navigation, rather thanresorted to some commercially developed electronic products which wereeither prepared in proprietary formats, or containing unofficial datawith very infrequent updating... It was the view that if the SCS ENCcould be freely and widely available to mariners, it would furtherenhance the safety of navigation in the region. This in turn couldreduce the chances of environmental damage from grounding and oilpollution, which have tremendous cost impact. The EAHC decided toprovide the SCS ENC to users free of charge.
- Colombiaand Australiapublish sample S57 single charts.
- New Zealandpublishes high quality tiff pictures of almost all their charts.From a start in the last few months of 2009 the work to create OpenCPNcompatible charts from these pictures has quickly matured. For thelatest on this subject, check the "New Zealand Chartsthread in the Forum. All NZ charts are now availablefor OpenCPN here.
- Many European countries publish free S57 ENC charts for their inland waterways:
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Hungary
Netherlands
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Switzerland - The US Pilot Charts, are available as BSB charts, on the OpenCPN.org download page.
Setting Up GPS
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7Note that the extensive use of the cheap gps mouse BU-353 as an examplebelow, should only be seen as an illustration, not a recommendation. As amatter of fact, there is a documented bug when using BU-353 on Windows7, so this combination is not recommended for now.
To use OpenCPN with a GPS, a GPS receiver is needed.
There are a variety of possible choices for a GPS receiver:
- A computer, such as a Sony Vaio P has a built in GPS receiver
- A NMEA Expander to amplify a nmea stream to multiple listeners
- A handheld GPS receiver
- A dedicated GPS receiver
The remainder of this section describes using OpenCPN with adedicated GPS receiver, however, the instructions for a dedicatedreceiver will be similar for any serial/USB connected NMEA data stream.
A Dedicated GPS ReceiverThere are several companies making dedicated GPS receivers. TheSupplementary Hardware section for GPS devices lists severalmanufacturers.
NMEA has traditionally been implemented as a serial protocol andtherefore, even if a USB connection is used, there needs to be a USB toSerial Port conversion. The specific driver for the each GPS receiverwill handle this conversion.
Configuring BU-353 It is not necessary to use the installation disk to setup theBU-353. Following the steps listed below will result in the latestdriver being installed.
- Download the latest driver from Prolific - http://www.prolific.com.tw/Eng/downloads.asp?ID=31
- Unzip and install the driver
- Plug in the BU-353.
- Start -> (Right Click) My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware ->Device Manager
or Start->Run devmgmt.msc - Expand Ports
- Look for the “Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port” and note the com port number (e.g., COM4)
 - Right click on the “Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port”. Choose Driver
- Select 4800 bits per second, 8 data bits, None parity, 1 stop bit, and None for Flow Control
 - Start OpenCPN
- Click on the ToolBox Icon
- Select GPS
- Under NMEA Data Source select the Com port noted in #6
- Choose OK
- Select Auto Follow to center the map over your GPS location
TroubleshootingThere is a small LED located on the BU-353. If the LED is off there is no power being received. Check the connection.
If the LED is solid it indicates the BU-353 is searching for a GPS signal. Try moving the GPS receiver to a clear location.
If the LED is flashing it indicates the BU-353 has a position fix and is transmitting data.
- Try viewing the NMEA data stream in OpenCPN. Choose ToolBox->GPS->click Show GPS/NMEA Data Stream Window
- Alternatively, a diagnostic program is included on theinstallation CD called GPSInfo.exe. Launch this program to install thediagnostic utility.
If it appears that the NMEA data stream is being received, the mostlikely issue is that OpenCPN is not centered over your location. ClickAutoFollow to center the map at your GPS location.
Known IssuesIf you change the USB port for the GPS receiver Prolific willreassign the COM port number. This will require repeating steps 4-12above.
On some computer / GPS receiver combinations when the computerresumes from Stand By the GPS receiver will no longer transmit its NMEAdata stream, and only garbage instead of ASCII characters will bevisible in the NMEA Data Stream Window. The red indicator led will notwork.
To change back to NMEA mode search for and download SIRFDemo.exe.
Unpack and start. Set correct Baud rate and and com port as above.
Click connect to data source button. Action -> Switch to NMEA protocol, then exit.
There are many more settings available in SIRFDemo.exe
An alternative workaround for this issue is provided by using a COM port splitter such as XPorthttp://curioustech.home.insightbb.com/xport.html
- Download XPort
- Unzip it to a folder of your choice
- Double Click XPort.exe
- Set the Baud Rate to 4800
- Under Enable Ports add an entry for COM10
- Click “Find GPS”. The port returned should match the port identified in Step #6 in the Configuring BU-353 Section
- Select Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port in the check box section
- Return to OpenCPN
- Click on the ToolBox Icon
- Select GPS
- Under NMEA Data Source change the Com port to COM10
LinuxTwo methods are available, direct connection or through gpsd.
We start with gpsd.
- Install the gpsd and gpsd-clients packages
$ sudo apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients - Go to Toolbox-->GPS and select "Network GPSD" as your"NMEA Data Source", unless you have a gpsd version in the 2.9.x series(Ubuntu 10.04 and other new distros). In this case chooseToolbox-->GPS --> "NMEA Data Source" -->"Network LIBGPS".
- On Ubuntu 9.10 and later, that is really all you have to do. When you plugin your gps this will trigger gpsd to start.
- "xgps" is client that comes with the gpsd-clients package, and is usefullfor testing that the gps and gpsd is working properly.
Direct connection.
- Make sure that gpsd isn't running then connect your gps and start OpenCPN.
- In the Toolbox-->GPS --> "NMEA Data Source" theport where you plugged in your gps will come up. If you plugged in BU353 this will probably be /dev/ttyUSB0.
- Choose 4800 baud, unless you know that the gps is set to something else.
- The gps should now work....if not, check the NMEA datastream window. If only binary garbage is visible, the gps has to bereset to NMEA mode, see more about this above in windows section.
- To do this in Linux for BU 353 as well as many othergps:es, make sure that gpsd is running and that the package"gpsd-clients" is installed.
- The command $gpsctl -n will put the GPS into NMEA mode.
- If gpsd isn't running use $ gpsctl -f -n /dev/ttyUSB0
- More information is as always available through "man gpsctl" Close down OpenCPN before running gpsctl.
None of this is normally noticed when using gpsd, as this program reads both NMEA and SIRF binary sentences.More Linux hints
- Check if gpsd is working:
$ ps aux | grep gpsd
nobody 12338 0.3 0.1 4124 1448 ? S<s 18:31 0:00 gpsd -F /var/run/gpsd.sock
you 12356 0.0 0.0 3036 800 pts/3 S+ 18:32 0:00 grep --color=tty -d skip gpsd
This or similar responses indicate that gpsd is running. Ifyou only have something like the second line, ....it is not running. - Run the command "$udev monitor" to see exactly, and instantly what is going on when you plugin your gps.
- Run the command "$ls -lrtd /dev/*|tail -10", and see the10 latest created device files. Run this just after plugin in your gpsto see which device was created.
- Determine which device your GPS is on your linux systemby checking the startup. Look for a line that says something about GPSand /dev/ttyUSB#
- $ dmesg
Or even better, after connecting a gps mouse, BU-353, we look for a dmesg by running this command.
$ dmesg | grep tty
and get this response back.
[13616.095305] usb 2-3: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
- Add a script to start gpsd, if this is not done by yourdistribution. I saved mine as startgps and set the executableattribute. Edit line 3 to match your device, ie /dev/ttyUSB0
- #!/bin/sh
sudo killall gpsd
sudo gpsd -n -D 2 /dev/ttyUSB0
- Run the script:
If this is a new installation, click on the Toolbox icon and configure your GPS source, chart directories, and other settings.Other DistributionsBluetooth GPS Ubuntu.If you have a bluetooth GPS you will need to first configure itthrough the standard Ubuntu Bluetooth "set up new device " procedure.
Once you have done that you will need to find what the address of the GPS is. To do that you run this command:
sudo hcitool scan
It will then start looking for the Bluetooth GPS and hopefully find your GPS. You should see something similar:
Scanning ...
00:1C:88:10 3:4D iBT-GPS
In this case i have a IBT-GPS at address 00:1C:88:103:4D (Your GPS address will be different).Next we have to bind the GPS address to a "virtual" device. OpenCPN understands in this case: rfcomm0
We do this with the following command:
sudo rfcomm bind /dev/rfcomm0 00:1C:88:103:4D Note put your GPS address in this line.It is my understanding you do not have to run these commandseach time your linux is restarted as it will remember your GPS address.
Now all you need to do is go into OpenCPN Toolbox and select GPS.
Now in the NMEA Data Source options select from the pulldown menu:
/dev/rfcomm0
That's it you should now have a Bluetooth GPS connected.
Mac OS XThe remainder of this section describes using OpenCPN with a dedicated Bluetooth GPS receiver, however theinstructions for a dedicated receiver will be similar for any serial/USB connected NMEA data stream. Because Maccomputers does not have a serial connector for a serial GPS receiver an additional RS232/USB adapter is neededfor such adevice.
A dedicated GPS ReceiverThere are many manufacturers of dedicated GPS Receiver. See section "Supplementary Hardware" at opencpn.org homepage.
NMEA is traditionally implemented as a serial protocol and needstherefore - even when used as USB connection - an USB to serial port(RS232) conversion.This is done by a special driver when using a GPS Receiver with USBcable attached. So make sure your USB GPS Receiver is deliveredtogether with driver for Mac OS X and not only for the Windowsoperating system. If you want to use a GPS Receiver with serialcable attached then you will need an additional RS232/USB adapter. Bestresults for Mac OS X give the Keyspan USA-19HS USB-Serial-Adapter.A Bluetooth GPS Receiver sends the data via the Bluetooth SPP profileand the Bluetooth stack running on the Mac providesa virtual COM port. Following example desribes a Bluetooth puck and isanalogous usable for other devices.
Configuration example of a Bluetooth RBT-1000 Receiver (GPS Puck)(BTW, I guess this type of device is not sold anymore today. So nobody might guess the remainder is doing any advertising here.)
The delivered installation disk is not needed for the Mac OS X configuration for this RBT-1000 device. The delivered software isonly provided for Windows, Windows-CE or Palm-OS. So to change the configuration of the RBT-1000 you must use one of theseoperating systems:
The shown settings above are an example for the RBT-1000 GPS Receiver and might be different for other devices.Please regard the documentation for your device. If possible activate in any case the NMEA mode as shown here.
