Cheap navigation.

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Nicholas123

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Having read some of the threads on here the last couple of days trying to work out what's involved in electronic navigation,I have come to the conclusion that a laptop might be most suitable.
Something that I could run off the boats 12v supply & would be as cheap & simple as possible,any advice please?
I have no intention of carting it around the deck so it would'nt need to be waterproof & if it had a built in radio saving me the cost of buying one then that would be wonderful :)
 
Paper and pencil on charts is probably the cheapest. I use it for channel crossing anyway as my sailing computer is a bit hard on the service battery. A plotter on deck is handy for pilotage when you're new to an area but they're not much good if you can't see them from the helm. A Computer has to be protected from water ingress (even a laptop like a toughbook) so is not really suitable for cockpit work. That's my 4 pennorth anyway.
 
You've got to buy a lappie.
You've got to buy a charts package.
You've got to buy a GPS.
You've got to buy a wotsit to link the GPS to the lappie.
You can only use it downstairs.

Might as well buy a chartplotter and be done with it.

(Can't do emails on a plotter, yet, though)
 
Twister_Ken said:
You've got to buy a lappie.
You've got to buy a charts package.
You've got to buy a GPS.
You've got to buy a wotsit to link the GPS to the lappie.
You can only use it downstairs.

Might as well buy a chartplotter and be done with it.

(Can't do emails on a plotter, yet, though)
Click to expand...

Yes, but....

An iPhone or iPad may well be more appropriate. Assuming the op has paper charts as well.
 
Nicholas123 said:
Having read some of the threads on here the last couple of days trying to work out what's involved in electronic navigation,I have come to the conclusion that a laptop might be most suitable.
Something that I could run off the boats 12v supply & would be as cheap & simple as possible,any advice please?
I have no intention of carting it around the deck so it would'nt need to be waterproof & if it had a built in radio saving me the cost of buying one then that would be wonderful :)
Click to expand...

Haven't used one but the asus eee notebook seems popular. Maplins do a dc power supply. Opencpn is free excellent software - http://opencpn.org/ocpn/about Usb gps doesn't cost much, and an ais engine won't break the bank either. Just leaves the charts....
 
Tried a netbook with a GPS dongle etc. Problem is that power consumption is high, and the battery would go flat after about 2 - 3 hours. A 12V adapter running off the battery solved that but was taking lots of power.

I have since bought an Android tablet, which has a 12 - 15 hour battery life, the Navionics app from Google Play, and the 12V converter / charger takes a fraction of the netbook's.

I use paper charts, and a chart plotter in the cockpit, but I like the idea of the tablet being a backup.

Regards

Ian
 
If you already have a laptop, the cheapest way would be to find some free charts, download Open CPN (freeware) and buy a USB GPS (£20ish). If you don't already have a laptop, a second hand netbook uses less power than a full laptop & same for the other bits. Alternatively get a tablet with either built-in GPS or a USB port for a GPS dongle and use Navionics...
 
Simplest setup is a laptop GPS dongle and the Imray electronic charts and tide data. Relatively cheap and advantage of familiarity if you normally use Imray paper charts.
 
I suspect you just want to buy a gadget. No harm in that, we have all been struck at one time or another.
No question about it though(as others have suggested) the best cheap method of navigation is secondhand charts (loads about now) plus a handheld. If you want luxury, or are going to Brittany (or some such rocky place) then get a Garmin Map76 (or similar with built in World map) and stick in your own points of interest.
 
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No - it's not straightforward at all ...

Another factor to consider is your cruising grounds - if they can be covered by a couple of paper charts, then that's undoubtedly the cheapest method. If you plan on an extended cruise, then charts at £15 a time isn't very cheap at all, so a £40 laptop with an out-of-date world folio might provide a better option.

For anything in-between these two extremes, you might want to consider installing that world folio on either a laptop or desktop, and simply printing out the charts you expect to need, and even laminating them (back-to-back) in A4, or preferably A3 sleeves - which I think is a good idea in it's own right.

As to laptop power draw - they only draw significant power when ON and with Display ON. If you kill the screen between checks - Suspend-ing the laptop is even better - then the battery will thank you for it. And some you can run directly of the boat's 12v supply.

Rather than using a GPS dongle or puck, I'd recommend a cheap s/h handheld with NMEA output - shop around - they can be got for as little as £20-30. Then, if the laptop or it's power supply fails, you've got a fall-back with the handheld and the laminated charts.

Good luck
 
Easy.

Secondhand laptop, £100-£150
OpenCPN, free
Charts, free
Hand held GPS, £30 ish
Cable to run the laptop from 12v £25 ish

Total cost £150-£200

Gives you electronic navigation and you can use the hand held as a backup, or even take it into the liferaft if you have to abandon ship. The laptop should have wifi, giving internet access for weather checks, email etc. You can watch a DVD on it, play some music or any of the other usual laptop stuff. Pick a mid range 12" one and they don't use daft amounts of power.

For another £100 you can add AIS. Just under £1k will add radar with the OpenCPN radar plugin that's currently in beta.
 
A question that springs to my mind is if I had a hand held gps & could connect it to this computer somehow.I should be able to download that OpenCPN thing & those supposedly free charts? Then I can see how it runs for myself :)

That NMEA output.....is it possible to connect that to an ordinary computer in normal circumstances?......what type of port do you use?I guess you need a special cable that converts to USB or firewire or something?
 
Stevev2 said:
So were do you obtain uk opencpn charts?
Click to expand...

Various dubious Russian BitTorrent sites. As far as I know, there are no UK charts suitable for OpenCPN available for legal purchase.

I did hear that VisitMyHarbour were going to offer something soon though.

Pete
 
Nicholas123 said:
A question that springs to my mind is if I had a hand held gps & could connect it to this computer somehow.I should be able to download that OpenCPN thing & those supposedly free charts? Then I can see how it runs for myself :)
Click to expand...
Well, I'm a SeaClear fan myself, which has a GPS simulator built-in - not that I've ever used it myself - I've used NMEATalker on several occasions when at home to simulate the various inputs. A UK chart folio for SeaClear can be sourced from http://www.visitmyharbour.com/ for £30.

That NMEA output.....is it possible to connect that to an ordinary computer in normal circumstances?......what type of port do you use?I guess you need a special cable that converts to USB or firewire or something?
Click to expand...

Sure - it usually requires a 9-pin serial port, or a serial-to-USB adapter if you don't have a serial port.

I use Thinkpad 600's for navigation - plenty good enough for the job, 1024x768 display and still have a serial port.

Just keep 'em in the cabin out of the weather.
 
Charts, search for : "Cm93 jan 2011" on Google.

GPS input, if you get something like a Garmin Etrex, you can use a USB cable to connect it to the laptop, this also charges the hand held.

Another handy laptop to look at is the Toshiba M400. Doesn't seem to use lots of power, has a touch screen, Bluetooth, Wifi etc and converts into a tablet.
 
Handheld GPS and a chart is what I use.

It happens to be a Garmin 60SXMAP that I use just about everwhere.
 
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