The Hudl, what a splendid piece of kit it is

[Spyro]

Yes, "dreadful" is rather a vague description of a fault, especially since there are two cameras.

Mike.

No it's not a dirty lens and it's not a fault. It's a fact the camera is dreadful.. you may just not know it's dreadful till you compare it to a samsung galaxy 8 inch. I say 8 inch because it has a different camera from the 7 inch

 

[robmcg]

No it's not a dirty lens and it's not a fault. It's a fact the camera is dreadful.. you may just not know it's dreadful till you compare it to a samsung galaxy 8 inch. I say 8 inch because it has a different camera from the 7 inch

But does anyone even take photos with a tablet?

 

[Dipper]

+1 The camera is only of use to make a record. The picture quality is very poor (on the Mk1 anyway).

 

[Ehecatl]

IOW

Don't know about you but, from Gosport, I can SEE the Isle Of Wight.

+1

 

[Robert Wilson]

To LUSTYD

Ah, I see. And I'm glad my sailing up here has none of the problems of the Solent! Although Greenstone Point near Loch Ewe is hairy with wind against tide - sometimes.

I sailed through Lamlash Bay last year. Gentle reach in through the north entrance, 3 to 4 kts, sunny, warm day - then out of nowhere a gust put me almost cockpit awash. Lasted all of 10 seconds and was gone. Brown underpants moment! Verrry strange.

Sorry for the thread drift.

 

[haydude]

So, I am relatively new to sailing and have limited funds so have been working out how to do stuff on the cheap, but still maintain a suitable safety margin.

Of course I would love a GPSMAP® 8015 MFD (seriously? £4.9k for a 15 inch screen ? that's more than twice what I paid for my boat originally (ok ignoring the cost of the new rigging and replaced engine head)).

So instead just got myself a Hudl from Tesco. 7 inches of Android excellence, add in Navionics charts for UK, Ireland and Holland and bingo. A portable plotter, allows me to plan my journey at home, lay out the course beforehand and then track it en route, etc etc
(And yes, before the purists ask, I do have the physical paper charts, I do a written planned journey course with way points detailed etc in case of electronics failure).

So just got back from my first weekend away trip (home port Gosport, went to Cowes). And having done shorter day trips before, the Hudl was simply fab. Sooo much easier, safer, convenient etc etc. It works for me.

regards
Norris

Excellent! Even better I recommend a Fujitsu M532, which is an android 10.1" tablet with 32GB, GPS, compass and 3G included! With a sim from three you get 1mb per one penny (non time bound) which is the same deal we used to have with the sought after Vodafone dongles now discontinued.

It is military grade splash proof, and the screen is visible in the sun with max brightness.

 

[mjcoon]

Excellent! Even better I recommend a Fujitsu M532, which is an android 10.1" tablet with 32GB, GPS, compass and 3G included! With a sim from three you get 1mb per one penny (non time bound) which is the same deal we used to have with the sought after Vodafone dongles now discontinued.

It is military grade splash proof, and the screen is visible in the sun with max brightness.

But the Fujitsu web site spec says: "Waterproof - No", which I agree would not be the same thing. Oh, and it runs Android 4.1 versus Hudl's 4.2.2.

It seems to be at least twice the price of the Hudl. I wonder if I could have got an employee deal if I had not retired years ago? ...

Mike.

 

[burgundyben]

So the HUDL has an inbuilt GPS receiver?

I was sailing with chums on the RTI and there was an Ipad with chart plotting, does an iPad have a GPS receiver?

Does our half size ipad have GPS?

How much is this navionics app thing?

 

[mjcoon]

How much is this navionics app thing?

Yes, Hudl has GPS, though not very good (cf in my Acer smart phone, for instance).

Navionics app is free for playing with. It is the charts that cost tens of pounds/euros.

Mike.

 

[burgundyben]

Yes, Hudl has GPS, though not very good (cf in my Acer smart phone, for instance).