When powered up we announce the device in the next step to the computer. Bluetooth is activated on the Mac, wetherwith system settings Bluetooth or the context menu which opens with click to the Bluetooth sign on the Mac title bar.We choose "Bluetooth Device configure...":
The following configuration should be done automaticly:
After that we check the systems settings for Bluetooth:
And we attach this Bluetooth GPS device to the serial connectionRS-232. The computer settings are done now and stays stored for nextstarts of the computer.
Now we enter in the settings of OpenCPN tab GPS the port for the NMEA datasource - /dev/cu.BlueGPS284785-SerialPortin this example - and normallykeep the baudrate at 4800 which is the standard for NMEA. Doing acheckmark for GPS/NMEA datastream shows the window with the incomingdatastream or anempty window when something got wrong:
The GPS status is indicated with the right most symbol of the toolbar (see here), or even better when using theDashboard plugin of OpenCPN. The Lat/Lon fix, sailing speed and course is shown at the left side of the lower information bar.
Similiar other GPS Receivers, AIS Reseivers or other NMEA devices may be connected.
In case of a failureThe RBT-1000 has 3 LEDs:
The left LED shows battery status: Steady yellow light means battery is charging. Red blinking shows low battery tension.
The middle LED shows steady green light when the device is powered up and green blinking when a GPS fix is found.
The right LED is blinking blue when a radio Bluetooth connection is established.
Most GPS Receivers have similiar displays. Regard the documentation of your device.
Mac OS X Bluetooth symbols
The different Bluetooth symbols above at the Mac OS X title bar are(the Bluetooth sign is here between TimeMachine and WiFi symbol):
 |  |  | | Bluetooth not activated in Mac OS X | Bluetooth is activated in Mac OS X | Bluetooth device connected to Mac OS X |
The connected status occurs each time when OpenCPN starts if anything is configured correct and the GPS device is powered.When quitting OpenCPN the status should change from connected to activated. If it does not then kill the connection by hand.Otherwise there will be no new connection when starting OpenCPN again:
GPS StatusThe GPS status is indicated all the way to the right in the toolbar.
 No GPS or Invalid GPS data.
 Active/Valid GPS data
 Active/Valid GPS data + GPS reporting 0 - 4 satellites
 Active/Valid GPS data + GPS reporting 5 - 9 satellites
 Active/Valid GPS data + GPS reporting 10+ satellites
NMEA SentencesOpenCPN Recognized NMEA Sentences:- HDM - Heading, Magnetic
- HDG - Magnetic heading, deviation, variation
- HDT - Heading, True
- RMB - Recommended Minimum Navigation Information
- Status, V = Navigation receiver warning
- Cross Track Error - nautical miles
- Direction to Steer, Left or Right
- TO Waypoint ID
- FROM Waypoint ID
- Destination Waypoint Latitude
- N or S
- Destination Waypoint Longitude
- E or W
- Range to destination in nautical miles
- Bearing to destination in degrees True
- Destination closing velocity in knots
- Arrival Status, A = Arrival Circle Entered
- RMC -Recommended Minimum Navigation Information
- Time (UTC)
- Status, V = Navigation receiver warning
- Latitude
- N or S
- Longitude
- E or W
- Speed over ground, knots
- Track made good, degrees true
- Date, ddmmyy
- Magnetic Variation, degrees
- E or W
- WPL - Waypoint Location
- Latitude
- N or S (North or South)
- Longitude
- E or W (East or West)
- Waypoint Name
- RTE - Routes
- Total number of messages being transmitted
- Message Number
- Message Mode
- c = complete route, all waypoints
- w = working route, the waypoint you just left, the waypoint you're heading to, then all the rest
- Waypoint ID
- More Waypoints
- GGA - Global Positioning System Fix Data
- Universal Time Coordinated (UTC)
- Latitude
- Longitude
- GPS Quality Indicator
- Number of satellites in view, 00 - 12
- Horizontal Dilution of precision
- Antenna Altitude above/below mean-sea-level (geoid)
- Units of antenna altitude, meters
- Geoidal separation, the difference between the WGS-84 earth
- Units of geoidal separation, meters
- Age of differential GPS data, time in seconds since last SC104
- Differential reference station ID, 0000-1023
- Checksum
- GLL - Geographic Position, Latitude / Longitude
- Latitude
- N or S (North or South)
- Longitude
- E or W (East or West)
- Time (UTC)
- Status A - Data Valid, V - Data Invalid
- GSV - Satellites in view
- Number of sentences for full data / sentence 1 of 2
- Number of satellites in view
- Satellite PRN number
- Elevation, degrees
- Azimuth, degrees
- SNR - higher is better / for up to 4 satellites per sentence
- Checksum
- VTG - Track Made Good and Ground Speed
- Track Degrees
- T = True
- Track Degrees
- M = Magnetic
- Speed Knots
- N = Knots
- Speed Kilometers Per Hour
- K = Kilometres Per Hour
- VDM - Automatic Information System (AIS) position reports from other vessels
- Time (UTC)
- MMSI Number
- Latitude
- Longitude
- Speed Knots
- Heading
- Course over ground
- Rate of turn
- Navigation status
Basic FeaturesLet's take a look at some of OpenCPN's basic features.
- Status Bar
Status bar color definitions and explanations
- Ship Track
How to record your track history and overlay on chart
Toolbar Buttons
A brief explanation is available by just hovering with the cursor over each button.
From left to right:
 Zoom In (Zoom In & Out)
 Zoom Out (Zoom In & Out)
 Scale Next Chart Down (Scaling Charts) 1
 Scale Next Chart Up (Scaling Charts) 1
 Create Route (Routes and Marks)
 Find/Follow Boat (Auto Follow and Display Orientation)
Launch Toolbox(Toolbox Settings)
Show Text Labels on Vector Chart.(Vector Chart Display)
 Show AIS Targets 2 3 (AIS)
 Show/Hide Currents On Chart (Tides and Currents)
 Show/Hide Tides On Chart (Tides and Currents)
 Print 4
 Route/Track/Waypoints- Manager.(The Route Manager and Data Import/Export)
 Toggle Track On/Off 4 (Ship Track)
 Adjust Screen Brightness for Dawn/Dusk and Night viewing.(Change Color Scheme)
 Drop Man Over Board(MOB) marker(Man Over Board)
About OpenCPN and Help File
 Show/hide the Dashboard Plugin 4 (The Dashboard Plugin)
 Grib Overlay Plugin 4 (GRIB Weather Plugin)
 Course Up/North Up 3 (Auto Follow and Display Orientation)
GPS status 3 (GPS Status)
Note 1: These icons are "grayed out" when only CM93 vector-charts are available, as the feature makes no sense.
Note 2: AIS button is available if an Ais Data Port is defined in the ToolBox AIS Tab.
Note 3: These icons changes, depending on status.
Note 4: These icons can be enabled or disabled from the ToolBox
Printer 'ToolBox-Settings-Show Printing Icon' to hide or un-hide.
Tracks 'ToolBox-Etc.-Show Track Icon' to hide or un-hide.
Grib plugin. Activate in Toolbox-Plugins by first clicking the feature and then "enable".
Dashboard plugin. Activate in Toolbox-Plugins by first clicking the feature and then "enable".
Right-click MenuThe right click menu is always available as long as the cursor issomewhere in the chart area. The content of this menu is contextsensitive. If you are dealing with routes, clicking on a leg or waypointfor example, your menu contains more entries than just clicking at arandom position. Below, the basic entries are explained. The contextspecific entries are dealt with as the concerned feature is explained.
The basic raster chart right-click menuMax Detail Here
Displays the largest scale, most detailed chart, available in the position of the cursor.
Scale In
Displays the next larger scale chart.
Scale Out
Displays the next smaller scale chart.
Drop Mark Here
Drops a mark in the position of the cursor. Further explained here: Routes and Marks
Move Boat Here
Moves own boats position to the position pointed at. This only works if the GPS isn't connected.
Jump to Position...
Activates a small dialog where latitude and longitude can be entered.Pressing "OK" centers the display on this position, keeping the samescale. The values entered is kept during a session, but goes whenrestarting OpenCPN
Go to Here
Creates an instant active route from own boat to the position clicked.More about routes here.
Measure
Activates a "pencil". Move the pencil with the cursor. Put the tip ofthe pencil on a position that you want to measure from. Left-click, adot with a circle around is created. Move the pencil with the mouse andsee the distance and bearing from the point to the penciltip in "realtime". Left-clicking again moves the start point for measuring.Right-clicking anywhere gives the option "Measure off".
AIS target list
Is not a basic entry, but is displayed in this case as an ais port is entered. More here.
The basic vector chart right-click menu
The difference compared to the raster chart is that the three first entries has been replaced.
Object Query
Every point on a vectorchart has certain attributes, or information.This can vary from just the depth in mid ocean to much more. Here is anexample from a lateral bouy in the entrance chanel to a medium sized port.
Clicking the "Light" in the left part of the dialog tells all the details about the light on the bouy.Much more about his on the vector chart page.
Zoom In & Out These buttons allow you to zoom in and out on the chart currently being displayed.
Will zoom the chart in for more detail, larger scale.
Will zoom the chart view out for more area, smaller scale.
Alternatively, the + and - keys on your keyboard will zoom in andout. If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, it can also be used toquickly zoom in and out.
Scaling Charts These buttons will allow you to change the scale of chart you are using, unlessonly CM93 charts are loaded, in which case these buttons has no effect,and are grayed out. If just a yellow bar is visible in the ChartSelection Bar, above the Status Bar, then CM93 is the only availablechart for the area.
Will scale down/out to the next chart of less detail but greater area, if available, within the current view.
Will scale up/in to the next chart of greater detail but less area, if available, within the current view.
Hint: Scaling down and up coresponds to available charts left and right on the Status Bar.
Chart QuiltingChart quilting is a way to display parts of several charts together on the screen, redrawn to the same scale.
Limitation
Chart quilting does not work with Transverse Mercator charts, that arewidely used in countries like New Zealand and Sweden. More about thissubject further down.
Quick Start
Hit F9 to get into quilting mode. Zooming in, automatically brings up larger scale charts,
if available. Panning reveals a continuous quilt of the availablecharts. If you started with a raster chart, only raster-charts, andperhaps CM93, will be in the quilt. The same logic applies to S57 VectorCharts (ENCS). Make sure you are familiar with the Status Baras this will help you interpret all available information. The quilt,like a single chart can be displayed North Up or Course Up read more:Auto Follow and Display Orientation.
More details
What is the use of this feature?
In single chart mode, getting near the edge of the chart there is no information outside the chart.
The situation changes dramatically when quilting mode isactivated. The amount of relevant information on the screen increases.
