Recommend me a basic tablet for AIS

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down...2 greens

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Hi all,

I have a Standard Horizon GX2200 radio which receives AIS info but doesn't display it in a user-friendly way, and I also have a basic standalone chart plotter which doesn't accept other inputs. So I was on the lookout for a pretty cheap/basic tablet to display AIS information from the radio on a chart, just to get a better picture of where other traffic is.

The plotter uses vector charts so I quite like the idea of raster charts on the tablet (maybe visitmyharbour?), but maybe there's no need and something else would work better? Anyway, with the chance of some Black Friday deals floating around soon I thought it might be good time to have a look.

So, what (1) tablet (2) charting and (3) gizmo to get AIS info to (1) and (2) would you recommend?

All suggestions appreciated!
 
Ouch, £216 just for the thinggy?! I could live with just a cable and consult it down below as necessary (standalone chart plotter is in the cockpit anyway). I think I remember someone on here describing one a while back...
 
I have found my way in this confusing area. As far as I see the OP has an AIS receiver, his radio, so he doesn't want another receiver as such.
I use a Quark as a receiver and have the output on a tablet. I can view the AIS on a blank screen (ie not overlaid on a chart), or by using the Marine Navigator app I can overlay on Visit My harbour charts. If I had Navionics I can use those charts no problem but to my knowledge you can't overlay the GPS onto the Navionics charts on a tablet.
So I'm not sure the Quark approach helps the OP.
 
I can warn you which tablet NOT to get; the MS Surface.

Otherwise good when one gets used to it, it has a major failing; the charging lead is a special 230 volt job, no way of plugging it in on a boat unless an inverter is also fitted.

Guess how I know...
 
Thanks everyone.

FairweatherDave said:
As far as I see the OP has an AIS receiver, his radio, so he doesn't want another receiver as such.
Click to expand...

That's true (and since the radio also has its own GPS maybe I don't even need that built into the tablet)?

I suppose I'm really just confused about the most appropriate cheap-and-simple way to get AIS (and perhaps GPS?) info from the radio to talk to a tablet. And since I've never used any of the laptop or tablet charting software apart from Navionics, whether there are any particular advantages of one brand of charting for what I'm looking to do.
 
Im also interested in this route. I am considering buying a GX2200, and interfacing it with an old Google Nexus 10 (with Navionics or OpenCPN?) all down at the chart table, so I'd prefer a simple cable rather than WiFi. What is the easiest and cheapest way to do this?
 
For a cheap tablet, look on Ebay for a Lenovo, "refurb" units sold by Argos. 10" models for less than £100.

iSailor is cheap, as are the charts they supply. As the Lenovo has built in GPS the package will work stand alone as a plotter. Adding the AIS support and sending wifi AIS it will overlay AIS.
 
down...2 greens said:
Hi all,

I have a Standard Horizon GX2200 radio which receives AIS info but doesn't display it in a user-friendly way, and I also have a basic standalone chart plotter which doesn't accept other inputs. So I was on the lookout for a pretty cheap/basic tablet to display AIS information from the radio on a chart, just to get a better picture of where other traffic is.

The plotter uses vector charts so I quite like the idea of raster charts on the tablet (maybe visitmyharbour?), but maybe there's no need and something else would work better? Anyway, with the chance of some Black Friday deals floating around soon I thought it might be good time to have a look.

So, what (1) tablet (2) charting and (3) gizmo to get AIS info to (1) and (2) would you recommend?

All suggestions appreciated!
Click to expand...

I use one of these
http://yakbitz.com/Yakker.aspx to get the nmea to wifi. Very good price and has been working perfectly for over 2 years. Great support from the seller. I use an old Nexus 7 tablet running the Marine Navigator app and raster charts from visit my harbour. So for about £60 plus a cheep android tablet you get the wifi transmitter, app and all uk charts.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
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So Plum's recommendation for the Yakker looks good if it will work with your radio.
I use a Lenovo tablet and find it perfectly okay.
I did have Navionics on the tablet until my son wiped it out with a fresh install update thing. I have to say I preferred using Navionics over Visit My Harbour / Marine Navigator for user friendliness but maybe I just need more time to get used to it. But to be clear, the Navionics app does not support an AIS overlay, (unless I have missed a recent development).
 
Hi you can try
londonchartplotters as they do some deals on AIS tablets with GPS and maps , therefore not doing it all yourself
have a look see what you think
I am not a customer but am looking to upgrade my screen up top,
 
Yep, I got that one, I searched for one with a proper dedicated GPS, and I believe this one says it has gonglass gps (the russian one) built in.

I have used it out there and it works all right :), most specs don't specify the gps... which is annoying
 
down...2 greens said:
That looks interesting - are you using it with a GX2200 radio, or is there any way to tell if it would work properly with mine? And do you find it draws much current?

I could also live with a wired connection...
Click to expand...

It should work fine with your VHF, it's just a NMEA to wifi device. Power draw should be insignificant, but it's hard to tell from such a rubbish website. No name, address, phone number etc very poor !
 
I take AIS data from a Gx2100. It goes into a ShipModul Miniplex (which does an awful lot more besides including converting the AIS setences to N2K for a cockpit display). I link from the ShipModul to tablet using USB.

If I were starting again I'd use WiFi but as I already had a vYacht thingy when I bought the ShipModul I didn't get the WiFi version (bit of a mistake as I barely use the vYacht these days).

I just bought a basic Windows tablet at Argos. Cost just over €100. I run OpenCPN and I bought the VisitMyHarbour Admiralty charts for UK&I for £32 IIRC.

Works well. I rigged up the USB port at the chart table to provide both power and data to the tablet.
 
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