Raymarine radar directly to iPad?

[jen1722terry]

Hello fellow members,

My wife and I need to put new plotter and radar on our 1982 Southern Cross 28 cutter We have been focusing on the Raymarine e7 bundiled package available at a variety of vendors.

However, we noticed on another users forum we belong to that a person has sidestepped installing a new plotter and had all the sensors connected via wifi to his iPad.

My question is: is anyone aware if the Raymarine radar can be connected directly to an iPad. If so, what software is required?

Many thanks, in advance

Jenn and Terry McAdams
Kearsarge, NH
Mahone Bay, NS

[SeaKing]

For the E7 there is a free viewer app and a paid app. THe paid app you can actually control the E7. You can also control you ipod function (song pause / advance and back. Nice unit the E 7 and bigger units.

[FLLCatsailor]

I personally prefer raymarine to the others due to their ipad/pod intergration... You can be off watch on a passage, and know what is going on. I also love to use it for the anchor alarm feature...

[zboss]

I think your post is very telling. It is end-of-days for companies making money hand-over-fist on custom multifunction displays, custom cabling, etc. While the ipad is not yet ruggedized on its own, the day is here where three ipad mini's at the helm replace all that expensive garbage.

NMEA 0813 and 2K has got to go... its antiquated. Even the US auto industry dumped the CAN standard! All equipment on board should use standard off-the-shelf connections over fiber cables (nothing to corrode) and wireless; all using off the shelf routers running open source software that anyone can improve. The first company that implements that will own the market and destroy all competition in less than 5 years.

[simonpickard]

I'm a little confused with this thread.

"However, we noticed on another users forum we belong to that a person has sidestepped installing a new plotter and had all the sensors connected via wifi to his iPad."

I'm not sure you can do that? I thought currently all you could do is still have the plotter, and then mirror that display on an iPad. I'd love to be proven wrong but I don't think you can leave the plotter out of the equation at the moment (although I'd love to).

Radar seems to be the tripping point.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

I'm a little confused with this thread.

"However, we noticed on another users forum we belong to that a person has sidestepped installing a new plotter and had all the sensors connected via wifi to his iPad."

I'm not sure you can do that? I thought currently all you could do is still have the plotter, and then mirror that display on an iPad. I'd love to be proven wrong but I don't think you can leave the plotter out of the equation at the moment (although I'd love to).

Radar seems to be the tripping point.

That's my understanding as well. Probably for a few reasons:

1) The current manufacturers have every interest in keeping the status quo. So they won't be the first to release an app that negates all that fancy looking hardware and relegate themselves to the sensor-only business.

2) It would mean a whole new development effort... they would have to redevelop all their core modules to be much more efficient.

3) They would have to share their sales with Apple since apple gets a cut for every app that sells on their app store, and they own that avenue unless you want to jailbreak your pad.

and on-and-on.

They are not the first industry with lack of foresight but in the end, they are just another domino.

Tablets are on the cusp of destroying the multifunction display market... just a few advancements are needed, including screens that are easier to see in the daylight (which are coming). I doubt that any of the existing chartplotter companies own patents on the display technologies they use, so it would be easy for a vendor to incorporate them into an Android tablet for example.

Waterproofing can be done already.

These companies will hem-and-haw about how tablets don't have enough processing power to handle chart plotters. They must be totally unique in the history of all industries because there has yet to be any app that couldn't run on a good tablet when programmed efficiently.

[muskoka]

InavX recommend a multi-plexer to connect iPads etc. to navigation instruments which use Seatalk (Raymarines proprietory language). If you don't like Raymarine, you can use a Shipmodule Multiplexer which connects to any system using NMEA 0183. If you like Raymarine you can use the Brookhouse or the ShipModul.

ShipModul Marine Electronics

iMux - The Brookhouse NMEA 0183 Wifi multiplexer

I agree with the basic sentiments regarding chartplotters - they are overpriced and under featured dinosaurs.

[JoeFish]

I realize it's a bit off topic, but NKE is now shipping a free iPhone/Pad app for their instruments as well. It's quite good.