Displaying chartsOpenCPN has two modes of displaying charts, single chart mode and quilting mode.
To activate chart quilting go toToolbox -> Settings -> Chart Display Options and tick the box"Enable Chart Quilting", tick the box "Show Chart Outlines" at the sametime as this will help you see which chart mode is active.
Alternatively chart quilting mode can be toggled on/off with the "F9" key.
Is Chart quilting on?
When quilting is on, all chart outlines disappear.
When hovering with the mouse pointer over a chart button in single chartmode, a thumbnail of the chart is displayed in the upper left corner ofthe screen. At the same time an information box pops up above thebutton with details about the chart. This changes with quilting as thethumbnail is replaced with a high-lightning of the charts part in thequilt with a transparent reddish color.
The exception to the last rule is CM93 charts. When an area is onlycovered by CM93 charts, indicated by a long yellow chart button in thestatus bar, and in quilting mode, no info-box is displayed and noreddish highlighting is taking place.
More than one chart can be displayed and active at the same time, on thepicture above, for example there are three pale blue buttons, as thereare three raster-charts in this quilt. In single mode only one chartbutton is highlighted at a time.
Depth units that is normally shown in the upper right corner of thedisplay, if activated in the toolbox, is only displayed in quilting modeif all participating charts uses the same unit.
Zoom level, normally displayed on the far right on the Status bar, is not present in quilting.
Many of these features are illustrated in this screen-dump.
This is a quilt consisting of three raster charts, two that are actuallydisplayed and one smaller scale chart that is hidden behind the largerscaled charts of St Croix.
 This is the button for thenot displayed chart in the quilt.
The mouse pointer is over the middle raster chart and the chartinformation box is shown, together with the red highlighting of thechart on the screen.
No depth unit is shown in the quilt as the left chart is in Feet and theright in Fathoms an parts thereof. Notice the lack of zoom level in thestatus bar, a quilt , by definition, consists of several different zoomlevels.
Which charts are quilted?
There are several rules built into OpenCPN governing exactly how different charts reacts to the quilting mode.
Raster charts and Vector charts arequilted separately and don't mix together. You can quilt either rastercharts or vector charts, but not both at the same time. The exception tothis rule is that CM93 ver2 charts, if available, are shown if no otherchart cover exists for a displayed area, for both raster- and vector-chart quilting.
CM93 ver2 charts can be quilted separately.
Mercator Charts are always quilted in quilting mode.
Polyconic Charts are allowed in a quilt together withMercator charts, but a warning is issued in the chart information box,for poor georeferencing. I other words expect lower accuracy from thechart.
Skewed Charts are allowed in the quilt as long as it doesn't deviate more than 5 degreesfrom North Up.
Transverse Mercator Charts are not quilted at all, neither with other charts nor among themselves.
User control.
Users can control if an individual chart, is allowed in the quilt ornot. Right clicking on any chart in a quilt and clicking "Remove thischart from quilt" on the pop up menu, removes the chart from the quilt.The chart button in the Status bar changes to  .
To activate the chart again right click this button an then click "Ad this chart to quilt"
Status BarOn the bottom is the Status Bar(s). Activated from 'Tool Box --> Show Status Bar'.
The top line, 'Chart Selection Bar', has the following description.
It shows all the available chart for the present view represented by onesegment for each chart. The order between the segments represents thescale of the charts. Largest scale to the left, smallest to the right.If CM93 is available, it is always furthest to the right.
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, orif quilting is active, the charts currently making up the quilt aredisplayd in lighter shade.
- The Chart bar below consisting of 12 segments shows a quilt oftwo active charts. Five charts in the quilt are hidden, due to smallscale. CM93 is in it's place, to the right. Four charts of larger scalethan the present view are available. The largest scale chart is aTransverse Mercator chart.
When you hover the mouse pointer over the bar, and not in quilting mode, a thumbnail of the chart will appear under the Scaling Chartsiconsand a chart information box will pop up just above the button. Ifquilting is on, instead of a thumbnail, the chart represented by thebutton will be highlighted in a transparent reddish color. By clickingon the appropriate bar, or using the appropriate Hot Keys,you will switch to the chart shown in the thumbnail. This feature isespecially useful if you wish to view an ENC or a Raster chart of thesame area.
The bottom line starting from the left, has the position of the GPSthat feeds OpenCPN (your ship or boat). SOG, COG, Cursor (position),From Ownship and TrueScale and Zoom Factor are in other boxes. If theZoom Factor is missing on the far right, the chart quilting feature isactivated.
The buttons are displaying a lot more information however.
 These buttons shows that the two charts are Transverse Mercator.
 This button indicates that the chart is a Poly Conic chart.
 This button shows that the chart is skewed, and not Norh Up.
This chart is excluded from quilting because of user action. Rightclick to include in quilting again.
The raster chart represented by this button don't participate in thequilt because it is hidden by other, larger scale charts. Vector chartsare represented similar.
To illustrate a lot of this, here is a screen shot in quilting mode.
The screen is a quilt of two Polyconical charts. Hovering the mousepointer over the left chart-button highlights the lager scale chart forManitowoc. Two smaller scale charts that cover the area displayed on thescreen are included in the quilt, but are invisible as they are coveredby the larger scale charts. To view these charts, right-click anywhereon a chart in the quilt and select "Remove this chart from quilt", oneof these charts will now be shown in the quilt.
The Brown right most button shows that CM93 version 2, charts are available for the area, but not currently displayed.
The information box shows relevant information about the chart. We cansee that the chart is Polyconic, and because of this a warning isdisplayed for poor accuracy. The reason is, that although Polyconiccharts are allowed to participate in quilting, the result is not totallyfree from errors, however small.
Auto Follow and Display Orientation- Clicking the Auto Follow button will center the chart directly on your vessel's current location. If the the gps is working own ship is red
 otherwise the icon is gray.  - The default own ship icon can be replaced by putting a file"ownship.xpm" in the User icons shared data directory. More about thisshared directory here: Routes and Marks
- The Auto Follow button is useful for two different situations:
- When you have panned the map away from your current location and want to quickly move back to your vessel.
- When underway, this will keep the display on the chart around your vessel, with the boat at the center of the chart.
- Note: Panning the chart will disable this mode. Simply click again to turn Auto Follow mode back on.
- The display can be oriented two ways, normally it is North Up but Course Up is an alternative.One situation where course up might be considered is when navigating a river or a canal.
 This icon (blue color) to the far right in theToolBar indicates that the display is in North Up mode. This is a toggle button. Click it and- ... it turns red for Course Up mode.These setting can also be controlled in the ToolBox -> Settings -> Chart Display Options -> Course Up Mode
- Note that both the red and the blue arrows are always pointing North.
- Look Ahead! To see more of the chart in frontof the boat, activate ToolBox -> Settings -> Chart Display Options-> Look Ahead Mode. Your own boat will no longer be in the center ofthe screen. Instead it will be located away from the center, in theopposite direction to your present gps course(COG).
- Don't always Look Ahead! If you are at anchor,swinging on the hook produces random courses and low speeds. If LookAhead is on in this situation the chart rendering will constantly beredrawn, with the boat in all possible lookahead positions as the coursechanges. To prevent this kind of scenario OpenCPN works like this:
* If the boat speed is less than 1 kt, then lookahead is disabled.
* If boat speed is greater than 3 kts, lookahead is enabled.
* In between 1 and 3 kts, the lookahead "distance" is adjusted smoothly.
* If the problem is still there when doing more than 3 kts, considerusing "ToolBox->GPS-FilterNMEA Course and Speed data" to averageout the "jumpiness". - Show skewed raster charts as North-up. Skewedcharts are normally showed "skewed up", as it is intended. If tickingthis box, these charts are shown North-Up by default. In both cases,activating course up, works as expected, the difference is when courseup is not on.
Tides and CurrentsNotes- Tide and Current predictions are not available for all areas.
- As with all predictions, the displayed values are calculated using mathematical models and actual tides and currents will vary.
Enable Tides and Currents Display- Click the toolbar button to see tide stations.
- Select to see current stations.
- Important: tide and currents will not be displayed unless these toolbar buttons are selected.
Displaying Tides- Available tide stations will show on the chart as green graphs with a
 logo:
- Right click the green icon to see tidal graph:
Displaying Currents- Available current stations will show on the chart as orange arrows:
- Arrow indicates current direction and strength - the bigger the arrow, the more current.
- Right click the orange box
 to see current graph:
Ship TrackToggling the track icon turns tracking on and off. Tracking means that a record is kept of thevessels position as it proceeds. A trail is left behind the vessel. Todisplay the tracking icon tick the box Toolbox->Etc->Show TrackIcon. Below the "Show Track icon" check box there are two more optionsrelated to track recording. You may set how often a track point isrecorded every X number of seconds or X Nautical miles.
Recorded tracks can be imported, exported and managed usingthe The Route Manager and Data Import/Export.
When right clicking on a track you can select Track Properties from themenu, and a new dialog pops up. The same thing can be achieved throughthe Route Manager. A record of all the trackpoint will be listed. Belowwe can see a trackpoint entry every minute, due to the selection aboveof a trackpoint every 60 seconds. Click on either a "Leg" or "To aWaypoint" item and a blue square will mark the position on the track.
From the right click menu the Delete track option is available as well.
For more about Tracks read about the Route Managers Track Tab inThe Route Manager and Data Import/Export.
Man Over BoardDrop a Man Over Board Marker at your present position by pressing
* Man Over Board Button on the ToolBar
or hit the Keys
* Ctrl + Spacebar.
A mark, looking like the button is instantly created - the MOB mark.
The MOB mark will be called "MAN OVERBOARD at + time-stamp"
A temporary route, from a point 1 mile ahead on the current COG, and tothe MOB mark is created and activated. On the screen, a course and bearingto the MOB mark will be displayed. This temporary triangular mark islabeled "1.0 NM along COG".
The temporary route can be deleted, in the normal way, but no action ofthe user with the mouse or keyboard will move or delete the MOB mark,except for opening the Route/Waypoint manager to delete the mark(s).
Multiple MOB marks can be deployed, and multiple temporary routes willbe created. The active route will always be associated with the lastdropped MOB mark.
Be very careful when using this capability in waters with strong tide or current.
The person overboard will not be at the position of theMOB mark fort long. Both own Boat and the person in the water will movewith the current, but OpenCPN knows nothing about this.
The MOB mark has just been dropped:
Own Boat has moved on and the MOB mark is 0.65 miles in bearing 200 degrees.
One option in this situation is to drag the triangle to the Own Boats position.
A second MOB mark is dropped.
