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We will soon be the new owners of Blue Moon and bringing her home to Fort Walton Beach. I would like to buy a tablet to use as backup navigation. I prefer the Android over the Apple. The primary requirement that it have true GPS so it will work in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone currently using a tablet for offshore navigation?
Pat Tye -
We use an Apple ipad on Bel Esprit. We bought some great charts from the App Store.
Elaine Patton
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 23, 2014, at 9:54 PM, “typhoontye” wrote:
We will soon be the new owners of Blue Moon and bringing her home to Fort Walton Beach. I would like to buy a tablet to use as backup navigation. I prefer the Android over the Apple. The primary requirement that it have true GPS so it will work in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone currently using a tablet for offshore navigation?
Pat Tye_______________________________________________
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We have a 7″ Samsung Android tablet that works reasonably well. There are several marine navigation apps, including Navionics which comes with all the Navionics charts and does waypoints. Got it at Costco.
They also do boat speed and gps compass. Since they have bluetooth and wifi there’s potential to interface for other data. The downside, IMHO, would be the lack of weatherproofing and relatively short battery life between charges.
They are also good for going ashore to do Internet.
If you have an Android phone, check out the apps using that.
Quent -
Welcome to the club, Pat.
I’m usually the last one to adopt new technologies –
just bought my first-ever cell phone, and that only for
its wifi hotspot feature (which I’m using now in an
otherwise wifi-less Exumas anchorage). An Android table
is on my shopping list when I get back to the States,
but for navigation I will continue to use an old,
dedicated laptop that still runs Windows XP, constantly
charged via a 12V-16V power adapter plugged into a
cigarette lighter connection at the nav station. The
laptop sits on the nav table upon a square of non-skid
fabric from Wal-Mart (I think it’s sold as shelf
liner), with a bit of sail twine securing it to the
outboard bulkhead so it can’t go flying when the boat
is hard over on the starboard tack. It has stayed put
through all kinds of weather, even when other things
went flying. Mine is a Panasonic Toughbook, but I
imagine almost any old laptop would serve this purpose
belowdecks. I plug in a $15 GPS puck, 2-way AIS and a
mouse and I believe I’ve got it all.My nav program is Capn version 6, no longer available
except 2nd-hand. Unlike the newer Capn versions and, I
expect, many other programs, Capn 6 recognizes pretty
much every digital chart format ever used, including
the older ones. That is essential for me because some
years ago the cruiser who gave me the program also
loaded onto my hard drive countless digital charts of
various origins and formats, including detailed harbor
charts for practically every cove in this hemisphere, a
cruising sailor’s gold mine! I’d beware of programs
that require buying charts only from them. It will be
expensive and may limit what’s available to you.Capn 6 is too old to recognize my AIS, so for that I
simultaneously run OpenCPN, a constantly evolving,
cruiser-developed nav program available online for
free. It may be that if I ever sit down and study how
to use OpenCPN I might not need Capn 6 anymore – I
think it recognizes the older chart formats – but I’m
used to what I’ve got; it works, and so I haven’t
bothered. The two programs together cover all the
bases.A note of caution: Digital navigation is wonderful, but
print out hard copies of the harbor charts along your
intended route before you set sail. Someday the
electronics – laptop, tablet, whatever – will fail
mid-way. Be sure you can still get where you’re going
when they do.Reef early,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Samsung has a built in gps that works quite well. Nav programs do not need wifi or bluetooth and the tab with Navionics app has all the charts in memory. It is essentially a charting portable gps. You will need a shady spot to see the screen. Nav wise, it was fine both on Chesapeake Bay, and on a trip in the Galapagoes.
Regarding backup, I agree with Tor’s wisdom on carrying paper backup. Position is critical as well. We carry a couple portable gps units and extra batteries that are bulletproof and autonomous.
I like our Raymarine C-80 chartplotter because it is weatherproof and doesn’t have the laptop moving parts, namely the hard drive that could crash. The Raymarine gps, not so much. It got weird last time in the Gulf Stream, and got replaced by a Garmin.
