Work have very kindly provided me with a flash iPad and waterproof cover!!! It just strikes me that with the Navionics app installed, I might have a large screen, high definition plotter at a bargain price.

Or am I barking up a completely different tree? Thoughts appreciated...before I shell out for a plotter that is of lower spec. than the one the boss has so thoughtfully provided :)

Europe last year. Worked extremely well. But it was for different navigation challenges.

Just note that it eats the battery so I fitted a USB charge port to use while underway.

 Make sure any tab you get has GPS sensors.. not just cell phone location. there is not good cell phone, if any towers to locate you at sea.

 I use a usb connection to matian full charge all the time at sea.

If she is at work.. and taken the camaro.. I take 'her' truck to tow the boat.. ppl at her work know Im fishing...its routine now they ask where we are.. and comes up on google maps on her phone.

Its under a hard top and gets no direct sun on it. I assume that the screen wont be viewable in sun. Why aren't phones and tablets screens viewable in sun - like marine chartplotters and sonars are??

 

The mount needs to be very strong to withstand the shocks of boating. Smaller the boat, the worse the pounding - I do not think I would contemplate a tablet in my 4.6m Stabi.

 

I assume any sea water getting on it would probably kill it. Even rain would possibly kill it?

Why are you considering doing this?

You will miss all the features of a combo chartplotter.

Navionics on a small boat is overkill, really its good for areas of open ocean you dont know well.

Most boats using it will have a Sonar to alarm them of other vessels/objects in close vacinity.

A handheld GPS for waypoints in a small boat is useful, in a big boat a combo 9" system is the way to go.

Too many negatives like battery and potential ip68 issues and accuracy for my liking.

Can you do it? Yep. But I can also hit my head with a mallet which makes as much sense.

I dont have deep pockets..

And yes the "features"

Each to their own. Id be putting  $500 plus maps into one of the new 9" Axiom Systems, which have great UX design between all modes.

Boats arent cheap, the gear that comes with them isnt either, thats why id not scrimp on a 20+ft boat with an Ipad.

And if navigating by navionics in the dark a person is asking for trouble. Thats what Sonar is for. So you dont run some people over, or worse get run over by a container ship.

Im not saying they cant be used on an Ipad, I just personally will leave that up to other people as I dont see the point and would rather use other systems.

Utter nonsense.

Navionics is essential for contour lines and underwater reefs. 

Have a handheld GPS and was a pita sitting in front of a chart, calculating where a mark was and then entering into the handheld.

Fiz, if you are going to navigate anywhere really accurate charts are the way to go.

An up to date paper chart is the best, with corrections marked, but no one likes handling them.

Navionics charts are great, not the out and out best, but they do a really good job.

I note that my Navman GPS plotter  is 14 years old, that means it has old charts as well.

I have noticed in the past 10 years a lot of large pleasure boats are using computer systems on their boat for navigation

and engine monitoring. They install a PC, large touch screens on the dash all connected to the Sounder, Radar, GPS and any other sensor they elect to use - example night vision sensors. 

Yacht racing has been using laptop and tablet based systems for navigation, measuring and monitoring for at least 20 years.

I have always believed that having separate units are safer than having them all in one system.

A few years ago, my son and I was travelling back to Auckland from Fitzroy at about 10 pm and 20 miles from A Bouy we had one of the boat circuits crash lost all lights, Sounder, GPS and Autopilot.

Fortunately the other circuit was okay and we had the VHF and Radar to enable a safe entry without lights.

So my Furuno  Sounder, Radar, Navman GPS and Raymarine Autopilot are all separate units and will remain so in the future.

You have made two wrong statements twice - 

Sonar will never prevent a collision with a container ship or a 12' tinny out fishing in the dark.. 

Sonar measures only what is under the boat. Radar identifies what is around your boat.

 Only AIS and Radar can prevent that happening but you need to be monitoring the radar screen and keeping watch.

Note Radar showed up Astrolabe Reef to the crew of the Rena, but they were not monitoring the screen - crash.