Toolbox Settings Click this icon to open the Tool Box which has the following tabs:
The Settings TabShow Status Bar: Thestatus bar at the bottom of the display contains a lot of navigationinformation. If you have this inf available elsewhere, turning thissetting off increases the available space for the chart.
Show Printing Icon: When you need to print Chartlets.
Enable Char Quilting: See Chart Quilting.
Course Up Mode: See Auto Follow and Display Orientation
Lookahead Mode: See Auto Follow and Display Orientation
Show Chart Outlines: The borders of the available charts are shown. Vector charts are green,raster charts are red, and on CM93 available larger scale charts arepurple. The CM93 chart outlines are not on if using quilting mode. As asafety precaution, the outlines of isolated dangers with large scalecharts available, are shown in CM93 even if "Show Chart Outlines" isoff, provided that quilting is not used and the scale is large enough.At a scale of 1:200.000 or larger these isolated Islands and dangerswill be shown. Hence it is recommended not to use quilting in CM93 whenon a longer passage. More on Installing Charts and Chart Formats
Show Depth Units: Shows the charts depth units if available. When in quilt mode, depthunits are only shown if all charts in the quilt has the same depth unit.
Show skewed raster charts as North-up:Skewed chart are normally shown as intended by the cartographer. Withthis option they are rotated to show North-Up. Skewed charts are acommon feature along the US Intercoastal Waterway. More here: Auto Follow and Display Orientation
OwnShip COG arrow predictor.....: Shows ared dashed line in front of your own boat, with present COG and ends in adot, which represents where you will be in the set number of minutes,with the present speed.
If the ToolBox->Vector Charts->Enable Manual CM93 Offsets isticked, the lower part of the Settings Tab will look like this:
For more on CM93 Offsets see at CM93 Offsets
The GPS TabNMEA Data Source: Set the source for your GPSconnection. Note that you can write in this field. For example to get"Gippy" to work with OpenCPN, this is where you write the path to thevirtual GPS created by Gippy. Similar, if you know that the GPS is onCOM3, but this port does not show up in the list, just write "COM3" inthe field.
Details for Windows:In the tab select the 'NMEA Data Source' from the choices shown in thedrop-down box, and choose the port to which your GPS is connected. Ifyou are using a standard serial port, then choose the proper physicalport 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 yourGPS device driver. You may need to try several selections to find thecorrect port. For XP/Vista: Using the Device Manager, look for aserial port which appears and disappears dynamically as you plug andunplug the USB GPS cable. This is your virtual GPS serial port. Whenthe properly configured GPS is connected, powered up, and recognized,and a show a green icon or gps status icon in the right end of the tool-bar. OpenCPN automatically configuresbits, parity, etc. These do not need to be separately specified.
Details for Linux: Connect directly to one of theavailable physical ports, or use gpsd. For gpsd versions earlier than2.9, select "Network GPSD" else select "Network LIBGPS". For Ubuntu 10.4and later select "Network LIBGPS".
Details for Mac: See at Setting up GPS Mac OS X
GPSD Data Server: is normally "localhost", but it'spossible to have one gpsd server on a local network with many OpenCPNclients. In this case, specify the network address of the gpsd server.With OpenCPN it's possible to connect even a Windows instance, to a gpsd server this way.
NMEA Baude Rate: 4800 is the normal value for many devices, but some newer gps receiversrequire a different value. Check your documentation.
Use Garmin GRMN/GRMN (Host) mode for Waypoint and Route uploads.Make sure that this box is ticked, if you have a Garmin GPS. Thereason for this is that Garmin units cannot accept route uploads viastandard NMEA0183. This is a "design feature" of all Garmin receivers.
Show GPS/NMEA data stream window: If you check this box you will get a windowthat shows the NMEA data sentences coming into OpenCPN.
If gpsd is used on Linux, no data will be shown.
For simple NMEA data stream debugging, add the following to your opencpn.ini file:
Under [Settings] add a line
DebugNMEA=1500
This will provide up to 1500 debug messages pertaining to NMEA traffic to the opencpn.log
Filter NMEA Course and Speed Data: Providing a rollingaverage of COG/SOG, with configurable sampling period. This feature isuseful, for example, if you find that course and speed from the gps isvarying erratically due to the sea state. The Dashboard plugin is notaffected by this setting - COG and SOG are updated about once per second.
Autopilot Output Port: Connect any NMEA 0183 compatible autopilot.Select the correct serial port from the list.
The Charts TabThis is treated in detail at Installing Charts
Vector Charts TabMore about vectorcharts at Vector Chart Display.
The AIS TabMore about AIS at AIS.
The Language and Font Tab Languages:
The following languages are available in OpenCPN 2.3 and later versions:
Brazilian Portuguese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Italian
Norwegian Bokmaal
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Choose your language here. Make sure your selected language has thesupport files installed on your computer (Linux). Default language is US English.
Font Options
Fonts can be selected for some elemets on the display.
The Etc. TabTracks: See at Ship Tracks.
Radar rings: These show up as red rings centered onyour gps position, and can be useful in different circumstances, such askeeping clear of dangers. The settings are, hopefully, intuitive.
Waypoint locking: Locks waypoints, and prevents accidental moving of them. This boxshould normally be ticked when under way.
GUI Options
Enable wheel-zoom-to-cursor: Normally when clicking onthe screen, the display centers on the clicked point. The wheel zoomsin/out always using the center of the display. With this box ticked,the zooming happens at the point of the cursor. This means that as soonas you start to zoom in the display centers on the cursor.
Preserve scale when switching charts: Normally whenswitching charts OpenCPN will open the new chart scaled close to it'snatural scale, the zoom factor stays the same. With this box tickedOpenCPN will keep the scale from the last chart, when switching, notexactly, but generally of the same magnitude. The zoom-factor willincrease as you switches to smaller scale charts.
Play ship bells: Every half-hour the traditional ship bell will be heard.
The Plugin TabThe Plugin tab is treated on these pages
Plugins
Dashboard Plugin
GRIB Weather Plugin
Change Color SchemeThis Button has 4 levels corresponding to standard US raster charts built in levels.
These represents the Default level, the Daylight level, the Dawn or Dusklevel and finally the Night level. Generally there is no differencebetween the Default level and the Daylight level. So for the first click to this button you might seeno difference.
The way this button works differs between different category of charts.
S57 Vector Charts and the CM93 ver2 charts.
All charts display the Dawn/Dusk and Night levels. This means that thereis no change when the button is first pressed, but further pressingbrings up a Dusk and then a Night palette.
US Raster Charts
These works the same as the vector-charts.
Other Raster Charts
Most other raster charts just contains a standard palette, and pressingthe Button has no effect other than dimming part of OpenCPN, except forthe chart display.
The Brazilian Raster Charts includes a dusk and night palette, but the colors displayed is not what one would expect.
Charts converted with the help of libbsb and tiff2bsb, only contains one standard color scheme.
Setting up your computer for Night Navigation.For night time navigation it is desirable to be able to dim the whole screen, not just OpenCPN. Consider the case when you have to consult a Cruising Guide in pdf format, for example.
The solutions to this problem is platform specific.
LinuxInstall the program xcalib, sudo apt-get install xcalib, or similar.
Then associate keys on your keyboard with different xcalib commands.
Note that the setting below overrides some of OpenCPN's Hot Keys.
These are only suggestions, and depends on your local installation and preference.
SHIFT + F2 -> xcalib -co 80 -a
F2 -> xcalib -clear
ALT + SHIFT + q -> xcalib -c && xcalib -co 80 -a
ALT + SHIFT + w -> xcalib -c && xcalib -co 60 -a
ALT + SHIFT + e -> xcalib -c && xcalib -co 40 -a
ALT + SHIFT + r -> xcalib -c && xcalib -co 20 -a
ALT + SHIFT + t -> xcalib -c && xcalib -co 10 -a
With this setup holding SHIFT down and pressing F2 dims the screen in steps of 20%.
Pressing just F2 clears the screen to full brightness. Not a good movein the middle of the night! The other key combinations sets the screento predefined dimming levels in steps of 20%, except for the last one.
WindowsThis is more problematic. Check if your graphic card has a controlprogram. On many cards it is possible to control, brightness, contrastand gamma, and get acceptable dimming of the screen.
MacFor Mac OS X simply use the brightness keys F1 and F2.
Advanced FeaturesLet's take a look at some of OpenCPN's advanced features.
Hot KeysThe Hot Keys native to OpenCPN are described below.These may not workon your computer depending on other settings on yor computer.
- Arrow Keys, Moves the chart view
- Alt + Arrow Keys, Moves the chart view in very small steps.
- + or Ctrl + Z Zoom In
- - or Ctrl + X Zoom Out
- F2 Toggle Auto Follow ON/OFF
- F3 or Ctrl + S Show / hide ENC Text
- F4 Starts the measure tool. Escape : Stops it.
- F5 Toggle Screen Brightness
- F7 or Ctrl + Left-Arrow Larger Scale Chart (Scale In)
- F8 or Ctrl + Right-Arrow Smaller Scale Chart (Scale Out)
- F9 Chart Quilting on/off
- F12 or Ctrl + O Show/Hide Chart Outlines
- Ctrl + L-Arrow or F7 Larger Scale Chart (Scale In)
- Ctrl + M Drop Marker at current cursor position.
- Ctrl + O or F12 Show/Hide Chart Outlines
- Ctrl + Q Quits OpenCPN
- Ctrl + R-Arrow or F8 Smaller Scale Chart (Scale Out)
- Ctrl + S or F3 Show / hide ENC Text
- Ctrl +space Man Over Board, sets MOB Marker at current GPS position.
Anchor WatchAnchor watch can be set on any mark that you have created withOpenCPN, as long as the boat is within 5 cables of this mark. This meansthat the Anchor watch items, on the right click menu, will only bevisible if your boat is within 0.5 nautical miles of any mark. Amaximum of two marks can have anchor watch set at the same time.
This feature can be used in other situations than just anchoring, butkeeping an eye on your anchor, and making sure it isn't dragging, is themain purpose. Below we are using the "Man Overboard" icon to mark theanchor, this is just an easy way, and not necessary for the anchor watchto work.
To learn how it works let's make a dry run to a nice trade wind anchorage.
After circling around and exploring the bay, we know where we want to drop our anchor.
At the chosen spot we drop the anchor, at the same time we click the man overboard icon on OpenCPNto mark the point.
