Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet for navigation

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ropeysailer

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I am considering purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 running OS 4,1 (Jelly Bean) and amongst other things would like to use it as additional navigation tool using Navionics software. I have been advised that the WiFi only version does not have a GPS chip although some specs that I have found would suggest otherwise. Therefore I am looking at the 3G version. I have since been advised by Samsung themselves that the GPS (on the 3G version) will not function when outside of either WiFi or 3G range which contradicts what some of their retail outlets and even on-line specs say.

So my question is: Does anyone have either the WiFi only or WiFi + 3G and use it for navigation, if so does either unit work when outside of WiFi or 3g range.

I should also like to add that I have no commercial interest in Samsung, it’s agents or any related retail outlet.

Grateful for any help or Guidance
 
I am amazed at the amount of people that are prepared to risk their lives using the tablets for navigation. I will tell you the same thing I tell all my clients. If you want to use electronics for navigation on the sea then use the equipment specially made for the marine environment. It is waterproof and no more expensive than the tablets but 100% more reliable
 
The WiFi only version of the Note 10.1 certainly does have GPS and it will work without any network connection - WiFi or 3G. Most smartphones and tablets use their network connection to support assisted GPS which offers a faster lock from a cold start and may offer improved accuracy once they have achieved a lock, but most (all?) are able to operate without a network connection.

Having said all of that, I would not want to rely on any tablet or smartphone as my primary navigational instrument - they simply are not built to support any such safety critical function. I do have navigational software on both my Samsung tablet and smartphone and it is useful to support passage planning in the pub and as a fallback if the primary boat systems fail, but I'm very pleased to have a full Raymarine system at the helm as the primary solution.
 
Did you make it clear to Samsung that you would use the GPS with a navigation app ? They might have thought that it needs WiFi/3g for the inbuilt mapping i.e. Google Maps. I would think it very strange that if it has GPS you could only use it online.
 
I used a Samsung Galaxy Tab2 10.1 (not 3g)this summer for navigation on a trip on the west coast of Scotland on a friends boat. By the end of the fortnight he was using the Samsung in preference to his expensive dedicated plotter! Used Navionics apps software which is £38 for the whole of UK, Ireland, N coast of France, Belgium and Holland. Excellent value for the money.
Also used on our summer cruise to Holland with grandchildren and had absolutely no problem with it - to reassure the sceptics I did have backup, two GPS's, Yeoman plotter and all the charts required.
I agree it is not waterproof and the Navionics software does not do as many tricks as the dedicated plotter but for the price it's unbeatable. You can get the 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab2 from PC World online and one of the supermarkets? for only £99! so is MUCH cheaper than a dedicated plotter. We used mine under the sprayhood but we did not have any bad weather. I'm now looking for a bracket system and waterproof case for next year.
 
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maby said:
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Having said all of that, I would not want to rely on any tablet or smartphone as my primary navigational instrument - they simply are not built to support any such safety critical function. I do have navigational software on both my Samsung tablet and smartphone and it is useful to support passage planning in the pub and as a fallback if the primary boat systems fail, but I'm very pleased to have a full Raymarine system at the helm as the primary solution.
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You are lucky to have a marine unit at the helm. Our plotter is down below as it has the radar incorporated. I have always fancied a small plotter at the helm and I am itching to try out my new tablet there when I have found some kind of waterproof case. I guess that the daylight useability of a tablet will be nothing like that of dedicated unit.
 
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Storyline said:
You are lucky to have a marine unit at the helm. Our plotter is down below as it has the radar incorporated. I have always fancied a small plotter at the helm and I am itching to try out my new tablet there when I have found some kind of waterproof case.
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Luck doesn't really come into it - it's a matter of choice. Plenty of systems with radar incorporated are fitted at the helm, though, admittedly, if yours is an elderly system based on an old CRT tube you probably cannot install it outside. We currently do not have a plotter down below - it's something on my "to do list" for next year.
 
Use a tab2 t inch wifi and 3g and it works a treat, bought the raymarine A67 wifi touchscreen which with the app broadcasts a repeater signal to the Tab ! Fab.
 
maby said:
Luck doesn't really come into it - it's a matter of choice. Plenty of systems with radar incorporated are fitted at the helm, though, admittedly, if yours is an elderly system based on an old CRT tube you probably cannot install it outside. We currently do not have a plotter down below - it's something on my "to do list" for next year.
Click to expand...
Sadly the Raytheon CRT radar packed up a few years ago. I loved it to bits ( so senstive but it was a bit of an art to get it really singing but once tuned in it was very sensitive but you had to work the gain constantly - a bit like CD vs vinyl) I intitially hated the dumbed down digital Garmin HD radar but have to admit that it just works without any skill required. I think having the radar down below is a must if there is two crew - in thick fog in busy shipping areas one person needs to be on the set nearly constantly to get to know what is what.
 
Storyline said:
Sadly the Raytheon CRT radar packed up a few years ago. I loved it to bits ( so senstive but it was a bit of an art to get it really singing but once tuned in it was very sensitive but you had to work the gain constantly - a bit like CD vs vinyl) I intitially hated the dumbed down digital Garmin HD radar but have to admit that it just works without any skill required. I think having the radar down below is a must if there is two crew - in thick fog in busy shipping areas one person needs to be on the set nearly constantly to get to know what is what.
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Surely in thick fog the helmsman has nothing to look at apart from the radar screen? Admittedly, we are twin wheels, so could easily have one person at one helm steering and maintaining a visual watch while the other person is at the other helm watching the radar. There's no way I would have my only plotter out of sight of the helm.
 
theguerns said:
I am amazed at the amount of people that are prepared to risk their lives using the tablets for navigation. I will tell you the same thing I tell all my clients. If you want to use electronics for navigation on the sea then use the equipment specially made for the marine environment. It is waterproof and no more expensive than the tablets but 100% more reliable
Click to expand...

