OpenCPN is a simple, concise chart plotter/navigator. It is designed to be used continuously at the ships helm station while underway. It will allow the operator to easily track their position on accurate chart images. Additionally, OpenCPN can display tide and current predictions. If you have a suitable AIS receiver it will display AIS information transmitted by AIS equipped vessels.

• It is Open Source software, meaning, among other things, that it is FREE TO DOWNLOAD and use. Escape the commercial paid upgrade treadmill!
• It is "concise," meaning that the feature set is optimized for daily use, and excess features (aka "bloatware") are not present. The application is thus smaller and faster, running acceptably on as little as a 300 Mhz Pentium-II Windows-98 computer. Especially, it starts up and shuts down quickly.
• OpenCPN conforms more closely than many other consumer ECS's to international IMO specification S52 for ENC display. This is a worldwide standard, and promotes portability among watch-keeping officers on all ECDIS equipped ships and boats.
• Based on extensive human factors engineering, the main objective of S52 is to reduce clutter and extraneous information. For example, the colors are very carefully selected to produce the most effective viewing under real bridge conditions. Thus, in high stress conditions at sea (crossings, low viz, etc.), the proper situational awareness is maintained.

• Testing: Use it, cruise it, abuse it, take notes. Your feedback is appreciated.
• Icons, color palettes, etc: Graphic designers invited.

The file structures are:

• Linux machines - usr/bin/opencpn.
• Windows - C:/Program Files/OpenCPN/
• Macs - {to be supplied)

 

ZOOM IN and ZOOM OUT - Magnifying Glass

These change the scale (size on your screen) of the chart you are working with. This allows you to see more details. OpenCPN now supports the use of the scroll wheel to accomplish this.

New in 1.3.6 is the overzoom warning feature which indicates a zoom greater than 4x..

 

 

SCALE IN and SCALE OUT

These buttons will allow you to change the scale of chart you are using.

If a larger scale chart (large scale = greater detail in a smaller area) is available for the location of you mouse pointer will see more than one segmented bar in the lower left hand corner of the chart window. The segmented color bars in the Status Bar -BLUE for Raster Green For ENC's, Brown/Yellow for CM93 charts – The current chart displays as a lighter shade of its color.

When you hover the mouse pointer over the bar a thumbnail of the chart will appear under the SCALE IN/OUT icons. By clicking on the appropriate bar, or using the appropriate HOT KEYS, you will switch to the chart shown in the thumbnail. This feature is especially useful if you wish to view ECN or a Raster chart of the same area.

 

CREATE NEW ROUTE.

Click it. Using the cursor keys navigate to the appropriate chart. Left-Clicking sets a waypoint – Right-Click displays the route context menu.

If creating a route which extends off the currently displayed chart, move the route cursor into the desired area, Right-Click and select 'MAX DETAIL HERE' or 'Scale Out'. This will give you a chart showing the area under your mouse pointer without ending the route. Continue creating the route, using Right-Click drop-down menu zoom wheel or courser keys as necessary change chart, scale and/or zoom or to move the chart under your cursor. Practice to see which combination and methods work best for you.

Activate Route. Turns red - deactivated routes are blue

The current version of OpenCPN has no provision to hide multiple routes so all your routes will show on the chart all the time.

HACK: To keep the chart clear of useful but un-needed routes follow these steps:

• Create your route.
• 'Export to GPX' with an descriptive file name and save it is a created folder called GPX_Routes.
• Delete the route from the chart.
• When needed, simply use the 'Import GPX' to re-load the route file.

Please see here for using routes

 

AUTO FOLLOW

Click on this to center the chart display on your current GPS location and engage Auto Follow (sometime called 'Cruise Mode'), for navigation.

