Redundant chartplotting on tablet or laptop

[jagizzi]

I am wondering if anyone is using a laptop, macbook, ipad or android device for a redundant chartplotter? I am looking for ideas. It might be the telecom engineer in me but redundancy in critical systems is a must in my book.

I like the idea of a laptop or macbook running gps and plotting software as it is completely separate from the boats power and electronics.

Anyone have something to suggest?

 

[Brian B]

I use an IPad and run Garmin Bluechart Mobile. It does just about everything the Garmin on the boat does, great back-up system.

 

[stwendl]

Considering the fact where the tugs are used, a laptop may not be such a good idea. On my sailboat I used to have take my laptop occasionally with me. However the salty air is not kind to those electronics. Most marine electronics are hermetically sealed and filled with nitrogen (as far as i know).

On the salt water there was always some form of corrosion attacking unprotected electronics. Just look at cars that are used in and around saltwater harbors and coastlines.

 

[Red Raven]

I also use my iPad with Bluechart as a backup.

 

[baz]

I also use my iPad with Bluechart as a backup.

Me too.

Using an iPad in the cabin of a Tug is very different from using an iPad in a sailboat's cockpit. The cabin is far more protected from the elements and therefore the iPad will not be compromised in any way.... just don't drop it. 😉

 

[Brian B]

I also use my iPad with Bluechart as a backup.

Me too.

Using an iPad in the cabin of a Tug is very different from using an iPad in a sailboat's cockpit. The cabin is far more protected from the elements and therefore the iPad will not be compromised in any way.... just don't drop it. 😉

I had an experience where a large cruiser came at us at a high rate of speed throwing up a large wake on the ICW. The IPad which was in a leather protective case went up in the air as I had turned into the wake, it came down knocking out the red emergency kill switch. I was now dead in the water, the kill switch managed to go into the deck area of the v berth which was full of belongings. Took a minute to find it which seemed like an eternity. The impact dented the the IPad metal case at the switch so it couldn't be turned on. Later on Knotflying and myself were able to straighten the case so the switch would work. It is still working to this day so it can take some knocks. Oh and a few choice words were said to that Capt by other boaters..

 

[baz]

Yep.... EVERYTHING has to be tied down, that's for sure. I've learned the hard way about this. I had to negotiate a large commercial tug wake the other year while cruising in our R-21EC. I yelled to all onboard including my 1st mate lying down doing a crossword in the V-berth, that we will be bouncing and rolling as I hit the wake head on. No matter, 1st mate was rocketed upwards to the foredeck from her lying position as she paid little attention to my warning yell.... but tying down 1st mate was not an option for me.... :lol: We survived, and i survived 1st mate's look at me as well. 😱

 

[Crewdog]

I use an iPad Air with Boating USA and Canada app from Navionics.

The iPad has its own gps receiver and the Navionics app updates frequently.

I also use a Lifeproof case on ipad; while not waterproof, it does help protect.

It is a power hog, so have to keep ipad plugged into a 2 amp cigarette lighter charger while underwway.

Also use a RamMount suction cup to mount ipad to windshield, and it's held in all sea conditions we've dared to go.

Sometimes actual buoy or feature positions are a mean between the garmin and navionics.

Just one way of doing redundant.

 

[baz]

When I have my grandson onboard acting as my lookout I give him the iPad to help track the boats progress. He uses his eyes for visuals as well as for objects displayed on the iPad chart. He thoroughly enjoys the challenge and takes a great deal of interest in helping granddad at the helm. 😀

 

[NorthernFocus]

A laptop running Coastal Explorer is our primary nav platform. Much better functionality than a marine chart plotter at far less cost. Plus it has the additional features of a computer when not needed for navigation. We've used the same laptop secured in a RAM mount for seven or eight seasons and on two boats. Laptop is so old it's running Windows XP.

 

[baz]

Dan: Keep in mind, even the laptop can suddenly give up the ghost, especially one that's old (8 years for a laptop is pushing it IMO). So having just the laptop does not provide redundancy.

