Confused. Should I buy a Raymarine E7 chart plotter? or just stick with a IPAD??

[Joyful Noise]

I recently sailed from St Croix to St Thomas with a young man who used an Ipad loaded with a Navionics product, a Garmin product and Active Captain product. He indicated that the first two cost $50.00 each with a year of updates and that Active Captain was free. I did not chase down the names of the individual products but they appeared to do yeoman's work and he was happy with them having used them to bring his boat from NC to the Caribbean and navigate there for a month or so. (He did have a chartplotter/radar which he also used) Are these poiducts readily available and reliable and did I get the pricing right?

[Rough Magic]

Chart plotter with a tablet as backup. The E7 is integrated with radar, depth, and autopilot. It will send alarms if desired. It will accept AIS transponders, and you can set proximity alarms. It can receive satellite weather. And all of this without a cell or wifi signal.

Cell phones and tablets are great, I use them all the time. But I wouldn't be my life on them.

Dave

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by zooplax

Hi All

Question time again:

What are peoples views on chartplotters or iPads?

Are they needed on boats? or will an iPad do it all instead??

Positives:
Seems as if on my iPad I can get: SONAR, Radar, Navionics HD, Auto Routing, it has inbuilt GPS, I can even get AIS on it through a separate APP, fair enough AIS, Radar, & Sonar require extra attachments but that seems the same as a chart plotter. My iPad has a lifeproof waterproof case and a mount for it at the helm... I just found out I can even charge the iPad using IQ charging pad which I could fit into my helm meaning i never have to take the iPad out of the waterproof case while on the boat.

Negatives:
Not the best brightness in daylight.. but still visible. not sure i can find much else, There was a battery problem / waterproofness while charging but this seems to have been answered with the IQ Cable free charging device that is available for iPads.

My main reason for asking is: I was literally about to buy a Raymarine E7 chartplotter (with EU Cartography) NO SONAR (With Sonar is £950) cost without Sonar around £800, It will wifi to my iPad which is great, but my last minute thoughts are I already have everything on my iPadas I'm using Navionics HD software...

Main reason I wanted the Raymarine E7 was it has Wifi so it is compatible with my iPad, then I realised for a similar price as the Raymarine E7 i could get TWO Standard Horizon C180 Chartplotters, one for the chart table and one for at the helm... which would mean then I wouldn't need to use my iPad at all...

So much choice out there... Any other thoughts?, maybe I don't need the confusion, budget is £800 for a chart plotter or two but would be happier spending the cash on other things as there always seems to be something on an old boat... I ideally want something below deck and something at the helm.

Ive just thought of a couple more downsides to the iPad... No MOB button..., Anchor alert apps don't seem too precise and seem to require internet connection...

And yes before some of you chirp up paper charts will be onboard also and will be scrutinised as usual.

It's getting harder and harder to justify dedicated marine electronics especially for day sailing with good cell phone coverage.

We are planning to do a radar, forward facing sonar, chartplotter, full helm upgrade. B&G is our preference at this time.

For our current sailing in San Francisco bay we just use an ipad at the helm.

We are planning to head off in a couple of years hence the B&G plan. Vendor lockin, annoying proprietary chart formats and questionable quality and service of fully integrated electronics are our biggest concern.

If the dedicated marine electronics were better then the decision would be simpler to make.

Spend $ for an ipad or $$$$$ for dedicated electronics....

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[sowwaninii]

For me, major advantage of chart plotter is integration with autopilot.

[Comogene]

Early on, Raymarine marketed the e7 before its engineers resolved touch-screen alignment problems. My 3-year old e7 had to go back to the factory twice for upgrades before they finally replaced the software system on the third return. Go to their website and make sure you have the latest version of the software. Love the product and capabilities once it functioned as marketed.


I use an older monochrome Raymarine chartplotter as back-up.

[Truemettle42]

I have an E7D in the hav station and an A68 at the helm with full connectivity to all my boat instrumentation. I find the iPad is great when coming into a new anchorage.

[zooplax]

Originally Posted by Brucez

I recently sailed from St Croix to St Thomas with a young man who used an Ipad loaded with a Navionics product, a Garmin product and Active Captain product. He indicated that the first two cost $50.00 each with a year of updates and that Active Captain was free. I did not chase down the names of the individual products but they appeared to do yeoman's work and he was happy with them having used them to bring his boat from NC to the Caribbean and navigate there for a month or so. (He did have a chartplotter/radar which he also used) Are these poiducts readily available and reliable and did I get the pricing right?

Hi

Yes your about right with the pricing, you can download the APP for each of them, have a look around and then download the areas with all the detailed information you will be sailing in.. in UK price is around £20 to £40 per area i believe in Navionics HD anyway and there quite large areas. i.e. West Medeteranian, East Medeteranian etc... sure they will be large in US too

ISailor - Also similar kind of pricing.. - have heard some good reviews about it, and may try it next once my updates run out on Navionics HD..

There are Anchor watch apps, AIS Apps, Radar Apps, Training Apps, Imray does a very good App for entering new ports again downloadable / payable by areas... still amazing me what apps i find on it...

Would recommend the iPad on a boat any day, just make sure you have the one with internal GPS and put a waterproof case on it if your using it around water...

