Navionics

[clyst]

Hi chaps , since my plotter has gone tits up im considering using Navionic on an ipad .Sounds simple enough except having asked around locally im given confli ting info . Some say I only need to stump up £39for a years subscript others say I need a card . The Navionics website isn't specific either . Is Navionics worth getting involved with or is there a simpler download ?

 

[fredrussell]

No card required on a tablet - just pay the £39 a year, or just pay it once if you don’t need updates annually

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Yup. Great product for peanuts money. Download from the iOS App store.

Rremember you need an iPad with cellular. (no SIM needed), but no GPS on the WiFi only models.

You might find daylight viewing and battery consumption a challenge.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

If you don't pay every year the AIS overlay ceases to function. I think you also use the auto-routing function as well.

 

[Refueler]

I have plotters and many setups of Chart software on PC / tablets as well ....

I looked at Navionics : Boating and Lakes .... and downloaded to my Smartphone along with trial version of my regional charts. I was impressed and then saw the subscription ... 39 euros for all Baltic ... against over 250 quid for the Plotter version cards !

As another says - that gives you a years updates - which are often 5 or 6 a week ... but if you don't renew subscription - you keep charts on your tablet / phone but they dont update anymore.

I plan to keep sub going - as the app on my Android tablet and Samsung Phone both work excellently. I even bought a new dedicated Android Tablet for the charting.

On the boat - I have my Plotter with inbuilt AIS feeds a Multiplexor (NMEA2WiFi) and that then sends out WiFi that my Acer 1 mini PC as well as my Android Tablet pick up ... so my navionics shows AIS targets as well ... no cables ... walk around free ...

I would not replace the plotter - but its certainly a very good nav package on a Tablet. Well worth the 39 a year.

 

[Refueler]

Yup. Great product for peanuts money. Download from the iOS App store.

Rremember you need an iPad with cellular. (no SIM needed), but no GPS on the WiFi only models.

You might find daylight viewing and battery consumption a challenge.

Personally Android Tablets are pretty universal now with Dual Sim ... WiFi ... Bluetooth .... USB ...... it will take a lot of convincing for me to consider an iPad ... which incidentally iPad is significantly more expensive !!

 

[Refueler]

If you don't pay every year the AIS overlay ceases to function. I think you also use the auto-routing function as well.

??

mmmmm not aware of that ... but at 39 a year - its not much to keep sub going.

 

[Gixer]

If you don't pay every year the AIS overlay ceases to function. I think you also use the auto-routing function as well.

Ahhhh, you are right. I've taking everything apart trying to figure out why my AIS stopped working..... Doh.

 

[Refueler]

Personally Android Tablets are pretty universal now with Dual Sim ... WiFi ... Bluetooth .... USB ...... it will take a lot of convincing for me to consider an iPad ... which incidentally iPad is significantly more expensive !!

And Installs / Uninstalls are simple ... migration of data from android to android is simple

 

[sailaboutvic]

I have plotters and many setups of Chart software on PC / tablets as well ....

I looked at Navionics : Boating and Lakes .... and downloaded to my Smartphone along with trial version of my regional charts. I was impressed and then saw the subscription ... 39 euros for all Baltic ... against over 250 quid for the Plotter version cards !

As another says - that gives you a years updates - which are often 5 or 6 a week ... but if you don't renew subscription - you keep charts on your tablet / phone but they dont update anymore.

I plan to keep sub going - as the app on my Android tablet and Samsung Phone both work excellently. I even bought a new dedicated Android Tablet for the charting.

On the boat - I have my Plotter with inbuilt AIS feeds a Multiplexor (NMEA2WiFi) and that then sends out WiFi that my Acer 1 mini PC as well as my Android Tablet pick up ... so my navionics shows AIS targets as well ... no cables ... walk around free ...

I would not replace the plotter - but its certainly a very good nav package on a Tablet. Well worth the 39 a year.

Not the part of Denmark we heading for ,
Sod’s law

 

[RupertW]

Hi chaps , since my plotter has gone tits up im considering using Navionic on an ipad .Sounds simple enough except having asked around locally im given confli ting info . Some say I only need to stump up £39for a years subscript others say I need a card . The Navionics website isn't specific either . Is Navionics worth getting involved with or is there a simpler download ?

