Simple electronic navigation solution?

[Don C L]

Anyone using this have any info on this? Pros/Cons?

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Anyone using this have any info on this? Pros/Cons?

That seems overkill. Cons would be it costs $500. You can get a top of the line permanently mounted NMEA2000 GPS receiver like a Garmin GPS24xd for half that. Not sure how many people are looking for $500 GPS that don't have a N2K connected chartplotter.

However given that it is designed for survey work I am sure it is super accurate.

[forwardvoyage]

For a ipad without “cellular” (aka the cellular is not necessary, it’s the GPS feature of the cellular requirement), a cheaper external gps “puck” connected via Bluetooth, still not cheap however have found the older model badelf (non survey) grade unit can be had for around $120.00 give or take, only thing to make sure of is to download the bad elf ipad app and update the software on the bad elf (the one i got off ebay needed like 8 updates.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by sepharad

I already made this mistake. I bought iPad without cellular.

Can ISailor run on less expensive mistakes, like a SamsungGalaxy S8?

You can get a Bluetooth GPS for your ipad. They're pretty inexpensive now and it solves your "wrong version of ipad" problem. I've been very happy with my Aqua Maps $20 per year subscription

[Foswick]

I just want to point out network connectivity (i.e. cellular or otherwise) is only necessary for the purpose of downloading/updating charts (or other updates).

Even so, I wouldn't bother with the iPad at all. Your S8 is more than up to the task. If you just want a bigger screen, simply get an inexpensive HDMI touchscreen. You can plug your S8 into that. You could even attach a mouse and keyboard, if you wanted.

The advantage to this is you have your navigation in your pocket. Or, you plug it into the monitor for a bigger screen. Same nav either way, and you can seamlessly transition back and forth. No special hardware or software (except for a $10 HDMI <-> USB-C adapter).

[Psy at SEA]

Originally Posted by sepharad

I am prepping for my first cruise. My Standard Horizon CP300i GPS Chart Plotter is so old they no longer sell the chips and am lucky a king member send me his old European chip.

I read that a Samsung Galaxy S8 loaded with Navionics was simple, straightforward, and economical. Now I see a multi-page complaint about 100+% price increasing and use limitations.

What is a solid, simple electronic navigation solution for me, please.

Super technical solutions are incomprehensible to me.

If it say things like download X files Convert them to Z files and upload them as Y files, it is utterly meaningless to me.

Solid and simple without being gouged.

https://youtu.be/PdfLTA2CRL8?si=SE0l7l7TukXmBCHS

[Jon Hacking]

Originally Posted by fxykty

You don’t need to spend money on an iPad, but the OP has one and wants a solution. The OP can add a GPS receiver to their iPad via Bluetooth or Lightning connector. Then they can use the iPad with Navionics or iSailor or any of the other navigation apps that are available.

We also use CM93 world chart with OpenCPN (running on an old MacBook) and while we were in NZ and Australia and most of the South Pacific the charts were pretty good (in Australia, better than the official chart bought from o-charts). But in SE Asia, forget about it, CM93 is useless. Either spend €280 in o-charts for an Indonesia chart (and nothing for Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, etc), or import satellite images.

Foxy (& Boatman) I hear your pain regarding SE Asian charts. We, too, used CM93 all through the Pacific, SE Aisa, & over to Africa, but back then, we had no other good choices. Now we do.

Since 2014 I've been making my own high-quality, high-resolution charts. After a nasty incident where a boat we were cruising with was lost in Indo because they believed their Navionics charts too much, we now publish our charts for other cruisers to download, to help keep our cruising community safer.

While I started with Google satellite imagery, we now have access to nautical charts from CMap & Navionics, & we find that Google is usually the worst of the available satellite images. We now publish charts from ArcGIS (usually very expensive), Bing (MSFT) & Google satellite imagery, as well as CMap & Navionics nautical charts. They're in mbTiles format, ideal for OpenCPN, & we show you how to switch to a different chart with only a single keystroke, so you can cycle through all 5 in only 2-3 seconds, to see which is best for your immediate situation.

The satellite imagery is amazing, with max errors on the order of 3m. You can usually see into the water 10-15m (30-50') to see what you're anchoring on. Coral heads are easily visible, & they're exactly where charted. The nautical charts aren't as accurate, of course, but they have depths, which are certainly useful.

We now publish our charts for over 40 countries, including the Canaries, all of the Eastern Caribbean, Galapagos, Micronesia, all of the South Pacific islands, Solomons, much of tropical SE Asia (including all of Malaysia, western Thailand, Philippines, & Indonesia), much of the tropical Indian Ocean, Madagascar, & East Africa. You can download them from our Chart Downloads page. Or, if you want to make your own, we publish instructions on how to do that as well.

To the OP, OpenCPN on a computer is, IMO, more reliable than a phone. Navigation is important. You don't want to spend a lot of $$ if you don't have to, but you DO want good charts & an easily usable system. OpenCPN & the charts are free, as is the chart data if you want to make your own. You can use one of the free screen-sharing programs like TeamViewer to display your computer's screen on a smaller device at your helm, leaving your computer safely below. We have a computer on board for other reasons, & we run it (them) directly from 12v, using dedicated 12v power supplies ($30 @Amazon), so they don't cost much to run. Parts of this get more complicated than simply buying a chart-plotter & mounting it, but folks like me are around to help you up the learning curve.