tablet chartplotter software that works ?

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dunkelly

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i dont have room for a chartplotter on the boat so want to use my small tablet , does anyone have any success with the budget end of the software market and would recommend any . im using a lenovo e8 and most of the apps have the usual plethora of negative comments .
 
i know i h ave gps so thats ok . it obviously works ok for you despite the negative feedback on the app comments .
 
I have Marine Navigator plus the charts from visitmyharbour.

Learning your way around the plotter functionality takes a bit of thought but now I have it nailed I think it's a terrific package and good value.

For example it took me a while to get used to not having a vertical scale to estimate distances. But it's very easy to lock the cursor and then drag your finger to another point for a distance readout.

The presentation of detail on the raster charts is really excellent.
 
i did look at marine navigator briefly but wasnt sure how it connected with visit my hbr , ie do you have to be a member ?
 
I don't like Navionics, he says politely.

I use NV Charts which gives me a paper chart and an electronic one for free. Its good for the English Channel and other European places. The have promised to publish the whole of the UK. I was introduced to them when at The Sea Chest in Plymouth, who give amazing service while talking to them about charts for far off places.
 
You have opened a can of worms here asking that question ?.

Navionics gives you a free trial on the charts and uses the same cartography as plotters that cost many hundreds of pounds.

My advice is start with Navionics and if you don't like it try some of the others.
 
The op asked for software at the budget end ? Navionics is right at the other end.

I have mx mariner and its a great nav app for around £5.
If you have Internet access when sailing c-map embark is totally free and is fun using the auto routing. .
The free version is Internet connection only.
You have to pay for the stand alone version , now we are back to the premium software.
 
dunkelly said:
i did look at marine navigator briefly but wasnt sure how it connected with visit my hbr , ie do you have to be a member ?
Click to expand...
Marine Navigator is an app that you buy for 8 quid IIRC.

Then you buy the charts from the vmh, discounted if you are a member. I like vmh membership anyway; in UK waters I use it in conjunction with an almanac and do away with a pilot book. Also you can download or screen shot full-year tide tables; then not buy an almanac, so there are savings in there.
 
Navionics for me...

I have open cpn. on my tablet also which I find really awful to use..it just is not usable for me. (Maybe it's just me)

But I often leave it on just as a large screen and as a thing to watch.. and it is accurate and reasonably stable once it is left untouched..

I had marine navigator with charts from London chartplotters which I found worse than useless.... Tablet needed to be plugged in all of the time and was counter intuitive to use.

I have used navionics on my android phone for last season including some trips in the dark and in fog and find it very intuitive and exceptionally accurate and quick to react..

My phone is cheap hammer-proof waterproof chinese android ...my tablet is lenova about 5 years old. Both have GPS..
 
I have used Navionics on a tablet for years with great satisfaction. Cost is minimal, you only have to pay a repeat subscription if you want updates or upgraded features like SonarChart Live. £38 is a bargain price, if you want to buy just a map card for a plotter you are talking 5x that.
 
Visitmyharbour and Marine Navigator for raster charts. Takes a little working out, but pretty good value especially compared with paper.

Otherwise Open CPN is an excellent program, and you will probably want to use the ENC charts which you can buy through it.
 
You could say Navionics is raymarine and c-map is garmin. Both are very good premium products with free trails. The rest, you just take pot luck or listen to the usefull advice from forumites
 
When you say software, that is actually split into a nav app and a chart database.
As an app, I like Open CPN, it will handle several chart sets, both Raster and Vector and has several plugins. your start point should probably be your preferred chart set, Raster or Vector. Visit my Harbour are Admiralty Raster, Navionics are Vector.
 
navionics for me , not free , dont know others and cant compare service or prices .
and google maps for coastal stuff .
 
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