 

[harry ames]

Samsung tablet and cell phone backup with Navionics is perfect for Poopsy.

 

[baz]

Ah.... that's a good backup. 🙂

 

[JamesTXSD]

I think LOTS of folks are using phones or tablets in addition to a dedicated chartplotter. We bought an iPad when they first came out just for that purpose... and then found out all the other cool stuff they do. (At that time, people were asking me: "What are you going to do with that thing?" 😉 I guess they caught on.)

Four iPads later, and all are equipped with marine navigation apps (Navionics and Garmin BlueChart), tide charts, weather radar, etc, etc.

 

[jagizzi]

Wow, all good stuff, thanks folks. I will look up the apps mentioned and see where it gets me ;-)

 

[plewis]

I use G-Star IV GPS dongle along with OpenCPN software for redundancy. While OpenCPN is not the most user friendly it is free at sourceforge. (routes can be imported or exported between systems) The charts required are standard raster charts also free from NOAA. The dongle is $30 at amazon. I used above combo alongside my Garmin traveling up the ICW and didn't see much difference, except the NOAA charts were more current.


https://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-BU-353-S4-USB-Receiver-Black/dp/B008200LHW

 

[baz]

plewis: Don't forget paper charts offer you backup/redundancy as well. 😱

 

[NorthernFocus]

Dan: Keep in mind, even the laptop can suddenly give up the ghost, especially one that's old (8 years for a laptop is pushing it IMO). So having just the laptop does not provide redundancy.

Sorry I assumed that calling it our primary system inferred that there is a secondary. Our backup system is the Raymarine chart plotter that came with the instrument package on the boat. The CE software is so far superior and the resolution so much better on the laptop that I use it preferentially as the primary system. The only downside I've seen is that it uses a USB puck style GPS which simply sits beside the laptop on the dash. With the low satellite angles here in Alaska the GPS frequently loses signal momentarily. The Raymarine GPS mounted on top of the stack has a clearer view of the sky and doesn't lose contact nearly as much. Since we don't operate on autopilot in a mode that is dependent on GPS the signal loss is merely an annoyance.

 

[HRowland]

I use an iPad mini on a RAM mount screwed to the top of the helm. This securely holds it at an adjustable angle and automatically connects power. I installed a Blue Sea dual USB power socket behind the helm to power the iPad with the second port powering my iPhone. I have iNavX for back up plotting, this provides an alternate cartography source. I use NOAA raster charts in iNavX for the paper chart look. I update these every couple of weeks, a simple few taps. There is also a method to transfer Garmin routes into iNavX so I have redundancy here also. I also have ActiveCaptain Locations, Drag Queen, Weather RADAR, tides, and other apps. I also have PDF versions of all manuals and troubleshooting guides copied.
I also have Garmin Blue Chart installed but rarely use it preferring my backup to use different charts. I prefer the look of paper charts that I get in iNavX and Locations.

Howard

 

[SassyRed]

We have Garmin Bluechart on an iPhone and I have it on my iPad. Seems to work well, and can have Activ Captain integrated right into it. But like Howard we like to have a couple of chart sources. So we also have Navionics on the iPad. Navionics on iPad is very easy to use, provides two chart sources (in the US) NOAA and Navionics, and has a pretty nice user feedback system where charts are annotated by crowd sourcing. We also often use the Navionics autoroute function when we are at home doing rough trip planning to provide a quick way to get a feel for anticipated run time and fuel burn.

OpenCPN is a great non-IOS addition You can download and install it right from the opencpn site https://opencpn.org. And Opencpn supports several chart types. Easiest is to just download current charts from the NOAA site. You can use raster charts, vector charts, or a combination. We use Opencpn occasionally on a SurfacePro with a third party GPS device.

The last time I checked, the iPad and iPhone Native GPS are not WAAS enabled so will not be as accurate as your plotter. I think I recall iPhone was typically accurate to 50 feet or so as opposed to 10 feet or so with a WAAS GPS. I have not verified the iPhone 7.