AIS is not installed on many pleasure boats so is not appropriate in this discussion.

I do a lot of cruising at night and it is very safe, so long as all boats are correctly lit.

And I still carry a sextant, learnt how to use one in 1978 and I still enjoy the magic of deriving a position line from the sun or stars.

Im not saying Navionics dont have their place, sorry I should have explained further, i was just in a rush and what i said didnt make much sense. What Im saying is by themselves they are pretty much just a map. And yes I meant radar, I had sonar on my mind with fish HUD.

Also the really key importance with using them for waypointing is Sat accuracy, which the raymarine product and the galaxy tough pad, are designed for. scientists need to know the GPS is extremely accurate for various reasons like surveying the same species again in a years time.

Raymarine and others now offer you full integration into navigating BELOW the water with various things like being able to chart both sides of the boat (dragonfly or other tech), but more impressively give you a 3d image of what that pinnacle you noted on your navionics looks like. And of course what fish are around it, with increasing accuracy.

I work in Software User Experience design and Raymarine have done an outstanding job of integrating things, its like an Apple product, designed for the old and young, idiot proof.

If you are going to use a tablet, go for the Galaxy Tab Ativ 2 just released. My mrs is a double doctorate in biology and they threw her one, so ive been using it for watching Netflix while she doesnt use it between surveying our worlds animals.

They are damned tough and no need for a bag. They will take not just a beating, but a dunking at that with IP68 etc, also they are designed to be used by scientists with gloves or wet fingers, although I prefer the stylus. The stylus works the same as on Galaxy Notes etc. The screen to my surprised only being an 800x100 LCD screen looks like an AMOLED which they put in their S8 and Galaxy Tab S3. Was well impressed. More importantly is its GPS accuracy which is whats more important to you guys.

Sure in a pinch an IPAD with a fish finder works, but so does me sitting in Tiri channel drifting waiting for a bite.

Couple of quick videos. I really think from a user experience, Raymarine have done an outstanding job with this Axiom user interface. Keep in mind its plug and play, ie you can add things like radar, sonar obviously, 3d transducer to give you that real accurate 3d map under the water, and on it goes. Personally I think the 7" is too small, but usable in a small boat, 9" is the best, 12 is big. The software is so well integrated from Navionics to fish finder to 3d mapping. Thats where Navionics is useful, when its not standalone, imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fI5KTBysZA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fI5KTBysZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC7FmiGZiA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC7FmiGZiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacMLG9V4Pk" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacMLG9V4Pk

My reasoning for the inquiry was simple. I have been given an expensive top-of-the-range iPad with all the bells and whistles so thought for the cost of a Navionics subscription, I could put together a great little plotter/GPS system. Yes I do have a sounder/fish finder so all catered for in that department. Sadly, I don't have bottomless pockets so $500 plus maps into one of the new 9" Axiom Systems is way out of my reach with a young family, etc.!! My fishing is done in shore (i.e. in sight of land!!) and in daylight, so I'm not looking for something flash, just simply a way of finding fishing marks via coordinates, marking spots for future, etc.

Note the distance bottom right cnr...

 I can drop on repeated trips within the distance of the bottom tip  of the blue marker.. IF position wait 30 secs to check.. on my phone or tab.. a marine gps unit is almost instant.

I have no idea what you are being blunt about based on what you wrote, so Ill keep this short as your tone is not on. Actually I do have some idea about GPS accuracy and the differing of it between devices. And that combined with the tough books been made for out door use, in which I have used maps on them is why i recommended it for this type of application

I cant be bothered trying to reply to put downs.

Actually I didnt base anything I said on google. There is a reason Garmin etc are world leaders in GPS systems not iPads.

An iPad is a dumbed down (thats a computing term so no offense) device (as are most tablets) for people who dont need to know how to use technology. They are not devices designed for GPS work. Will they work, sure.

So please do not reply to me again in any thread.