The wind, ENE at 15 kts let us drift back until we are satisfied withour scope. A burst in reverse convinces us that the anchor is set, laterconfirmed by a leisurely snorkeling over the anchor. Time to sort outthe anchor watch
Right click on the man over board mark, choose properties, this bringsup the "Mark Properties" dialog. We have to change a few things here tomake it worthwhile setting the anchor watch. "Mark Name" is changed from"MAN OVERBOARD" to the watch circle in meters. In our case we havechanged this to 60. We have 40 m of chain out, our gps antennae on our40 footer sits at the pushpit, some minor gps uncertainties and a fewextra meters for our anchor to dig in, is our reasoning for this. Wealso change the mark icon to something better than the life-buoy.
We right click on the mark once again, and choose "Set Anchor Watch" from the menu.
See picture above. The anchor watch is now active, and an alarm will beset off if the boat for some reason exits the circle. To deactivate theanchor watch, right click on the mark and select "Clear Anchor Watch".
To get protection from the wind and a bit of northerly swell, we havereally anchored to close to the beach. To keep an eye on this potentialdanger we set another mark on the beach.
This time we set the "Mark Name" to -100, this means that if the boatcomes within 100 meters of this mark, the alarm is set off.
An hour later, after a heavy squall passed, the wind goes light andflukey. The boat drifts towards the beach and the anchor alarm soundsand comes up on our computer screen.
The alarm sound is the same as the AIS warning sound and is set in the ToolBox under the AIS tab.
This is what happens if you activate the anchor watch without changingthe name, the alarm is instantly activated. Clear the anchor watch andread from the beginning of the page.
AISFor a general introduction to AIS Wikipedia is a god place to start.
The screendump below gives you a first feel for how AIS targets are presented and used in OpenCPN.
The Lookahead mode is activated here and our own vessel isproceeding 352 deg at 13 kts, leaving an activated track behind, andprojecting a dashed line ahead representing the course. This ends in adot, that represents where we will be in 6 minutes, or 1.3 nauticalmiles ahead. We are meeting a vessel, steaming in the opposite directionfollowing the traffic separation. This target also has a line and a dotin-front of it representing course and where it will be in 6minutes(user configurable). The two blue dots with a red/yellow linebetween them, represents where the vessels will be at CPA - closestpoint of approach, or when the are nearest each other, with presentcourses and speeds. The meeting vessel is red, as it is a potential danger to us.
A lot of information about the vessels that transmits AIS signals and are displayed on the chart, is available.
This vessel is identified by name, and has a green color, as it does not represent any dangerto our navigation.
If we instead of just hovering the cursor on anobject, right click, the menu item AIS Target Query brings up the dialogabove. A lot of relevant information is displayed. TCPA is the timeuntil CPA, how long before we are at the closest point to the other vessel.
Rollover: All the bells and whistles are activated! A new target appearsbehind an island on our port bow, OpenCPN sounds an alarm and draws ajagged circle around the new target. An AIS alert box with all theinformation about the new target pops up. We can silence the noise but,has to acknowledge before the box disappears.
Another way to present the AIS information. The AIS target list isavailable through the right click menu. Clicking on a highlighted targetbrings up the information dialog.
The ToolBox AIS TabThis tab controls the behavior of many thing in theAIS display. There are no "best" settings. It all depend on where youare, what kind of navigation you are into and what kind of vessel youare on. It is your responsibility to evaluate this.
AIS data port: Select your AIS input port on yourcomputer. When this is set to anything but "None", the AIS buttonappears in the ToolBar. This button appears different according to thefollowing conditions.
AIS Alive. The default AIS button. This icon appears as soon as an AISport is active in the tool-box. It is also the normal state with an AISreceiver working and with no targets of interest.
 AIS Supressed. This icon indicates only that target suppression isactivated in the AIS tab in the ToolBox. Referring to the picture abovethere are two sort of suppression:
* Suppress display of all moored/anchored targets, max speed specified in dialog.
* Suppress Alerts for moored/anchored targets.
This icon will be over-ridden with the AIS alarm button if an alarm is,or becomes, active according to the AIS tab alarms settings in thetoolbox.
 AIS Alarm. A target exist that raises the alarm as defined in the AIStab in the ToolBox. It is the three settings "CPA Calculations", thatrules if and when an alarm is raised.
 AIS Disabled. No targets, if available, are shown on the screen. Thisbutton toggles with the other buttons. For example, if the AIS alarmbutton is visible, click the button and it will change to the "AISDisabled" button, and all targets, alarms etc, disappears from thedisplay. Click again and the original button and AIS display comes back.
CPA calculation: Rules for how and when the ClosestPoint of Approach- CPA (when two vessels are nearest each other) iscalculated. There are three tick boxes, which can be activated with userset values.
1. If the vessel is far away it is less interesting tocalculate CPA. In a busy waterway this could cut down on clutter andprocessing speed if a reasonable value is set.
2. Similar arguments to No 1. This controls when a warning for minimum CPA distance is given.
3. Similar to No 2 this controls the alarm based on aminimum time to CPA. A target is regarded as lost if regulartransmissions is not received, updating the vessels status.
Lost Targets: Rules for how lost targets should be handled on the display.
1. Target is regarded as lost if no transmission arereceived for the number of minutes set here, the target will change onthe display and have a black bar across. 
2. The lost target will be removed from the display after the number of minutes set here.
Display: If and how a vessels course and speed should be displayed and if stationaryvessels should be on the screen.
1. An arrow will be shown in front of the vesselrepresenting it's COG (Course Over Ground). The length of this arrow andthe dot at the end of it represents the calculated position in thenumber of minutes set here. Set easily calculated values. If a vesselapproaches you doing 15 kts and the time is set to 6 minutes, the dotwill be 1.5 nautical miles ahead of the vessel.
2. A track will be shown behind a target. This helps to judge the target vessels intentions.
3. An anchored or moored target  willnot be displayed if the speed is less than the value set here.
Rollover: Tick the boxes for the kind of informationshown when hovering with the cursor over a target. This is what you getwith all the settings ticked.
CPA/TCPA Alerts: When an alert is triggered, a jaggedcircle in red is drawn around the target that set off the alarm.Additional events can be set here, drawing more attention to the alarm.For practical navigation, make sure your alarm sound is set.
1. Shows an alert dialog on the screen with target information when an alarm is triggered.
2. Sounds an alarm when an alarm is triggered.
3. Don't show alarms for anchored and moored targets.
Select Alert Sound. Select an alarm that suits you.This alarm will also be used if an anchor watch is set. Due to copyrightissues, only a few sound files are included. Users can add their owngeneric ".wav" sound files. The location for these files are"/usr/local/share/opencpn/sounds/" on Linux and typically C:\ProgramFiles\OpenCPN\sounds on Windows XP.
Test Alert Sound. Test the selected sound and make sure this important feature is working.
Enable Target Alert Acknowledge timeout. Once a targetalert is acknowledged, wait the set number of minutes before the alertcomes up again. The purpose is to avoid alarm loops in congested watersdue to own ships course and speed changes.
When exactly is an alarm activated?An alert is set off if your boat is approaching theCPA, the blue dot on the extension of the course line, and thepreviously discussed set of conditions are met. Once the distance tothe CPA increases, this happens when the involved vessels has passedeach other, the alarm stops, even if the other conditions still apply.
+++ Quick Reference for targets:
 Potential Danger.
 No Danger. Not Identified ( Name not received)
 No Danger. Identified
Lost Target
Anchored or moored. Displayed when the transmitted "Navigation status" is "at anchor".
 The V-shape stern indicates a Class B target. Tugboats and pilot boatsvery often carry Class B transponders. These are often designedspecifically for small commercial boats, fishing boats and pleasurecrafts.
 This blue bit is the European, Inland AIS standard, "Blue Paddle"signal, commonly seen on inland waters to indicate that the vesselrequests a "stbd-stbd" passage or crossing. This Blue Signal ismanually switched on/off on the target.
- a diamond with plus inside for NavAids.
- AIS Base Station
Routes and MarksMarks...are the basic points that is used for many things, such as creatingroutes, marking fishing spots, good anchorages or anything of interest.
OpenCPN comes with a handful of different icons that can be assigned to amark. Right click or use the Route Manager and activate the propertiesdialog. The Mark Icon window in the dialog shows the available icons.
A user can install his or her own icons to use with marks and "own ship".
- Create a directory under the executable directory called UserIcons.
In MSW it looks like: Program Files/OpenCPN/UserIcons
In Linux create the directory: /usr/local/share/opencpn/UserIcons. - Add .xpm files to this directory. They can be any size. The nameembedded within the xpm file becomes the name of the new waypoint icon.These new icons will appear on the Waypoint Properties dialog, and canbe assigned to any waypoint. They can also be assigned in GPX Importfiles.
- "sredna" has contributed a few nice icons. Download here.
For anyone interested, I enclose a small package containg some24x24px icons that I find usable: red buoy, red flag, red flag buoy,yellow buoy, yellow flag, yellow buoy flag, blue flag, flag. To use thearchive, unpack to your UserIcons directory. WARNING: there is nofolder in the zip file. Feel free to modify/copy/anything with the iconsas you like. They were created using KolourPaint in case anyonewonders. - To replace the default own ship icon , just put a file "ownship.xpm" in the Usericons shared data directory.
You can create a mark by right-clicking anywhere inthe map, and selecting "Drop Mark Here" from the menu. The mark willhave a triangle icon, to change that right-click the icon and select"Mark Properties".
You can move the mark by dragging it around.
When creating routes, OpenCPN will ask if it should use a nearby mark if any, when you add a routepoint.
You can delete a mark by right-clicking its icon, and selecting"Delete Mark". Marks can be deleted through the Route Managers Waypointstab as well. Deleting a mark that is part of a route, will also changethe route.
The Man Over Board mark can be activated through the iconin the toolbar, or through hitting Ctrl + Spacebar. The mark lookslike the button and is dropped on present position. This mark cannot bemoved or deleted with the cursor or keyboard (by mistake), but canstill be deleted from the Route/Waypoint manager dialog. Moreabout MOB here.
A similar kind of locking can be activated for all marks. Goto ToolBox->Etc.
and tick the box. This feature is handy, to prevent accidentally moving amark. Activate this feature when underway, deactivate it when planning.
Jump to Position...In the rightclick menu a related feature - Jump to Position - is available.
A small dialog pop up where latitude and longitude can be entered.Pressing "OK" centers the display on this position, keeping the samescale. The values entered is kept during a session, but goes whenrestarting OpenCPN.
Routes Will initiate the creation of a route.When clicked the cursor changes to a ( )pencil. Left click along the desired route you want to make. Thiswill leave sequential waypoints as you click along. If your desiredroute extends off the currently displayed chart, move the route cursorinto the desired area. You can zoom in and out with the mouse scrollwheel or keyboard +/- keys during route creating. You can also rightclick and select 'MAX DETAIL HERE' or 'Scale Out' during route creation.When finished right click and choose end route from the context menu.
