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Pilot Control |
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Download Pilot.ocx Visual Studio Control
The NMEA Sage Pilot ActiveX Control conforms to the NMEA $..APA and $..APB sentences [Autopilot Sentence "A" and the newer Autopilot Sentence "B"] via the APA and APB Methods. This will show Cross Tract Error (XTE), the waypoint name, bearing to waypoint, heading of vessel, and other piloting information. One may also ignore these two Methods and set the control's Properties with similar data.
NOTE:
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The control resizes via the Width Property: the control's height, and all of its internal components, will resize to retain the control's original width-to-height ratio.
When the Heading Property and/or the BearingToDestination Property are unknown, these two Properties should be set to the value of "-1" to denote that status; otherwise, these two Properties must be set from 0 to 360. If the BiasNorth Property is set to False, the Bearing will always point straight up; the Heading will show the deviation, if any, away from that Bearing. |
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If the BiasNorth Property is set to True, the compass will show North at the top (pointing "Up") and the Bearing and Heading, if any, will reflect that northern bias. This is useful for use with printed nautical charts.
A positive Cross Tract Error value to the Property XTE means one should steer left to get back on course; a negative value to the Property XTE means one should steer right. The control shows how many units (nautical miles or kilometers) one is off the track. The BearingStyle Property may be set to Dot or Triangle. Colors for the Heading arrow and Bearing indicator may be changed via the HeadingColor and BearingColor Properties. |
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The control has several Properties to tell it how you want the Cross Tract Error display to function. Using the XTETolerance Property, a vessel may be off its tract by a given margin before the large warning arrow (left or right) shows up. That arrow will remain "solid" (not flash) until the Cross Tract Error (XTE) exceeds the XTEFlashThreshold Property's value. You may also disable the flashing via the XTEFlashEnabled Property.
The FlashSpeed Property may be set to four different intervals. |
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When the vessel comes close to the waypoint, the autopilot will send an "Arrival Circle Entered" flag into the NMEA stream. When this occurs, the control will trigger the ArrivalCircleEntered Event, and the rim of the compass will flash red. The ArrivalCircle Property will be set to True. |
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A vessel may pass a waypoint by a large margin when it is off-course. A plot on the vessel's heading that misses the waypoint by a large margin will cause the autopilot to inject into the NMEA stream a flag denoting "Perpendicular passed at waypoint" when this occurs. When the NMEA Sage Pilot Control sees that flag it will set the PerpendicularPassed Property to True and trigger the PerpendicularPassed Event. |
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The control uses the same color scheme for the Night and Twilight Properties as in all of the NMEA Sage controls. This method gives the programmer a simple way of setting the control to a non-annoying, less-bright display when at night or during dawn and dusk. |
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The control's background color may be set via the BackColor Property.
The colors of the arrows may be set via the LeftArrowColor and RightArrowColor Properties. |
Events:
ArrivalCircleEntered Methods:
Cls Properties:
ArrivalCircle Error Codes
0 - No Current Error |
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NMEA Sage Home Page
The Banded Compass Control |
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