BT & USB-C GPS/GLONASS receiver that will work with iPad and MacBook

[JPK]

Hey all,

I need to be able to run Navionics on an iPad and OpenCPN on a MacBook Pro, and I'm looking for a GPS/GLONASS receiver that will work with both devices and both operating systems. Ideally, I'd like to be able to connect via BT and/or USB-C. I know that the Bad Elf Flex Mini will do all of this. Is there anything else out there with this capability that's worth considering?

Thanks!

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by JPK

Hey all,

I need to be able to run Navionics on an iPad and OpenCPN on a MacBook Pro, and I'm looking for a GPS/GLONASS receiver that will work with both devices and both operating systems. Ideally, I'd like to be able to connect via BT and/or USB-C. I know that the Bad Elf Flex Mini will do all of this. Is there anything else out there with this capability that's worth considering?

Thanks!

Take the bad elf, its worth it. I have the garmin glo and it has sometimes trouble with the ipad to connect. Wish i got the bad elf

[JPK]

Bump. Any other input?

In additional searches I came across this unit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E65TNYE...ustomerReviews

I have no idea if it's any good. Reviews on Amazon are split on whether this works with Macbooks or not. I don't mind spending the money on the Bad Elf if it is clearly the superior solution. I see that the Dual XGPS160 receives GPS and GLONASS, whereas the Bad Elf receives GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS. In practice, is that significant?

Thanks!

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by JPK

Bump. Any other input?

In additional searches I came across this unit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E65TNYE...ustomerReviews

I have no idea if it's any good. Reviews on Amazon are split on whether this works with Macbooks or not. I don't mind spending the money on the Bad Elf if it is clearly the superior solution. I see that the Dual XGPS160 receives GPS and GLONASS, whereas the Bad Elf receives GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS. In practice, is that significant?

Thanks!

Badelf is the only i know this is certified to work with iOS/MAC. Its a driver and certified issue.
Its reliable and does the job. The amountbpf time you spend to find an alternative to maybe safe 30 bucks doesn't pay off.

[Pendragon35]

I would go with the Bad Elf. I have a Garmin GLO which works fine with the iPad and iPhone but it does NOT connect to a 2015 MacBook Pro.

[requiem]

Shame, looks like the BadElf had a steep jump in price, so $180 vs $500 is a great deal more than $30. Might as well buy a cheap Android tablet at that price.

[Miyalk]

I just use an iPhone and an app called GPS2IP, works perfectly with my MacBook Air & OpenCPN.

Doesnt solve for the iPad, but if you upgrade to an iPad with Cellular then it has a GPS inbuilt anyway. (and I suspect you could use GPS2IP on that and not bother with the phone.)

[requiem]

Originally Posted by Miyalk

Doesnt solve for the iPad,

If OP can leave his phone plugged in and running this, then both iPad and Macbook should be able to consume the location data. The heading data might even be accurate.

[Miyalk]

Heading data is accurate, not sure that the Navionics App can be set to use the GPS data from GPS2IP though.

As I said though, the best solution is probably an iPad with Cellular running GPS2IP.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by requiem

Shame, looks like the BadElf had a steep jump in price, so $180 vs $500 is a great deal more than $30. Might as well buy a cheap Android tablet at that price.

Bummer the reason is they took it out of production and the once they have last in stock sell for different prices.
Here you still get it for 220Euro
https://www.eisenschmidt.aero/system...phone-und-ipad

[CaptainRivet]

https://gpswebshop.com/collections/macos-compatible-gps
Several different options also running osx, chose accuracy you want and pay the price for that...

[requiem]

Just did a little more testing. Running GPS2IP on my phone, I can feed data to both Navionics on the iPad and other apps on my Macbook.

Since I have a cellular iPad I disabled Navionics' access to location services and confirmed the app didn't show position without it. After connecting it to my phone, it once again showed position and the connected device list identified it as a GPS device.

On my Macbook both SEAiq and OpenCPN were able to connect and get both position and heading data. I don't think Navionics is getting or using heading data. (And it might not even know what it is, given it doesn't seem to know what "degrees magnetic" are either.)

---


So, getting back to JPK's presumed purpose (which I assume are their CPM classes), a good approach might be to plug their phone into a charger, use some blue tape to align it with the boat's fore-aft axis, and let the app feed both devices.

This assumes all three devices are on the same wifi network, and the simplest method would be to grab the boat's wifi details. This should work in most cases, in which case I'd normally suggest to just pull the GPS data from the boat, but most of the boats you're on will have Raymarine hardware which doesn't support that. (If the boat has B&G, don't bother with the phone app, just pull the boat data!)

If there's no boat wifi things might be messier. I think your only option is to use your laptop to create an ad hoc network, in which case this might have some needed info. Of course, now you have two points of failure: the phone for positioning data and the laptop for keeping the network up.

---

One last bit... the docs say variation is hardcoded to 3.1°W, but if you enable heading data it actually shows the correct value. However, the HDOP value is hardcoded to 0.9 which means you have no info about the quality of position data.

[JPK]

Thanks for this! Lots of options to ponder.

Yes, my question is primarily driven by the requirements of the CPM (and further down the road) the OPM programs. My club/school fleet is all Jeanneau SO's with Raymarine electronics. I'm currently completing the Coastal Navigation course (paper charting) but going forward the CPM program is transitioning from paper charts to entirely electronic navigation. The Coastal Navigation course will no longer be a CPM prerequisite and will be replaced by Nav1, Nav2, and Nav3 (for OPM) courses. Nav1 will be taught in Navionics on iPads. Nav2 will be taught in OpenCPN on laptops. Nav3 has not yet been defined but I'm assuming it will also be OpenCPN.

If the timing works out, I may just buy the new iPad Pro when it is released in March (if the rumors are to be believed) and put that in a waterproof case, and then pick up a less expensive tethered USB GPS receiver dongle for my MacBook. For my own personal use I'll be using Navionics on the iPad so I'm happy to invest the money in that. I don't really foresee using OpenCPN on the laptop as much outside of class, so spending the ~$500 on the Bad Elf Flex Mini is a tougher pill to swallow for something that will get limited use.

[Thonglor]

I'm using the devices of Quark-Elec. I have an A026, however this includes AIS. Only GPS can be found with the A012. Compatible with Windows 7,8,10,Mac OS X, Linux systems, Android and iOS.

These devices open a WiFi network, and you can connect with multiple devices to their WiFi network. Works fine with OpenCPN and Navionics.

[requiem]

Originally Posted by JPK

If the timing works out, I may just buy the new iPad Pro when it is released in March (if the rumors are to be believed) and put that in a waterproof case, and then pick up a less expensive tethered USB GPS receiver dongle for my MacBook. For my own personal use I'll be using Navionics on the iPad so I'm happy to invest the money in that. I don't really foresee using OpenCPN on the laptop as much outside of class, so spending the ~$500 on the Bad Elf Flex Mini is a tougher pill to swallow for something that will get limited use.

That seems reasonable. I wouldn't spend that much on an adapter for the laptop either.
In the meantime, you can likely get a feel for how you might use the tablet aboard. A few thoughts on that...

• Check that a good waterproof case is available for the iPad model you want to buy. (At least iPads also tend to be waterproof these days!)
• If you want to use it at the helm you might want to buy a mount or use your phone instead. I've a 12.9" model which gets a bit unwieldy, so I use my phone for quick checks.
• If doing vacation charters, would this replace a laptop? If so, you might want a larger screen anyway.
• If doing vacation charters, figure out what charts you'd want to have for them, as that can determine viable apps, which in turn determines Apple vs Android.