 

TOOL BOX - a.k.a. OpenCPN program settings

Settings – Selections are self explanatory with this exception:

Automatic Anchor Mark

Automatic Anchor Mark drops an anchor marker on the chart provided the following conditions are met:

1. In "Cruising" mode, meaning that speed has at some point exceeded 3.0 kts.
2. Current speed is less than 0.5
3. Opencpn has been up at least 30 minutes
4. And,  opencpn is going down now by normal exit.
5. And, there is no "Anchorage" waypoint within 0.25 NM of current GPS location

If these conditions are all true, OpenCPN will drop a waypoint at the current location, with the name - "Anchorage created on [Date Stamp]".

Thus waypoints are automatically created for known good anchorages as you shut down the computer. The 0.25 NM condition prevents clogging up frequently visited anchorages with closely spaced waypoints.  The other conditions help to prevent spurious waypoints.

Charts:

Set and/or remove your chart directories

Vector Charts: - ENC Chart Settings

{ to be expanded }

AIS - Automatic Identification System (AIS) settings and preferences

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a short range coastal tracking system used on ships and by Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and VTS stations. Information such as unique identification, position, course, and speed can be displayed on a screen or an ECDIS. AIS is intended to assist the vessel's watch-standing officers and allow maritime authorities to track and monitor vessel movements, and integrates a standardized VHF transceiver system such as a LORAN-C or Global Positioning System receiver, with other electronic navigation sensors, such as a gyrocompass or rate of turn indicator.  [AIS description courtesy: www.wikipedia.org].

OpenCPN's AIS function makes it is easy to interrogate targets, see other vessel's courses etc. It will calculate and display CPA and TCPA.

The following is a list of colours and shapes of AIS targets:

AIS TARGET & SHAPES
Colour / Shape	Definition:
RED	Dangerous target, as per CPA & TCPA calculation
YELLOW	Basic AIS info received (MMSI, COG, SOG, navigational status., etc)
GREEN	Extended info received (basic plus name, callsign, destination ....)
An X across the target	This defines an "Old" target, the last info received is older than the the value defined in "Mark target lost after (Minutes)" in the AIS configuration dialog.
blue square with target	AIS Class B target

 

FONTS

Console - the font used in the navigation info window, displayed when a route is activated.

Marks - the font properties used for waypoint marks.

ETC - additional settings

GPX - turns the GPX icons in the toolbar on and off.

Radar Rings - display on/off options, number of rings to display, distance between rings and nautical miles/kilometers settings.

Waypoint locking -toggles the lock/unlock of waypoints.

GUI Options - enable/disable middle mouse wheel Zoom-to-cursor option.

 

Show ENC Text- Click to display S-57 text on your ENC's

Note: This may not appear to work if you have “Show Important Text Only” selected in the 'Settings/Vector Charts' tab. This setting has no function on Raster Charts.

Show Currents

To show or hide current velocity and direction arrows. Click the base of the current arrow to display data for that location.

Show Tides

Shows Tide Stations on chart. Right Click the 'T' icon to display tide information for that location. Close the box to hide the information.

Hint: The tide icon, 'T', remains the same size regardless of chart scale. Zoom out and the icons will be easier to find.

Printer

Makes a remarkably fine cup of decaffeinated coffee and a toasted bacon sandwich, just the thing for a chilly night watch.

If refreshments are not forthcoming, check the printer for a print of the current chart view.

GPX Import

OpenCPN supports the import and export of GPX (GPS eXchange) files. This format contains one of two types of information, TRACKS or ROUTES.

• Tracks: are a record of a journey made. It will contain the minimum of a latitude and longitude of a single waypoint. It usually contains additional information such as mark number, timestamp. etc.
• Routes: are a plan of a journey to be made It must contains a latitude and longitude of at least one waypoint; It may also include other information such as a mark name.

To import a previous track or route, click the GFX-in button and use the file browser to locate the desired file. It will auto load and display in OpenCPN. Loaded GPX can be manipulated within OpenCPN: For instance, a saved outbound track can be used as return route - right-click on the track and select "Reverse Route". Similarly, addition waypoints may be added or removed from the track.

