Tablet for everything

cagey

cagey

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I know this has been done to death but could someone please tell me what tablet to buy. I want one for Nav, pilotage ,Ais , and grib files across Channel and in France, also useable in cockpit. Already have large plotter and radar at wheel but will be singlehanding to France this year and AIS reception would be handy.
Thanks
Keith
 
Maybe stating the obvious but a tablet won't do AIS in the true sense of the word. Yes there are apps that show AIS info (eg marine traffic) but once out of 3G mobile range you will be back to the Stone Age! :confused:
 
No Regrets;Here we go again....sigh

Sorry to rattle your cage but I asked a very civil question because I needed some advice and had you bothered to drag your sanctimonious knuckles across my history you would have seen I have where I could, offered experienced and intelligent advice and when I couldn't I kept quiet, perhaps that is my wise advice to you. In the mean time as this is my post please POSS off.
 
cagey said:
No Regrets;Here we go again....sigh

Sorry to rattle your cage but I asked a very civil question because I needed some advice and had you bothered to drag your sanctimonious knuckles across my history you would have seen I have where I could, offered experienced and intelligent advice and when I couldn't I kept quiet, perhaps that is my wise advice to you. In the mean time as this is my post please POSS off.
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I suspect the sigh was as this question comes up every week or so (have you done a search?) - and it sets off the usual tennis match between the "apple is god" and "apple is evil" camps with no conclusion
 
I've been pondering this myself - not so much the "tablet for everything" but general "tablet for the boat". I have a non GPS iPad (from work) which would make a great plotting aid/backup except that an Apple compatible bluetooth GPS unit costs about the same as a 7" Android tablet with GPS.

I really don't see a cost effective tablet AIS solution, though - it would require a VHF receiver -> AIS decode -> Bluetooth/wifi transmitter -> tablet.

I'd love to be proved wrong.
 
Appreciate the regularity hence done to death title, but robmcg moved my knowledge ahead by leaps etc. Planteater is also thinking the same way, do I commit to yet another plotter just for AIS or can I get new Tech to solve some of the probs.
Looked at Garmin and B&G Zeus but the cartography is the killer so was just looking for reasonably cheap way to solve the AIS and/or grib bit that is missing.
 
i got a google nexus 7 recently. It is very difficult to read the screen in sunlight. I would think that goes for most tablets. Might be ok for down below but would not like to be squinting at it in the cockpit.
 
cagey said:
No Regrets;Here we go again....sigh

Sorry to rattle your cage but I asked a very civil question because I needed some advice and had you bothered to drag your sanctimonious knuckles across my history you would have seen I have where I could, offered experienced and intelligent advice and when I couldn't I kept quiet, perhaps that is my wise advice to you. In the mean time as this is my post please POSS off.
Click to expand...

No Regs

Sorry,
That was rude of me, had a bad day, thinking about it you were only saying what I would have thought.

Keith
 
iPad.

Bought a gen 1 when they first came out - awesome bit of kit, and so very, very easy to use.

Just given an iPad 4 by work last week - loving it. Have done exactly zero work on it, but lots of play :)

At the end of the day, you'll struggle to get useful advice from the forum - as no regrets alluded to, people are either pro iPad or pro anything but iPad, and the fight has been fought many times on here before. You'll really just have to go and try some out at your local curryspcworld and hope that the spotty yoof is reasonably knowledgeable. Check the specs on line and visit the applicable app stores to see which apps are available for the different platforms.

I use various tide and weather apps, and spent a few quid on the pukka Navionics planner plotter, as I use Navionics cartography on the raymarine plotters on the boat.

Apple stuff is expensive, but ever so high quality and intuitive. They effectively invented smart phones and tablets for the masses, and whatever people think about apple, they are very good at it.
 
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robmcg said:
Maybe stating the obvious but a tablet won't do AIS in the true sense of the word. Yes there are apps that show AIS info (eg marine traffic) but once out of 3G mobile range you will be back to the Stone Age! :confused:
Click to expand...

True to a first approximation, but I believe there are boxes which receive proper AIS and broadcast it over wifi so that it can be displayed by a suitable tablet app.

Pete
 
prv said:
True to a first approximation, but I believe there are boxes which receive proper AIS and broadcast it over wifi so that it can be displayed by a suitable tablet app.

Pete
Click to expand...

True, but I suspect it will be about the same cost again as the tablet! May be time to hide the bank statement :o
 
Now into my 3rd season with my iPad 2. I've used it with the Digital Yacht iAis receiver. Initially, I wired my ancient Garmin GPS(1992 vintage) into the receiver (thus avoiding reliance on the iPad's internal GPS, which apparently suffer jitter problems). This worked very well, but have since got rid of the old GPS and equally ancient VHF and in place now use a Standard Horizon DSC VHF with built-in GPS to take on the old Garmin's role. I use the iNavX app for the interface- this has the capability to load GRIB charts (if you are within Internet access). It all works really well for me and combined with an RTE, makes cross channel trips far less worrying and more enjoyable. I still plot positions on paper charts though.

I won't list all the other advantages of the iPad- it's versatility is highly impressive in my view.

Simon
 
Yotdoc said:
Now into my 3rd season with my iPad 2. I've used it with the Digital Yacht iAis receiver. Initially, I wired my ancient Garmin GPS(1992 vintage) into the receiver (thus avoiding reliance on the iPad's internal GPS, which apparently suffer jitter problems). This worked very well, but have since got rid of the old GPS and equally ancient VHF and in place now use a Standard Horizon DSC VHF with built-in GPS to take on the old Garmin's role. I use the iNavX app for the interface- this has the capability to load GRIB charts (if you are within Internet access). It all works really well for me and combined with an RTE, makes cross channel trips far less worrying and more enjoyable. I still plot positions on paper charts though.

I won't list all the other advantages of the iPad- it's versatility is highly impressive in my view.

Simon
Click to expand...

Hi Simon - I too have an old Garmin GPS and ancient VHF, and am thinking of getting the Standard Horizon with built-in GPS or AIS. How well does the reception of that SH GPS compare with the old Garmin? I'm worrying whether an inboard GPS will be sensitive enough compared to an external GPS antenna.

I have it in mind to feed the GPS and AIS into a multiplexer that can then send a single wireless or USB feed, to whatever. With my children onboard, the "whatever" is veering towards a 12V computer with a fixed HD screen and loads of USB inputs. A Linux box with OpenCPN appeals to me. Any thoughts?
 
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