Budget chart plotter or tablet..advice needed.

[Cornish Bluenose]

Having started this thread l have looked at the Hudl 2 and think it is an impressive piece of kit for the price. However my daughter returned from America at the weekend with a new i Phone 6+, and a new Apple laptop. She has now passed onto her old dad...an I phone 4s and an old ipad 2. The situation is now sorted...l just have to read through the threads about the best apps for the iPhone and ipad. I just need a simple to use app...that will work on older kit.
Many thanks to those who have given advice..it is much appreciated.

 

[lampshuk]

Is the iPad 3G-enabled? If so, it will have a patch of black plastic at one end.

 

[mrming]

Is the iPad 3G-enabled? If so, it will have a patch of black plastic at one end.

Yep good point. If the iPad 2 is wifi only then you will need a plug in (Bad Elf or similar) or Bluetooth GPS. I have used the Garmin GLO which works well. The advantage of a Bluetooth model over the plug in type is that you can still charge the iPad while using it.

As has been mentioned before the iPad has one downside and that's battery life, so make sure you have a 5 amp charger and somewhere to plug it in. If you can provide this, it's a great navigation device. I use iNavX as the chart plotting app, with the Navionics charts.

 

[Heckler]

I sail a Cox Master Mariner which has both helm and internal wheel steering. I'm looking to purchase a chart plotter or use a tablet. I have followed a number of threads that have confused me with technical jargon. I just need a simple system that can be used to show charts of the south coast. I have a hand held garmin and would now like to use a chart plotter on board.
I need to keep the cost down and also want an easy to use system that will support my sailing along the Cornish and Devon coast. Advice needed.

I bought a Lowrance 5050c a few years ago, spot on, cant fault it. The Nauticpath chart, no longer available, goes as far as Italy west. and as far as we are now, Faro south. To go any further we need to buy a Navionics chart chip. About £250! My wife has a Samsung Tab 2 with Navionics on it, we have just bought the upgrade for it for £49? We are going to use this as we move beyond the Nauticpath coverage backed up with paper charts
S

 

[ianj99]

You cannot get much cheaper than Sea Clear: Available for Windows or Android tablet.
http://www.visitmyharbour.com/charts-for-seaclear.asp

Includes all 800 Admiralty Raster charts (electronic versions of the traditional paper ones). If you prefer Vector charts as used by most chart plotters, then try PolarNavy's
Polarview http://polarnavy.com for about the same price.

I have also used Belfield's Chart Plotter http://chartsandtides.co.uk but I think its only available for Windows. It also includes the raster charts.

For anyone pottering about the West Coast of Scotland, these guys have been doing their own surveys http://www.antarescharts.co.uk/

 

[Heckler]

Having started this thread l have looked at the Hudl 2 and think it is an impressive piece of kit for the price. However my daughter returned from America at the weekend with a new i Phone 6+, and a new Apple laptop. She has now passed onto her old dad...an I phone 4s and an old ipad 2. The situation is now sorted...l just have to read through the threads about the best apps for the iPhone and ipad. I just need a simple to use app...that will work on older kit.
Many thanks to those who have given advice..it is much appreciated.

I have just bought a vYacht wifi box, using my RO4800 AIS enabled vHF, I took the ais feed out, connected it to the vYacht and now have AIS on the Ipad. Unfortunately Navionics doesnt show Ais but INavx does, one of my mates has it on his ipad and connected wirelessly to my vyacht and got ais overlay on his.
The vyacht by the way squirts out about 100 yds in the yd in Faro, I suppose that if you were sailing in close company with a mate they could share it?
S

 

[andygc]

If you don't already own a tablet, talk to www.londonchartplotters.com
They use the Visit my Harbour supplied UKHO charts.

 

[Cornish Bluenose]

The iPad 2 is wifi only, and l have been looking at the Bad Elf specs. During the summer l met a boat owner who tied up next to me on my pontoon berth. His large motor boat had all sorts of electronic systems on board, however he was most impressed with his ipad & Bad Elf combination for ease of use, and the fact that the Bad Elf was a data logger that showed standard position co-ordinates and continually updated the iPad.
This may be a way forward for me and if anyone has experience of using this system l would be glad of some advice.
I have also been looking at Visit My Harbour information.
Having also found some old copies of Yachting Monthly..April & Sept 2014, Navionics is highly rated in both articles and iSailor is also given a very good review.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Stemar]

If you don't already own a tablet, talk to www.londonchartplotters.com
They use the Visit my Harbour supplied UKHO charts.

I got one of their tablets last year and was a little disappointed with it. While the plotter software was fine, the tablet was also slow to boot and get a GPS fix and battery life wasn't fantastic. It didn't survive getting bent in my bag on it's third trip out (hardly its fault!) and I haven't rushed to replace it.

As I've already got Navionics on my phone, I think I'll be getting a Hudl 2 for the same money - and keeping it in a hard case :ambivalence:!

 

[roblpm]

The iPad 2 is wifi only, and l have been looking at the Bad Elf specs. During the summer l met a boat owner who tied up next to me on my pontoon berth. His large motor boat had all sorts of electronic systems on board, however he was most impressed with his ipad & Bad Elf combination for ease of use, and the fact that the Bad Elf was a data logger that showed standard position co-ordinates and continually updated the iPad.
This may be a way forward for me and if anyone has experience of using this system l would be glad of some advice.
I have also been looking at Visit My Harbour information.
Having also found some old copies of Yachting Monthly..April & Sept 2014, Navionics is highly rated in both articles and iSailor is also given a very good review.
Thanks for your help.

As per skipper-stu further up just be aware that if you are going to go one step further later on and have ais over wifi then inavx will overlay it on the charts and navionics wont.