Ipad II

[av8fly]

Does an ipad 2 have an integral gps? Second anybody use Earth N C or Marine US or Navimatics Charts and Tides apps for ipad? I have the apps on my iphone4s. Will the ipad 2 navigate without cellular hookup ie gps? Thanks

[vientoman]

Ipads that are 3G capable have built in GPS chips. ( in the case of the "new" ipad that's the 4G version) You don't have to sign up for the service.

[av8fly]

I have the non 3 g capable one anyway to upgrade? Gps software?

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by av8fly

I have the non 3 g capable one anyway to upgrade? Gps software?

If you have a non-3g iPad you can buy the BadElf gps dongle or the xgpd150 wireless GPS. I have both and all things considered the BadElf is my choice because it is powered via the iPad. You can plug a USB cable into the BadElf while it is plugged into the iPad and it will power/charge both units simultaneously for long usage times.

Many folks report using iNavx. I use Navionics. To be honest I use the iPhone more than I use the iPad gps on the boat. The iPad is useful for looking at the charts without the gps enabled.

The Navionics charts need to be loaded from the Navionics site while you in in a WiFi zone but then they reside on the iPad.

I loaded the iPhone version of the Navionics on my iPad as it was much cheaper than the iPad version for some reason.

Navionics does everything I need for coastal sailing.

[bstreep]

I had Earth NC on my phone, and didn't even consider it for the ipad. I do like the Simple Charts product, and use this on the iPad.

[av8fly]

Im sailing from beaufort nc to ockracoke island right now , with an overnight rest anchored off cedar island nc. I was disappointed with the earth n c product today on my iphone it kept dying on me off of oriental due to poor cell service. I thought it had maps in cache on my phone. Argh i just shut it off went with marine us and navimatics. The simplest and best to use was marine us. Simple real time charts and even though i lost cell service my gps on the iphone was rock on. I want to get bad elf pro the wireless gps listed above by Ex-Calif. great idea! Im waiting for the pro model , i also fly so i use it double duty. :-) Btw never pulled the ipad out today just used my phone. Weather radar tides everything.:-)

[huckieCA]

I had an iPad II laying around and no real use for it, so on a whim I bought an Emprum USB GPS for it and the Navionics software, right before a 2 week trip to Tahiti. There's several other GPS modules you can, add and I'll admit, I only picked Emprum because I could get it next day. It worked fine though. The only limitation with a GPS attached to the iPad is that you pretty much had to be in the cockpit to initially acquire the signal.

Overall, it worked amazingly well, and after the trip everyone wanted the info on the setup so they could replicate it. Navigating with it was super easy, and we pretty much didn't want to move the boat without having it in the cockpit (although we still set up the chartplotter down below for longer passages and we kept paper charts).

The only thing I would have added was a splashguard case, for when things got a little wet up in the cockpit. I bought one from trendydigital.com, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I also ended up buying the iPhone version of the Navionics software for day sailing in my local area, but I haven't had a chance to use that yet either.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by av8fly

Im sailing from beaufort nc to ockracoke island right now , with an overnight rest anchored off cedar island nc. I was disappointed with the earth n c product today on my iphone it kept dying on me off of oriental due to poor cell service. I thought it had maps in cache on my phone. Argh i just shut it off went with marine us and navimatics. The simplest and best to use was marine us. Simple real time charts and even though i lost cell service my gps on the iphone was rock on. I want to get bad elf pro the wireless gps listed above by Ex-Calif. great idea! Im waiting for the pro model , i also fly so i use it double duty. :-) Btw never pulled the ipad out today just used my phone. Weather radar tides everything.:-)

Bad Elf is a dongle - not wireless. The downside is there are reports of folks accidentally knocking the dongle out of the socket and not noticing. Easily overcome if you are careful.

xgps150 is the wireless one (bluetooth). Many of the aviation guys are using this one. sits happily on the top of the panel...

[capngeo]

Not sure, but I seem to remember SPOT can provide GPS data via Bluetooth as well

[Clipper4730]

I have the bad elf and it worked great on our recent charter to Croatia. I am upgrading to the bad elf pro. It is a little bigger splash/shockproof and up to five devices can connect to it via Bluetooth.

Cheerio
Will