If the GPX Icons are not visible in the toolbar, they can be activated from Settings->Etc.->Show GFX Icons.

GPX Export

GPX Export saves all current routes and tracks into a single file a directory on your hard disc.

Single routes/tracks can be saved to an individual file by right clicking on the line and selecting "export". A file browser will open for yo to save to a directory of your choice.

Track

By default, the track icon is displayed in the toolbar: If it's not visible, tick the checkbox in Tools->Etc.->Show track Icon. Addition settings control the track points by time interval (in seconds) or in nautical mile (resolution 0.00)

Tracking is on upon startup by default. Clicking the icon toggles between enabled and disabled.

Right clicking on a track will generate a popup:

• Track Properties:

• Delete Track: Removes the current track.

• Export... saves the track as a GFX file. This can be re-imported later using GPX IN.

The tracking function does not use course or speed. It uses only the Lat and Lon position data report from the GPS. If you decrease the logging frequency you will get "straighter" lines. Ensure your GPS is set to produce at least three digits of resolution.

GRIB

GRIB (GRIdded Binary) is a mathematically concise data format commonly used in meteorology to store historical and forecast weather data. It is standardized by the World Meteorological Organization's Commission for Basic Systems, known under number GRIB FM 92-IX, described in WMO Manual on Codes No.306. GRIB superseded the Aeronautical Data Format (ADF).

In short, it displays weather information on OpenCPN.

The icon enables and disables the function. If the icon is not visible, it can be displayed from Tools -> GRIB -> Show GRIB Icon. When first used, a pop-up window requests the path to the GRIB information. Any GRIB filename which is grayed out indicates no weather information or data which is unreadable.

OpenCPN currently supports and displays wind barbs and pressure isobars at sea level.

GRIB data available is:

• Wind speed (in Knots).

• Wind Direction.

• Pressure (mBars).

• Significant wave height (in meters).

Please keep in mind OpenCPN is primarily an ECN reader and not a GRIB viewer: GRIBs in OpenCPN are intended to be a convenience for passage planning. Other programs will provide better analysis and display of complete GRIB data models.

Screen Brightness

Clicking this icon will cycle through preset screen/color/brightness settings for day/dusk/night viewing.

Help Files and About OpenCPN information.

The About OpenCPN box. On the first of three tabs you will find the version number and copyright info. The middle tab shows the names and email addresses of the authors of this work and the third tab displays the GNU General Public License.

This document describes the conditions under which this application is licensed to you, the user.

The Chart Data Window

This window provide information on he location of the chart, the name of the area and the chart year.

Its background colour indicates the following.

No GPS connected or signal lost.

GPS connected and signal good.

Georeferencing is deemed unsuitable for navigation.

The latter "unsafe" warning is rare, usually limited to very old BSB V1 charts. Use any ECN information with extreme caution.

The Big Red 'X'

Hit this button or the one above it to shut down OpenCPN. You can also use the Hot key combination [Ctrl] + [Q] to exit the program.

The Bottom Control Bar

The bottom of the screen is reserved for live navigation and other data.

The first line provides a hover link to loaded chart previews. There are four colours:.

Vector Charts- not selected.

Vector Charts - selected .

Raster Charts - not selected.

Raster Chart - selected.

The second line provides real time data from GPS: The information available is:.

• Ship's Position.

• SOG (Speed over Ground)

• COG (Course over Ground)

• Cursor(Lon/Lat of cursor)

• From Own Ship - (Degrees and distance in NM)

• True Scale.

• Zoom

NOTE: OpenCPN can share chart directories with any other installed chart navigation system. There is no need to make a separate directory for OpenCPN charts.

Hint: For XP/Vista: Using the Device Manager, look for a serial port which appears and disappears dynamically as you plug and unplug the USB GPS cable. This is your virtual GPS serial port.

NOTE: OpenCPN automatically configures baud rate, bits, parity, etc. These do not need to be separately specified.

