Tablet no chart plotter?

[DrivinSteve]

+1 Use the tablet for planning only.

[Drakenkade]

Agreed...
I want to ads some version of forward scan to the existing depth sounder...

[Drakenkade]

Sounds awesome!
Time for some ikommunicate and open CPN research
Thanks

[Capt. Ray]

Why do you need a tablet out in the sunlight and rain? What's wrong with the Nav Station?

Quite apart from the fact that my primary navigation is on paper charts or universal plotting sheets offshore, I do use a tablet as a chartplotter as well (a good navigator is duty bound to use all means at disposal) though fail to see why it has to be kept in the cockpit, except that it seems to me that the majority of people have forgotten how to use a - gasp - compass - and therefore are have become dependent on the device instead. NOT good practice.

Originally Posted by ZULU40

many of these devices spoken of are not waterproof, probably all of them have issues with sunlight

If you want nav at the helm, get a chartplotter

[johnjuliano]

For everyone who is Android-Tablet based, as we are, Can you recommend a ruggedized tablet? I plan to buy one in the next couple of weeks.

Do they need to be used with a stylus?

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by Capt. Ray

Why do you need a tablet out in the sunlight and rain? What's wrong with the Nav Station?

Quite apart from the fact that my primary navigation is on paper charts or universal plotting sheets offshore, I do use a tablet as a chartplotter as well (a good navigator is duty bound to use all means at disposal) though fail to see why it has to be kept in the cockpit, except that it seems to me that the majority of people have forgotten how to use a - gasp - compass - and therefore are have become dependent on the device instead. NOT good practice.

Sure, being waterproof on a boat and available for use in the cockpit offers no utility whatsoever

because,.... paper and compass

zzzz

[svJasmine]

we used an ipad with Garmin bluecharts and an overlay with active captain and it was great, but I think Garmin Killed it. I would love the next best thing, but it MUST have the Explorer Chart data.

anyone know of a replacement? we have a garmin chart plotter, but want the redundancy (also have paper).

[roland stockham]

I have been doing this for a few years so here are a few suggestions.

Look at 2 in 1 business grade windows machines. They are much more robust and generally have a brighter screen that is good for at least daylight veiwing. The Dell I am using has a replaceable battery and a 250Gb replaceable SSD drive. These are much faster and more robust than the type of drive you have in an android tablet. New they are comparable in price to a chart-plotter but you can get refurbished machines for about $300.

Set up a magnetic mount at the chart table with a power feed so it is normally plugged in. The battery is then available as a backup or for when you want to take it on deck.

Don't use it laid down on the chart table. If you do then at some point it will get thrown onto the cabin sole! Also you are much more likely to get problems with corrosion on the electronics because they pick up moisture through the vents. Wall mounting largely solves this and will extent the machines life a lot.

Carry a portable CD drive with a disc mirror so you can easily rebuild you hard drive if you need to. Also makes updating charts easier if you are not in the USA.

Add a blue tooth multiplexer if you want to network instruments. This gets you to pretty much everything a chart-plotter will do.

Open CPN is a good (and Free) program but there are others you may prefer. I find C-map charts both reliable and economical and run Software On Board as my main program. Generally the software available for windows is quite a bit more sophisticated that the android or iphone apps. They are as good or better than most chart-plotter.

Whatever you choose I would not be without AIS integration so that I see targets on the chart. I prefer to keep radar separate and have a GPS and AIS with their own screens to give more redundancy and backup but those are personal choices. Generally if offshore the computer is off and I use paper charts for nav. The independent GPS and radar means I don't have to turn the computer on for these so save some power. The computer stay set up with the SSB to get weather fax reports. The electronics come into their own in coastal waters where you have lots of hazards and shipping so less time for decision making

Whatever you run if your are going to rely substantially on electronic nav have a back up machine. I use Plan2nav, also by the C-map people, because I like my backup to run the same charts as the main system. I have it set up on both an old 7" android tablet that is my book reader and on the smart phone. I have a soft waterproof case and a big power bank so it will run for about a week.

I think it is sensible to do this with a chart-plotter as well. The only substantial difference between a 'computer' and a 'chart-plotter' is the case. Generally the computer in a chart-plotter is pretty slow and basic but the case is excellent and waterproofed. With a 'computer' the reverse is true. (they are both computers, the one in the chart-plotter is about the equivalent of a basic android tablet. A business laptop will be similar to a high end laptop or basic desktop - mine runs an i5 processor and has 1/2TB or drive space plus 4K screen, it cost me less than 1/2 the price of a chart-plotter)

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Drakenkade

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but...
Does anyone make a system where I don't need a chart plotter at all and I can use a tablet?
Thanks

I think it depends upon the type of boating you intend, and where.

