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Ok. I installed OpenCPN to a Ubuntu 9.10 laptop by downloading the deb
file and using dpkg to install it. The installation went perfectly and
I now have an additional item in the Applications Menu, "Others" which
contains the menu item to start OpenCPN.

Next I downloaded a utility gpsd which is a damon used to access the
GPS. sudo apt-get install gpsd gpsd-clients. Checked that the damon
was running with ps -lA | grep gpsd. Connected the gps using a RS-232
- USB adapter and started OpenCPN.

No GPS input......

After hacking around a bit I tried setting NEMA Data Source as
/dev/tty/USB1 and closed and restarted OpenCPN and behold! It worked!
Put the whole kit and caboodle in the truck and drove a few miles and
YES! Success! It works.

Now, question. I would like OpenCPN to display both SOG and COG
continuously. Is this possible, and if so how?
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

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On Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:47:52 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Bruce,
This SW really looks good. Please keep us informed on your experience with it. Perhaps your best bet to answer your questions
would be this forum http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ral-30946.html

Steve

I'll give it a look if I ever get a good wifi connection here. At the
moment I can't even get all the messages here.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

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What happened to your antenna project. It was doing so well?
Steve

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:47:52 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Bruce,
This SW really looks good. Please keep us informed on your experience with it. Perhaps your best bet to answer your questions
would be this forum http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ral-30946.html

Steve

I'll give it a look if I ever get a good wifi connection here. At the
moment I can't even get all the messages here.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

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On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:38:12 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

What happened to your antenna project. It was doing so well?
Steve

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:47:52 +0200, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Bruce,
This SW really looks good. Please keep us informed on your experience with it. Perhaps your best bet to answer your questions
would be this forum http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ral-30946.html

Steve

I'll give it a look if I ever get a good wifi connection here. At the
moment I can't even get all the messages here.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Yup. Built a super cantenna and ended up with approximately 4 times
the laptop alone signal. But as of two days ago we moved and the new
place is behind several concrete buildings which offsets the antenna
gain somewhat.

I've got a 4 ft. ex-satellite TV antenna that I am re-doing, using a
cantenna for the feed element that I'll install on a light pole,
hopefully soon, that ought to improve things up a bit.

So far I've built a "pringles", a corner reflector and a quad antenna
in addition to the various cantennas and no doubt that the cantenna is
the way to go..... but of course they are directional and the higher
the gain the more directional.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

More on OpenCPN installation
 

In article , Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

Yup. Built a super cantenna and ended up with approximately 4 times
the laptop alone signal. But as of two days ago we moved and the new
place is behind several concrete buildings which offsets the antenna
gain somewhat.

I've got a 4 ft. ex-satellite TV antenna that I am re-doing, using a
cantenna for the feed element that I'll install on a light pole,
hopefully soon, that ought to improve things up a bit.

So far I've built a "pringles", a corner reflector and a quad antenna
in addition to the various cantennas and no doubt that the cantenna is
the way to go..... but of course they are directional and the higher
the gain the more directional.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

I was talking about these with a radio engineer that I know. He said
that the coffee can (big Nescafe 2kg(?) size) is better than the
pringles can, with only one 'wrap' of the - what's it called, filament?
I can't remember the numbers that he claimed, but they were
considerable. Might be worth a try if you have time on your hands.

Justin.

--
Justin C, by the sea.

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On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:16:32 +0100, Justin C
wrote:

In article , Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

Yup. Built a super cantenna and ended up with approximately 4 times
the laptop alone signal. But as of two days ago we moved and the new
place is behind several concrete buildings which offsets the antenna
gain somewhat.

I've got a 4 ft. ex-satellite TV antenna that I am re-doing, using a
cantenna for the feed element that I'll install on a light pole,
hopefully soon, that ought to improve things up a bit.

So far I've built a "pringles", a corner reflector and a quad antenna
in addition to the various cantennas and no doubt that the cantenna is
the way to go..... but of course they are directional and the higher
the gain the more directional.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

I was talking about these with a radio engineer that I know. He said
that the coffee can (big Nescafe 2kg(?) size) is better than the
pringles can, with only one 'wrap' of the - what's it called, filament?
I can't remember the numbers that he claimed, but they were
considerable. Might be worth a try if you have time on your hands.

Justin.

The original Pringles can antenna was essentially just a yagi type
antenna. Had reflectors and directors made as washers inside the can.

The Cantenna, i.e. coffee can, is a wave guide type of design. There
are design formula on the web, but the diameter, length and position
of the single radiating element (they call it a probe) all interact.
My own experience was that a 3.5 inch diameter can worked best.

My findings, and I built four of them, was that the longer the tube
the more gain you got. The last one I built is 26 inches long and 3.5
inches in dia. I do not have an accurate way to test gain but the
software I have (Wavemon) shows a gain of 4 - 5 times over the built
in laptop antenna.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

More on OpenCPN installation
 

Just curious here, how do you connect the cantenna to the laptop?