Creating Routes

Please see here for create routes

Using Routes

To use a route, either creating a new route, or load a previously saved track or route from file. Right clicking anywhere on the route line will generate a pop-up which contains the following:

• Activate Route - turns the autopilot/route tracking on.

• Deactivate Route - turns the autopilot/route tracking off.

• Insert Waypoint - adds waypoint into route at cursor.

• Append Waypoint - adds waypoint at end of route.

• Delete Route - remove this route from OpenCPN.

• Reverse Route - reverses start and destinations, A -> B to B -> A. Useful for return leg journeys.

• Route Properties - useful editor and summary of all waypoints, distances and ETA.

• Export... - Saves the current route as GFX file.

• Delete all routes - deletes all routes.

• Send to GPS: Exports the current route and its waypoints to compatible GPS device.

Activate Routes

When the 'Activate Route' is clicked, a new display is opened top right. Clicking the ''Leg/Route' button toggles between"This Leg " and "Route".

The "This Leg" display shows the following data:

• XTE: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

• BRG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

• RNG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

• TTG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

The track chart below the readout provides a graphical representation of the ship's true position relative to the course.

The "Route" display shows the following data:

• ETA: The expected time of arrival at destination

• BRG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

• RNG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

• TTG: {abbreviation to be confirmed}

The track chart display is the same as :This Leg".

Waypoints

Waypoints can be edited by right clicking on them. This generates a popup with the following options.

Please Note: 'Activate Waypoint' and 'Activate Next in Route' are selectable only when 'Activate Route' is turned on: At all other times, they are grayed out.

Activate Waypoint

When the 'Activate Route' is clicked, the first route waypoint will be highlighted and flashing. This priority is changes with 'Activate (this) Waypoint', moving the active status to this mark: It then becomes highlighted and flashing.

Activate Next in Route

This advances the highlighted waypoint to the next in the route.

Remove Waypoint from Route

Deletes the selected waypoint from the current route.

Remove Waypoint from Route

Deletes the selected waypoint from the current route, BUT NOT THE CHART.

Mark/WP Properties

This option provides details and editor for the waypoint.

Options:

• Mark Name - any alpha numeric text label.

• Show Name - check box which show/hides the waypoint name.

• Mark Icon - The waypoint can have anyone of a number of graphical icon marks, each representing a specific function/place type. Useful for identifying anchorages, buoy type, fuel stop, etc.

• Latitude - Latitude of the mark: Direct entry of position will move the mark to the new location.

• Longitude - Longitude of the mark: Direct entry of position will move the mark to the new location.

• Cancel - aborts any changes.

• OK - updates the changes to the chart.

Route Properties.

The route properties box contains both editing and data display functions.

• Name: Editable - the alphanumeric title of the route.

• Depart From: Editable - the alphanumeric title of the departure point.

• Destination: Editable - the alphanumeric title of the dedestination.

• Total Distance: Not editable - total distance in nautical miles.

• Plan Speed: Editable - Hulls speed in Knots.

• Time Enroute: Not editable - Estimated passage time based on distance x hulls speed.

• Waypoints: Not editable - list of waypoints. The data listes is:

• Waypoint ID - by number.

• Waypoint Name - by number or name set in Waypoint properties.

• Distance: - the distance between waypoints - the distance shown for waypoint 1 is the distance from Own Ship's position and waypoint 1: It is not added to the total route distance.

• Bearing - the Bearing in Degrees True from waypoint X to Waypoint X + 1.

• Longitude - position of the mark.

• Latitude - position of the mark.

• Elapsed Time.

• Drop Mark Here: This places a new mark on the Chart. This can be edited as waypoints above.

• Move Boat Here: This moves the boat to the current cursor position.

• Measure: This launches the Measure tool. [see below]

• Object Query: Right-click any object then select Object Query, This launches the Object Properties Box

  By clicking on any category in the left panel, details will be displayed in the right panel.