INavx, Navionics or C-Map?

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nicho

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Currently awaiting survey on a boat with pretty crappy old Raymarine chartplotter, so rather than splash out £thousands on a new set up, thought I would use a GPS enabled iPad in U.K. waters. Which of the above providers do you think would be best to go for or are they much the same? Thanks
 
Navionics and decent sized Ipad with Gps.
Does not need to be the latest Ipad either, mine is quite ancient.

Downsides.
If on a flybridge it can be difficult to read the display in bright sun and some way of securing it............ and it will shut down if it gets too hot.
The boatshoe method of holding it in the shadow of the helm has worked so far but perhaps not ideal.

Make sure if using a ciarlighter usb adaptor that it can provide 2amps to charge to Ipad while under way on extended cruises.
Battery will always die just as something critical or scary appears on the horizon, in my case the Goodwin Sands.
Get an up to date as possible chart for the old Raymarine kit.
Loads on ebay.
 
Last edited:
oldgit said:
Navionics and decent sized Ipad with Gps.
Does not need to be the latest Ipad either, mine is quite ancient.

Downsides.
If on a flybridge it can be difficult to read the display in bright sun and some way of securing it............ and it will shut down if it gets too hot.
The boatshoe method of holding it in the shadow of the helm has worked so far but perhaps not ideal.

Make sure if using a ciarlighter usb adaptor that it can provide 2amps to charge to Ipad while under way on extended cruises.
Battery will always die just as something critical or scary appears on the horizon, in my case the Goodwin Sands.
Get an up to date as possible chart for the old Raymarine kit.
Loads on ebay.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I use the iPad connected by bluetooth to a GPS aerial with the Sky Demon app for flying, and it works well. The IPad has overheated and shut down a couple of times, but turning the brightness down a little prevents this. Visibility is still OK. TBH, the longest cruise is likely to be no more than a couple of hours, so battery life should not be a problem. I have a suction mount to attach it to the aircrafts, and it looks like I could use that on the side screen of the S34 in consideration. Thanks again, very helpful.
 
I have a pair of 20 year old Raymarine chart plotters / radar onboard which are functional if not exactly state of the art. On a recent trip from NI to Scotland I tried out Navionics on a near 11" Lenovo tablet. Yep it has limitations with glare (which i'm sure can be sorted with a filter screen) and mounting it etc etc, and on first looking I thought Navionics would be a bit too 'simplistic' but for relatively straightforward navigation and when plopping around narrow sections in the Kyles of Bute, it was great. It's inbuilt GPS worked fine and the zooming in was fine for a couple of squeezy navigations and proof was in the pudding, I tended to lean towards the Tablet rather than the Raymarine kit..

So I'm not the most 'long term' user of Navionics but I have to admit for fairly simple motorboat cruises It worked like a charm.
 
Fire99 said:
I have a pair of 20 year old Raymarine chart plotters / radar onboard which are functional if not exactly state of the art. On a recent trip from NI to Scotland I tried out Navionics on a near 11" Lenovo tablet. Yep it has limitations with glare (which i'm sure can be sorted with a filter screen) and mounting it etc etc, and on first looking I thought Navionics would be a bit too 'simplistic' but for relatively straightforward navigation and when plopping around narrow sections in the Kyles of Bute, it was great. It's inbuilt GPS worked fine and the zooming in was fine for a couple of squeezy navigations and proof was in the pudding, I tended to lean towards the Tablet rather than the Raymarine kit..

So I'm not the most 'long term' user of Navionics but I have to admit for fairly simple motorboat cruises It worked like a charm.
Click to expand...

Thanks, interesting!
 
Navionics. Excellent. Make sure you plug in details of your boat ie draft etc so that it accurately plots your route. I use the Automatic routing function all the time.
 
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