Tablet advice for Navionics

T

Tippy Canoe

New member
I am going to be taking the USCG Spring Weekend Navigator class online. I need to purchase a tablet to run the Navionics navigation app on. Just have an older Samsung Tab so am looking to upgrade. I want to be sure that I get something that can handle whatever might be needed and not have to replace it too soon. Android is my preference. What size, memory, etc. Suggestions?

Thanks,
Paul
 
Hi Paul!

We run a Verizon Tab S5E with Navionics and AquaMaps as backup to twin 12” Garmin displays.

AquaMaps is better than Navionics in showing current ACE shoaling data at inlets. Of course, you may not need to worry about that at all in your boat.

We find Verizon provides very good coverage except at a few well known areas like off the Everglades and some rivers.

Cheers!

John
 
Maybe get a used iPad. For a dedicated function like a plotter maybe it will suffice. I recently got a pretty good iPad mini from eBay for a little over $100. Going to be a lot cheaper than the Samsung. Just be sure to get one with cellular so it has the GPS chip (even if you don't intend to use the cellular part).
 
I have to disagree with my friend ssobol above. I would absolutely get a tablet that DOES have an internal GPS so that you don't need cell service to know where you are. Boating in the PNW waters, there are many places that do not have cell service. There are places up on the BC coast where you can go for days without cell service.

I use a Samsung Tab S2. It 2 programs I use frequently, AquaMap and OsmAnd+. Both run off the internal GPS and require no data once the maps are loaded. If it is running on the boat, (and it does), It is backup to the back-up, only because I have not put in a mount for it yet. It is small 5x7, but it fits in a good case I use. I would like a larger one, and may do that at some point.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Harvey, I think you misunderstood sosobol - the iPads that are “Cellular Capable” do NOT depend on a cell signal for receiving GPS. The GPS receiver is built INTO the cell chip. Every iPad we have purchased (6 as of now) has been cellular capable, and not once have any of them been connected for cell service. I’ve been saying this for over 10 years now, but some still don’t understand: for an iPad, you need one that is CELLULAR CAPABLE, but you do NOT need to be connected to cellular service for it to provide a GPS signal. We have used it all over the US and Canada, not once connecting the iPad to a cellular provider.

Early on with the iPad, they were advertised as being able to capture GPS coverage faster with “cellular assist” (triangulation using cell towers), but every cellular capable iPad DEFINITELY has a GPS receiver in it. Really. No need to have any kind of cell coverage.

I wrote about this on our blog back in 2010 or 11, and that page still gets hits to this day. Seems there are a lot of people out there, Apple “geniuses” included, that don’t understand the GPS function of every iPad that is cellular capable. It is. Really. Not just guessing at that. Just trying to clear up any misconception.

Hugs,
Jim
 
Jim, thanks for the clarification. I thought my post was clear enough when I said
"Just be sure to get one with cellular so it has the GPS chip (even if you don't intend to use the cellular part)."
Click to expand...

BTW, not all Android tablets have a GPS chip in them (most do, but not all). You need to verify that the tablet you want to buy includes it. If you are shopping for a tablet, if you get one that also does GLONASS (RU) as well as GPS (US) (they are different systems), you'll likely have better coverage.

There is a 3rd satnav system coming online (Chinese). Some devices can use this one too.
 
GLONASS, I think there is a pill for that. i've been using a Samsung Tab A for several years now with no complaints.

If you plan on boating in Prineville Res you won't need a gps, some water would be handy though
 
Paul,

There are complaints on the AGLCA site about IPads running out of memory when plotting routes with Navionics, due to Apple considering each part of a gradual turn to be a ‘waypoint’ where Android and Garmin consider it to just be a ‘turn’.

Granted, some of these nuts are plotting 5,000 mile diversion routes off the 6,000 mile Loop, so it won’t likely be an issue in your class.

