Tablet Chartplotter

[Morgan3820]

Has anyone made a chartplotter out of a tablet and a GPS puck? I have my netbook setup with Seaclear II. But I was thinking that a tablet would be more convienient in the cockpit. For now, my GPS needs are limited to the occasional night sail and the annual treck to Okracoke. I realize that it would lack the dedicated functions of a marine chartplotter, but I thought that it would be a low cost option until I find the $2-3K to get the system that I want.

[Cotemar]

Tablet as a chartplotter is getting to be pretty common.

Try GeoGarage.
GeoGarage - Route Preparation


Key features of this basic but user-friendly mobile app include :

• Track display : Marine mobile apps uses the embedded GPS (iPhone 3GS/ iPhone 4 or iPad 3G) to display the track of your boat in real-time on the multi-touch scrolling and zooming nautical chart.
• Waypoint plotting : with course and distance to the boat
• Seamless chart to chart display : no need to preload charts in memory
• Offline use : all the charts viewed online are memorized in the cache memory of the application in order to be viewed offline when you are unable to get reception (similar to the cache for the web application)

Mark

[nitpik]

It has seen limited use so far, but I use my iPad, both as a chartplotter on the boat, and for land navigation in the backwoods and on the backroads of northern Ontario. iNavX on the iPad works very well, and it can handle anything I need when boating - so far, I am very impressed! It does not need a GPS puck, since it has an excellent GPS built in. It is true that the current iPad screen, 'though amazingly bright and very clear for "normal" purposes, is not really sunlight viewable, so it is best to provide some shade.
Not requiring a mouse or a separate keyboard is another great plus.
The iPad also does so much more than a chartplotter - don't get me started ................. oh, wait, you already did!
You can also use the iPad in the cockpit, communicating with your laptop etc. down below, via WiFi, so you can run other navigational software programs.
BTW - there are hundreds, if not thousands of boaters out there using iPhones and iPads to assist navigation. This is no longer a new phenomenon.

[Morgan3820]

Gee, I guess that I am behind the curve...again. Like the iNavX. Is there a similar app for Android? Although, the wife would be DELIGHTED to get an iPad. Might even get her to pay for it. Hmmmm

[ShaunJ]

Navionics has an app for Andriod I think it was $9.99 for the same chart that cost $295 from Garmin
It works very well, I have used it in my Dink and on friends boats. It also does tides and currents. I recently downloaded and app for AIS called "marine traffic" that works with google maps and it was free.

ShaunJ

[WILFR]

OpenCPN on Windows 7 Starter Forum #10 may be of interest here.

[corbin39sailor]

I use a Fujitsu st4121 tablet with a combination usb gps receiver/memory stick running SeaClear II. The screen is transreflective so it can be viewed indoors or outdoors (it's also a touch screen so you don't need a mouse). It is an older model which I purchased about 4 years ago on ebay for about $250.00. I've seen them for much less now days. Every thing runs very well and I can take the stick home to download new charts where I have a fast internet connection. It sits in a custom mount in my pilot house in the landscape position which is great for displaying SeaClear. I purchased a 12 volt power supply for about $15.00 and run it from the house batteries. One note: If you want to use this in direct sunlight make sure to get the indoor/outdoor screen as Fujitsu also produced the same model with just an indoor screen.

[MeGeek]

CES 2012

Waterproof Tablets
The Pantech Element, announced during AT&T's CES 2012 press conference, is a waterproof tablet running Android 3.2. The tablet is due out on January 22

Read more: Waterproof tablet drops into AT&T this month | CES 2012: Tablets and E-book Readers - CNET Blogs