Not tablet friendly ...

[alanrothenbush]

So, I bought a Panasonic Windows 10 Toughpad for backup navigation using OpenCPN because it IS tough, and very water resistant and has a BRIGHT screen that truly is sunlight readable.

While it does not have an internal GPS unit, having an external GPS transmit via WiFi is easy enough and works well.

But I keep coming up with annoying little glitches that have to do with the fact that a tablet does not have left and right "mouse" buttons and does not have high accuracy pointing.

The current annoyance comes from an attempt to create a route.

The route starts in our crowded (with rocks and islands) harbour. I'm therefore zoomed in and making lots and lots of short little legs. I certainly don't need these to navigate but DO want them included in the route for planning purposes, mostly route length.

At the exit of the harbour, the next way point is 20 miles away. Zoomed in, you CANNOT find it. Zoom out and you've ended the route.

My only solution is multiple routes, each at a particular zoom, and then mentally stitching them all together.

Frankly, Navionics under Android works SO well with a tablet that I'm going look into running Android on my Windows machine, although I'm sure to run into WiFi GPS issues.

Now, OpenCPN is free, and therefore too much complaining is uncalled for, especially given that it's a spectacular program in so so many other respects.

But if the developers could actually try a Windows tablet with the Windows version in the real world ...

[tkeithlu]

Lenovo makes rugged small laptops for school kids. They are available refurbished for about $150. I use one for OpenCPN, with a separate monitor at the helm, and one that I'm typing on now.

[alanrothenbush]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Lenovo makes rugged small laptops for school kids. They are available refurbished for about $150. I use one for OpenCPN, with a separate monitor at the helm, and one that I'm typing on now.

Well, as I already have the Panasonic, I'm reluctant to throw good money after bad.

But I AM curious about the Lenovo; is it waterproof, drop proof, and sunlight readable? In bright sunlight?

As for a separate monitor, on a 28' sailboat with a tiller, that's not really an option.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by alanrothenbush

So, I bought a Panasonic Windows 10 Toughpad for backup navigation using OpenCPN because it IS tough, and very water resistant and has a BRIGHT screen that truly is sunlight readable.

While it does not have an internal GPS unit, having an external GPS transmit via WiFi is easy enough and works well.

But I keep coming up with annoying little glitches that have to do with the fact that a tablet does not have left and right "mouse" buttons and does not have high accuracy pointing.

The current annoyance comes from an attempt to create a route.

The route starts in our crowded (with rocks and islands) harbour. I'm therefore zoomed in and making lots and lots of short little legs. I certainly don't need these to navigate but DO want them included in the route for planning purposes, mostly route length.

At the exit of the harbour, the next way point is 20 miles away. Zoomed in, you CANNOT find it. Zoom out and you've ended the route.

My only solution is multiple routes, each at a particular zoom, and then mentally stitching them all together.

Frankly, Navionics under Android works SO well with a tablet that I'm going look into running Android on my Windows machine, although I'm sure to run into WiFi GPS issues.

Now, OpenCPN is free, and therefore too much complaining is uncalled for, especially given that it's a spectacular program in so so many other respects.

But if the developers could actually try a Windows tablet with the Windows version in the real world ...

alanrothenbush, The solution I have used on my boat when I want to take a tablet into the cockpit for underway navigation is this:

I have OpenCPN installed on a laptop at the nav station in the cabin. I do my route creation and most other navigation tasks on the laptop. When the route is complete I export it to the tablet (mine is a ruggedized android tablet) which I can take on deck. (actually I export a GPX file which I can copy to the file structure on the tablet then import it into OpenCPN.)

Regarding route creation with the zooming problem you mentioned. I find that it is easier for me to create the route while zoomed out, then zoom in and insert waypoints which I can move to avoid rocks, islands, etc.

[Hydro]

Look into a stylus pen for the touch screen.
gives some precision, maybe one that slips into sleeve glued to the tablet back side. Surface Pro has a magnetic side where it does attach, easy to lose/knock off though.

[alanrothenbush]

Originally Posted by wingssail

alanrothenbush, The solution I have used on my boat when I want to take a tablet into the cockpit for underway navigation is this:

I have OpenCPN installed on a laptop at the nav station in the cabin.

I was hoping to avoid another computer on board; it's a small boat with not a whole lot of space. The design makes for a nice, open feeling, but that also makes storage a problem.

However, I might be able to find room for a small keyboard and mouse ...

[tkeithlu]

The Lenovo Yoga 11e ThinkPad would be super for the nav table on a small boat - it's got a 10" screen and is ruggedized. It does convert to being a tablet (that's the "Yoga" part), but it might not put up with the exposure likely in a small boat's cockpit. Maybe what Wingssail proposes is the best answer for you.

[sv_pelagia]

would a wireless mouse/pad/trackball solve the problem (only use it when needed)?

[bdbcat]

alan...
re:
"At the exit of the harbour, the next way point is 20 miles away. Zoomed in, you CANNOT find it. Zoom out and you've ended the route."


I do not understand the last sentence: "Zoom out and you've ended the route."
This should not be happening. How exactly do you do the zoom out? Any intuition about why this action "ends the route"?



Dave

[Baikal]

Indeed, creating a route on the touchscreen is not easy!
Waypoints are randomly set as you move around the screen to place waypoints.
It seems to me that there is not enough automatic centering of the last waypoint in the center of the screen and the waypoint setting should be on a long tap on the screen.

In the video, a comparison of the route planning function on the popular models of chartplotters, you can learn something from this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hey8...fOIp4Q&index=6