We love our iPads, and prefer SEAiq as the live back-up navigation app of choice [full instruments, raster and vector charts, etc.] but use several other apps as well. We use our iPads extensively for planning and route creation [typically using Navionics- because we can sync the routes wirelessly from our iPads to our chart plotters...]

However, for many reasons I would not use them for primary navigation offshore or in remote regions. They are just not robust enough for inclement conditions or a single fatal drop or dunk... [And we have several iPads as back-up...]

If you are interested, here is a blog post about our experiences using iPads on our boat, with links to other forum discussions and resources.

In a follow-up post you mentioned an interest in forward scanning SONAR on the iPad. We do this now. We can control our chart plotter from our iPads, and the chart plotter controls the forward scan capability. [Likewise for RADAR, etc.]

In case this is helpful.

Cheers! Bill

[Nikki S]

Hi, we use navionics and AIS and hardly ever turn on our chart plotter anymore except for longer coastal hops & at night for radar, but we also use paper charts .

[jamhass]

Ditto what wrwakefield said.
Tablets offer darned good cartography at a very reasonable price, but (especially offshore) really suffer from readability and durability.
In Mexico, at least, Navionics charts on the tablet are more accurate than many of the charts on the plotter (CMap).
Your performance may vary ...

[Sunsetrider]

I use an iPad for nav. My laptop pooched so my son set me up with a raspberry pi, to which I hope to add a spare monitor from my desktop from my office. I am hoping to use the pi and my gps dongle to use OpenCPN. Will I be able to download OpenCPN to the pi?

[nohal]

Originally Posted by Sunsetrider

Will I be able to download OpenCPN to the pi?

Yes. The easiest is to use the OpenPlotter image on it.

[Sunsetrider]

thanks - I'll remember that when I download it.

[Drakenkade]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

I have been doing this for a few years so here are a few suggestions.

Look at 2 in 1 business grade windows machines. They are much more robust and generally have a brighter screen that is good for at least daylight veiwing. The Dell I am using has a replaceable battery and a 250Gb replaceable SSD drive. These are much faster and more robust than the type of drive you have in an android tablet. New they are comparable in price to a chart-plotter but you can get refurbished machines for about $300.

Set up a magnetic mount at the chart table with a power feed so it is normally plugged in. The battery is then available as a backup or for when you want to take it on deck.

Don't use it laid down on the chart table. If you do then at some point it will get thrown onto the cabin sole! Also you are much more likely to get problems with corrosion on the electronics because they pick up moisture through the vents. Wall mounting largely solves this and will extent the machines life a lot.

Carry a portable CD drive with a disc mirror so you can easily rebuild you hard drive if you need to. Also makes updating charts easier if you are not in the USA.

Add a blue tooth multiplexer if you want to network instruments. This gets you to pretty much everything a chart-plotter will do.

Open CPN is a good (and Free) program but there are others you may prefer. I find C-map charts both reliable and economical and run Software On Board as my main program. Generally the software available for windows is quite a bit more sophisticated that the android or iphone apps. They are as good or better than most chart-plotter.

Whatever you choose I would not be without AIS integration so that I see targets on the chart. I prefer to keep radar separate and have a GPS and AIS with their own screens to give more redundancy and backup but those are personal choices. Generally if offshore the computer is off and I use paper charts for nav. The independent GPS and radar means I don't have to turn the computer on for these so save some power. The computer stay set up with the SSB to get weather fax reports. The electronics come into their own in coastal waters where you have lots of hazards and shipping so less time for decision making

Whatever you run if your are going to rely substantially on electronic nav have a back up machine. I use Plan2nav, also by the C-map people, because I like my backup to run the same charts as the main system. I have it set up on both an old 7" android tablet that is my book reader and on the smart phone. I have a soft waterproof case and a big power bank so it will run for about a week.

I think it is sensible to do this with a chart-plotter as well. The only substantial difference between a 'computer' and a 'chart-plotter' is the case. Generally the computer in a chart-plotter is pretty slow and basic but the case is excellent and waterproofed. With a 'computer' the reverse is true. (they are both computers, the one in the chart-plotter is about the equivalent of a basic android tablet. A business laptop will be similar to a high end laptop or basic desktop - mine runs an i5 processor and has 1/2TB or drive space plus 4K screen, it cost me less than 1/2 the price of a chart-plotter)

Great info thanks
Like the Bluetooth multiplexer!