idea/feature request: add common classical navigation tools

[quantenschaum]

I just came across AngelNav by Tom Cunliffe. It features some nice tools for classical chart work like you would do it on paper charts.

• draw a bearing line
• draw a range circle
• fix from multiple bearings
• calculate course to steer
• estimated position

There are some videos on how this works and looks like. https://www.angelnav.co.uk/videos.html

It would be nice to have this available in AvNav as well.

I made a quick and dirty implementation on http://waddenzee.duckdns.org/, the icons on the left.
You can use them to draw things like this on the map.

What do you think of this?

[wellenvogel]

For sure an interesting idea.
One of the major issues is always to find a nice usable workflow - especially on touch devices.
And currently the number of buttons at the nav page is already close to the limit.
So potentially it would require some new concepts there.
In the moment my major focus is at the new ocharts implementation - maybe afterwards...

[quantenschaum]

Or I give it a try to write a plugin...

another topic but anyways: What has changed with ocharts?

How are the charts actually rendered? Do you use an opencpn lib for that? If yes it would also be capable of renderering unencrypted ENCs like available from NOAA. Could that be supported as well?

[wellenvogel]

How are the charts actually rendered? Do you use an opencpn lib for that? If yes it would also be capable of renderering unencrypted ENCs like available from NOAA.

Currently the o-charts_pi plugin is used. Are you sure that it could render unencrypted ENCs (i.e. did you ever do it with the plugin)?
I don't think so. OpenCPN itself can do this.

But any way the new ocharts plugin for AvNav will just reuse the license management and some basic stuff from the OpenCPN plugin - and it will be able to render S57 charts - after a conversion to the senc format.

[quantenschaum]

No, I don't know much about these details. The ocharts just look like in opencpn, so I thought the renderer of opencpn is used and since opencpn can display unencrypted S57 ENCs avnav could too somehow.

[quantenschaum]

The way you made it touch-operable, the big buttons (re-sizable!) and selection of points by clicking/touching or moving the map center to the desired location is superb! That really works in shaky conditions. Especially in rough and wet conditions I found plotters with real buttons like the B&G Zeus better to operate, touch alone might be difficult then but touch is faster and more comfortable in easier weather. My personal experience.

So, what about an additional set of buttons for other actions appearing near the touched location when you touch/click and hold a point on the map (not moving or zooming, just hold for short time)?

inspired by the Krita's Pop-up Palette

These buttons are of course and out of the way hidden but there when you need them. And you have to RTFM or try it to find out that it works like this. It's like clicking on the RTE widget in the left to edit the route. I would not have thought of it working this way, but once you know, it's perfect.