Ipad 2 air and Navionics

[fupisana1]

Hello,
Hopefully, I'm posting on the correct forum. I just bought an older sailboat on the Agean Sea with older electronics. For now I'd like to coastal cruise and plan on buying a iPad 2 Air with Navionics charts.
Will the GPS on the iPad show our position on the charts?
What question(s) have I not asked?
thanks,
Ron

BTW, she's a Bruce Roberts Spray 28 built lovingly by a Dutch craftsman.

[J Clark H356]

Depends on what model IPad Air 2 you have. If it has the GPS chip, it will be just like a chartplotter. Try to download a free app with a need for GPS and see what it does.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[colemj]

Originally Posted by J Clark H356

Try to download a free app with a need for GPS and see what it does.

No need to do that - if it has a cellular SIM card slot, it has a GPS. Otherwise, it does not.

If it has a GPS, everything is golden, like you describe.

If it does not have a GPS, then it will need an external GPS device using Wifi or Bluetooth to be of use for navigation.

Mark

[Nicks]

I've been cruising the past couple of months from northern sweden, through denmark and now germany relying 100% on the Navionics app for my iPhone 5c. It has worked flawlessly. GPS is spot on every single time, even without signal.

Make sure you get the 3G version of iPad, otherwise you don't have the built in GPS chip.

You will see your position live on the map as you sail along. Boatspeed measurement is also accurate.

I downloaded the Navionics for my iPhone as well as my iPad mini (no GPS). I use the mini for planning where to sail next (check out the harbours, plan route etc.) - If you're signed in with the same Apple ID on both devices you don't need to purchase the maps twice. Best €40 investment I have ever made.

I would never consider buying a fixed GPS device (garmin/simrad etc..) for my boat. The app just works too damn well along with iphone/ipad.

Of course make sure you get a waterproof+shockproof case if you want to check your route while sailing along. I have a Lifeproof case for my phone so I can check my position no matter the weather.

[Brown7477]

What hardware would I need to synch the Navionics app to my auto pilot and any other devices I may add to the boat? (Radar, Wind speed/direction, depth/fishfinder)
I have also been looking into OpenCPN as an option but like the iPad/iPhone solution a little better.