Can Navionics display dist & brg to waypoint?

[GoAway]

IIRC it is continuously updated bearing to mark.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

... and us mortal sailors live 100% on magnetic (supreme beings on warships and merchant ships are a different story).

Self-imposed limitation? Or only compass on board, no electronics?

If not the compass-only, can you hum a few bars about why you'd choose magnetic versus true?

-Chris

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by ranger58sb

Self-imposed limitation? Or only compass on board, no electronics?



If not the compass-only, can you hum a few bars about why you'd choose magnetic versus true?



-Chris

It's not a self-imposed limitation. There are only two ways to get a true compass bearing out of an instrument. The first is a gyro compass, and the second is some sort of a satellite-based compass. I think some GPS systems are capable of that. Not COG, but a true heading.

All other bearing devices are magnetic based. The heading sensor in your autopilot is a flux gate compass (magnetic). Most instruments that have digital heading are fluxgate. The compass on your binnacle is a magnetic compass. The compass in your binoculars (if it has a compass) is magnetic. The compass in your hand bearing compass is magnetic.

You can turn magnetic into true if you know variation. This is normally indicated on a chart. For human read compasses like a binnacle or a hand bearing compass, you would then correct to true. For electronic type compasses, such as your autopilot or other flux gate compass, a GPS can look up your location and feed the variation into the calculation automatically.

There are very very few pleasure boats that start with a true compass heading. And Navionics does not give you the variation, so to find that number you would have to first find your position on a paper chart.

The end result is that when Navionics tells you the bearing to a point is 030° true, it is almost impossible to use that information.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by team karst

Yes, that looks correct. I am on a 50 mile passage using it. So the remaining question is: is it planned bearing, or real time COG, or continuously adjusted bearing to next marker? They dont make it obvious…

Touch the box, and you can change what field is displayed. Then it will be obvious.

[bluepearl54]

Yes, the Navionics AXIOM software allows you to do that. Select a waypoint, hit go to waypoint but don’t activate the autopilot to go that waypoint. The screen will show a dotted line to the waypoint and one of the small info screens on the left of the main screen ( you have to scroll them out) will show all the info you need, including vmg etc. etc. If you activate the autopilot to go to that waypoint you will also get all that information but without the flexibility to make minor course corrections.

[Nepidae]

I don't use Navionics on a tablet to navigate, I have an 8616xsv as an MFD and on that it is very simple.

If for example I want to know the distance to a bridge and time of arrival along my route, where I am operating in Follow Route, I simple touch a point on the route before the bridge and that info will be displayed.

IF this has already been said, sorry.

As to your ultimate choice I would suggest an easy test to help you decide.

Call each manufacturer and see what response you get. Act like a support call.

I have a full Garmin suite and couldn't be happier with the product. I just finished an 8yr Loop and for 95% of the time the autopilot drove the boat.

Always get a person on my support/question calls and if not a person, they have a callback system.

If you have any specific questions, PM me to start a conversation.

Good luck.

[wingssail]

I pretty much don't like Navionics because it lacks some of the basic navigation tools (such as reusable, and editable waypoints).

For racing we have a daylight viewable tablet running a program called "Sail Racer" which takes input from the user, GPS, and the sailing instruments and displays any 12 of about 32 values on three screens, including distance and bearing to mark (waypoint) and one of the neatest, "time to layline".

I can put charts on it but I don't. It is not what we use for navigation, just racing.

[moseriw]

I bet OpenCPN can and if not you can write an addon and as long as NAVIONICS refuses the implementation of their often faulty charts in OpenCPN I refuse to buy them.

[GoAway]

Wingsail, I seem to be able to reuse and edit my waypoints in Navionics. Perhaps you are trying to do something different with them than I understand.

[Nepidae]

I have found quite frequently that some will post issues that they have had with Navionics, Garmin or any other manufacturer.

Navionics has run on a number of different platforms, which isn't mentioned, what platform the issue occurred on, or that the Navionics hasn't been updated since it was loaded.

Updates, at least to the Garmin and probably all hardware that allows it should be done.

Someone mentioned that waypoint couldn't be saved or edited.

I can't debate that comment because they didn't provide any background as to hardware the Navionics is loaded on or when updates were done, but on my 8616xsv, which I run updates on both the Navionics and the hardware in my suite, frequently, I have no issues saving, if I want or reusing tracks, waypoint, also if I want.

I've just completed an 8yr Loop utilizing Navionics on my Garmin with autopilot that if the autopilot wasn't in my system, I don't know that I would have finish. It certainly made the trip much easier that I didn't need to touch the wheel very frequently and the track has always kept me safe since I have the boat parameters setup in Navionics/Gamin.

I'd suggest that anyone looking for answers should not look to comments without well supported documentation where issues are concerned.

I'd further suggest, do your own due diligence before you drop money on anything you are buying for your boat.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Nepidae

I have found quite frequently that some will post issues that they have had with Navionics, Garmin or any other manufacturer.



Navionics has run on a number of different platforms, which isn't mentioned, what platform the issue occurred on, or that the Navionics hasn't been updated since it was loaded.

I think the issue here is whether you are talking about the chart set published by Navionics, or the app published by Navionics.

If it is just the chart set, the chart plotter manufacturer produces the interface and the operations, and Navionics just provides the charting information. For instance, Navionics charts used to be one of the choices on my Furuno chartplotter. When Garmin bought Navionics, that option went away. But when it existed, Navionics was essentially identical to c-map in operation, but not in the specific chart data provided.

In the case of the app, Navionics provides the interface as well. This is where the questions in this post came from. And the Navionics app is a little light on features. I have it, as the return on a $25 annual investment is pretty good. But no where near as good as a proper chartplotter!

[Nepidae]

I would agree that the app is not as complete as the Navionics loaded on a Garmin chartplotter. Understandable.

You can't blame Garmin for buying the parts that they can and incorporating them into the Garmin family. Usually, those parts are the best available at the time.

For them it saves the cost to ramp up a production of their own.

I remember that people lamented the purchase of Active Captain by Garmin. I don't profess to know what the end product decision was but Active Captain evolved from being a social media platform, which often you couldn't trust the input to a front end for Garmin to control and make available updates for their products. I find utilizing Active Captain for this purpose works quite well.

Thanks for clarifying that point. The 2 products are different, and it wasn't explained clearly where the issue was.