The right click menu is context sensitive, exactly what you getdepend on what sort of chart it is and if quilting is activated, forexample.
You should now have an inactive (Blue) route. Active routes are Red, inactivated routes are Blue.
Right clicking on a route brings up a menu with many alternatives, such as "Insert Waypoint" and "Append Waypoint".
Multiple RoutesOpenCPN currently has no provision to hide routes, so all your routes will show on the chart all the time.
To keep the chart clear of useful but un-needed routes follow these steps:
- Create a folder called 'GPX_Routes', or another suitable name.
- Create your route.
- Use the Route Manager to export the route, with a descriptive file name and save it in GPX_Routes.
- Delete the route from the chart.
- You can export all your routes as one big file or export and delete a route as you create them
- When needed, simply use the Route Managers "Import" Button to open the route file.
To get rid of the way points left on the chart when a route has been imported and then deleted.
- Open the Route Managers Waypoint tab and press the "Delete All" button.
- Say 'Yes' to: 'Are you sure you want to delete <ALL> waypoints?'
- Right-click on the route line and select 'Delete route' or open the Route Managers Route-tab to'Delete ' or 'Delete all'.
- Answer in the affirmative.
Saving and Loading Routes and MarksActivating and using routesRight clicking on the track, changes the color from blue to orange and brings up a comprehensive menu.
Clicking "Activate Route" or performing the same action through theRoute Manager, changes the route color to red and new, route informationwindow appears on the right side of the display. Once a route isactivated, you are presented with the choice of "Deactivate Route" inthe different menus.
Right clicking on a waypoint in a route activates a few options, otherwise not available.
- Activate Waypoint - Gives the direction to the chosen waypointinstead of the first waypoint in the route, which is the default.Usefull when joining, for example, an imported route, at an arbitrarywaypoint.
- Activate Next in Route. Sometimes it makes more sense to godirectly the following waypoint, instead of via the position of thenearest waypoint.
- Remove Waypoint from Route, but don't delete it.
- Delete Waypoint from Route.
- Mark/WP Properties. This is the only way to get to theseproperies, for the moment. They are not yet available in the Routemanager. The dialog is the same as for an individual mark.
 |
XTE Cross Track Error. How far off course your boat is.
BRG Direction to next waypoint.
RNG Distance to next waypoint.
TTG Time To Go to next waypoint.
Graphic illustration to the values above. Think about it as driving a car on a road. |
The Route Manager and Data Import/Export- Through the Route Manager
 OpenCPN can save and load waypoints, routes and tracks using the GPXtransfer format. We illustrate the Route Managers dialog with examplesusing the Route-tab. The Tracks-tab and Waypoints-tab are similar. - This lets you save your routes and marks so you can have morethan the active ones - for example to do route planning, or archiveexisting data.
- GPX format is supported by a wide variety of programs.
- You can have as many saved files as you wish, there are no limits on the number of saved files.
- Use this for passage planning by saving multiple possible routes for a passage.
- Save routes and tracks for historical/log purposes.
Routes- To sort routes click "Route Name" or "To".
- Properties: This button brings up a new dialog.
 - Activate: Activates a route marked in the left part of the window.
- Zoom to: Zooms in on a route marked in the left part of the window.
- Reverse: Reverses a selected route.
- Delete: Deletes selected route or track.
- Export Route. Save the route on your computer for later use (import)
- Send to GPS. Send the Route to your GPS. For Garmin Users,make sure that the ToolBox->GPS->"Use Garmin GRMN/GRMN(Host) modefor Waypoint and Route uploads" box is ticked. The reason for this isthat Garmin units cannot accept route uploads via NMEA 0183. This is a"design feature" of all Garmin receivers.
- Delete All. Be careful. If you know you havesaved the routes on your computer and are able to import the again, thisis a simple way to clear the screen from routes. Better be safe thansorry, so save before deleting, if you want to be able to use the routesagain.
- Import. Import one or more previously saved Routes. It is possible to select and import multiple routes.
 - Export All Routes. Saves all routes in one gpx file. This is done through a normal file saving dialog.
Tracks- Start Track. Same thing as pressing the track button in the ToolBar.
- Route from Track. Make a route from a track, for future use. The new routeis listed in the Route Manager tab.
- All other buttons behaves similar to corresponding buttons for Routes.
Waypoints- Properties. More about this dialog here.
- Zoom to centers the chart display on the waypoint.
- Go To. Make an instant route from present position to themark and activates the route. A similar instant route is created byright clicking and selecting "Go To Here" without first creating amark. This instant route will be listed in the Route Tab.
- All other buttons behaves similar to corresponding buttons for Routes.
Planning DataCreating and Importing Great Circle RoutesGPX import can be used for many things, three sample applicationsfollows below. First, look at this picture. Planning a trip from CapeTown to Freemantle ?
Here you have two imported routes, the Southern route is a pure GreatCircle, the middle route is a Composite Great Circle, and then thenormal Rhumb Line furthest to the north.
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between two point on the globe. Acomposite route is the same thing with the additional condition to staybelow a limiting latitude, in this case 39°30'S. A rhumb line is astraight line on a Mercator chart. The Mercator projection is thestandard for OpenCPN.
Let us compare the distances involved.
- The pure great circle is 4610 nautical miles (M).
- The great circle as plotted with 5° of longitude between the waypoints is 4627 M.
- The pure composite route, limited by latitude 39°30’ S is 4651 M.
- The composite route as plotted with 3° of longitude between waypoints (for the great circles) is 4669 M.
- The rhumb line is 4843 M.
So the advantage of a great circle is obvious. The disadvantages, in this case are many.
Colder weather, stronger winds, higher seas and perhaps even icebergs.The great circle is just one factor in the decision making when planninga route, the weather is likely to be the deciding factor in most cases.
A great circle route is created with the "gc" Ruby script,that is cross platform.
To create a gpx file containing a great circle you have to enter thedeparture points lat & long, followed by the destination points lat& long and the optionally a limiting latitude for composite sailingand the distance in long between waypoints, default is set to 5°.
Need to see some offshore weather observations?NOAAs NDBC site gives accessto a lot of offshore observations from buoys and ships worldwide.
To easy visualize all this data the "ShipWxRep" script transform alimited set of all the available data into gpx waypoints. The format, asseen above is "wind direction, wind speed, time for observation, andair pressure". This can be helpful when evaluating the accuracy of gribfiles, even though the best tool in this respect probably is acalibrated digital barometer.
Plotting Miami Tropical Forecast Advisories.If you only have access to low bandwith internet, this script is a wayto quickly plott the contents of, for example an email, containing theforcast advisory. In any case, it is a good idea to have the forecasttrack of a tropical system available where you normally do yournavigation and planning.
Download the gpx scripts here.For some help run each script without arguments.
Vector Chart DisplayFirst, one very important setting for vector charts is handled directly from the main toolbar.
This button toggles all text displayedon a vector chart On and Off
Second, right-clicking on any point on a vector chartbring up an information dialog. At the top of this is the "Object Query"choice which pops up an information dialog, displaying the availablevector-chart attributes at this point. Choose from the menu on the leftside of the dialog, and watch the details on the right side.
The example is taken from right-clicking on a buoy in a busy area.
Exactly what is shown in this dialog depend on the settings described below in "Display Categories".
Third, the ToolBox Vector Charts Tab is where everything else is handled.
Display CategoriesNavigators has the choice of three pre-defined, different,presentations of ENC content, Base, Standard and Other. OpenCPN also hasthe very flexible Mariners Standard, which is better described as"Mariners Choice".
BaseDisplays general information, including coastline, safety-contour, isolated danger,buoy, beacon traffic separation zone, etc.
From the IMO definitions:
Display Base means the level of SENC information which cannot be removed from
the display, consisting of information which is required at all times inall geographic areas and all circumstances. It is not intended to besufficient for safe navigation.
StandardEverything in "Base" and aids to navigation, fairways, channel limits, restricted navigation zones,restricted areas, etc..
All Other InformationEverything in "Standard" and more. This level could be described as "all essentials". More aboutwhat the the standards says about the content ofthese three levels.
Mariners StandardUsers can use the filter tick box to set exactly what he or she wantsdisplayed. A large set of filters, about 186, can be employed. They areall to the IHO S57 standard, and it is recommended to download S-57 Appendix A - IHO Object Catalogand have a copy onboard. Use your pdf viewers "search" or "find" function to quickly find what an acronym means.
Note that Mariners Standard gives the user a much wider choice of whatto display, than approved ECDIS system are allowed. It is for examplepossible to not display items in the Base category.
WARNING - it is possible to suppress essential information with "Mariners Standard".
If in doubt, switch to "Other", or use the "Select All" button.
Details can also be found on the Internet:
caris.com
s-57.com/
help.arcgis.com
To list their function here would be a long list and a separate manualentry, but to illustrate the way of thinking behind the acronyms, hereare a few examples:
LNDARE = LANDAREA
TESARE = TERITORIAL SEA AREA
NAVLNE = NAVIGATION LINE
PIPOHD = PIPELINE OVERHEAD
SLOTOP = SLOPE TOPLINE
SLCONS = SHORELINE CONSTRUCTION
Each acronym also has an exhaustive official formal definition:
DEPCNT = DEPTH CONTOUR Aline connecting points of equal water depth which is sometimessignificantly displaced outside of soundings, symbols and other chartdetail for clarity as well as generalization. Depth contours, therefor,often represent an approximate location of the line of equal depth asrelated to the surveyed line delineated on the source. Also referred toas depth curve.
A general recommendation would be to use "Mariners Standard" and to "Select All",to start with, and then switch of certain features as required.
As an example let's look at passing through the British gas fields in the SW North Sea:
This is not easy, so we want to get rid of all those red and yellow circles.
Untick LIGHTS.
Much better!
ShowSoundingsturns the measured depths on and of. Other settings also affects whensoundings are displayed, for example SCAMIN. The dark black numbers arenot soundings. Instead they refer to heights of nearby islets or cays.On official paper charts the soundings are printed in italics.
The bold number 20 refers to the land height of the unnamed cay SW of the number.
"Safety Depth" is set to 20 m, so all soundings greater than 20 are gray, while those less than 20 are black.
META objectsrelates to information about the chart itself. With this switch on, anobject query reveals such information as the buoyage system for the areaand the quality of the survey.
Show Important Text Onlydisplays only a bare minimum of text essential for navigation, such ascourse and bearing in a leading line (range) and bridge clearances.
