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General Discussion » New B&G H5000 Installation -- What can it show from Expedition » 10/26/2018 9:56 am

Matador
Replies: 5

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Thanks again, Joe,

So maybe I could install a 7" Vulcan MFD or 7" Zeus MFD and have it display the Custom Channels data?

The Vulcan 7" MFD is half the price of an H5000 Graphic Display anyway!

Thoughts? 

General Discussion » New B&G H5000 Installation -- What can it show from Expedition » 10/26/2018 9:36 am

Matador
Replies: 5

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Thanks, Joe,

Wonder if those Custom/External Channels can be displayed on the H5000 GFD's, since the Helm Zeus will generally have the chart displayed.  We can fit up to three H5000 GFD's over the companionway plus one at the helm.  But I don't see anything in the B&G literature that suggests they can display the 'good stuff' from Expedition.

Maybe they can, once the mapping you described is done? Same question for a Triton2 display.

I can't test it out until I buy the system and install it, so would like to be sure I'm buying something that solves my quest.  

Anybody getting this 'esoteric' Expedition data displayed on a H5000 GFD? Or a Triton2? 

General Discussion » New B&G H5000 Installation -- What can it show from Expedition » 10/26/2018 6:25 am

Matador
Replies: 5

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About to spend $20K on new B&G Zeus3 chartplotters, H5000 Graphic Displays, plus the H5000 CPU itself and all the other kit, and it seems CRAZY to STILL have no way to see the Expedition data I want up on deck without dragging a Toughbook or an iPad  or some other cumbersome portable gizmo up on deck. 

Is there a way to force the B&G displays to show some of the Expedition variables that are not part of the PGN list that the B&G system and displays are hardwired for? You know, not routine variables but the good stuff, like %VMC or 'delta target heel' that you won't get out of the H5000 by itself.

Maybe ditch the H5000 GFD;s and go with non-B&G instrument displays that can handle anything Expedition puts out? Which display would that be? Not mast displays, but helm and cockpit displays.

Do I need to shell out $3k more for the B&G "Performance" CPU vs. the "Hercules" CPU to get the "16 user defined variables"? Will that solve the problem anyway?

Or am I still stuck with the band-aid approach of Ventus or NMEARemote feeding some relatively poor hand-held screen?  The new B&G screens are great -- crisp, clear, waterproof, and mounted in prime position. Why can't they show me the data I need from Expedition?

Totally tired of trying to drive the boat while fumbling with some portable gizmo in my hand or a Toughbook in my lap -- or heading below to look at the PC and letting someone else drive and have the most fun.

Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated. 

Technical Q&A » NAM Grib from Squid not Consistent with NOAA Data » 12/10/2017 11:51 am

Matador
Replies: 1

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The same problem as described above with NAM data from NOAA vs. from Squid, as viewed in Expedition, happens with HRRR data.  The wind directions on the Expedition chart are different between the two sources.

My guess is that old man Lambert, as in "Lambert conformal conic projection" is in the middle of this muddle.  He is either being invoked when he shouldn't, or vice-versa is my hunch.

But whatever the issue, it would sure be nice to get consistent results in Expedition no matter the source.  

I am reluctant to see if GFS data has the same problem.  And then it raises the question of the myriad other GRIB files and GRIB sources floating around out there -- will somebody please check them all? Shouldn't take more than a week or so of your time. When we are floating around on the ocean it's nice to know which way the wind might be blowing.

Thanks,

DM

DM

Technical Q&A » NAM Grib from Squid not Consistent with NOAA Data » 12/09/2017 2:07 pm

Matador
Replies: 1

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Looking at a section of Hi Res NAM data over Connecticut this morning, there is an obvious difference in the data obtained from Squid vs. NOAA.  Same hour of the same run from both.

While the wind velocity is consistent across the geography, the wind angle is clocked about 16 degrees in the Squid data vs. the NOAA data.  At least as displayed in Expedition.

Really now, what's 16 degrees between friends? Not much, unless they are sailing upwind against each other!