Quent -
Thanks for the input. I was convinced it would work without wifi as long as it has true GPS but a “technical expert” told me otherwise. She was most likely doing some serious CYA so I thought I would ask some real end users. We have well used, well loved paper charts that always travel with us but we’ve done enough cruising to want backups to the backups. The boat has a relatively new Raymarine C-140 that will be a learning process in itself. I have Navionics downloaded to my phone to play with and like its features plus it is compatible with the chartplotter software. I am not a true techie but I can find my way around most programs. I am also teaching myself Celestial Navigation. My husband gave me a nice Sextant for Christmas and we have a lot of friends helping me figure things out. I hope to be proficient by the time we’re back in Northwest Fl. We look forward to meeting up with other 424 owners/cruisers.
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Any tablet (like the Acer Iconia) with Android and a real GPS receiver will
work with the apps that DON’T NEED TO DOWNLOAD CHARTS. You just need to be
sure it has a GPS receiver. If it doesn’t have cell access (no sim card)
and it can find itself on Google Maps or Earth, then it has a GPS receiver
and all you need is an app and the charts. There are apps that will
display the unit’s lat and long as well as speed and they work with the
internal GPS. If there is none, they will tell you.Bob
On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 9:56 AM, quent wrote:
Some cell phones use cell towers for location but unless you get your
tablet from a phone company, it won’t do that.
I don’t know about getting the tablet to talk to the chart plotter. Seen
to remember something about ipod talking to Fugawi software on a laptop.
You could check with them.
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Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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I have an Iphone and Ipad. My backup chartplotter runs on both. Frankly, it is more important to me that the chartplotter run on the cellphone than on my Ipad. I got caught in the fog in the dinghy one evening a few years back. Although I had a compass onboard, I wish I had a chartplotter of some sort. It was a long trip down a winding channel. I realize that you don’t like Apple products, but consider getting something that runs on your cellphone, perhaps a new cellphone if necessary.
My backup for my sailboat is actually a laptop below at my chart table. The phone and tablet chart-plotters are backups for that or for use in the dinghy. The nice thing about tablet apps is that they are cheap. Since I had the Ipad and Iphone, getting a charting app was a no-brainer. Many apps run on both. If you buy for one, it installs on the other automatically.
Too bad we don’t have a backup for GPS. The bone-heads in Washington cut off funding for LORAN and took the chains down. If the GPS system goes down, we’re screwed. I worked on the GPS system back in the ’70’s and have a good understanding of the system vulnerabilities. There are events that could take the system down.
Rich
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Hi Rich,
Loran E is still available, with the main problem that no marine receivers
exist. There was talk a couple of years ago of making one, but no one
seemed interested. Its advantage was that not only did it tell you where
you were, it told you your heading. Now the only way to get a stable
heading at rest is with two GPS receivers.I wonder what’s going to happen with Russia’s COSPAS that will be a newer
and more accurate version of GPS.GPS is currently suffering from satellite end of life issues. I think of
the 8 initial spare satellites there are only one or two left.Get out the sextant, people!
Bob
On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 10:21 AM, wrote:
Quote:I have an Iphone and Ipad. My backup chartplotter runs on both. Frankly,
it is more important to me that the chartplotter run on the cellphone than
on my Ipad. I got caught in the fog in the dinghy one evening a few years
back. Although I had a compass onboard, I wish I had a chartplotter of
some sort. It was a long trip down a winding channel. I realize that you
don’t like Apple products, but consider getting something that runs on your
cellphone, perhaps a new cellphone if necessary.My backup for my sailboat is actually a laptop below at my chart table.
The phone and tablet chart-plotters are backups for that or for use in the
dinghy. The nice thing about tablet apps is that they are cheap. Since I
had the Ipad and Iphone, getting a charting app was a no-brainer. Many
apps run on both. If you buy for one, it installs on the other
automatically.Too bad we don’t have a backup for GPS. The bone-heads in Washington cut
off funding for LORAN and took the chains down. If the GPS system goes
down, we’re screwed. I worked on the GPS system back in the ’70’s and have
a good understanding of the system vulnerabilities. There are events that
could take the system down.Rich
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Rich wrote: “There are events that could take the (GPS)
system down.That’s another good reason to carry a sextant & the
necessary tools & reference materials aboard, and know
how to use them – especially if you venture offshore.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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We use Plan2Nav on an ipad. Looks like there is an android version. We
paid ~$40 for the charts that cover the area we care about. That said –
we don’t use it for navigation – we use our chart plotter for that (and
we have backup paper). I use the iPad a ton for planning purposes –
where will we go tomorrow – can we get there given the wind/weather. We
could use it to navigate as it has GPS and is cell/wifi independent.