Use SCAMINmakes sure that objects are only shown at a relevant minimum scale.Without SCAMIN everything is always shown, leading to very cluttered view at small scale (zoomed out).
Show ATON labelsdisplays names and purposes of Aid To Navigation,such as number or name of buoys, information about conspicuous objects etc.
Show light descriptionthis tick box control display of light characteristics. Checking thisdisplays a label with a text describing the marker or lighthouse'scharacteristics.
De-Clutter TextEven when using SCAMIN there are cases when text labels overlaps oroverwrites other labels and creates a cluttered impression. Ticking thisbox clears up this mess. To see all the labels, increase the scale forthe area.
Chart display stylePointsPaper chart draw the markers and lights just like the printed paperchart, while simplified uses icons to represent the same. Some like theone and some the other, a matter of taste.
Paper Chart mode closely follows the IHO standard standard in this area.This mode is currently more developed than the simplified mode, as ithas a higher priority in the development effort.
BoundariesPlain normally just uses a dashed line, while the Symbolized version also uses triangles pointinginto the area.
ColorsDepth on the chart can be displayed with either 2 or 4 colors. Thissetting is closely related to the "Depths Settings". With 2 colors, andusing a relatively large scale, areas with depth less than "SafetyDepth" is blue, the rest is white. With 4 colors, there are differentcolors for areas less than "Shallow Depth", areas between "ShallowDepth" and "Safety Depth", areas between "Safety Depth" and "Deep Depth"and finally for areas deeper than "Deep Depth".
CM93 Zoom DetailNormal settings depend on a combination of personal preferences andpresent usage of map. To see more detail the "Zoom detail" can be set toa higher positive number or for navigation in shipping lanes to anegative numbers. Typical zoom level 5 is good for fishing when as muchdetails are possible is of interest. Zoom level of +1, zero or -1 isusually fine for normal use.
Positive values give more detail, but at a cost:
a. It simply takes longer to render larger scale charts covering more screen real estate.
b. There will be more instances of gray (NODATA) areas surrounding thelarger scale charts as you zoom out, unless quilting is activated.
c. It can become dramatically slower if high detail is specified, andchart outlines are requested. In this case, the program has to read alot more cells to get their outlines.
Conversely, negative values give less detail. Zooms are faster.
Depth SettingsControls the coloring of the water as a function of depth. By settingthe Safety and Deep water right you will have a visible border to showwhen to take care about shallow water.
CM93 charts and S57 ENCS works very similar in this area.The chartscontains depth area features according to fixed depth cutoff zones,usually 5, 10, and 20 meters. Intermediate values are not available inthe database,if you select a value between those available, opencpnchooses the next higher value available for display of color.
The charts are inconsistent in this area, depending on the countryissuing the original charts. For example in UK and the Netherlands thedepth contours in CM93 are 2, 5 and 10 meter while in Sweden they are 3,6 and 10 meter!
Generally for both S57 ENC and CM93, find these fixed depth cutoffs byright clicking -> Object Query ->Chart -> Depth Area. The twovalues DRVAL1 and DRVAL2 represents these built in cutoffs.
If for example, as is the case on the South China Sea HydrographicCommissions charts, the shallowest area has a DRVAL1 = 0 m and aDRVAL2 = 10 m, there is, in most cases, no point in setting "ShallowDepth" to anything but 10 m.
Find out these cut off depth for your area and set the "Depth Settings"with this knowledge together with your preferences and activity.
With all the reservations above, the general case for 4 colors, will be described.
Shallow Depthwill color all water areas with water depths shallower than the set depth to a dark blue color.Soundings are in black.
Safety Depthwater deeper that Shallow but shallower that this depth will have apaler blue color. The Shallow Depth contour clearly marked with darkgray borderline.Soundings less than this depth are in black, whilesoundings greater than this value are gray.
Deep Depthwater deeper than Safety Depth but less than Deep Depth will display alight gray color. The Safety Depth contour is clearly marked withblack borderline. Water deeper than Deep Depth is displayed in white.
Finally a word about drying heights,displayed in green. There is no detailed information available for thevalue of the drying heights, neither in CM93 ver 2 nor in most S57charts, currently available for OpenCPN. Raster charts seems to be theonly alternative for navigation in shallow areas with a large tide.
CM93 OffsetsEnable Manual CM93 OffsetsWith this box ticket, the offset tool becomes available in theright-click menu, as well as a toggle to switch the offsets on/off.
A CM93 Offset Display will also appear in the Toolbox->Settings Tab.
This function will change in the new version of OpenCPN:
This is new and advanced feature, under development, that requires good navigation knowledge and judgmentof the user.
A warning: CM93 OFFSETS ON - appears in the lower left corner of the chart display when the offsets are active.
The CM93 offset tool creates a global correction, that appliesto all CM93 charts, even though the correction really only is valid forone specific CM93 Chart.
WARNING - This is likely to introduce errors in all chartsexcept for the one actually used for finding the correction. Let thewarning message on the screen remind you to turn this feature off whennot using the chart where the correction was created. Keep notes on thecorrections you apply since there is nothing on the screen telling youwhich chart the corrections apply to.
This feature has been introduce as the CM93 database has built inerrors. Very little has been done to adjust the chart datums of theunderlying paper charts, to WGS84.
Penrhyn Atol in the northern Cook Islands, is a good illustration to this.
The outlines of the next larrger scale charts for the Taruia Passage, can be seen below in theircorrect position.
But zooming out to the next smaler scale charts shows the outlines of Taruia Passage 2 miles to the NE !!
When CM93 offsets is enabled in the Vector tab, a few new entries are available in the right-click menu.
CM93 Offset Tool. Pressing this activates a "pencil" on the screen, that is used forthe actual correction.
The right-click menu now toggles to CM93 Offset Tool off.
CM93 Offset On. This activates the offset.
The right-click menu now toggles to CM93 Offset Off.
An example will show the principles of how this tool works.
We are in an area where new accurate raster charts exists, and notice that the CM93 chart is slightly off.
On the raster chart we have dropped a mark, a triangle, at the position of a fixed navigation mark.
On the CM93 chart we notice an offset. With the measuring tool we find that this is 76 m indirection 322 degrees.
To correct this we press the "CM93 Offset Tool" in the right click menu.
A pencil appears, similar to the "Measure Tool". Point the tip of thepencil at the base of the fixed mark an click. An arrow with a blue lineto the point where we clicked shows up on the screen. See picturebelow. Point the arrow at the dot in the triangle mark and click.
The triangle instantly "jumps" to where we first clicked - the position of the fixed mark.
This CM93 chart-cell will now agree with the raster-chart.
The correction can be switched on and off through the right-click menuor in the ToolBox->Settings Tab. In the settings tab the actualoffsets are shown. It is also possible to enter offsets via the keyboard here.
PluginsOpenCPN tries to keep features to a minimum so that it is lean, meanand easy to use. As of OpenCPN version 2.2, aplugin infrastructure was introduced to allow for those niche featuresto be added by third parties. So, the community of OpenCPN developers,and users can expand our desired feature sets to be powerfully taylored.
OpenCPN offers two default plugins available preinstalled:
More plugins can be downloaded from the Plugins download section.And information on how to use individual Plugins is available in the Plugin Manual.
Enabling a PluginPlugins are made available by clicking on the plugin in the ToolBoxPlugin Tab. Once this is done, an "Enable" button appears. Pressing thisbutton avtivates the plugin icon in the ToolBar.
Grib ToolBar Icon
Dashboard ToolBar Icon
Dashboard PluginThe Dashboard pluging is able to show quite a few instruments. If the data is available toOpenCPN in the NMEA0183 data stream the different instruments will display relevant data.But...the plugin don't tell what is available. It is assumed that the user know what is connected.It is of course possible to activate all instruments and see what works.
The Dahsboard in action. Here, the Dashboard dialog is floating in the middle of the window,and blocking the view of the chart. Grab the orange bar with the cursor and drag the Dashboardas far as possible to the right or left. Let go the cursor, and the Dashboard will dock, thechart display will adjust, no part of the chart will be hidden.
This process is reversible. Just grab the Dashboard dialog bar with the cursor, an pull towardsthe middle of the screen, and the Dashboard will become floating.
The Dashboard TabOnce the Dasboard plugin is activated in the plugin tab, theDashboard Icon will be available in the ToolBar and will work as anon/off toggle.
Press the "reference" button to activate the Dashboard preferences dialog.
Instrument width. Exactly what is says. It is also the minimum width of the Dashboard.The Dashboards dimensions can be changed by dragging the lower right-hand corner with the mouse,but this will not change the instrument width.
Fonts. All the different text and data parts can have their fonts set individually.
The "Instruments" Window. Shows the Instruments that are "active", that will show up inthe Dashboard.These are selected with the buttons to the right.
Add. This button brings up the "Add Instrument" dialog where the available instrumentscan be highlighted and added to the Instruments Window.
The available instruments are:
Position (text)
SOG (text) -Speed Over Ground
Speedometer (dial)
COG(text) - Course Over Ground
Compass (dial)
STW (text) Speed Through Water
HDG (text) Heading
Apparent wind (dial)
Wind angle (dial)
Wind speed (text)
Wind speed (dial)
True Wind (dial)
Depth (text)
Depth (dial)
Temp (text)
VMG (text)- Velocity Made Good to a waypoint
VMG (dial)
Rudder Angle (text)
Rudder Angle (dial)
GPS in view (text)- the number of satellites detected
GPS status (dial) Edit
Delete. Highlight an entry in the Instrument Window to delete it.
Up / Down. Highlight an entry in the Instrument Window and change the order between theselected instruments. This order will also be the order between the instruments in the Dashboard dialog.
These controls together enables the user to adjust the view of the dashboard to suit individual needs.
Grib Weather PluginOpenCPN has a lightweight grib weather file viewer plugin, with a limited set of features, aimed at beinguseful while under way. It is not possible to download grib files from within OpenCPN. Many external sourcesfor grib files are available on the Internet. Franks-Weather is a good starting point.
- To display grib files as an overlay on your normal charts you have to first activate the grib icon.
 - Go to find the plugin tab. Click on the Grib plugin, then the "Enable" button. The "refence" Button brings up a small dialog.
 - The Next step is to click the icon, which brings up the Grib Display Control. Use the upper partof this window to navigate to, and select your grib files. The grib files will then be appear inthe control. See picture above.
- Click on the ">" in front of the gribfile. The individual forecasts contained in the gribfile, isthen displayed under the gribfile heading.
- Click on one of the forecasts and it will be displayed. When you move the cursor over the grib display,the values for wind etc will be displayed for the cursor position, in the lower part of the "Grib DisplayControl". Here you can select what grib values to view. Note that not all gribfiles contains wave data.
