Seen various people say to never use a phone/tablet for navigation. Why?

[Don C L]

And of course these days just about everyone's VHF will tell you where you are, where you're going and how fast you are getting there too. For those of us who still have moldy, stained and penciled up paper charts, and tools, that is a perfectly good back-up.

[Sam Woodbridge]

For what it’s worth if anyone does read this post,,

I was super embarrassed until I read this thread. I left Seattle heading to Wrangell Ak without Canadian charts for my chart plotter. I ended up using my iPad and iPhone for the navigation through Canada. I made it fine. One thing I didn’t like is, at times the iPad and iPhone would loose GPS signal and when it does that was frustrating. I learned having a dedicated GPS for navigation is the way to go.

[CatNewBee]

Some Androids heat up during navigation and exposed to the sun they just turn off. Quite dangerous when navigating through a coral cut or in unknown tight areas. Also Autopilot will not work reliably on a tablet.

We use tablets and phones as backup and they provide additional information, but a dedicated marine grade chart plotter with radar, AIS and Echo sounder is a different beast.

Smart devices are far away from replacing it.

[requiem]

Originally Posted by Sam Woodbridge

I was super embarrassed until I read this thread. I left Seattle heading to Wrangell Ak without Canadian charts for my chart plotter. I ended up using my iPad and iPhone for the navigation through Canada. I made it fine. One thing I didn’t like is, at times the iPad and iPhone would loose GPS signal and when it does that was frustrating. I learned having a dedicated GPS for navigation is the way to go.

A little while ago I had been trying to get my iPad to work with a boat's wifi network (no luck, apart from a general dislike for Raymarine). I had assumed the lack of GPS signal was simply the tablet needing more time to get a fix before it finally clicked that I needed to toggle off the NMEA input option.

Until I realized that I simply drew a few LOPs and plotted fixes on the iPad in the traditional manner. As the guy up-thread mentioned, it helps to have a "real" nav app.

[mvweebles]

In theory, a phone/tablet is fine. When I was delivering boats 20 years ago, I carried a laptop with GPS and chartplotting software - essentially what is available on a phone these days. No issues on deliveries from Alaska to Ft Lauderdale.

On my personal boat, I strongly prefer a dedicated MFD as it is more easily integrated to radar, AIS, secondary sensor displays (wind/engine/etc), and autopilot. Routes are easily downloaded from a PC pr phone (with suitable SW). But most importantly, it is a single source of truth that each crew member is responsible to understand and abide by.

For charter work and day sailing, no issues with handheld electronics. Not sure who would say "never use them" as they provide excellent information. But I have strong preference for an MFD based system for a cruising boat. $10k gets a decent system these days.

Peter

[mjscottinnc]

Originally Posted by rwidman

This is a clear case of you assuming one mode of operation while I am assuming another.



On the AICW and similar waterways, I can't "go below and look at your display out of the sun". I need to stay at the helm.



Now if I was crossing an ocean with no other boats around and had something to keep my boat on a straight course, I suppose I could go below for a minute or two, but I'm supposed to be keeping watch.



You forgot to address the "turning itself off when it gets too hot" thing. A navigation device that decides on its own is past useless, it's dangerous because it might turn itself off when you need it the most.

I navigated from Beaufort, NC to Stuart, FL down the ICW 10 - 12 hours a day, dual iPads (one zoomed in, one zoomed out) under the Bimini never washed out the display, in bright sun to driving rain and everything in between, never shut down from heat or any other reason, always on constant charge, in waterproof enclosure, mounted on the arch.

3 months in the Bahamas and then back again partially north on the ICW - partially offshore. Zero failures.

If they are thoughtfully installed there are few if any issues, which also includes the display polarization issue. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you and some others, it works just fine for others.

[CatNewBee]

Also an issue.

On every good chart plotter, when powering up, there is a disclaimer, to not use it for navigation and not rely on it for safety bla.

You have to agree to it to use it.

No such thing on the tablet.

From the safety warning point of view, chartplotter beats tablet unless you use a postit on the screen with a similar warning, and maybe to agree to the usage of the cookies. [emoji12]

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

Also an issue.

On every good chart plotter, when powering up, there is a disclaimer, to not use it for navigation and not rely on it for safety bla.

You have to agree to it to use it.

No such thing on the tablet.

From the safety warning point of view, chartplotter beats tablet unless you use a postit on the screen with a similar warning, and maybe to agree to the usage of the cookies. [emoji12]

The device won’t have a disclaimer, but the navigation app may. Here’s what happens every time you start iSailor:

[paulears]

Pilots always used to say this, and now loads of PPL holders use tablets for their nav and info, because they now do the job so well.

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by paulears

Pilots always used to say this, and now loads of PPL holders use tablets for their nav and info, because they now do the job so well.

I doubt you can operate or land a plane on IFR with a tablet without the other onboard systems.

You can use your tablet to create and communicate your flight plan, store and manage your pre-flight check lists, have your manuals accessible and as a rough orientation where you are, but not for collision avoidance and proper flight procedures.

[paulears]

Few people would use tablets for a marine version of ILS though, The aviation apps are amazing and they even use the subscription model that people think good value - Having everything you need on the pad is your point of focus, even though your primary instruments are still your main responsibility - but if you need a bearing, frequency, ground info and even the weather - the pad on the yoke does it for you. It will give you all the data you need in one place. of course, like the chart warnings, it does need the person in charge to judge the weight of it's data - a nautical version of the aviation apps would be so useful for keen leisure boaters wanting to have a simple interface for safety and convenience.

[nortonscove]

Not about to read all the other posts so I'll apologize if it has been stated but the relative short life of tablets and phones is also a consideration. My favourite plotter is eleven years old and going strong all the while spending a great deal of time in the cockpit on the binnacle. I can't say that for any phone I've owned or tablet for that matter. Over time I'm thinking a stout but relatively basic plotter will always win this comparison.

[barnakiel]

"... Of course having redundancy is very important, but this almost solves itself, unless you are single handing, everyone has a phone. ..."


It is not about having two, or ten, devices.


It is about using various methods of finding where you are.


E.g. paper and pencil AND smartphone with a nav app is redundancy. Two smartphones is NOT.


Then again when all you do is sailing a local lake who cares.


b.

[AKA-None]

Does a tablet work and show chirp sonar?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

"... Of course having redundancy is very important, but this almost solves itself, unless you are single handing, everyone has a phone. ..."


It is not about having two, or ten, devices.


It is about using various methods of finding where you are.


E.g. paper and pencil AND smartphone with a nav app is redundancy. Two smartphones is NOT.


Then again when all you do is sailing a local lake who cares.


b.

Multiple GNSS capable devices do provide redundancy