frcurrents
The plugin uses SHOM tidal current information to display the tidal currents in French coastal areas. Tide times are calculated using non-OpenCPN harmonics downloaded from the Internet when the plugin is first installed.
Initial work by Mike Rossiter (Rasbats) with major improvements by J.P.Joubert (ptizef). Schnapsy assisted with the plugin’s development and provided the tidal harmonics.
An Android version of the plugin is available. The basic functionality is the same.
Installation
The plugin is available in the catalog.
-
Open the OpenCPN Options by clicking on the cogwheel icon in the main toolbar
-
Navigate to the Plugins tab
-
Update the plugin catalog using the button at the bottom
-
Find the frcurrents tile in the list of available plugins and click on it
-
In the presented dialog click the Install button
-
Enable the plugin using the checkbox
-
Apply/Ok
Links
-
Source: Github Repository
Setup
The plugin uses tidal harmonics to calculate the times of high water and the rates of tidal currents. The plugin does not use OpenCPN’s built-in harmonics, but instead uses those based on the Merak56 harmonics.
A .zip file is here:
Or you can use the .rar from here:
Extract the files in the .zip or the .rar to a suitable location on your computer.
When the plugin dialog is opened after installation a message appears advising that no harmonics are installed. Pressing 'OK' opens a folder selection dialog asking you to select the folder containing the tidal harmonics. This is a one-time operation.
Using the plugin
Click the icon in the toolbar.
The plugin dialog appears. By default the dialog shows the Strait of Dover area and the reference port Calais. The tidal current arrows are shown on the chart in this area.
This button opens the preferences dialog.
SHOM provides the tidal current data for several different areas. Clicking the Information button from preferences (Windows) will start your Internet Browser and display those areas. The tidal reference ports for times/heights of high water are listed for each area. With other OS a messagebox appears with links to the same information.
When a new area or port is selected the display changes to a new area of the chart where you will find the tidal current arrows for that area.
If the reference port is changed the chart is centred on that port and the tidal arrows associated with that port are shown.
The dialog shows the coefficient used to calculate the rate of the tidal current. This can be compared with the predictions made by SHOM to gauge the accuracy of the calculations. Small variations are to be expected.
The date and hours before/after high water are shown in the dialog.
Using the buttons in the dialog the time of the predictions can be chosen.
Preferences
This button opens the preferences dialog.
As an alternative to the button in the plugin dialog, preferences can be accessed from the OpenCPN menu bar.
-
Open the OpenCPN Options by clicking on the cogwheel icon in the main toolbar
-
Navigate to the Plugins tab
-
Select the frcurrents plugin line in the catalog
-
Select Preferences
Examples of preference changes are shown here:
Arrow styles:
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Resolution display:
Checked for high resolution displays
Unchecked for low resolution displays
Fill colour:
Unchecked for an arrow outline
Time zone:
Selected for local time
Choose the best option for your display. You may want to display current speeds only to avoid clutter.
Note
SHOM uses low water as the reference for tidal current data for two ports, Le Havre and La Rochelle. The plugin is able to show the tidal arrows for these ports.