GPS backup

[Orion Jim]

I have had a Bad Elf GPS Pro for a year now. Works perfectly. I blue tooth to my iPad 4 with the Navionics app.. I leave the BE belowdecks and have the iPad in a waterproof case. This is all a backup to my Raymarine chartplotter which has always provided flawless operation. One reason I like the BE is that it is a stand alone backup which I can use with paper charts. Layers of backup navigational devices are an important thing offshore. I also have a sextant, and, I know how to use it

[zboss]

Originally Posted by hoppy

I tried using an iPad at the helm on the first couple of seasons with my boat. The iPad was a pile of of rubbish. At first I had it in a waterproof case with an anti-reflective screen cover and I could see jack **** on both sunny and light overcast days. After that I dumped the cover and still struggled with the reflections even when trying to use the bimini to shade it.

While I disagree on your assessment of the iPad being rubbish, Garmin Blue Charts on the east coast usa seem to be spot on, I do agree about the reflectivity. I also do not like the fact that I cannot use my gen 2 ipad with my polarized sunglasses.

Good thing is that the iPad 4's coming out in june/july supposedly will have a much lower reflectivity due to a new glass, like the new iPhone 6's out now.

[woc]

Originally Posted by Jim Walsh

I have had a Bad Elf GPS Pro for a year now. Works perfectly. I blue tooth to my iPad 4 with the Navionics app.. I leave the BE belowdecks and have the iPad in a waterproof case. This is all a backup to my Raymarine chartplotter which has always provided flawless operation. One reason I like the BE is that it is a stand alone backup which I can use with paper charts. Layers of backup navigational devices are an important thing offshore. I also have a sextant, and, I know how to use it

Thanks, the answer I was looking for. I am a firm believer of multiple back ups for navigation, including the sextant which I am still struggling to learn. Out of interest, what app are you using for calculating your position or are you able to do this the longhand.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by woc

Thanks, the answer I was looking for. I am a firm believer of multiple back ups for navigation, including the sextant which I am still struggling to learn. Out of interest, what app are you using for calculating your position or are you able to do this the longhand.

I took a class to learn how to use a sextant and rely on my notes. The instructor kept it as basic as possible to allow us to get comfortable without being overwhelmed. I've never looked into use of an app for the calculations but I was cognizant of their availability.

[roetter]

When you switch off cellular on the iPad then the GPS keeps working. If you switch th eiPad into airplane mode then the GPS is off too.

CAREFUL:
If you have WIFI on board, such as a Raymarine plotter or a Vesper AIS, or a router, that your iPad knows, then make sure WIFI is off on the iPad or it will be so smart to use the WIFI signal as a location to "improve" location services and tell you are where it saw th WIFI a long time ago. For several weeks it kept telling me, when freshly started, that I was in Ft. Lauderdale, when in fact we were 200+ miles away in The Exumas. The screen dialog to "switch on WIFI to improve location services" is way wrong if the WIFI location moves.

Using an iPad with a different chart can be very helpful. Navionincs is totally out to lunch in many places in The Bahamas. We have been through places with our boat where Navionincs says it is only 1 foot deep, yet have run aground in "9-feet" of water. I also anchored twice in the midlle of a small island while still happily floating.

Whenever it gets tricky and I do not know the waters, then the Garmin Bluechart application with the iPad is right beside my chart plotter.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by woc

TOut of interest, what app are you using for calculating your position...

Celestial Navigation

Scroll down.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by roetter

CAREFUL:
If you have WIFI on board, such as a Raymarine plotter or a Vesper AIS, or a router, that your iPad knows, then make sure WIFI is off on the iPad or it will be so smart to use the WIFI signal as a location to "improve" location services and tell you are where it saw th WIFI a long time ago.

While this is true to some small extent, but if the boat is outside of wifi range, this won't happen. It won't happen at all with the Vesper because that isn't connected to an AP - it is all internal. I don't know anything about RM plotters.

And if it does happen, the correction to true GPS coordinates occurs in seconds. It happens to us all the time - open an app while connected to a wifi AP and the location opens far away, then jumps to correct location in a couple of seconds.

Mark

[roetter]

Originally Posted by colemj

While this is true to some small extent, but if the boat is outside of wifi range, this won't happen. It won't happen at all with the Vesper because that isn't connected to an AP - it is all internal. I don't know anything about RM plotters.

And if it does happen, the correction to true GPS coordinates occurs in seconds. It happens to us all the time - open an app while connected to a wifi AP and the location opens far away, then jumps to correct location in a couple of seconds.

Mark

I think you misunderstood me. The problem is with wifi on your boat. In my case the Vesper. I sometimes have my iPad connected to the Vesper wifi directly without an AP. So the wifi on the iPad connects to it automatically. Since this wifi is travelling with me, I am never out of range.

Usually my iPad is in "airplane mode". When I start up any chart application, - i.e. Google maps, Navionics, Garmin, iSailor - and switch airplane mode off, then the GPS has had no chance to get a signal. So the iPad places me at the "registered" location for that wifi, which in my case for several months has been Lauderdale Marine center in Ft. Lauderdale. I have not tested how long it takes to go to the actual GPS location, but it takes longer than a few seconds.

I have to selectively switch WIFI off to "force" the iPad to use the GPS signal.