Chartplotter/Ipad link

[eddystone]

I want to have a Raymarine e7 at the chart table wireless linked to an ipad in a Lifedge case in the cockpit. Does the ipad have to have it's own GPS or is the Wi-Fi only version OK? (leaving aside anything else I might use it for). As well as the Raymarine app, what does the ipad need to work this way, i.e. that everything on the plotter shows on the ipad and I can enter waypoints in the ipad and transfer them to the chartplotter?

 

[Elessar]

Wi fi only. But do it the other way round. The E7 is waterproof and brighter than an ipad. Use the ipad inside, easier to keep plugged into power and you don't have to worry about cases. And you can take it to bed, use it at the saloon table or whatever.
The ipad just needs raycontrol which is free in the app store. It completely replicates the E7, and the E7 replicates the ipad. There is no transfer it is seamless replication. The only restriction is you cant operate the autopilot from the ipad. All the more reason for that to be inside.
An ipad 1 is fine, and they are cheap on ebay. The raymarine instructions say a 1st generation ipad won't work. It does - perfectly. It also says you can only connect 1 Ipad. I have had 3 simultaneously and they all track together.

 

[eddystone]

Wi fi only. But do it the other way round. The E7 is waterproof and brighter than an ipad. Use the ipad inside, easier to keep plugged into power and you don't have to worry about cases. And you can take it to bed, use it at the saloon table or whatever.
The ipad just needs raycontrol which is free in the app store. It completely replicates the E7, and the E7 replicates the ipad. There is no transfer it is seamless replication. The only restriction is you cant operate the autopilot from the ipad. All the more reason for that to be inside.
An ipad 1 is fine, and they are cheap on ebay. The raymarine instructions say a 1st generation ipad won't work. It does - perfectly. It also says you can only connect 1 Ipad. I have had 3 simultaneously and they all track together.

I understand where you're coming from but with my near sight it would need to be fixed to the binnacle (except it doesn't have one) - fixed to washboard or to the side of the companionway doesn't work for me, whereas I can Velcro the ipad case to the cockpit seat or, if its a mini, around my neck. Life edge also do some nifty fittings for a stanchion

 

[Elessar]

I understand where you're coming from but with my near sight it would need to be fixed to the binnacle (except it doesn't have one) - fixed to washboard or to the side of the companionway doesn't work for me, whereas I can Velcro the ipad case to the cockpit seat or, if its a mini, around my neck. Life edge also do some nifty fittings for a stanchion

Understood, but you will need to find a way to power the ipad it is always on so the battery gets eaten - may be easier to make a binnacle?