Good luck with trying it out

[zooplax]

Originally Posted by sowwaninii

For me, major advantage of chart plotter is integration with autopilot.

Thanks, Ill look into that once I get it onboard, maybe my my current autopilot isn't connectible like other things on my boat but will see when I get it onboard.

[roland stockham]

Differences between tablets and chart plotter?
Operating system. Limits choice of nav software. Windows runs anything, chart-plotters only run there own propitiatory system with limited software updates, Android has some good basic programs but nothing full feature. How does Ipad software stack up against a full feature system?
The windows 8 tablets are far faster and more powerful than a chart-plotter and have enough memory to run multiple software and chart folios so you have more flexibility. Charts are also cheaper. Android is about the same as a chart-plotter for speed and memory don't know how the ipad scores
Screen. Only a chart-plotter will give you full sunlight view-ability so at the helm that's a significant plus if that is where you do your nav.
Casing. Chartplotter is fully waterproof, I am going to stick my neck out and say nothing else is. At least not to the point of weathering a storm on deck.
Connectivity. Chart-plotter is hard wired tablets can use bluetooth or WiFi to get sensor data. No clear winner
Power. Chartplotter is hard wired but a connected tablet has both ships power and a backup battery which can be useful. Would not rely on battery alone.
Tablet will also run Weather fax and navtex software (and anything else)
Which wins depends on the boat and sailing. I use a windows 8 10" tablet at the chart table with data via a bluetooth multiplexer, sits in a charging cradle at the nav table. Works well, can be taken on deck in harbour and has 24h battery life. Only time I want nav in the cockpit is if I am entering a difficult harbour/river on my own. I use an android 7" in a waterproof case as a backup (also used canoeing and in the dingy). Both have built in GPS as backup but the network sensors (Garmin GPS & Raymarine heading sensor) are much better.
If you want to combine chart display and radar you can on a chart-plotter, not sure if you can with a tablet but If going for 'multifunction' you need to devices anyway otherwise if one fails you loose everything!

Does not answer your question except to say that in principle there is nothing wrong with it if properly thought out and implemented.

[jtulls]

I found that even with a plotter and paper charts on my boat, I ended up just using my iPad when I was in familiar waters or just out on a day sail (I'm running the Navionics HD app that you mentioned in your OP). When I'm planning longer/harder passages, I'll use the chartplotter as my primary, but I still keep the iPad up on deck, since it's easier to make a quick check from the helm than to have to go down below and check the plotter. Hope that helps with your decision!

[roygee]

Originally Posted by Jim Krause

IMHO An iPad is NOT a viable 1st means of charting/navigating/talking to your sonar, radar, etc. However it is a brilliant and capable 2nd or 3rd means, and works as a wonderful repeater via wi-fi.

Given that, having an iPad is several steps better than having nothing.

In my direct experience critical navigation functions on an iPad (E.g. "Where am I?") require either an internal GPS with a data/service plan or a connection to a GPS device.

On my own boat I've got a Raymarine e97 and iPads/iPhones as repeaters and backup devices. (In addition to the paper charts- cause Skynet and Murphy will certainly take down our GPS at some very inconvenient time).

cheers

well it seems that you did not spend the big bucks to get the i-pad with the built-in GPS. Most of the cheaper units only triangulate your position from towers, so if you are out of range, you are out of luck. Most salesmen do not know to point this out, because I guess it does not occur to them that anyone can get out of town!

[roland stockham]

Having a GPS onboad the table is a nice backup but not essential. A properly set up onboad GPS with external antena is essential. It can either plug into the network or direct to the tablet via USB but that means the tablet is no longer mobile so network option is much better. I use a Garmin GPS150. Now pretty old but totally reliable and has a good screen for data display. This is normally set to give big number display for COG, Speed etc and is my basic info board for nav table. Keeps the chart display clear of clutter. It is also low power so when using paper charts I can quickly take a position and plot it on the chart.

[goboatingnow]

What commercial supported system provides radar on an ipad ? ( without needing any other equipment )

Dave


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Neptune's Gear]

I'm sure some will disagree with this, but IMO, there is currently one plotter that is head and shoulders above the others. The B&G Zeus 11. B&G make the only plotters designed from the start as a sailboat plotter. Incorporate polars, sailsteer, and soon startline as well.

By the way, plotter - if that is all you want, a tablet is fine if waterproofed and powered, and preferably with a decent bracket to keep it safe in rough water.

However, a real marine Multi function display offers you a lot more than that. Radar, Autopilot, and AIS transponder integration, sunlight viewable waterproof screens, complete integration with boats instruments and control systems, incl engine data, tankage etc etc etc.

I do use a tablet on board (Android), but it is only for convenience. Primary system is currently a PC, which also does all the above. (Except sailsteer and startline at this point)

[Opie91]

Chart plotter with tablet as backup/enhancement.

You can drop a tablet in the cockpit or overboard, sit on it or just plain ruin it with water.

Decent tablets are often more than half the cost of a 7" dedicated chart plotter. Raymarine e7 and Garmin 741xs both have wifi capability with dedicated apps. Makes viewing your data easy.