Chart plotter or I Pad

[tidclacy]

Novice when it comes to electronics. investigating I Pad 2 with AIS and chart plotting software that you can download for it.

Is this the way to go or should I go for a traditional chart plotter?

 

[pvb]

How waterproof is the iPad? Does the touchscreen work easily with gloved hands? What's the power consumption?

 

[elton]

Novice when it comes to electronics. investigating I Pad 2 with AIS and chart plotting software that you can download for it.

Is this the way to go or should I go for a traditional chart plotter?

Do you have the requisite headgear to enable viewing of the iPad in daylight conditions?

 

[Herald]

Novice when it comes to electronics. investigating I Pad 2 with AIS and chart plotting software that you can download for it.

Is this the way to go or should I go for a traditional chart plotter?

Conventional chart plotter for me every time. I guess depends on your space limitations etc. Don't think i-pads are overly waterproof and not convinced on the their robustness (IMHO).

 

[Jaramaz]

tested the iPAD in full daylight?

And as others said: gloves, water, power consumption.

No no, iPADs are for fun. Toys compared to plotters.
If you want a cost effective alternative to plotters, I recommend paper and pen (which you anyhow have, don't you?)


/J

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

tested the iPAD in full daylight?

And as others said: gloves, water, power consumption.

No no, iPADs are for fun. Toys compared to plotters.
If you want a cost effective alternative to plotters, I recommend paper and pen (which you anyhow have, don't you?)


/J

Actually, you can get very nice gloves that will work an iPad.

Having said that, I have both plotters and iPads and use them both extensively. iPads are the best for route planning, almanac stuff like tides, currents etc. However, they are not yet up to the job of serious navigation. I reckon that they will overtake plotters within two years, but not yet.

Of course, to join the iPad revolution you will have to set up a local wifi on your boat, and he sensors that can talk to it.

All the technology is there now, but no one has properly put it together.

 

[scottie]

Easy to say don't buy iPad instead of plotter but and it is a big but.
The iPad with the latest waterproof boxes and mounting clamps are not far away from the cost of a plotter and I find the various apps are getting better if not as good as the plotters .
If you had a plotter at the chart table then it's even more difficult to decide which to go for.
power is a problem if more than day sailing
Sailing single handed with a plotter mounted at the helm is better than trying to work with an iPad loose in the cockpit.
You also have to consider the additional use the iPad can be put to including off the boat use .
I have been fortunate to have a dual station plotter and iPad to choose from both have advantages where to put the ipad which I use in a hurry is maybe the biggest drawback
I suspect that I could live with either option but what else can you do with a plotter when not navigating?

 

[Captain Haddock]

I've been having exactly the same dilemma.

I was seriously looking at going the iPad route as it can look quite convincing.

I did find this fully waterproof rugged case it's called the tank by a company called Moxiware. It sells for around 350 quid (including mounting bracket and shipping). It's ideal for transferring above and below decks. However, when you factor in the cost of the iPad and software as well it's nearly a grand.

I can also get a Standard Horizon chart plotter for around 500 quid (including charts) that I can mount below and interface with my GPS so my waypoints appear on the GPS repeater in the cockpit (The iPad software doesn't do this unless you have a laptop to commit the transfer of the waypoints in which case what's the point of the iPad?).

I've come to the conclusion that I'm sticking with the Chart Plotter as it offers the best VFM for navigation overall.

I'm looking to get an iPad to replace my notebook for work so I'll probably use that for mails, weather, tides etc down below (I have navionics for my iPhone for tides and it's great). From what I've seen so far the iPad is tantalisingly close as a navigation solution but it just doesn't seem to go all the way.

Either way in my case I'm paying a grand. However, the chartplotter just gives me the security that it's designed for the sea and will give many years of service. The iPad isn't and will be obsolete in two-three years and will need to be upgraded. With an upgrade comes another new case and I start the dance all over again with me being fleeced for another grand.

 

[l'escargot]

It isn't an either/or question. Both have their place.

