Expedition Navigation Software 
1 - nav
- Expert
Offline - Registered: 12/20/2015
- Posts: 91
Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Hello,
I'm using Expedition on a boat with a WTP2 processor.
I have Deckman running as well, Expedition receives all necessary data via DfW2Exp without problems.
Now I'd like to send data (i.e. start time, Brg to mark etc.) from Expedition to the WTP2 to show them on the FFDs.
The remote channels within deckman work fine:
In the deckman data folder I have some remote channels defined in a file called WTPout.d .
The file looks like this:
117 1
137 2
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
-1 -1
With this file the B&G variables 117 and 137 are sent out to the WTP2 (in this case they are filtered channels for SOG and COG as the data coming from the GPS is quite noisy)
On the wtp2 there is a usermenu.d file where I can define additional menus for the remote channel
Usermenu.d looks like this:
DECKMAN 01b1 03
REMOTE1 01b1 01 F0
REMOTE2 01b1 02 F1
REMOTE3 01b1 03 F2
REMOTE4 01b1 04 F3
CWA______@ 0112 04 A8
CWS______@ 0112 05 A9
RIG 01b2 04
FORESTAY_T 01b2 01 CC
TARG_SPDKT 01b2 02 AC
AWA______@ 01b2 03 AD
RUDDER___@ 0107 04 0C
HEEL_TGT_@ 010c 05 AA
HEEL_DIF_@ 010c 06 AB
====================================
line type 1: adds a menu. Only required if menu not already on FFD
Example:
DECKMAN 01b1 03
Menu title (appears on FFD)
menu number - Use 01b1, 01b2, 01b3 etc.
order in chain - 0 appears first on FFD (i.e. before SPEED)
line type 2: adds items to menus
menu item name (appears on FFD)
menu number (as per standard FFD list or defined via type 1 (above)
order in item chain
B&G function number (hex). Use ranges a1-a4 and a8-ae)
You can add all items to the same menu, or create a new menu (e.g. "CUSTOM") or add to an
existing FFD menu by using numbers below:
SPEED 0102
LOG 0103
DEPTH 0104
NAVIGATE 0105
WIND 0106
PERFORM 0107
WAYPOINT 0108
MOTOR 0109
TEMP 010a
TIME 010b
MISC 010c
PARAMTR 0112
EXTERNAL 0113
I have an extra menu on the FFDs called 'Deckman', where I can select now the remote channels when deckman is running.
To send an Expedition channel to the WTP2 I selected a remote channel in the top right corner of Dfw2Exp. But the channel is not available on the FFD.
Has anyone here succesfully sent a channel from Expedition to a WTP2 before? Do I miss something?
- ndeskovic
- Contributor
Offline
- Registered: 2/03/2017
- Posts: 7
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Dear nav,
I bought a old tp52 which came with a B&G WTP2 CPU and a Racevision2 tablet with Deckman SW. Everythiing works fine but this handheld is from 2006 and "flintstones" like and I was wondering if it is possible to buy a new tablet with Expedition SW on it as you discribed it in your post. Can you give me a hint how to do this (connecting WTP2 and tablet) and what tablet do you use?
Best regards
Niko from Germany
- DuncanR
- Expert
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- From: Up and down East Coast Aus
- Registered: 9/16/2015
- Posts: 470
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Nav
I have roughly the same setup, WTP2/Deckman/Expedition (what were they thinking?). Maybe I'm missing something, but why bother? Why not just take Exp variables out to the instruments?
- ndeskovic
- Contributor
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- Registered: 2/03/2017
- Posts: 7
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
DuncanR
What tablet device do you use to run Deckman and Expedition on it? I have the 10 year old RaceVision2 from Panasonic and I would like to replace it since batterylife is poor and looks outdated. Which devices would you recommend and how would you connect it to the WTP2? I assume you would need on top to the tablet a notebook or PC inside the boat to run Deckman for controling instruments and WTP2 and using the tablet as a race companion on deck. Has anyboy thought about using a plotter (eg. Zeus3) with the GoFree function to submit WTP2 data to a remote handheld even an IPhone 7s?
