OpenCPN Changelog

What's new in OpenCPN 5.8.4

Jun 15, 2023

Some features of OpenCPN include:
Quilted Raster(RNC) and Vector(ENC) digital chart display.
Support for MBTiles photo and geographical chart overlays.
Industry standard GPS receiver interfacing, with "moving map" on-screen vessel tracking.
AIS receiver interfacing with configurable target safety monitoring.
Integrated Route, Track, and Waypoint database, with industry standard Import/Export capabilities.
Tide and Current prediction, with on-screen overlay of predicted data.
Broad International Language support.
PlugIn architecture allowing on-going third-party functional enhancements.

New in OpenCPN 5.8.2 (May 1, 2023)

New in OpenCPN 5.8.0 (Apr 14, 2023)

New in OpenCPN 5.6.2 (Apr 23, 2022)

New in OpenCPN 5.6.0 (Dec 6, 2021)

New in OpenCPN 5.2.0 (Jul 16, 2020)

Version 5.2 includes a number of new features as well as a large number of bug fixes. Here we concentrate on the new features in OpenCPN. It is also important to know about the bug fixes, especially for users that have never used the 4.8 series of OpenCPN releases.
Main New Features:
New Plugin Management System:
Allows Plugin installing and updates from within OpenCPN using a trusted repository. The new plugin-manager is a big bonus for users, especially for users on Windows and Mac that lacks package manager. All available plugins are accessible from within the program. No separate downloads are needed.
Signal K:
With version 5.2, OpenCPN has integrated support for signalK input data streams.
OpenCPN is currently not configured to output Signal K messages. Signal K is a Free and Open Source universal marine data exchange format - see signalk.org
Signal K plays the same role as NMEA0183 and NMEA2000, but is a better and more modern alternative.
Signal K can co-exist with the legacy protocols. It is, for example, possible to read and write NMEA2000 via Signal K.
Further plugins and/or hardware may be needed. Consult the forum , for a lot of examples and advice on this issue. In OpenCPN, Signal K is treated as a network connection among others, in "Options->Connections".
In the picture above we have started to create a Signal K connection. The option "Discover Now" has just been used. OpenCPN has discovered a Signal K server running on the local computer and entered Address and DataPort.
If the "Automatic Server Discovery" is selected, then the IP address and Port entered in the Connections Parameters dialog does not matter, and will be ignored. The connection will "discover" a signalK server while opening, and use it's IP address and port for communication. The found connection will be displayed for information.
The Websocket port is 3000 and is normally used by OpenCPN.
Existing Dashboard instruments now also understand the SignalK (SK) specific messages when connected to a SK server. So if e.g. NMEA2000 (N2K) instruments are connected to SK applicable data will be shown in Dashboard. No need to manually transfer to NMEA0183 in SK.
New "Head-Up" Navigation Mode:
For those who have a heading sensor available, and access to NMEA0183 HDT sentences, this navigation mode orients the chart display so that the ship's head is "up". If a heading sensor is not available, the "Head-Up" mode functions identically to "Course-Up" mode for compatibility with existing systems.
All the heading options are available in "Chart Panel Options".
A new, pink version of the heading and gps icon is used to depict the head-up state.
Other New Features:
DOCKING THE DASHBOARD WITH DUAL CANVASES:
A vertical dashboard is only dockable at the far right of either canvas. There is a bit of a trick to make this work.
Start with a vertical dashboard in the left window. Drag the dashboard slowly towards the divider, by pressing the left mouse-button until you see a shaded vertical area.
CLEARER DISPLAY OF DEPTH SOUNDINGS:
There is a new high-definition font for depth soundings on vector charts (ENCs).
The new font makes the soundings much clearer and easier to read.
REALTIME PREDICTION OF AIS TARGET LOCATION:
"Draw AIS realtime prediction" if the minimum target speed is 0.7 knots.