The screen can be difficult to “read” in daylight.– pat
SV Doris E, p424 #178typhoontye wrote, On 3/23/14, 8:54 PM:
We will soon be the new owners of Blue Moon and bringing her home to Fort Walton Beach. I would like to buy a tablet to use as backup navigation. I prefer the Android over the Apple. The primary requirement that it have true GPS so it will work in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone currently using a tablet for offshore navigation?
Pat Tye_______________________________________________
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I have the iPad with the Garmin Bluecharts. They work great together and the GPS and Charts work offline, at sea. The other advantage that I like about that setup is that you also get Active Captain (which is like an electronic cruising guide) that gives recent updates about anchorages, ports, approaches etc.). Active Captain is also downloaded to the Bluechart so that you do not have to be on-line to have access to the data). Bluechart also uses the Explorer charts for the Bahamas which are by far the best and preferred charts for Bahama cruising. Bluechart also has a weather app that gives you GRIB weather files. It has worked great for us. All of this is also transferable to iPhone for same cost.
BTW, when you get the boat back to Fort Walton, we will have to meet and talk 424 when Im over there from Gulf Shores. We actually have a great (secret) cruising ground on the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Key West. BTW, if you have the Ketch, it can go under the Fort Walton Bridge. Remind me to tell you my Seadoo-to-halyard story.
Charlie
SV/ OneEighty
#54 -
I have been wanting to get one of the Sony submersible tablets. Not that much more expensive and waterproof out of the box. Just seems to make sense to me. However I don’t have one yet, just want one.
Does have any experience with one of these units.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Xperia-SGP311U1-10-1-Inch-Tablet/dp/B00CE590Z0Linus
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Once you’re more than 12 miles or so offshore no tablet will have access.
As long as the charts are loaded and there is an internal GPS it doesn’t
matter what kind of wireless system it has.The store geek doesn’t or cant comprehend what you’re trying to do.
Remember, most people can’t fathom being at sea outside wireless service.
Bob
Pardon the brevity. I’m typing this on my phone and I hate typing on my
phone.
On Mar 25, 2014 8:33 PM, “typhoontye” wrote:Looks like a nice pad, Linus but it’s still WiFi only so it won’t work
offshore as a backup. At least that is what the rep with Navionics tells
me._______________________________________________
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Oops. Navionics guy. Maybe they don’t load the charts on the tablet so he’s
right.Pardon the brevity. I’m typing this on my phone and I hate typing on my
phone.
On Mar 25, 2014 8:33 PM, “typhoontye” wrote:Looks like a nice pad, Linus but it’s still WiFi only so it won’t work
offshore as a backup. At least that is what the rep with Navionics tells
me._______________________________________________
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My daughter has an Xperia with 32GB. She received it as a christmas
gift. Her laptops have suffered through cats throwing up on them and
little girls spilling sodas on her keyboard. This seemed to be a better
solution for her. The screen is lovely. The waterproof aspect seems a
necessity in her current world. It is not as good at skype as the ipad
– seems a bit more sensitive to the bandwidth issues. It is all she
uses for a computer.– pat
sumocean wrote, On 3/25/14, 5:44 PM:
I have been wanting to get one of the Sony submersible tablets. Not that much more expensive and waterproof out of the box. Just seems to make sense to me. However I don’t have one yet, just want one.
Does have any experience with one of these units.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Xperia-SGP311U1-10-1-Inch-Tablet/dp/B00CE590Z0Linus
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You can purchase, a plug in GPS module that work on any tablet or laptop. So you come across a device that does not have an internal gps, that will work too.
I have found “the GPS store” to have just about anything marine you need an st good prices. No tax no shipping on a lot of items.
Alan
UnabatedSent from my iPhone
On Mar 25, 2014, at 8:42 PM, Robert Fine wrote:
Once you’re more than 12 miles or so offshore no tablet will have access.
As long as the charts are loaded and there is an internal GPS it doesn’t
matter what kind of wireless system it has.The store geek doesn’t or cant comprehend what you’re trying to do.
Remember, most people can’t fathom being at sea outside wireless service.