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:16:32 +0100, Justin C
wrote:

In article , Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

Yup. Built a super cantenna and ended up with approximately 4 times
the laptop alone signal. But as of two days ago we moved and the new
place is behind several concrete buildings which offsets the antenna
gain somewhat.

I've got a 4 ft. ex-satellite TV antenna that I am re-doing, using a
cantenna for the feed element that I'll install on a light pole,
hopefully soon, that ought to improve things up a bit.

So far I've built a "pringles", a corner reflector and a quad antenna
in addition to the various cantennas and no doubt that the cantenna is
the way to go..... but of course they are directional and the higher
the gain the more directional.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

I was talking about these with a radio engineer that I know. He said
that the coffee can (big Nescafe 2kg(?) size) is better than the
pringles can, with only one 'wrap' of the - what's it called, filament?
I can't remember the numbers that he claimed, but they were
considerable. Might be worth a try if you have time on your hands.

Justin.

The original Pringles can antenna was essentially just a yagi type
antenna. Had reflectors and directors made as washers inside the can.

The Cantenna, i.e. coffee can, is a wave guide type of design. There
are design formula on the web, but the diameter, length and position
of the single radiating element (they call it a probe) all interact.
My own experience was that a 3.5 inch diameter can worked best.

My findings, and I built four of them, was that the longer the tube
the more gain you got. The last one I built is 26 inches long and 3.5
inches in dia. I do not have an accurate way to test gain but the
software I have (Wavemon) shows a gain of 4 - 5 times over the built
in laptop antenna.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

More on OpenCPN installation
 

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:01:47 -0400, "JR" wrote:

Just curious here, how do you connect the cantenna to the laptop?

I have a wifi - USB converter that connects to the antenna probe
using a tiny UHF connection and then USB to the computer. This works
up to about 10 ft. after that there is too much signal drop in the USB
connection. If I ever finish the 4 ft. dish I'll use a wifi to
Ethernet and then Ethernet to USB at the computer. That should allow
me over a hundred ft.

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:16:32 +0100, Justin C
wrote:

In article , Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

Yup. Built a super cantenna and ended up with approximately 4 times
the laptop alone signal. But as of two days ago we moved and the new
place is behind several concrete buildings which offsets the antenna
gain somewhat.

I've got a 4 ft. ex-satellite TV antenna that I am re-doing, using a
cantenna for the feed element that I'll install on a light pole,
hopefully soon, that ought to improve things up a bit.

So far I've built a "pringles", a corner reflector and a quad antenna
in addition to the various cantennas and no doubt that the cantenna is
the way to go..... but of course they are directional and the higher
the gain the more directional.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

I was talking about these with a radio engineer that I know. He said
that the coffee can (big Nescafe 2kg(?) size) is better than the
pringles can, with only one 'wrap' of the - what's it called, filament?
I can't remember the numbers that he claimed, but they were
considerable. Might be worth a try if you have time on your hands.

Justin.

The original Pringles can antenna was essentially just a yagi type
antenna. Had reflectors and directors made as washers inside the can.

The Cantenna, i.e. coffee can, is a wave guide type of design. There
are design formula on the web, but the diameter, length and position
of the single radiating element (they call it a probe) all interact.
My own experience was that a 3.5 inch diameter can worked best.

My findings, and I built four of them, was that the longer the tube
the more gain you got. The last one I built is 26 inches long and 3.5
inches in dia. I do not have an accurate way to test gain but the
software I have (Wavemon) shows a gain of 4 - 5 times over the built
in laptop antenna.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

More on OpenCPN installation
 

In article , Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:01:47 -0400, "JR" wrote:

Just curious here, how do you connect the cantenna to the laptop?

I have a wifi - USB converter that connects to the antenna probe
using a tiny UHF connection and then USB to the computer. This works
up to about 10 ft. after that there is too much signal drop in the USB
connection. If I ever finish the 4 ft. dish I'll use a wifi to
Ethernet and then Ethernet to USB at the computer. That should allow
me over a hundred ft.

That's gonna be quite some windage at the top of the mast!

Justin.

--
Justin C, by the sea.

More on OpenCPN installation
 

Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:01:47 -0400, "JR" wrote:

Just curious here, how do you connect the cantenna to the laptop?

I have a wifi - USB converter that connects to the antenna probe
using a tiny UHF connection and then USB to the computer. This works
up to about 10 ft. after that there is too much signal drop in the USB
connection. If I ever finish the 4 ft. dish I'll use a wifi to
Ethernet and then Ethernet to USB at the computer. That should allow
me over a hundred ft.


My dumb question of the day...

Short of duct tape, how does one make sure that USB connectors
stay connected?

It's bad enough with the rats nest behind my computer - which is
not pitching, rolling and bounding the ocean main.


--

Richard Lamb