Navionics app is free for playing with. It is the charts that cost tens of pounds/euros.

Mike.

Right, thanks. I'll look into it a bit more.

 

[Mistroma]

I've had the Hudl for about 8 months now IIRc. The GPS seems to work less well than when I first had it. It takes a long time to acquire when in the car.
It was never as quick as a TomTom.
So I doubt it has much margin to keep working when it's below decks and there's rain and spray about.
Still a useful device, but I wouldn't bother with it for the Solent. A checkchart in the cockpit is better.

Has anyone made a Hudl work with an external USB GPS?
I've got most of the bits, just not got a round tuit.

I like the Hudl as a wifi web tool, and for showing people photos.
Sygic maps are good too, excellent mapping offline, but this costs about £20.

I've used an external Bluetooth GPS with the HUDL using a free app called Bluetooth GPS. I can't remember the exact details but it was a pretty trivial task. Cost was nil for the app and I already had the GPS dongle. I used it with TomTom app when I had a hire car as it was better than HUDL's own GPS. However, HUDL GPS seems to be OK on the boat, even below deck, so I don't use the dongle much.

 

[alant]

+1 The camera is only of use to make a record. The picture quality is very poor (on the Mk1 anyway).

Totally disagree.

 

[alant]

Don't know about you but, from Gosport, I can SEE the Isle Of Wight.

Must be about to rain then.

 

[Dipper]

I don't have a problem with the Hudl GPS in the cockpit. I've compared readings to a Standard Horizon chartplotter and they are near as damn it identical.

 

[Vega1447]

I don't have a problem with the Hudl GPS in the cockpit. I've compared readings to a Standard Horizon chartplotter and they are near as damn it identical.

My Hudl gps works fine below deck.

I do have an external usb-connect gps which I bought for my laptop. .
Must try it with the Hudl.

 

[Dipper]

Totally disagree.

Maybe there has been a firmware update that has improved it. I haven't used it since the first week. I'll give it another go.

 

[Vega1447]

Can anyone explain how to use Navionics for passage planning?

Obviously I can create waypoints by hand on a tablet (Hudl) and create a route.

But most people want to use their library of safe waypoints.

Is there any way (by hacking if necessary) to import waypoints & routes (GPX files or such) to an Android tablet for use by the Navionics app?

(I know that the default answer is no but perhaps there is a Cunning Plan?)

 

[lw395]

I've used an external Bluetooth GPS with the HUDL using a free app called Bluetooth GPS. I can't remember the exact details but it was a pretty trivial task. Cost was nil for the app and I already had the GPS dongle. I used it with TomTom app when I had a hire car as it was better than HUDL's own GPS. However, HUDL GPS seems to be OK on the boat, even below deck, so I don't use the dongle much.

Thanks for that, I will get around to sorting the hardware.
It appeals to me to leave the GPS powered from the lighter socket so I can just plug the tablet in and it will already have locked. I'll make a cable so the tablet charges at the same time as talking to the GPS.
Cheers!

 

[mjcoon]

...

Is there any way (by hacking if necessary) to import waypoints & routes (GPX files or such) to an Android tablet for use by the Navionics app?

Try http://www.navionics.com/en/faq/411 in the 1st instance.

Mike.

 

[mjcoon]

Thanks for that, I will get around to sorting the hardware.
It appeals to me to leave the GPS powered from the lighter socket so I can just plug the tablet in and it will already have locked. I'll make a cable so the tablet charges at the same time as talking to the GPS.
Cheers!

Don't you just need a USB double-socket lighter plug and the standard Hudl cable?

Also to use an external GPS you may have to permit "mock provider" for GPS, though "Bluetooth GPS" will attempt to set it for you. If you have to enable it via settings, that is hidden away in "developer" settings. You get there by going to "About tablet" in the normal settings, and tapping "Build number" seven times. (I kid you not!)

Mike.