We’ve used it instead of a chartplotter for ten years and it’s been great in multiple chart areas. The only time it’s annoyed me is when I discovered I’d have to pay for the whole of Africa just to have Cape Verdes. I bought a paper chart instead.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

. Deleted

 

[Refueler]

Not the part of Denmark we heading for ,
Sod’s law

Denmark is separate due to Denmark Copyright as I believe ... so you need to have two chart sets if you want General Baltic and Denmark.

Yep - I was a bit annoyed about it as well.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Denmark is separate due to Denmark Copyright as I believe ... so you need to have two chart sets if you want General Baltic and Denmark.

Yep - I was a bit annoyed about it as well.

Not just that you seen the price for the charts for the west Denmark , come under Norway too ?

 

[Refueler]

Not just that you seen the price for the charts for the west Denmark , come under Norway too ?

Never looked - but will now.

mmmmm Denmark seems to be the stinger in all this .....

Norway adds to Baltic OK - at similar price ... but to get Denmark - that's a bit odd having to buy so much more area ....

 

[bromleybysea]

The Navionics Boating app is excellent and well worth the £39. I was running it on an old iPad but this years iteration wouldn't load because I couldn't update the operating system on the iPad anymore. I have just bought a Samsung tablet which does the job at a fraction of the cost of a gps enabled iPad. I also bought an update for my Navionics UK & Ireland card. But discovered a) that it won't load onto my Lowrence Global Map plotter because the latter didn't have enough memory. B) can't download the Navionics Chart Installer onto my PC 'cos it doesn't have a recent version of Windows so I can't register the chart for updates. I run PC Plotter on the PC and the new card will load so at least I've got that. I'm loath to fork out for a new plotter but I do like the old Lowrance- it's bulletproof and you can see the screen even in bright sunlight. It's all a massive scam to keep milking us for cash. In another thread, people are musing about giving up sailing when one gets to 70. I'm 73 and though I face some physical challenges I want to keep going as long as I can. But it's these sorts of frustrations that make it all such hard work. And don't get me started about Calor Gas!

 

[Cspirit]

These are good - around £80:

Garmin GLO 2 GPS and GLONASS Receiver with Bluetooth (010-02184-01)

Easily links to second hand iPad. Works for me

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I run Navionics on a 10 year old iPad mini which is encased in an Armor-X case on a bracket in the wheelhouse. The iPad also runs Memory Map to display the very large scale Antares charts that cover many anchorages up and down the west of Scotland. It has AIS overlay over Wi-fi or Bluetooth from Emtrak.
Other boating apps on the iPad include Imray Tide Planner, Predict Wind, Met Office, RYA SafeTrx, Boatie and Connect-AIS which lets me monitor my EmTrak AIS transponder.
If or when the iPad fails, or the operating system can no longer be updated to run the above ( most likely scenario), I’ll replace it with an Android tablet.
That’s the belt.

For braces I have a very old Toshiba netbook running Open CPN with Admiralty charts from VMH plus Antares charts. It too has AIS overlay from my Emtrak transponder.

Finally, a bit of string. Imray charts that cover Southern Ireland to Shetland plus the Admiralty Leisure Portfolios covering Ireland, the Clyde and the Western Isles. Most passage planning is done using the Imray charts.

 

[Refueler]

There are so many combinations and possibilities today - that the list can go on forever.

Quite often when it comes to tablets - it drops down to personal bias of iPad vs Android.

Personally I will never pay iPad / iPhone prices .... that's about 75% the reason I am an Android user.

Today its mindboggling even compared to just a few years ago ...

I have as my central unit - Onwa KP39A. This has AIS Tx/Rx built in.
It feeds to my NMEA2WiFi unit.

The NMEA2WiFi unit then sends out GPS and AIS data streams via 0183 ... WiFi ... and USB to :

Android Tablet running navionics. I can use or disable its inbuilt GPS while still use Onwa AIS data - all via WiFi giving total walk-about freedom.
Acer One mini PC Notebook - I can WiFi all data into OPENCPN or via USB to Seaclear.

There is still NMEA if I want to any other ...

Guests can link via WiFi to their charting app ...

The NMEA2WiFi can also detect and relay external WiFi such as in a Marina to boost onboard connection ...

Makes you wonder what we ever did before !!

 

[oldgit]

Some of us had to repair the screen on a iPad twice before navionics announced that our trusty £100 quid secondhand device was incapable of handling the latest upgrade.
You only find out it cuts out when hot, can only be viewed on the fly only under seat when in bright sunshine and that the thing also always goes flat half way through a trip even with a 2 amp power supply.
Still a neat system but it's something android next time.