ipad case

J

John Nousaine

New member
got an ipad full sized and want to use it onthe boat, I have the link on the phone to connect to my lowrance. so I'm sure i can do the same w the ipad my question is what is a good case for it and any mounting advice. plan on using it in the cockpit so waterproof a must
 
I use my iPad in a "Lifeproof" water proof case that I bought on Amazon. I use a Ram Ball suction cup mount with a dedicated iPad holder. The system works well overall, the suction cup works really well on the fibreglass dash, but I do tie a leash on it as it has fallen off once or twice in rough seas.
 
ssobol":1end8y9g said:
If you are using the iPad outside, are you sure it is going to be bright enough to be useful?
Click to expand...

If what he meant by full sized is a 13" current model it has a 1000 nit screen should be plenty bright for direct sun. If it is an 11" screen then they are 600 nits and will be hard to see in direct sun.
 
If you are going to put the iPad at the helm, the best choice by far is a Ram Mount. We navigated the Great Loop in 2017 mostly using the late lamented Garmin Bluechart software and now we use AquaMap.

Here are two photos of the iPad our helm. The iPad is mounted to the left and above the 2005 Raymarine, which was useless for us on the Loop except as a depth finder and odometer, as we had no chart chips for anything in the East. We do have chart chips for the Raymarine for our home waters but AquaMap cartography is better and we can download updated charts easily.

We were also able to use the iPad as a monitor for our Toshiba laptop running with the lid closed that was sitting on the dash below the center window with a nifty utility called Duet. The computer was running Coastal Explorer and was connected via USB to our AIS receiver.


iPad_in_RAM_Mount_1.sized.jpg
Daydream_s_Helm.sized.jpg
 
I too use the ram mounts & use them both for the iPad & the auto pilot controller. Instead of mounting it from the overhead, like Pat, I prefer the dash top for mounting. This keeps it from any view obstruction. My preferred navigation app on the IPad is Navionics.

48B5F207_5ADD_4916_9010_18C59D3D0BEA.jpg

Jay
 
Jay, looking at your C-Dory dash, I don't see a magnetic compass. I'm sure that there are instruments that will show you which direction you're heading, of course. But do you have a magnetic compass where you can see it?

Boris
 
Boris, I know people have different views about magnetic compasses, but to me they are sort of dinosaurs like paper charts (he says, and ducks)! We learned about paper charts and magnetic compasses in our Power
Squadron boating safety course in 2003, but don't recall much about that, as we have never used them because our 2003 CD22 had an electronic chart plotter from the beginning.
 
Boris, I removed the good Ritchie Compass, that originally came with the boat around 2010, when I first started using an iPad, as a backup with at that time a Garmin chart plotter. There wasn’t good room for all without obstruction of view or have the compass too close to objects that could interfere with it. Up until then, I only needed to use the compass once & that was in 2004, while navigating Rocky Pass. I still carry aboard a small good hand help compass just in case, the unlikely need for a compass should arise. I say unlikely, as I’ve only needed to use a non electronic compass once in 25,000 miles of cruising our CD22 & with present electronics it wouldn’t have been needed then. If I was navigating oceans like you, Bob & some others here have in the past, I would certainly have found a workable full time spot for it.

I like Pat, have come to the opinion there is very little need for small scale paper charts or a magnetic compass, presently. I do have good knowledge of using paper land or marine charts with a magnetic compass from military training & use, plus in classes for pilot ground & instrument training & know how valuable there use was before the advancement of gps combined with electronic & compass charts.

Jay
 
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