We’ve never bought an Apple we couldn’t eat, but they make great products. Agree we are outliers again but you can find a used Android tablet on Ebay just as easily as an Ipad and not have to worry about that potential limitation to making routes in Navionics.

Hope this is helpful.

Cheers!

John
 
“. . . Early on with the iPad, they were advertised as being able to capture GPS coverage faster with “cellular assist” (triangulation using cell towers), but every cellular capable iPad DEFINITELY has a GPS receiver in it. Really. No need to have any kind of cell coverage.”
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification Jim, Maybe I am basing my premise on early iPad technology, but also, I don’t think a “cellular capable” iPad has to be connected to a cell service for the triangulation feature to still function. That triangulation delivers a lat & long position even without a true GPS receiver, (synth Lat&long), or at least that was how it initially worked. I have to admit, I have not looked into any “i” anything for years. Before I did get my Samsung Tablet, there was considerable controversy about the iPad location system integration (GPS and Cell combined) and how accuracy could be adversely affected, holding in memory the most recent tower coordinates). I guess that was one of the main reasons I went with a Samsung with a known GPS receiver on board. By then I had gotten out of the SAR service where we used GPS exclusively.

At the beginning of the thread the OP (Paul) stated he was looking for Android,
“Android is my preference.”
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So I was aiming to stay with that.

Ssobol, yes, you are right, not all Android tablets have an Internal GPS so yes, you must verify that if that is going to be one of your uses. I have never tried iPad where I was out of cell service range, but I know my Samsung Tablet has been far out of cell range and still functioned perfectly. Hate to say “You pay your money and you take your chances” but it is true, so do your homework first.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Just put you iPad in airplane mode and see if the location feature still works. Might have to move after putting it in airplane mode so it is not remembering your current location.
 
ssobol":1771gpbk said:
Just put you iPad in airplane mode and see if the location feature still works. Might have to move after putting it in airplane mode so it is not remembering your current location.
Click to expand...

Ah Haa, good test. Thanks.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Harvey - the "cellular capable" iPads do not find a location by triangulation. The iPad location is not based (and AFAIK never has been based) on "cell and GPS combined." Cell capable iPads, whether or not they have cell service, have an actual GPS receiver in them that determines lat and lon from the satellite signals, just like your dedicated GPS does. No cell service required, no triangulation, just GPS by satellite. We navigated the entire Great Loop with our iPad running navigation apps, first the Garmin Blue Chart app, now long discontinued, and then the AquaMap app, because we had no chart chips for our C-80 except the West Coast. It was on a Ram mount overhead. Worked great! We also had a laptop running Coastal Explorer with NOAA and COE electronic charts and using the iPad as the display with a nifty little program called Duet when we needed AIS, which was only on the river system between Chicago and Mobile. The C-80 was really only our depth sounder and odometer!
 
OK I think I am getting convinced. That Wifi Only thing is kind of sticking in my head and may have been the route I was trying to take . . . . .
Anyway. Thanks all for your patience and helpfulness. I will stand corrected.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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A big THANK YOU to all of you for your valued input...it was all very helpful!! I love the "back and forth"...you guys really crack me up!! But I am soaking up the info like a sponge....

Paul
 
Tippy Canoe":35g0jwvq said:
A big THANK YOU to all of you for your valued input...it was all very helpful!! I love the "back and forth"...you guys really crack me up!! But I am soaking up the info like a sponge....

Paul
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Good to hear you are enjoying the site, and learning from it. If you like the back and forth -- Good for you. Shucks, we hardly are started. If you want some real fun just start something about twins vs singles or boat plugs, inny vs outie. Yikes, start that and then stand back.

Of course, there are always lots of opinions, but mine is always right :shock: (unless of course I'm not :roll: then we just have to changes sides. Good thing is you get to pick what you like or want to use and go with that :idea :lol:

Oh, by the way, there are several Brats in that Central Oregon area. Keep and eye out, and say "Howdy" :smiled I lived in Prineville for 7 years, and tipped several canoes in the area.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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