Bob
Pardon the brevity. I’m typing this on my phone and I hate typing on my
phone.On Mar 25, 2014 8:33 PM, “typhoontye” wrote:
Looks like a nice pad, Linus but it’s still WiFi only so it won’t work
offshore as a backup. At least that is what the rep with Navionics tells
me._______________________________________________
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The Android Navionics apps, run about 60 mb each. You will need two, North America and South America. Not too bad as they include all the charts. Current version must be stored on primary memory, not on mini sd card. Apps using raster charts like the beta system that NOAA recently tested simply required too much space to store the charts. There are other apps out there that use NOAA vector charts, and some apps that just display instruments.
Another way around the internal GPS issue would be to use a bluetooth or wifi connection if the tablet was so equipped, with a bluetooth or wifi equipped multiplexer. While this would almost double the cost, it would allow the tablet to access depth and wind. Actually, for folks running a computer with bluetooth or wifi, you might link the tablet directly to the computer.
Quent -
For all the Android people out there, you might like this info. This was just posted in the Active Captain newsletter about a great nav app for Android.
“>>> MX Mariner for Android >>>It’s time to show more love to Android users. And if you have an Android phone or tablet, you’re going to love this.
MX Mariner is a chartplotter app that runs on Android devices. It uses standard raster charts from NOAA, LINZ (NZ), the Brazil Navy, and the UK turning your phone or tablet into a chartplotter. Most Android devices have a GPS built-in and if yours does, MX Mariner uses it. Of course, it supports Bluetooth GPS devices too. With MX Mariner, charts are downloaded and stored offline so no internet connection is needed to plot your position. It’s a great product but this week we think it gets even better.
MX Mariner announced this week that ActiveCaptain is now fully supported. The data is synchronized/updated from our servers and then kept offline to make it available to you at any time. Every marker, review, hazard, and comment are all kept on the device itself. It’s a very nice implementation and we think you’re going to love it.
MX Mariner costs only $6.99 (that’s not a typo) and includes all NOAA US, NZ, and Brazil raster charts. UKHO charts are an extra in-app purchase because the UKHO doesn’t provide free charts. The UK charts are very reasonably priced – each of the four regions making up the UK cost about $6 each.
MX Mariner already has tens of thousands of users. If you previously purchased it, the ActiveCaptain update is free – get it from Google Play. Once you purchase it, it’ll run on all of your Android devices
– so if you have it on a tablet, you don’t need to purchase it again for your phone. Definitely put it on your phone too.We’ve been using it onboard for a few months now. One thing that we love is that it will run alongside our own ActiveCaptain Companion app due to real multitasking on Android. So now you can have raster charts with rotation, quilting, navigation support, and ActiveCaptain markers offline, and yet still have voice alerts as you approach a hazard because the Companion will speak from the background. Pretty cool!
Much more information is available on the MX Mariner website including screen shots and the user manual:
http://mxmariner.com/To download the app on Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mx.marinerIf you have Android devices, this is one of the apps you should have.
It makes a great chartplotter for your boat or dinghy and is an exceptional backup chartplotter at an incredible price. Buy it now before the developer realizes he could be charging a lot more money for it! -
Quent,
You wrote, ” The Android Navionics apps (with) North
America and South America… include(s) all the
charts.”How do you define “all the charts?” I’ve have some
excellent digital charts of some pretty obscure places
that I’ve visited, like the Bocas del Toro Archipelago,
the Serrana Bank (western Caribbean) and the alternate
entrance to Cartagena, through a narrow break in a
submerged, invisible sea wall. Plus lots of very
detailed harbor charts all over the Caribbean and the
Bahamas from a wide variety of providers in a variety
of formats. In my albeit limited electronic navigation
experience, some digital chart providers seem to have
some of these, many don’t. Some of the best are in
older formats that some newer programs don’t recognize.
How far do the Android Navionics charts go? What has
convinced you they “include all the charts?”I ask because I’m going to be shopping for an Android
tablet and then some useful apps. I’m endeavoring to
learn all I can to steer me to the best choices.Thanks,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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A full set of US raster charts consume about 4 gig. My tablet has 64 gig so it’s not a problem. I like the free chart aspect. I use an IPAD however so this android app won’t work for me. I downloaded isailor for my IPAD for free. It also runs on my cellphone which is more important for me. The app is free, but you have to pay for the isailor charts. I think it was $8 for the atlantic cost north of chessapeake bay. Hey, they have to get their money somewhere. Their charts are vector charts so quilting is not a problem.
