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AdrianP edited this page Sep 21, 2024 · 16 revisions

Freeboard-SK FAQs

Find the answers to common issues here.

About Freeboard-SK

The goal is to create a pure Signal K web based chartplotter (based on Openlayers) to showcase the use of the Signal K specification.

Freeboard-SK is a stateless web application which can be used on a large variety of devices and displays. Stateless means that it: sources all the data it uses from and stores it's configuration on the Signal K server from which it is served making it multi-station and multi-user ready.

Freeboard-SK requires that the necessary Signal K paths are appropriately serviced by the target Signal K server. This will require that the appropriate plug-ins are installed. See README or HELP within the Freeboard-SK app for more.

Topics

  1. What plug-ins do I need?
  2. Why does the loading screen not disappear after an update?
  3. Why can't I save Routes and Waypoints?
  4. Logging-in (authenticating) to the Signal K server?
  5. Why is Course data not being calculated?
  6. What Charts can be displayed?
  7. Why aren't apps in Instruments panel not working?
  8. Can I display recorded Tracks?
  9. Can I display my own resource types? Answer: See Working with Resources
  10. How do I display Resource Sets?
  11. Tips for Developing with Docker

Plug-ins

To ensure the most complete set of functionality the following plug-ins are required and configured:

  1. @signalk/charts-plugin: (Provider for ../resources/charts.) Required to display charts other than OpenStreetMap and OpenSeaMap.
  2. signalk-anchoralarm-plugin: (Provider for anchor position and radius values and anchor notifications.) Required to set anchor alarm.
  3. signalk-simple-notifications: (Provider of notifications.) This plug-in can be used to generate notifications for DEPTH alarms.
  4. signalk-buddylist-plugin: (Provider of notifications.) When configured buddies vessels will display with a different color to identify them from other vessels and notifications are displayed when these vessels are approaching or leaving.
  5. signalk-to-influxdb: (Vessel Track and History data provider.) Required to perform History Playback and display vessel trail stored on the server.

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Why does the loading screen not disappear after an update?

This situation occurs due to previous version Freeboard application files being stored in the browser cache and being used in conjuction with newer files.

To resolve the situation you can tell the browser to not use the cahced version of files by holding down shift whilst refreshing or alternatively clear the browser cache from the browsers settings menu.

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Why can't I save Routes and Waypoints?

  1. If security is enabled on the Signal K server ensure you are logged in (see Logging-In).

  2. Ensure the Resources Provider plugin is enabled on the server and that each desired resource type is checked.

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Logging-In

When security has been enabled on the Signal K server, any operation that writes information back to the server will require that the client is authenticated prior to the performing the operation.

Freeboard-SK supports the the following methods for authenticating to the Signal K server:

  1. Logging-in via the Signal K server Admin UI
  2. Logging-in via the Freeboard-SK menu

Use option 1 when using Freeboard-SK as the same user you use for the Server Admin UI.

Use option 2 when:

  • Using Freeboard-SK on a different device (from the Server Admin UI)
  • To log-in as a different user to the one signed into the Admin UI.

Once you use option 2, you will NOT be able to use option 1 to log-in until you clear the token provided by the server.

To do this in Freeboard-SK:

  1. Select Settings from the menu
  2. Scroll to the Signal K section
  3. Click the Clear Auth Token button (key icon)

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Why is course data not being calculated?

Freeboard does not calculate course data but instead relies on course data to be present on the Signal K server.

Ensure the Course Data Provider plugin is enabled on the server to populate the relevant Signal K paths.

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Charts

Freeboard-SK relies on the server providing chart meta-data via the ../api/resources/charts path. Depending on the types of charts being used, install a suitable chart provider plugin on the Signal K server (e.g. @signalk/charts-plugin) to ensure chart meta-data is available.

Chart types currently supported by Freeboard-SK are:

  1. Image tiles (XYZ)
  2. Vector Tiles (MVT / PBF)
  3. S57 ENC's converted to vector tiles (MVT / PBF)
  4. WMS (Web Map Server)
  5. WMTS (Web Map Tile Server)
  6. PMTiles (ProtoMap files - requires signalk-pmtiles-plugin)

Note: Freeboard does not provide the ability to "side load" charts locally from a device.

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Instruments

Why aren't apps in Instruments panel not working?

The most likely cause of this is your Browser security / cookie settings.

If you have blocked third party cookies in your browser settings, the apps hosted in the Instruments panel will not have access to broswer features (e.g. localStorage) that they may need to operate.

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Resource-Sets

To display resource sets on the map in Freeboard-SK you will need to:

  1. Place your resource set file in the correct location, this is the folder (with the same name you set up in the plugin configuration) located in the resource provider plugin's configuration i.e. ~/.signalk/plugin-config-data/resources-provider/resources/<my_res_set> e.g. If a resource type called islands is configured in the plugin config and then placed the resource set file in the folder ~/.signalk/plugin-config-data/resources-provider/resources/islands

  2. In Freeboard-SK, select your resource set for display by:

  • Clicking the resource layers button to display the menu and then select the resource type you configured (e.g. islands)
  • In the list of resource sets displayed, select the desired one
  • Once selected, the features will be displayed on the map.

image image image

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Tracks.

Whilst not currently part of the Signal K specification Track data stored in GPX files can be imported and displayed using Freeboard-SK.

To achieve this Freeboard-SK requires the ../api/resources/tracks path to be available on the Signal K server with support for HTTP GET, PUT, POST and DELETE operations.

You can configure the Resource Provider plug-in to provision the ../api/resources/tracks path by:

  1. Go to the Server / Plugin Config menu
  2. Expand the Resource Provider (built-in) section
  3. In Resources (Custom) add a new Resource Type
  4. Enter tracks into the text box.
  5. Click Submit.

Now in Freeboard:

  1. Open Settings and go to the Resources: Paths section.
  2. In the list of available paths check tracks.

Now when using the Load GPX File option Tracks contained within the file will be available to be selected and uploaded to the Signal K server.

"Tracks" will be an available resource layer to display in Freeboard.

For more information see Working with Resources

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