Raymarine and Navionics Partnership

[Rustic Charm]

I know this has been touched on in another thread, but I wanted this one to be just about Raymarine and it's wifi features and not a debate over ipads so much.

A few months ago I commented that the only feature missing so far on the Raymarine (I have just installed a 9in) is that it doesn't yet have the ability of connecting to the internet.

Well, partially that has now been rectified with nothing more than an 'app' addition. To update mine, I needed to use the little Card and connect it to my computer, down load updates and then plug this into the chart plotter. But with a new partnership with Raymarine and Navionics, the latter now lets the chartplotter connect and download updates.

Solving the Data Problem | Cruising World

I'm still waiting for an upgrade that will put a 'google' or 'internet' search ability on the chart plotter. Also, I don't 'think' the chart plotter connects to the internet even though it has 'wifi' capability. Can someone confirm this?

[gspeak]

Our Raymarine a77 can connect to our onboard wifi router which has a cellular modem attached giving access to the Internet to all devices on the wifi network. The a77 firmware is able to be updated directly via the wifi. I did it this way just last week.

Also if you did not know, I can create routes on my iPad (Navionics app) & can then import the routes into the a77. To do this you connect the iPad to the Raymarine inbuilt wifi & import routes or waypoints. Choose My Data / Import / Archive / Navionics / then the route name.

Hope this helps.

Dave


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Emerald Sea]

Yes, confirmed. You can update your Raymarine firmware via the internet. As far as I can see, there is no other connectivity to the internet. Its only available, at the moment, for upgrades of firmware and Navionic, Lighthouse charts. Upgraded mine a few weeks back. Worked fine.

[barnakiel]

Any wifi device that connects to a router that bridges to the Internet is de facto connected to the Internet.

However how much Internet related functionality is available from the device and how much a party on the Internet can access the device will depend on the software limitations of the device. The bridge can too place its own routing, addressing and other limitations.

If the manufacturer wishes so, only software updates will be available. Another maker can give you a neat web browser in the plotter, if they wish so. Etc.

Given the chip / software limitations of plotters, you stand only a very low chance of hacking into it and replacing the OS with ... exactly what? And why?

b.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I'm still waiting for an upgrade that will put a 'google' or 'internet' search ability on the chart plotter. Also, I don't 'think' the chart plotter connects to the internet even though it has 'wifi' capability. Can someone confirm this?

With the latest release of Lightroom you can connect to the internet to download weather gribs. You do need a subscription to the weather service, which you can trial for a month.

I did not try this on mine, but I was happy that I could upload the gribs from my Predictwind download on my Mac and transferred it via the card.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Any wifi device that connects to a router that bridges to the Internet is de facto connected to the Internet.

However how much Internet related functionality is available from the device and how much a party on the Internet can access the device will depend on the software limitations of the device. The bridge can too place its own routing, addressing and other limitations.

If the manufacturer wishes so, only software updates will be available. Another maker can give you a neat web browser in the plotter, if they wish so. Etc.

Given the chip / software limitations of plotters, you stand only a very low chance of hacking into it and replacing the OS with ... exactly what? And why?

b.

Yes, that's what I was asking. You would think it would just be an 'app' to do this. I'd like one that simply says BOM which is our government weather. But I really don't know why they just don't give internet access. Mail ?

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by hoppy

With the latest release of Lightroom you can connect to the internet to download weather gribs. You do need a subscription to the weather service, which you can trial for a month.

I did not try this on mine, but I was happy that I could upload the gribs from my Predictwind download on my Mac and transferred it via the card.

It's 'lighthouse' isn't it?

You have probably answered my question why they don't just give access to the Internet. They would loose the ability to charge a subscription to weather services.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

It's 'lighthouse' isn't it?

You have probably answered my question why they don't just give access to the Internet. They would loose the ability to charge a subscription to weather services.

Ooops... Lightroom is the Adobe s/w I use for photos.

It would take a lot of time and money for RM to develop or port an internet browser to run on their MFD. It's not like it will be like flicking a switch to add that functionality. Given that everyone has tablets or laptops, there's not much point.

[jtulls]

My guess is that the connection between the app on your phone or tablet and your plotter is something like a near field communication (NFC) connection -- it will push known data from the source over to the receiver but not an open connection to the internet between the two devices. I could be wrong but I would think it's probably easier/cheaper to just have an NFC connection than a full data connection -- inshore you could connect to cell data but offshore you'd have to switch over to satellite coverage...not cheap

[leftbrainstuff]

Having unfettered internet connectivity from these mission and safety critical systems is not something I want.

It would be nice to configure some sort of nat and bastion host. I'm considering a rugged hardware firewall as our locked down external connection. We're just starting a full B&G upgrade so haven't yet had a chance to see how easy it is to hack.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app