 

[Dab]

Doesn't that depend on whether you have a big enough budget to buy both or just enough for one or the other?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

The newest plotters are all touch screen too, and use capacitative screens, so neither plotter or iPad will work with gloves.

I'll be buying a new set up soon, and will go for a plotter rather than iPad, but may well back it up with an iPad later...

There is now a decent waterproof case available for £99

Imho the only benefit now of a plotter is daylight viewability of the screen, but thats offset against very slow development/upgrade, little or no ability to update and ridiculously expensive proprietary accessories.

I agree that in 2 years, plotters will be under REALLY serious pressure from tablets

 

[Clarky]

Hs anybody thought about using one of those paper charts, if you use one of those properly and plan your trip you dont need a plotter in the cockpit,they're for people who cant navigate properly. Don't know how I manage wandering about in the mountains in bad weather without my chart plotter... I must be mad.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Or for people not still stuck in 1978.

PS many of us CAN navigate properly, just don't need to do it on paper all the time anymore

 

[maby]

If you already have an IPad, then the charts are remarkably cheap and make a useful backup and planning tool sitting in the warm, dry cabin. It really is not an alternative to a decent chart plotter that you can rely on under terrible conditions.

 

[Racecruiser]

Novice when it comes to electronics. investigating I Pad 2 with AIS and chart plotting software that you can download for it.

Is this the way to go or should I go for a traditional chart plotter?

We're thinking of getting a SmarterChart 500 AIS Combo - see here. Some on the forum have them already and I was impressed when I looked at one at the Southampton show.

http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1120

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Hs anybody thought about using one of those paper charts, if you use one of those properly and plan your trip you dont need a plotter in the cockpit,they're for people who cant navigate properly. Don't know how I manage wandering about in the mountains in bad weather without my chart plotter... I must be mad.

It's not a case of managing, it's a simple case that a plotter offers so much more.

My plotter has the radar feed, AIS feed, all my almanac info and covers everywhere I want to go at all scales of detail. Soon it will have a direct weather feed as well. Can't do all of that on paper.

I love looking at paper charts and still have them board, perhaps more for sentimental reasons these days though.

Clearly you are mad though, to suggest that plotters are for people that can't navigate. I don't think I could have got my Yachtmaster and flying instrument rating if I got lost all the time.

 

[RupertW]

Hs anybody thought about using one of those paper charts, if you use one of those properly and plan your trip you dont need a plotter in the cockpit,they're for people who cant navigate properly. Don't know how I manage wandering about in the mountains in bad weather without my chart plotter... I must be mad.

I'm with you on this (he says typing on his iPad), as I've never wanted a chart plotter as I'm surrounded by technology at home and work and like to go basic when sailing. But I do admit to a GPS and echo sounder, so it's just a question of where I set my own particular Luddite bar, and navigating by video game is the bar for me.

 

[Poignard]

Writing as one who is not quite sure yet what a chart-plotter is, I was amused to read someone's post recently in which he referred to a "traditional" chart-plotter.

 

[RupertW]

My plotter has the radar feed, AIS feed, all my almanac info and covers everywhere I want to go at all scales of detail. Soon it will have a direct weather feed as well. Can't do all of that on paper.

Indeed not, and as way to coordinate a lot of electronic info then I'm sure a plotter is the way to go. If you avoid radar, AIS, electronic weather reports, VHF drivel and so on, and try to switch on the GPS just once or twice a season to confirm what you already know, then a chart plotter doesn't leap out as a necessary buy.

I'm sure that having a plotter doesn't make a good navigator any worse, but it does allow some very poor navigators to sail further than they should with little idea of what they are doing and I've had personal experience of one who very nervously called me up on deck when we were in daylight and plain sight of the only big island for many miles, a well known headland and three lighthouses. All electricity on the boat had failed and he didn't know here he was or and was too panicked to remember how to find out
It probably sounds sentimental wondering why you would not want to look around more and listen as a necessary part of orientating yourself while sailing. Well ok it is sentimental but I guess we each sail to get to, and get way from, different things.

 

[ffiill]

Use your ipad if you like so long as you sail in London or the Home Counties!