- DuncanR
- Expert
Offline
- From: Up and down East Coast Aus
- Registered: 9/16/2015
- Posts: 470
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Nd
Indeed, I didn't understand the ramifications of what you are trying to do, which I now understand is bringing WTP2 feeds directly into a remote device running its own Expediition .... hmmmm .... never tried.
My setup is a laptop downstairs plugged into the instruments via ethernet, plus a tablet on deck running screen emulation software, in my case Splashtop, around which there is another long thread.
The current tablet is a brand new Panasonic Toughbook. My jury is out because the previous year-old Toughbook died due to internal corrosion, and Panasonic so far won't play ball on the warranty. This makes me cynical about the standard, but watch this space.
- ndeskovic
- Contributor
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- Registered: 2/03/2017
- Posts: 7
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
That is exactly the setup that I meant, In the menawhile I found out that my archaic device is a Walkabout Technologies device from 2005 which was aquired by DEC Tech. who produce army rough devices...not our ballgame I assume. So now I would be interested how to connect a laptop to the etehrnet and read the WTP2 data. I read that I need a copy of the Deckman SW on it and even a dongle? Any clue or recommendation?
- ndeskovic
- Contributor
Offline
- Registered: 2/03/2017
- Posts: 7
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
I found on the B&G website under support, that you can download the Deckman.exe Version 1,5 from 2012. Would that do the job to connect WTP2 to the laptop? Does that mean that I do not need to purchase an additional Deckman License any more? Still how do I read then the sensor data to feed the Expedition Software in the same laptop?
- DuncanR
- Expert
Offline
- From: Up and down East Coast Aus
- Registered: 9/16/2015
- Posts: 470
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Nd, yes you need a Deckman license which is enabled by a dongle, and my understanding is that this is not free. WTP 2/3 only talks to Expedition though Deckman, as I understand it.
So on my ship we have a pair of dongles coming in through a USB hub into the laptop, one for Deckman and one for C-Map charts, the latter the joy of yachting around Australia.
And so you:
1. Buy Deckman and install on laptop;
2. Ensure Deckman/laptop understands WTP input - you can view in Deckman;
3. Open the interface file Dfw2Exp (go to Expedition/Applications and set to open automatically)
4. Open Expedition.
Expedition should then read the WTP instrument data OK. I should say that better navvys than I navigate off Deckman - but I've learned Expedition routines and I'm not in a hurry to change systems. Call it the installed base!
And the, pick your poison as to terminal emulation software.
Cheers
- nav
- Expert
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- Registered: 12/20/2015
- Posts: 91
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
Duncan, I have pretty much the same setup as you described. As far as I know there is no way to get around deckman if you have a WTP2.
Are you able to send data from Expedition to the FFDs and if so, how exactly do you do it?
For example In a start I'd like to send the starting time to one of the mast FFDs. If I'd use deckman for the start I can easily do that, as I can send all deckman channels to the FFDs without problems.
When I use Expedition for the start - which I strongly prefer - the only disadvantage is that I'm not able to show the starting time that I set in Exp. on the FFDs as I don't know how to send it to the WTP2.
- •
Thread Starter- DuncanR
- Expert
Offline
- From: Up and down East Coast Aus
- Registered: 9/16/2015
- Posts: 470
Re: Expedition remote channels & WTP2
G'day Nav
Greetings from the Hunter Valley (North of Sydney) for Simple Minds, great show except for the temperature, which topped at 47 degrees C for one of the support acts ....
This all being a preamble for my answer, which is I theink you just ignore Deckman for this and go through Expedition Settings/User Channels - but as my copy of Expedition on a laptop in the Hunter Valley is a long way from an instrument connection I can't be sure.
Anybody else?