Best tablet for offshore navigation

[Pizzazz]

Have a look at some of the AMOLED android phones. They are cheap, have great contrast (the Samsung A41 is rated at 615 nits, plenty enough) and convenient to use one handed. And all of them have GPSs. The newer iPads also get to 600+ nits.

I setup a wifi to serial adapter ($20 on Amazon) as a server that takes depth, heading and position information from the boat systems and spreads them wirelessly around the boat. You can have a phone in each cabin and head if you wanted. Even if a couple get wet (very rare), you are still good to go.

The chartplotter is there for radar and as a feel good device but rarely used. You can also have a raspberry with OpenCPN to serve the radar image but it gets complicated.

One project on my mind is to create a Seatalk controller app. This would require a simple circuit to connect a serial adapter to the Seatalk network and then the app would both read and write Seatalk commands. This would allow full autopilot control, i.e. as if the phone is remote autopilot controller. May be one day. See: Thomas Knauf Â*Â*Â*Â*SeaTalk Technical Reference

[Caleb_Grey]

Originally Posted by dreadpiratk

For what it’s worth I love my Panasonic Toughpad. Water resistant if not waterproof, viewable in direct sunlight, and ruggedized. The thing has taken a beating over the years and still looks new with no case. Prior to buying it we were breaking several cheaper tablets per season. Mine is the FZ-A1 model so old and slow compared to the newer quad core models but it does what I need, runs Navionics and Aquamap. Battery life is a good six hours and recharges in one.

Yeah you want a real workhorse for offshore in cockpit navigating, not something thats designed to browse the web from your couch or at Starbucks.
As soon as dell refreshes the lattitude 2720, thats the route im taking.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Caleb_Grey

Yeah you want a real workhorse for offshore in cockpit navigating, not something thats designed to browse the web from your couch or at Starbucks.
As soon as dell refreshes the lattitude 2720, thats the route im taking.

Really? So pilots using iPads instead of Military grade laptops are crazy?

Two years ago we sailed that 5th worst passage in the world according to Cornell (Panama to Florida through the Windward Passage) using an Ipad with iSailor app. It even controlled the autopilot. Not a single hickup. The only reason I installed a new plotter is that I want my iPad available for other things, like checking weather, email etc.

[dreadpiratk]

Originally Posted by Caleb_Grey

Yeah you want a real workhorse for offshore in cockpit navigating, not something thats designed to browse the web from your couch or at Starbucks.
As soon as dell refreshes the lattitude 2720, thats the route im taking.

paying for a ruggedized tablet like a toughpad just to surf the web might be a tad overkill. How rough are the Starbucks in your neighborhood?

[Caleb_Grey]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Really? So pilots using iPads instead of Military grade laptops are crazy?

Two years ago we sailed that 5th worst passage in the world according to Cornell (Panama to Florida through the Windward Passage) using an Ipad with iSailor app. It even controlled the autopilot. Not a single hickup. The only reason I installed a new plotter is that I want my iPad available for other things, like checking weather, email etc.

So pilots expose their ipads to ocean conditions?

Not everybody has an enclosed cockpit, and ive yet to see any apple product last on a boat for much past a year.

[Caleb_Grey]

Originally Posted by dreadpiratk

paying for a ruggedized tablet like a toughpad just to surf the web might be a tad overkill. How rough are the Starbucks in your neighborhood?

The apple butt hurt is real

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Caleb_Grey

So pilots expose their ipads to ocean conditions?

Not everybody has an enclosed cockpit, and ive yet to see any apple product last on a boat for much past a year.

I replaced my Mac Mini after 12 years... not because it stopped working but because the hardware became unsupported. I can control my autopilot from an Apple Watch even from the foredeck.

The pilots I talk about use the iPad for everything incl. Navigation, checklists, airport info etc. while you claimed it was only good for browsing the web at Starbucks

[dreadpiratk]

Originally Posted by Caleb_Grey

The apple butt hurt is real

Am I missing something? Toughpads are Android based…. And they retail for 3k so a bit more of a workhorse then your average consumer product.

[Caleb_Grey]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I replaced my Mac Mini after 12 years... not because it stopped working but because the hardware became unsupported. I can control my autopilot from an Apple Watch even from the foredeck.

The pilots I talk about use the iPad for everything incl. Navigation, checklists, airport info etc. while you claimed it was only good for browsing the web at Starbucks

Thats good for them, an airplane cockpit has more in common with a starbucks than navigating an ocean in a boats wet cockpit. Glad your apple experience is wonderful, ive had 2 phones, 2 ipads, and a macbook rust to death, and know many with similar experience. Sorry "MY" choice to try a rugged tablet has rustled your apples so much

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Caleb_Grey

Thats good for them, an airplane cockpit has more in common with a starbucks than navigating an ocean in a boats wet cockpit. Glad your apple experience is wonderful, ive had 2 phones, 2 ipads, and a macbook rust to death, and know many with similar experience. Sorry "MY" choice to try a rugged tablet has rustled your apples so much

No, you’re just a troll, you missed my foot line.

[Pizzazz]

To all posters who continue to claim tablets are not good for offshore navigation... just drop it. A tablet/phone is low power (comparable to how much an instrument display draws), much easier to use, can do nice weather overlays. When sailing offshore you are in the cockpit, behind the dodger or below decks most of the time. Time is moving slowly and you spend most of that time analyzing weather patterns and re-routing. A tablet is perfect for this.

It is still good to have a chartplotter, especially if you are navigating very close to shore or in a marina, in bright sun or foggy weather. But offshore... come on. Let's just agree to disagree.

[h20man]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I replaced my Mac Mini after 12 years... not because it stopped working but because the hardware became unsupported. I can control my autopilot from an Apple Watch even from the foredeck.

The pilots I talk about use the iPad for everything incl. Navigation, checklists, airport info etc. while you claimed it was only good for browsing the web at Starbucks

@Jedi..... in my experience the apple products have been absolutely fine (10 years+) .. mac mini, macbook pro... lived long and happily..... But I do not let them swim or sunbathe on deck...


I know people that lived in ocean front homes with the taste of salt air in the kitchen. Lots of macs.. no issue..


I have seen other cruisers who after swimming.. or sweating do use their macbook ... and there is an issue with things failing... But then the surface of the macbook is covered with sweat, pooling down the keyboard and inside the macbook.




As I mentioned.... in Europe there is a new company making a new navigational systems with all maps and weather integrated....


As part of the package they claim to have a rugged outside readable tablet... Worth looking at.... https://getorca.com/




and for any trolls... I am not associated with Orca... just interested in better technology....



I would be curious as to others thoughts on the orca products as well.

[newbie-]

I'm surprised this hasn't come up yet

One thing that has been a big deal for me is screen readability with polarized sunglasses. Some displays just happen to work no mater what. But with other displays you either have to tilt your head or completely remove your sunglasses. You're less likely to use the display or get the data if that's the case.

I just installed some new electronics and I have a few displays that aren't viewable. Very annoying and now I'm thinking about investing - once again - in electronics to replace them.

[freshalaska]

Those Panasonic Toughbooks can be bought used for less than $800 from Bob Johnson computers online. Very bright and readable in sunlight. Also very heavy.

[dreadpiratk]

Originally Posted by freshalaska

Those Panasonic Toughbooks can be bought used for less than $800 from Bob Johnson computers online. Very bright and readable in sunlight. Also very heavy.

You can get good deals on them in a number of places- on the older models. Since it’s a commercially oriented product prices drop pretty quick when the latest and greatest comes out. I got mine in EBay. Even the original A1 model (mine) runs navionics well enough, just a little slow loading the maps initially.