Tablet Nav Station Dummies

[OS2Dude]

To me, there is a difference between 'Simple' and 'Cheap'. I will always prefer a dedicated chart plotter over a cell phone or tablet. Chart plotters typically come with GPS built in, and NMEA potential for other transducers is a plus.

In my opinion, a chart plotter at the helm with depth & wind transducers is simple.
I know you can 'feel the wind on your cheek' and can hope the chart you have isn't based on data 300 years old so go by the depth it shows (Disregarding tides if they affect the area you sail in), but I'd really rather be more certain.

[CaptainRivet]

Dumb question is navionics even taking GPS and heading data from NMEA?
I have an wifi ipad pro and have Yachtdevices NMEA2k and 0183 to wifi dongles and Navionics took and displayed depth data (so i know it got/received the NMEA data) but i always needed my garmin Glo2 to run so it got precise position.
In the description of navionics they talk about depth and AIS targets but position and SOG is nowhere mentioned.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by unbusted67

I'm going ultra KISS on my new boat and am interested in running Navionics on an iPad but my iPad is not SIM enabled so doesn't have integral fix capabilites. What is the best (cheapest) Bluetooth GPS? Or is it better to do a wireless NMEA bridge?

You will figure as long as you don't have a fully covered helm station that Ipads are the worst tablets as they overheat quickly in direct sunlight and you cannot really see the display with polarized sunglasses well and brightness is also an issue with the not pro ones.
I have ipad mini (inside at helmstation as NMEA instrument dislay), a ipad 3 in rugged case running Isailor, ipad pro 12.9 and also a S7FE which is my main navigation tablet.
I still have an axiom7+ as backup but since i have the S7FE i use only this.

The Samsung S7FE with its 12.1 screen (only need to add a matte screen protectore) is the cheapest and also big tablet that works well in the open cockpits. It needs a rugged waterproof case that you can/should use a RAM mount. The S7FE has a case and battery designed for a much more powerful tablet (the S7 plus) so has plenty of cooling and battery for operation without charger plus it has a huge 12.1 screen thats not overheating in direct sunlight with the matte screen protector. The lower processor spec is plenty for navionics but i would recommend get tge 6GB/128GB wifi version as that works smoother if you have a lot offline maps downloaded.

[unbusted67]

Originally Posted by CaptainRivet

You will figure as long as you don't have a fully covered helm station that Ipads are the worst tablets as they overheat quickly in direct sunlight and you cannot really see the display with polarized sunglasses well and brightness is also an issue with the not pro ones.
I have ipad mini (inside at helmstation as NMEA instrument dislay), a ipad 3 in rugged case running Isailor, ipad pro 12.9 and also a S7FE which is my main navigation tablet.
I still have an axiom7+ as backup but since i have the S7FE i use only this.

The Samsung S7FE with its 12.1 screen (only need to add a matte screen protectore) is the cheapest and also big tablet that works well in the open cockpits. It needs a rugged waterproof case that you can/should use a RAM mount. The S7FE has a case and battery designed for a much more powerful tablet (the S7 plus) so has plenty of cooling and battery for operation without charger plus it has a huge 12.1 screen thats not overheating in direct sunlight with the matte screen protector. The lower processor spec is plenty for navionics but i would recommend get tge 6GB/128GB wifi version as that works smoother if you have a lot offline maps downloaded.

Solid advice. Thanks

[FoxIslander]

Recently sold boat (and looking for another) but I used an older iPAD with a Bad Elf running INAVx. Worked great. Accurate and dependable. No sim required and only need WIFI to download an updated map or app updates.