Many low-end computer based chartplotters display one chart on the screen at a time. This doesn’t work well with raster charts. As you get to the end of one chart, you may not be able to view the next chart until you transition to it, or you may have to manually select which chart is displayed. I have Nobeltec installed on my laptop. This quilts the raster charts into one continuous image for your display.
Rich
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Hi Tor
By all, I meant all the charts available from Navionics. Perhaps not including the secret treasure charts sketched by old pirates on the back of rum bottle labels of the way into harbors through secret gaps in invisible sea walls. Navionics will get you in a class A east coast US inlet, but for Tor’s secret haunts, not so much.
That is a downside to navionics apps, its only their cartography. MX Mariner sounds pretty good if it includes all standard raster charts and they store on a mini sd card. Don’t think that you will find all the flexibility to load any chart format or image on a tablet app that you have on your real computer.
My little Samsung has 8gb basic memory. It also has a mini sd card for as much as 32gb.While 8gb sounds like a lot, by the time you load the operating system and some apps, you’re left with just hundreds of mb, not enough for raster charts unless you can put them on the mini sd card.
Raster is an image that goes all course when you zoom in. It takes a lot of memory to store raster images. Vector is code to draw a chart. It is lines instead of pixels when you zoom in. Stores in much less space.
I suspect what you need is an app that can work with any raster image that can be indexed to gps locations. Don’t know of any yet.
Quent -
Thanks for the clarification, Quent. I don’t think any
one chart system has them all. The combination I was
given, which includes various formats, is pretty
awesome, and Capn v6 reads them all. I don’t think it
gets much better than that and don’t feel any need to
“upgrade” from my old PC. I was just curious how far
tablets could go. Seems the techies that design them
don’t know yet that X marks the spot. It’s those
out-of-the-way nooks & crannies that make cruising an
adventure!I really want a tablet simply for its minimal size &
weight, for jaunts ashore and off-boat traveling.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Yikes,
So much I haven’t even the slightest clue about! I managed to get Polar
Navy on my ancient 10 lb laptop with Active captain, but still struggle
with the charts and how to load them….this MX Mariner deal sounds like if
I make the jump to an Android tablet ( I had one in my greasy little hands
the other day while shopping about Wal-Mart style) and start with that
app…..I just might start floating downstream instead of fighting the
current.Ken
On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 3:10 PM, Silverheels wrote:
Quote:Thanks for the clarification, Quent. I don’t think any
one chart system has them all. The combination I was
given, which includes various formats, is pretty
awesome, and Capn v6 reads them all. I don’t think it
gets much better than that and don’t feel any need to
“upgrade” from my old PC. I was just curious how far
tablets could go. Seems the techies that design them
don’t know yet that X marks the spot. It’s those
out-of-the-way nooks & crannies that make cruising an
adventure!I really want a tablet simply for its minimal size &
weight, for jaunts ashore and off-boat traveling.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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Little late with comments but I have a Samsung 10 inch and I like it a lot.
If you are an ATT customer you can get it for 200.00.Cada Grove
On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 7:07 PM, Ken Page wrote:
Quote:Yikes,
So much I haven’t even the slightest clue about! I managed to get Polar
Navy on my ancient 10 lb laptop with Active captain, but still struggle
with the charts and how to load them….this MX Mariner deal sounds like if
I make the jump to an Android tablet ( I had one in my greasy little hands
the other day while shopping about Wal-Mart style) and start with that
app…..I just might start floating downstream instead of fighting the
current.Ken
On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 3:10 PM, Silverheels
wrote:Quote:Thanks for the clarification, Quent. I don’t think any
one chart system has them all. The combination I was
given, which includes various formats, is pretty
awesome, and Capn v6 reads them all. I don’t think it
gets much better than that and don’t feel any need to
“upgrade” from my old PC. I was just curious how far
tablets could go. Seems the techies that design them
don’t know yet that X marks the spot. It’s those
out-of-the-way nooks & crannies that make cruising an
adventure!I really want a tablet simply for its minimal size &
weight, for jaunts ashore and off-boat traveling.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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I have bought a Nexus 10 with the built in GPS and other bells and whistles so it should work in the gulf. I’m looking forward to figuring it all out on our way home from Hollywood to Fort Walton Beach. Thanks for all the input on charts. I plan to download some and give them a whirl. Anyone have a CMap card reader they’d be willing to sell? I would like to transfer all my waypoints from my old chartplotter to the new one.
Thanks.
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