I tried the calibration again today.
first I confirmed that when I click the "port range" and "starboard range" buttons on the web interface, nothing happens. Scale stays =1 non linearity stays=0. There are 2 fields to the right of the buttons set to "31" (editable) and 40 (not editable). These fields have no labels and I don't know what they do, if anything.
Then I tried with the OpenCPN plugin on MacOS with OpenCPN 4.6, downloaded the current plugin version from Opencpn.org. I can't find any rudder calibration buttons in it. I used the "centre" button on the web interface to set the centre, then checked the travel each side. I want the rudder travel to be limited between a reading of 6 (maximum port) and a reading of -6 (maximum starboard) EDIT: So I entered those values in the max_rudder and min_rudder boxes on the opencpn config dialogue manually and clicked ok.
I then turned the pilot on and set the course 10 degrees off the heading, watched it gradually move the rudder until it exceeded the limit. There was no MAX_RUDDER display and it continued moving beyond the limit.
I also noticed that on the opencpn plugin, the -110, -10, -1 buttons have all change to a value of 42949(big number cut off), presumably the maximum value of an integer. The starboard ones have the normal 1,10,110 labels.
This all seems rather broken! Is the macos plugin just too out of date to use?
OK A step forward! Having not had any luck with the web interface or the MacOS plugin, I tried installing the android plugin on my Neocore tablet running Android 6.0. This looks better.
I followed the exact same procedure setting the rudder position manually by hand and clicking the centred, port and starboard buttons. This time it worked and now I get the MIN_RUDDER and MAX_RUDDER indicators if I turn the rudder beyond the set limits. Great!
I then tried using the same Android app to set the Max Current setting, but all the boxes on the "Configuration" dialog are broken. The existing value initially appears next to the Max current label but just as a label, not an editable field. There's an empty editable box to the right of that value with up/down arrows but nothing in the editable box. when i click in the editable box I get a flashing cursor there but no on screen keyboard so i can't enter a value. when i click the up arrow, still nothing appears in the editable box and the value in the label next to it changes to 0.0.
max_current also appears in the signal k screen but the slider is partly hidden behind the scroll bar and there's no visible toggle to slide.
slew settings seem to only be in the signal k view. again the right hand side of the slider is obscured by the scroll bar. when I click on the slider bar it always sets the value to 98 or 99 and I still can't see the toggle on the slider.
So I guess ssh remains the only functional way to edit the settings, but the Android plugin can at least set the rudder limits.
I'll mostly be using android tablets when at sea so I guess the priority from my perspective is to either get the android plugin functioning properly on my tablet and/or get the web interface working properly. The Mac plugin seems to need a lot more work and isn't a priority for me. I wish I could help with the fixes but I'm working full time to save some money, right up until we cast off do a quick antifoul and start sailing south! I'll have more time available once we're underway.
first I confirmed that when I click the "port range" and "starboard range" buttons on the web interface, nothing happens. Scale stays =1 non linearity stays=0. There are 2 fields to the right of the buttons set to "31" (editable) and 40 (not editable). These fields have no labels and I don't know what they do, if anything.
Then I tried with the OpenCPN plugin on MacOS with OpenCPN 4.6, downloaded the current plugin version from Opencpn.org. I can't find any rudder calibration buttons in it. I used the "centre" button on the web interface to set the centre, then checked the travel each side. I want the rudder travel to be limited between a reading of 6 (maximum port) and a reading of -6 (maximum starboard) EDIT: So I entered those values in the max_rudder and min_rudder boxes on the opencpn config dialogue manually and clicked ok.
I then turned the pilot on and set the course 10 degrees off the heading, watched it gradually move the rudder until it exceeded the limit. There was no MAX_RUDDER display and it continued moving beyond the limit.
I also noticed that on the opencpn plugin, the -110, -10, -1 buttons have all change to a value of 42949(big number cut off), presumably the maximum value of an integer. The starboard ones have the normal 1,10,110 labels.
This all seems rather broken! Is the macos plugin just too out of date to use?
OK A step forward! Having not had any luck with the web interface or the MacOS plugin, I tried installing the android plugin on my Neocore tablet running Android 6.0. This looks better.
I followed the exact same procedure setting the rudder position manually by hand and clicking the centred, port and starboard buttons. This time it worked and now I get the MIN_RUDDER and MAX_RUDDER indicators if I turn the rudder beyond the set limits. Great!
I then tried using the same Android app to set the Max Current setting, but all the boxes on the "Configuration" dialog are broken. The existing value initially appears next to the Max current label but just as a label, not an editable field. There's an empty editable box to the right of that value with up/down arrows but nothing in the editable box. when i click in the editable box I get a flashing cursor there but no on screen keyboard so i can't enter a value. when i click the up arrow, still nothing appears in the editable box and the value in the label next to it changes to 0.0.
max_current also appears in the signal k screen but the slider is partly hidden behind the scroll bar and there's no visible toggle to slide.
slew settings seem to only be in the signal k view. again the right hand side of the slider is obscured by the scroll bar. when I click on the slider bar it always sets the value to 98 or 99 and I still can't see the toggle on the slider.
So I guess ssh remains the only functional way to edit the settings, but the Android plugin can at least set the rudder limits.
I'll mostly be using android tablets when at sea so I guess the priority from my perspective is to either get the android plugin functioning properly on my tablet and/or get the web interface working properly. The Mac plugin seems to need a lot more work and isn't a priority for me. I wish I could help with the fixes but I'm working full time to save some money, right up until we cast off do a quick antifoul and start sailing south! I'll have more time available once we're underway.