- OpenCPN will display most grib file formats, but as it is a fairly new feature, bug reports are very welcome.
What is a grib file?- If you are not familiar with grib weather files, make sure you understand the basics, before you startto use them. It is essential to understand the limitations of weather forecasts in the grib format. Itis also worth pointing out that gribs are not reliable near tropical systems.
- get started with gribs and to find sources for downloads, check Franks-Weather.
- A very good book is David Burch: Modern Marine Weather, with a thorough treatment of the subject.
- A few files including lectures on tropical weather and gribs are available here.
- ZyGrib is a freeand open-source software (FOSS) dedicated grib viewer. Gribfiles can be downloaded by ZyGriband then opened in OpenCPN.
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. TheAttribute 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 nextto 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 andwaypoints in SeaClear, exported them, loaded them into GPSUtility (forWindows) and saved them as text files.
To import into OpenCPN I opened all my text files (routes andwaypoints) with GPSUtility, saved that out as one big gpx file, andloaded 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 OpenCPN crashes. What's going on?
Chances are the chart file is corrupted. Note the name and number of the suspect chart and replaceit with a fresh download.
NOTE: A list of the charts with their names and file names can befound in the README.TEXT that accompanies the charts downloaded from NOOA.
Some unzip utilities for Linux are problematic when opening ECN's. Ifthere are many corrupt charts in your download, try using a differentunzip utility.
- OpenCPN and Great Circle Navigation
Raster charts display bearings and headings as straight, measurablelines on the chart. Similarly, Vector ENC's are rendered as Mercatorprojections in OpenCPN and most other ECS's for the same reason.
For typical coastal navigation, errors which occur using rhumb lineinstead of great circle calculations are small for the distances usuallycovered by one chart.
Mercator Charts and Mercator navigation is the standard for mostnavigational purposes. Other terms used instead of "Mercator Sailing" is"Loxodrome Sailing" or "Rhumb Line Sailing".
OpenCPN uses Mercator Sailing and cannot directly display GreatCircles, but through GPX route import , Great Circle Routes can be usedas explained on Planning Data page.
 This article is in not complete. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Everyone is allowed to edit aftercreating and accountand/or logging in.
Chart Conversion ManualConversion Using LinuxHow to convert your chart images to a format that OpenCPN will read using LinuxDo you have a bunch of scanned charts of your area, in graphical format (jpg, tiff, etc.) and OpenCPN won'tread them?
Here's how you can – with a bit of work, sure, but worth the effort – convert them into usable electroniccharts.
The tools:- ImageMagick: http://www.imagemagick.org/(Binary releases are available for a few distributions, for Ubuntu justget it with the package manager, it's in the repositories.)
- Libbsb: http://libbsb.sourceforge.net(You will need some version of libtiff-dev and libpng-dev installed tobuild it. A .deb package that worked fine for me can be foundhere.
- mc2bsbh: you can get it here.
- Get the c++ source file, and from its directory, type:
- g++ -Wall -s -O2 mc2bsbh.cpp -o mc2bsbh
- It compiled without any problem on my (very standard)Karmic. I personally put it in /usr/local/bin, which I own as user, soit's in the PATH and can be called from anywhere, if you leave it in theworking directory, use ./mc2bsbh
- MapCal: part of the free navigation package SeaClear .
- Note: I had some problems running it with Wine (saving thecalibration) but I can't reproduce the error and now it works fine. Onesuggestion is, make the directory you're going to write the calibrationin world-writable before running MapCal.
- The pcx2tif script (optional) , found here.This is a great little shell script by "taifun" used to convert oldMaptech-style formats of tiled charts. If you find your chart is made oflittle bits instead of a whole file, this will stitch them all togetherin TIFF format.
- Instructions for use are in the tarball.
Once we have the tools all set up, we can get to work. The process in in five steps:
- Convert a chart image to tiff with imagemagick.
- Convert it again to png with the same (you'll need both files).
- Load the png version of the chart in Mapcal and calibrate it.
- Generate the chart header with mc2bsbh, and make the .kap version of the chart, with libbsb.
- Copy the resulting .kap into opencpn's chart dir, and reload the chart database.
Let's see them in detail:
Steps 1 and 2:
Say you have a chart in jpeg format called chart.jpg.
From the command line, use:
convert chart.jpg -colors 127 chart.gif
and then again,
convert chart.gif -colors 127 chart.tif
and then again,
convert chart.jpg -colors 127 chart.png
(there is a script that does this for multiple files, get ithere,just remove the .doc extension, this is the example)
Throw away the .gif file. Don't ask me why you need to generate it inthe first place, but apparently you do, it's an imagemagick thing. Keepthe .tif and the .png ones a while longer, though. You'll be evenhappier to get rid of them when you've finished.
Step 3:
- Open MapCal.
- File, Open Image. Open the .png version of your chart. Ignorethe data window for the moment, you'll do that later, click OK. Youshould see your chart.
- To calibrate it, choose a point near a corner for which it iseasy to know lat/lon. Right-click on it, and choose Add New Cal. Point.To zoom in and out use the little + and – buttons at the bottom.
- Ignore the fact that Latitude has three integer figures, we'restill talking about the Earth. Enter the coordinates and proceed for atleast three more points, near the corners.
- Click Activate Changes. Check that the grid makes sense. Click Border, drawa border around the chart (that part is easy).
- You should also enter some data for the chart: Edit, Chart Information.
- The Chart Name will show up in OpenCPN to remind you of all your hard work, choose it well.
- For this example we'll just use “chart”.
- You should also enter at least Scale (found on the chart) DepthUnits, Projection (Mercator most likely) and Datum (WGS84 most likely,but be careful with older charts). All of this information should befound on the chart itself.
- For more details, you have the SeaClear Manual.
- File, Save Calibration. Repeat ad-lib for any other charts andexit. If everything went well, you'll find a file called CHARTCAL.DIR inthe same directory as you loaded your png chart from. This is used to(finally) make your calibrated chart that OpenCPN will use, as detailed in
Step 4:
- Generate the chart header from the command line:
mc2bsbh CHARTCAL.DIR - You should see:
Create CHART.hdr
(the .hdr file must have DOS newlines) - So type:
tif2bsb -c 127 CHART.hdr chart.tif chart.kap - At which point you should have a chart.kap file that OpenCPN will happily use.
This can be done for many charts at a time by using thetif2bsb batch scriptfrom the mc2bsbh page. If it gives you any problem with lowercase-uppercase names, try:
for i in `find * -depth`; do (mv $i `echo $i|tr [:upper:] [:lower:]`); done
which will convert all files in the current directory to lowercase (works great for me).
If you get an error like /bin/bash^M, no such shell (I did),it's a cr/lf thing, just edit it, type [enter] at the end of each line(there's only 7) and get rid of the blank ones.
Note 1: you can also make the .hdr file “manually”, usinga template and entering the calibration data with a text editor, but Iwon't go into that for the moment.
Note 2 (about the commands, so if there's any problem you know what to look for):
- convert is a command from imagemagick.
- tif2bsb is a command from libbsb.
- mc2bsbh is a standalone thing.
Note 3 (by Jonasberg, on the colors in the conversions):
The "127" is the number of individualcolors used. Sometimes it pays of to reduce this number to get a smallerfile size, say, if you start with a bitmapped format like png thatcontains fewer colors.
Note 4: On the joinpcx script:
If you use it "standalone" and not as part of the "charts" script, change the lines,
convert new1.gif - colors 127 $1.tif
(and .png) to
convert new1.gif -colors 127 `basename $PWD`.tif
(and .png)
because the "$1" will not create files with [directory_name].tif and .png, it won't create any files at all.
Using `basename $PWD`will make files called [current directory name].tif (and .png).
So just edit the script to whatever suits you best.
libBSBLibBSB is essential for converting chart pictures to usable BSB type charts.
Full documentation and source code is available at libbsb.sourceforge.net.
Only binary packages for Debian based Linux distros and Windows areavailable for download here. There may be packages available foralternative operating systems elsewhere.
 libbsb-tools_0.0.7_i386.deb
libbsb-tools_0.0.7_amd64.deb
 libbsb-0.0.7-win32.zip
License and AuthorsOpenCPN is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL)
David S Register
bdbcat@yahoo.com
OpenCPN Lead Developer
Jean-Eudes Onfray
je@onfray.fr
Dialog usability enhancements
Pavel Kalian
pavel@kalian.cz
S52 Rasterization Improvements
Piotr Carlson
pjotrc_at_interia.pl
General usability enhancements
Anders Lund
anders@alweb.dk
RouteManagerDialog
Gordon Mau
gmau@hotmail.com
OpenCPN Documentation
Tim Francis
tim.francis.asia@gmail.com
OpenCPN Documentation
Mark A Sikes
markasikes@gmail.com
OpenCPN CoDeveloper
Thomas Haller
thomasmartin.haller@web.de
GPX Import/Export Implementation
Will Kamp
will@matrixmariner.com
Toolbar Icon design
Richard Smith
smithstrawler@hotmail.com
OpenCPN CoDeveloper, MacOSX
David Herring
dherring@dherring.com
OpenCPN CoDeveloper, MacOSX
Philip Lange
philip.lange@albemarleweb.com
OpenCPN Documentation
Ron Kuris
swcafe@gmail.com
wxWidgets Support
Julian Smart, Robert Roebling et al
wxwidgets.org
wxWidgets Authors
Sylvain Duclos
sylvain_duclos@yahoo.com
S52 Presentation Library code
Manish P. Pagey
pagey@san.rr.com
Serial Port Library
David Flater
software@flaterco.com
XTIDE tide and current code
Frank Warmerdam
warmerdam@pobox.com
GDAL Class Library
Mike Higgins
higgins@monitor.net
BSB Chart Format Detail
Samuel R. Blackburn
sammy@sed.csc.com
NMEA0183 Class Library
Atul Narkhede
narkhede@cs.unc.edu
Polygon Graphics utilities
Jan C. Depner
depnerj@navo.navy.mil
WVS Chart Library
Stuart Cunningham, et al
stuart_hc@users.sourceforge.net
BSB Chart Georeferencing Algorithms
John F. Waers
jfwaers@csn.net
UTM Conversion Algorithms
Carsten Tschach
tschach@zedat.fu-berlin.de
UTM Conversion Algorithms
Ed Williams
http://williams.best.vwh.net/avform.htm
Great Circle Formulary
Philippe Bekaert
CIE->RGB Color Conversion Matrix
Robert Lipe
robertlipe@usa.net
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