With this item activated OpenCPN 5.2 uses the target's last known speed and course to predict the current position. The predicted position is a grayed out target item.
AIS, ROUTES AND TRACKS:
Further down in the AIS menu under "Rollover" is another change. "Enable route/AIS info block". Which means that you now can turn these features off.
MORE AIS RELATED FEATURES:
Support has been added for AIS message 27. Long range position report.
This message is primarily intended for long-range detection of AIS Class A and Class B “SO” equipped vessels, typically by satellite. Virtual AIS marks are being introduced in many countries.
OpenCPN 5.2 ENC charts now shows embedded V-AIS symbols.
OpenCPN has adopted the international ECDIS standard symbols for vector-charts.
New international terminology is also introduced for various combinations of physical & virtual Aids to Navigation - ATON.
MBTILES A SUPERIOR OVERLAY:
MBTiles was introduced in OpenCPN 5.0, and has quickly become popular due it's very clear picture rendering.
When viewing an Mbtiles overlay for the first time, it is hidden and must be displayed with that RED X selection. This is a performance optimization. It can help avoid excessively long startup and group switch time when large tilesets are in use.
In 5.2 tile highlighting is implemented on MBTiles piano button rollover. Similar to, for example raster charts.
NOTE: MBTiles Should Not Be Considered "Real" Charts, but An Overlay:
Because:
They do not contain the correct metadata to ensure safe navigation. There is no way to know what the content of an MBtiles represents. The tiles are simply georeferenced PNG images, without backup information. It is disturbingly easy to build and distribute an MBTiles dataset that is just plain wrong. And if the tile coverage applies to an unfamiliar geographical area, the user will have no way of knowing that fact.
They are mostly homemade, with absolutely no provenance. They could be georeferenced totally in error, and there is no way to know, or even test for this.
In a place where only GSHHS and MBTiles are present, OpenCPN is simply a useful visualization tool, but certainly not, on it's own, suitable for navigation for an inexperienced navigator.
Having said all that, MBTiles is certainly a huge step forward compared to buying postcards with aerial pictures of reef passes commonly seen in French Polynesia, for example, 30 - 40 years ago.
SIMPLIFIED INSTALLATION ON MAC-OS:
The new pkg installer is a complete installer.
OpenCPN will be properly installed and ready to run. It is doing what one would expect. Simple and not prone to user error.
Background:
The old "dmg" way produced a folder that needed to be dragged manually into the macOS Application folder once the "install" ended. Furthermore the dmg produced a virtual disk device which needed to be "ejected" to make it disappear after install.
Quite a few users started OpenCPN from the virtual device and not from "Applications" running into issues with plugins later on.
LINUX CHANGES:
OpenCPN now supports Linux Flatpaks, that makes it possible to install OpenCPN from about 25 different Linux distributions.
The current support for Ubuntu and other Debian based systems has not changed.
OpenCPN is now accepted by Debian and available from their repositories.
It follows that on Debian based Linux systems, including Ubuntu, OpenCPN now can be installed either the traditional way, using a PPA, or through Flatpak.
All about Flatpak and OpenCPN is documented in this Cruisers Forum thread.
Version 5.2 has support for the new Ubuntu LTS version 20.04 - Focal Fossa.
Focal has dropped the support for Gtk2 and only supports Gtk3. This has led to a number of code changes, bugs and otherwise, in OpenCPN.
All plugins must be specifically compiled for Focal. Older versions will not work.
Check the availability of your favorite plugins before you update!
A known problem with gtk3, occur when using Screen Scaling > 100%: The chart is only filling lower left corner of the available space in the OpenCPN frame.
Changed linux lockfile name and location.
No more restrictions on calling a file "opencpn" in the home directory.
The file is now $HOME/.opencpn/_OpenCPN_SILock
CHART SCALE DIALOG:
A Chart Scale dialog is available by clicking on the chart scale in the MUIBar, "1:31000" as shown on image above.
The dialog makes it possible to change the scale. Clicking "OK" on the picture changes the displayed scale to 1:35000.
The value can be entered as 35000 or 1:35000, the result is the same. The scale is changed to 1:35000.
One use of this feature can be to synchronize the canvases in the dual windows layout.
Note that when a canvas is so narrow that the MUIBar is vertical instead of horizontal,the scale is not shown at all. Hence, it cannot be changed.
USER STANDARD OBJECTS:
Only if Chart Panel Options -> Display Category is set to "User Standard", is it possible to change settings in "Options->Charts->Vector Charts->User Standard Objects" Otherwise "User Standard Objects" are grayed out.
IMPROVED LABEL FOR MOB:
The MOB label now includes date as well, to make it easier to identify when a MOB waypoint was created.
ROUTE-LEG INFO ON ROLLOVER:
Compute and display cumulative distance from route start point to current leg end point and RNG, TTG, ETA from ship to current leg end point for active route.
SHOW TRACK POINT DATE/TIME:
Show track point date/time added option for mouse rollover to display track point date/time.
It requires a manual edit of the opencpn.ini(conf) file.
ZOOM BUTTONS SETTING:
A new setting changes how much the zoom buttons adjust the zoom.
It requires a manual edit of the opencpn.ini(conf) file.
LIGHT COLORS:
More navigation light colors in the chart object query dialog. Adding yellow and blue, showing white as "white" in object query, but still as "yellow" on chart for clarity.
(May not be working yet on oeSENC)
CM93 SLIDER RELOCATED:
Detail slider has been relocated to Display->Advanced, where similar sliders exists for raster- and other vector- charts.
NIGHT NAVIGATION:
To change color scheme press this button in the main toolbar, alternatively use the hot keys "F5" or "C"
Changing Color Scheme works a bit different in 5.2.
In previous versions the four available levels were: the Default level, the Daylight level, the Dawn or Dusk level, and finally the Night level. For most charts Daylight and Default levels were the same. Only NOAA raster charts had a minor difference.
This meant that after "Night Level" the next lever was Daylight, even if it was just dawn.
The new sequence is smarter for practical night navigation:
Daylight - Dusk/Dawn - Night - Dawn/Dusk - Daylight.
So no lost dark-seeing for the navigator because of OpenCPN, when Dawn comes along.
MODE AND OTHER OPTIONS:
If you see this dialog, your last session probably failed.
Safe mode disables plugin loading and OpenGL.
If there was no problem with your last session, just press "No" or wait for 15 seconds.
There is also a command line option "-safe mode".
Another new command line option is introduced for the amount of logging.
Use the option "-h" for syntax and more info.
On linux the traditional "$man opencpn" command gives even more information.
Please note that to enable full logging opencpn needs to be started with --loglevel debug.
WMM PLUGIN:
The built in plugin for the World magnetic model, providing accurate magnetic variation, is updated to WMM2020 and valid until December 31, 2024.
NEW OPTIONS FOR THE GRIB PLUGIN SETTINGS:
Data Display Options has added "Composite reflectivity" to the options.
Composite reflectivity is a factor in forecasting severe convection activity.
The grib-plugin now uses a combined wave and swell direction and period, if available.
CHART DOWNLOADER PLUGIN:
For Windows only. When downloading US charts, avoid using the "All RNC or All ENC" options. Instead use the other options to specify sub-regions. The reason is a Windows bug that leads to a seemingly "hung" system. There is no penalty for using this solution because you can still update all charts with a single click. And the charts are identical.

New in OpenCPN 5.0.0 (Jul 16, 2020)

New in OpenCPN 4.99.1520 RC2 (Mar 21, 2019)

New in OpenCPN 4.8.0 (Aug 14, 2017)

New in OpenCPN 4.6.1 (Apr 5, 2017)

New in OpenCPN 4.6.0 (Mar 17, 2017)

New in OpenCPN 4.5.213 Beta (Feb 14, 2017)

New in OpenCPN 4.0.0 (Sep 29, 2015)

New in OpenCPN 3.2.2 (May 10, 2013)