Bad Elf GPS unit; two thumbs up.

L

localboy

New member
We have an I-pad but it does not have an internal GPS. After some research, I purchased a "Bad Elf" GPS unit with Apple lightening connector from Amazon.

Just returned from a week in the Gulf Islands, BC. The Bad Elf worked flawlessly. We made it as far north as Telegraph Harbor, via the north end of Thetis Island. For just under $100, with the addition of charts, it turns an I-pad into a perfectly functioning plotter . Will work on I-phones too. Accurate to within 9 feet, per the manufacturer. :thup :thup
 
We also returned last week from a trip up to the Gulf Islands, with Nanaimo as the furthest north. Using a puck GPS hanging on a hook in the cabin, we did all our navigation from Coastal Explore with great success. Amazing technology.
 
Thanks for the tip Mark. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one of these Bad Elf units. My recent experience of losing my chartplotter has me thinking about backup. I already use a Wifi-only iPad, so it's a natural for me.
 
Redundancy was the impetus for us also. Having only one "modern" plotter (740S) which is already a few years old, I wanted a backup. I ended up liking & relying on the [larger] I-pad on this trip. Plus it allows us to download movies/TV shows etc, prior to leaving, then watching & deleting them. A perfect plotter and entertainment unit in one!

There are other [external GPS] units that will work perfectly. Many of the newer models (https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Elf-2200...pID=514asntmNuL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch) work off of Bluetooth, so you can put them almost anywhere they could get a signal; they don't have to be physically attached to the pad. But they are more expensive and require charging. For simplicity, the plug-in version seemed to be right up my alley, as I am not the most computer savvy person.
 
Between the phones and tablets we bring on the boat (all android w/GPS) I have 5 backups to my chart plotter on board.

Most (but not all) Android devices have GPS built in.

We have a decent size tablet that we primarily use for entertainment purposes. We transfer stuff from our TIVO or download things from Netflix et. al. before we set out.
 
Joan was gifted an iPad recently from our son-in-law when he upgraded to an iPad Pro. First time we've owned an iPad without the cellular capability. We ordered a Bad Elf and found it was relatively seamless to use for land and water nav stuff.

My preference is still to have the built-in cellular capability - for the price of a Bad Elf, you can move up from the wifi only model iPad to the wifi+cellular. As long as it all works.

I remember the "olden days," when there were people out there who said you couldn't use the iPad for navigation "unless you were in cellular range"... even the "geniuses" in the Apple Stores. :wink: And we were already using it.

Why, back in my day... 8)
 
The confusion was because only the cellular iPads had GPS chips in them. The wifi only ones do not.

The iPad (and Android devices) also use cell (if equipped) connection info the get a general idea where the device is located. It is faster than a GPS lock-on, especially on early GPS chips.
 
My preference is still to have the built-in cellular capability - for the price of a Bad Elf, you can move up from the wifi only model iPad to the wifi+cellular. As long as it all works.
Click to expand...

There's another advantage of this Wifi-only iPad and Bad Elf lash up....no need to pay for a monthly cell connection to the iPAD. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can enable the GPS function on the cellular iPad without an cell provider account to connect to.
 
smckean (Tosca)":2j7wbbhg said:
My preference is still to have the built-in cellular capability - for the price of a Bad Elf, you can move up from the wifi only model iPad to the wifi+cellular. As long as it all works.
Click to expand...

There's another advantage of this Wifi-only iPad and Bad Elf lash up....no need to pay for a monthly cell connection to the iPAD. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can enable the GPS function on the cellular iPad without an cell provider account to connect to.
Click to expand...

All our iPads except this newest one have been cellular capable - none have ever been connected to a cellular carrier. All you have to do to have GPS capability in a wifi+cellular capable iPad is turn it on (the iPad, that is). :wink: It works everywhere, even where there is no cellular coverage.
 
All you have to do to have GPS capability in a wifi+cellular capable iPad is turn it on (the iPad, that is).
Click to expand...
That's great.....although bad news for me.

When we bought the iPad and had to choose btwn cellular or non-cellular, I was told that the GPS would not work without a cell provider account. That's why I went with the wifi only version. Had I known the truth, I would have gone the other way. C'est la vie.

But now I will get this Bad Elf device to "correct" my error.
 
You can get used iPads from eBay fairly cheap. My mom got one for $50 not long ago for her great grandson. It's not the latest thing, but it works fine.
 
Bad Elf is only one option. Like I said, there are more sophisticated, more expensive and imo more complex Bluetooth gps units out there.
 
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