Not to offend but I am amazed people are still willing to pay the extreme prices for marine "screens".. Compare the price of a 10" plotter to a 10" tablet with Nav software and a waterproof case and it's easy to see the appeal.. All the fancy "proprietary" stuff they allow you to connect to the "screen" is how they sell it but that won't last..

It's already happening but before long I can see tablets linking to radar, sonar, on-board instruments, cameras, highly accurate GPS receivers, AIS, autopilots and many other things.. Tablets will become your "screens" which can be dedicated to functions on certain parts of the boat or be multi-fictional.. It will all come down to the software available..

I would be very surprised if the major marine electronics suppliers aren't already developing full tablet based systems..

Just my opinion.. :)
 
theguerns said:
I am amazed at the amount of people that are prepared to risk their lives using the tablets for navigation. I will tell you the same thing I tell all my clients. If you want to use electronics for navigation on the sea then use the equipment specially made for the marine environment. It is waterproof and no more expensive than the tablets but 100% more reliable
Click to expand...

The OP said "as an additional navigation tool" so if gets one then might as well use it onboard as well - how is that risking lives?
Would you prefer he didn't have anything additional at all as opposed to something which will work well but might give up if it cops a wave?
 
theguerns said:
I am amazed at the amount of people that are prepared to risk their lives using the tablets for navigation. I will tell you the same thing I tell all my clients. If you want to use electronics for navigation on the sea then use the equipment specially made for the marine environment. It is waterproof and no more expensive than the tablets but 100% more reliable
Click to expand...

The main purpose for for buying this piece of kit is in support of my work, especially when away from my desk ie when sailing. If I am going to spend a significant amount of dosh on something I want to get the most from it, so multicunctionality is a must. This device would seem to make an excellent back up system and useful as a planning tool when away from the boat. My prinary navigation tools are still my paper charts backed up with an on-board GPS system.

Thanks all for your responses and ideas, I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this and will probably go for the WiFi only version as I don't need 3g access.
 
maby said:
Surely in thick fog the helmsman has nothing to look at apart from the radar screen? Admittedly, we are twin wheels, so could easily have one person at one helm steering and maintaining a visual watch while the other person is at the other helm watching the radar. There's no way I would have my only plotter out of sight of the helm.
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Yes, I can see that would work well. I think I have just got used to being down below on the radar with another person in the cockpit, either helming or just keeping a watch. Usually in fog I use the autohelm down below to pilot the boat as there is not enough wind to sail. I have to admit it feels like a bit of a virtual world when you are going along and all you can see is the radar. For some weird reason it feels kind of cosy.

Moving off topic we learnt this summer the value of sounding a regular fog signal. Most of our fog experiences in the past have been in the shipping lanes in the Irish Sea but this time we were in under 10m vis off the coast of Islay. There were a lot of yachts around and it was all very well seeing them on radar but most of them had no idea we were there. After having to take avoiding action a couple of times we started giving sound signals which caused a couple of subsequent boats to slow down dramatically. As soon as we got to the next chandlery we bought a fog horn which works on a pumping action so no risk of running out of the pressurised gas.
 
theguerns said:
I am amazed at the amount of people that are prepared to risk their lives using the tablets for navigation. I will tell you the same thing I tell all my clients. If you want to use electronics for navigation on the sea then use the equipment specially made for the marine environment. It is waterproof and no more expensive than the tablets but 100% more reliable
Click to expand...

If use of a tablet is life threatening, then only twice as reliable doesn't sound terribly satisfactory either. Where does one buy a chart plotter for a couple of hundred quid, by the way, or are you thinking of paper charts?
 
Storyline said:
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As soon as we got to the next chandlery we bought a fog horn which works on a pumping action so no risk of running out of the pressurised gas.
Click to expand...

They are good, but get one of those 12v car tyre pumps to recharge it - it takes ages to pump it properly with the little bicycle pump style inflator that they come with - if you're caught out in fog, you want to be able to recharge it in 30 seconds.
 
ropeysailer said:
I am considering purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 running OS 4,1 (Jelly Bean) and amongst other things would like to use it as additional navigation tool using Navionics software. I have been advised that the WiFi only version does not have a GPS chip although some specs that I have found would suggest otherwise. Therefore I am looking at the 3G version. I have since been advised by Samsung themselves that the GPS (on the 3G version) will not function when outside of either WiFi or 3G range which contradicts what some of their retail outlets and even on-line specs say.

So my question is: Does anyone have either the WiFi only or WiFi + 3G and use it for navigation, if so does either unit work when outside of WiFi or 3g range.

I should also like to add that I have no commercial interest in Samsung, it’s agents or any related retail outlet.

Grateful for any help or Guidance
Click to expand...
I bought one for swmbo last xmas, put navionics on it. It works anywhere, gps is built in. Highly recommended
Stu
 
maby said:
They are good, but get one of those 12v car tyre pumps to recharge it - it takes ages to pump it properly with the little bicycle pump style inflator that they come with - if you're caught out in fog, you want to be able to recharge it in 30 seconds.
Click to expand...
I saw one of those and were warned by the sales guy that the hand pump took a lot of work so we got new type that has a plunger which you plunge ! There were a few of us in the chandlery that had all been in the fog and we all agreed it was very loud. Probably not quite as good as the pressurised gas ones. I now fancy getting an electric horn to mount on the mast. Press a button or even better get an auto switch.
Edit - one of the good things about this forum is the thread drifts - start off talking about the latest high tech kit and up up discussing fog horns :)
 
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