So somewhere in the labyrinth of software somewhere between France, the USA and New Zealand a bit has been flipped that needs to be unflipped.

Unless I've flipped out.

But study the attached picture and see what I mean. Look closely at any one place on both screens. It helps to look at the wind orientation next to a prominent letter such as the "B" in Boston.  You will see the difference in wind direction.

DM

Technical Q&A » Downloading NAM Gribs from NOAA » 12/09/2017 7:37 am

Matador
Replies: 7

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Nick,

Bingo!  Expedition rounding the area request to the nearest degree would cause the problem I am seeing.

Requesting an area where either the Longitude or Latitude bounds round to the same number causes a system error within Nomads. The Nomad system then gives up and just sends you data for the whole continent!

Brilliant, Nick, thanks!

DM

Technical Q&A » Downloading NAM Gribs from NOAA » 12/08/2017 11:34 pm

Matador
Replies: 7

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Nick,

i've done a little more work on this subject of NAM and HRRR giving me a firehose of data when a small area request is made.

Using NOMADS on the Web for the high resolution NAM grib request, the system will allow me to download a very small area. Making a request using Expedition for the same area sends the whole NAM file down the pipe, tens of megabytes.

For example, requesting of NOMAD the area from 40N73w to 40.1N73.1W works fine, sending a Grib2 fie of less than 1 kb.

Requesting the same area through Expedition results in getting the whole continental USA, a 54 megabyte file.

Now an area that tiny is not much use, but Expedition doesn't seem to work for an area less than a full degree wide and high, approximately, which is larger than is sometimes needed for a spot update.

When out on the boat, it really burns the air time to get tens of megabytes when only tens of kilobytes are needed.

So there must be something lost in translation between drawing a small box in Expedition and sending a server request to NOAA/Nomads (or however the system does it) that results in a big download instead of a tiny one.

This issue might also fix some of the reported "hangs" experienced when requesting NAM or HRRR data, since with a low bandwidth system it would take forever to finish the download.

Thanks!

Technical Q&A » Downloading NAM Gribs from NOAA » 12/08/2017 2:31 pm

Matador
Replies: 7

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The NAM download works ok in large area downloads.  But try downloading an area of just most of Long Island Sound -- you get the whole country.  Same for HRRR. But GFS works properly.

For example, try the Expedition/NOAA HRRR or NAM for a download of one day, wind only, default hour steps of Long Island Sound from Stamford to New Haven, Connecticut -- the whole country file is downloaded.
For a few runs it seemed that having Chart Bounds and/or Image Bounds selected to show was causing the problem, but now the problem happens with or without that selection.  Again, the GFS downloads are fine.

If you extend the selection from, say, Trenton to past Block Island, the download is fine (although slanted and not conforming exactly to the rectangle chosen). See image.

Using version 10.7.9, Windows 7 Pro.

 

Technical Q&A » Downloading NAM Gribs from NOAA » 12/07/2017 10:21 pm

Matador
Replies: 7

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Downloading  NAM gribs from NOAA through Expedition seems to have gone haywire.  The entire NAM model is downloaded (50MBytes) when only a small area and one variable for one day are selected.

On the NOMADS server, downloading ALL NAM variables for that same area (a few square miles) generates a quick little 100KB file. But NOMADS is a pain to issue commands to.

Guess I could just buy Squid service instead, but NOMADS seems to work fine, and $free is good.  Maybe review the commands being generated by Expedition?  NOAA probably changed the NOMADS protocol or something.

Thanks!

 

Technical Q&A » Number Boxes Setup -- Where is Configuration Data Stored » 12/06/2017 7:12 am

Matador
Replies: 1

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Setting up a new computer, I copied over the Expedition "program data" from the old machine to the new one. 

Most everything in the setup came over, but not the Number Box's setup.  

The Number Box setup seems NOT to be in the .mdb, the registry, or other files in Program Data.  Where does it reside?

Thanks.

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