OP if this is an Ipad Pro thats $1200+ of your works hardware you are risking. Its your call. If its the base 9.7 its $500. Will it work, It will display Navionics yes. Accuracy is something I cant be bothered going any further into.

Spot on.

As long as you are aware of the limitations and cost and you can live it then go for it.

And be especially aware of the durability of the device you are using, especially if this actually an iPad Pro.

For mounting and charging in the boat get yourself a Railblaza starport with a USB charger and the Railblaza tablet holder to keep things tidy.

I'm off to the boat show tomorrow (thanks Sezza!!) so will no doubt gather a plethora of info. and have some great conversations around the subject. Will probably give it a go as other fishos seem to have had success.

I have asked you  on what basis that you base your opinions...

You will see from my often criticized length of posts...I generally back up my stuff with how where and why... 

 So Im asking again upon what personal experience are you making  each your statements.... NOT what is in  marketing brochures.

I also use the ipad to view SST maps from OceanSST so I can see where the good water is.

Bricker I was thinking about this some more to help out.

The Mrs brought home her tough pad gimbal last night. Anyone fishing in a boat they cant mount the Ipad this might be good. They basically sit flat against you and when in use they are facing up, so you can use your stylus, well use it full stop. Thats what the guys scaling our mountains would be using with the tough pad. Interestingly tough pads dont use glass like iPads. Its plastic from what I can make out, it feels weird under the stylus. Like a really thick non glossy computer screen. Also they come in a tough shell. So there is like 3 layers.

Im going to ask a mate if there is any way to IP68 an iPad.

lastly do you have a stylus and is yours the latest 9.7" normal iPad that now accepts the use of a stylus? Because one thing that helps with real accuracy is a pen/stylus. You may not be able to control your iPads GPS (not that it would be out by more than a few metres) but you can control where you put your way point :-).

lastly if you cant mount it, as steps is doing, id try a cellphone/tablet waterproof bag, perhaps see if you can try it out in store. you can use a phone in one so i dont see why not an ipad. not sure about the stylus technology with Apple though.

just a few ideas to chew on that might help or might not.

Steps the stylus means you dont need to zoom, just makes it one step easier, it also makes using the maps easier, in fact using the iPad. Think of it like trying to use a computer without a mouse. Yes ive used it on Navionics and the Mrs topography Biology maps. Its super easy. They only released that model recently though (although the expensive 10.5 and 12.9" Pro models have had it forever since release).

Add to that 4g and a logitech keyboard and you have yourself a computer on the boat with a mouse acting as a stylus in which you can look up information regarding say a certain reef etc, then it just pulls off the keyboard and you put it back in its bag or on the dock and its back to being a stylus. Hence the term 2n1 computers these days.

You guys have actually convinced me to buy one for my next small boat lol.

RE glass, its not about bashing it, its about dropping it, thats why i suggested the tough pads as you can drop em and nothing happens, you drop and ipad and its potentially gone (it depends on what angle, what height, what you hit, but they arent that hard to crack). Lets say you are ultra hectic and you pick it up with a slightly slippery hand, dropped, yes it happens and no not just clumsy people. I repair them for people and it can happen for all kinds of reasons. Anyway, just putting a touch case on one will dramatically decrease the chances of cracking a screen if you are not mounting one.

Steps Im just offering some advice on a subject Im familiar with, not trying to step on your toes here.

Steps Im just offering some advice on a subject Im familiar with, not trying to step on your toes here.

 not steping on my toes.. Im just passing on 4 or 5 yrs of personal hands on use and experiance,  trial and error.. yes errors failures to ..as to what and how things work and what doesnt..
 Not 'therorcal' stuff as what should and should not work...

 

 Again as I said previously , when looking for a tab , check the settings/ location  and has the gps  location setting... sometimes it maybe greyed out. if so make sure can turn on...

 Dont ask the guy selling , 9 times out of 10 they dont know the difference between the 2.

 Thu can be 'fun' when ask for their manager and point out that the poor guy on the floor hasn't been trained in the details of the products... generally they dont know the difference either