GPS, IPads, Wireless, Security!

[Zagato]

I was just about to buy a Garmin 551 but can't find one in stock for the cheaper £430 price! When is the best time to buy, Jan sales maybe, should I wait?

I am also looking at getting a Virgin wireless package and instead of the Garmin getting an Ipad or Netbook and running a programme on that. Are these OpenCN apps OK for chart plotting, you guys that have Imray Charts on your computers do they come with the same facilities as a Garmin chart plotter!?

Also I have read that people can tap into what you are doing on wireless but I think I am fairly secure with phone line broadband although I do have a router from my local service supplier!? Sorry no idea what I am talking about just trying to make the right decision. Thanks

Chris

 

[prv]

I was just about to buy a Garmin 551 but can't find one in stock for the cheaper £430 price! When is the best time to buy, Jan sales maybe, should I wait?

You might be able to negotiate "boatshow prices" from a supplier (whether at the show or not) during the London show in January.

MES have it for £450, if you've seen it for £430 elsewhere then no harm in asking them now if they'll match that. They may accept £20 off to get the sale. I was in a kebab shop last night and they took £3 for a £3.20 kebab when that was all the cash the punter had

I am also looking at getting a Virgin wireless package and instead of the Garmin getting an Ipad or Netbook and running a programme on that.

Do note that you don't need wireless Internet at home to navigate on your boat! Although you do need a way of getting software onto whatever kit you buy, and the iPad has no network socket. So you'd need to use wireless at your own house or a public hotspot (anywhere from the library to McDonalds to a mate's house) to set it up. And it would be a bit of a waste to own an iPad that can't access the Internet at home. So if you choose an iPad, get wireless at home. If you get a netbook, it's less clear-cut. You may not need to. (You may wish to anyway so you can use it on the sofa in the living room instead of being tied to a desk.)

Are these OpenCN apps OK for chart plotting, you guys that have Imray Charts on your computers do they come with the same facilities as a Garmin chart plotter!?

I've used OpenCPN briefly on Colin's boat, and it seems ok. Not really to my taste aesthetically, but perfectly functional. Does everything a Garmin will and possibly more - but it might not be as easy to figure out how, especially setup stuff like loading charts.

In my opinion the Imray iPad app is not really suitable as a plotter, though you could certainly use it as such if required. The functions for navigating (as opposed to just looking at the chart) seem very clunky and unintuitive to use. It's great for viewing charts while not sailing, though, and I use it all the time for that.

Also I have read that people can tap into what you are doing on wireless but I think I am fairly secure with phone line broadband although I do have a router from my local service supplier!?

If you get wireless Internet at home it will still enter your house via the phone line. Then a small aerial on the router will convert it into radio waves that your ipad, netbook, computer, or whatever can pick up from anywhere in the house. It's a lot like a cordless phone (not a mobile phone) and its base station plugged into the wall.

Like any radio signal, someone located physically nearby (in a van outside your house, not criminals in Russia) can pick up the communication between your computer/netbook/iPad and the router base station. However, to stop them spying on you, the signal is scrambled so that although they receive it, they cannot understand it. There have been several different scrambling systems over the years - the original one was called WEP and can now be unscrambled by people who know what they're doing. I'm not up to date on the current state of the art in wireless encryption, but I think WPA2 is probably still considered safe. You should make sure that your connection is using this - fortunately, most are set up to do so automatically, as suppliers have learned since the bad old days when routers were sold with scrambling turned off and people had to know they were supposed to turn it on.

Pete

 

[vyv_cox]

I am also looking at getting a Virgin wireless package and instead of the Garmin getting an Ipad or Netbook and running a programme on that. Are these OpenCN apps OK for chart plotting, you guys that have Imray Charts on your computers do they come with the same facilities as a Garmin chart plotter!?

The Navionics HD app for iPad is excellent. There is now an upgrade, although I do not have it yet, that increases the functionality of the app to give it virtually full plotter performance. The only problem is that the iPad turns itself off after a short time, not always convenient, but this can be solved by buying a 12 volt charger for it.

I don't find the Imray app very good, but for free it's not too bad!

 

[prv]

I don't find the Imray app very good, but for free it's not too bad!

To be clear for anyone else reading this, the app itself is free, but you have to pay for the charts. It comes with C10 and C12 for free by way of a demo, but they're passage charts of the whole English Channel and of limited use.

Pete

 

[Zagato]

Many thanks Vyv and Pete especially - I'll get myself over to Virgin for phone,TV and wireless computer. We will be saving 20 per month and I finally get Discovery channel etc and the ability to "tape" programmes

Once I have hauled myself into the 21st Century I'll look properly into IPad, versus Netbook etc and get a cheap handheld GPS as back up

 

[MASH]

And don't be fooled into thinking that because iphones have GPS the ipad, being a bigger version of an iphone in most respects, must have it too. Bloody obvious. Of course it does!

Not.

Apple are very sly in not mentioning that inconvenient little fact (or at least being very coy about mentioning it), the standard ipad does NOT have a GPS receiver, you have to get the 3G version to get GPS too. And thats another £100 or so...

 

[PabloPicasso]

And don't be fooled into thinking that because iphones have GPS the ipad, being a bigger version of an iphone in most respects, must have it too. Bloody obvious. Of course it does!

Not.

Apple are very sly in not mentioning that inconvenient little fact (or at least being very coy about mentioning it), the standard ipad does NOT have a GPS receiver, you have to get the 3G version to get GPS too. And thats another £100 or so...

but you can get a gps dongle for an ipad i beleive

 

[Playtime]

but you can get a gps dongle for an ipad i beleive

Not a dongle (which plugs in) but bluetooth. However, there are only a couple of units (AFAIK) that will work with iPad (more Apple restrictive practices).

These are the XGPS150 and the GNS 5870. Normal price for either of these is around £70. However, if you are lucky, you can get one for around £50 (I picked up a new one for £51 last week in an eBay auction).

 

[gerry99]

Not a dongle (which plugs in) but bluetooth. However, there are only a couple of units (AFAIK) that will work with iPad (more Apple restrictive practices).

These are the XGPS150 and the GNS 5870. Normal price for either of these is around £70. However, if you are lucky, you can get one for around £50 (I picked up a new one for £51 last week in an eBay auction).

Sorry you are wrong. You can buy the Bad Elf GPS that plugs directly into the iPad. I bought one earlier this year. It is a great piece of equipment, the company is US based but ship internationally and from personal experience their after sales service is excellent.

 

[Playtime]

Sorry you are wrong. You can buy the Bad Elf GPS that plugs directly into the iPad. I bought one earlier this year. It is a great piece of equipment, the company is US based but ship internationally and from personal experience their after sales service is excellent.

OK - there is a dongle version but, from the research I did before purchasing mine, it didn't get great reviews. However, your experience indicates otherwise.

Personally, I think a bluetooth unit is more useful as it can be used with other (non Apple) devices.

The main point we are both making is that you can use an external GPS (bluetooth or dongle) with a wifi only iPad for navigation.