I have inherited a 1st gen 3G 16gb iPad owing to a Mother's Day upgrade.
I currently use Open CPN on an ASUS netbook, which receives NMEA data via wifi from the Navman plotter.
I reckon the iPad might provide a good backup if I can get a good cheapish (free?) nav app and charts. Anyone done something like this?
Cheers, Graeme
If it is a 3G, then it has the GPS chip installed and most software should work.
I have a 2nd Gen WiFi only iPAd. As it does not have a GPS chip, I use it to remote desktop to the PC from the cockpit via a TP-Link WiFi device. The iPad sits on the bulkhead in a waterproof case. Not perfect but it works.
A few years ago I got an old iPad 2, purchased navionics app for iPhones for $15 (from memory) which was cheaper than the iPad version.
It's amazing!
I update my maps when in cellular range and run a Bluetooth GPS receiver for when I'm out of cellular range because those old iPads don't have gps inbuilt, new generations probably do?!
Also bought a cheap waterproof case on eBay, note water on iPads make the screen not operate properly, even with the waterproof case as they use the glass front as the seal.
my old iPad is dead now, didn't charge it for a long time and now she doesn't want to take charge. So keep it charged ;)
Note: also the iPhone navionics app stretches to fit on the iPad, which obviously effects resolution. Unless you buy the iPad version the. No problemo.
I've got both OpenCPN with some old CM93 v2 maps installed and Navionics on my Samsung tablet and honestly the money spent on Navionics was well worth it. Try the free demo and I guarantee you will buy it at the end.
I've heard great things about memory maps but cost was too high for me to consider. I think there's a free demo of the quickcharts Australia license in the app and u can buy licences for maps specific to your area in the app... Worth a look too I guess.
We use iSailor on an ipad as a back up to opencpn on a laptop below. We like it. The app is free and the 2 packet of charts we have used so far in Oz, Esperance clockwise to Port Hacking, have cost $50.00 each. 3 packets cover the whole coast.
I've had the iPad 1 with GPS since 2010 and installed Navionics on it when I bought it. The iPad isn't really any good for anything else but surfing the web, playing music and running Navionics. Because I don't go far it's perfect for up and down between Newcastle and Sydney. The Lake Macquarie channel is a great test, just to see the markers pass as you watch them on the screen. I was really impressed.
I run a B&G Zeus3 down at the nav table and WiFi to my iPad (Gen 2 3G/WiFi) at the wheel. Using the Navico app I get full control and all NMEA 2000 displays from the plotter and having installed a RailBlazer starport with USB charger no problems with the battery usage. I also have Navionics on the iPad as a second chart source, a legacy from the other boat with a lowrance plotter. The Ipad works well with the Navionics charts and sources location information from the 3G or Satellite. It's been reliable and accurate for the three years I have used it.
I run navionics on my Raymarine chart plotter at the helm and use gen 2 iPad with 3g down below at the nav station with the navionics app installed as a backup (along with the iSailor app that I use for its excellent anchor alarm). This won't help you Wongaga, but for others running Raymarine kit and looking for this kind of solution, the RayControl app is the way to go. It mirrors my chart plotter and all the data onto my iPad.
I made a nice discovery. I have a Zeus cp with the gofree wifi on my boat, when I connected the iPad (no gps or 4g) to the network, my navionics charts on it had gps and depth from the chart plotter. It is a great feature, so I can use the nmea2k info directly on the wifi only iPad. I was quite excited for a while there.
Problem: the old iPad runs iOS 5.1.1, but all the Apps require later versions. The closest I could get was one that works on 6.something.
Bugger.
