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Old 13-05-2015, 19:24   #16
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

We have the Raymarine MFD at the helm. I find the wifi and RM app not very useful. It's confusing: there are 3 apps you use not one; there is latency between the two and the UI isn't that intuitive.

We do have an iPad at the nav station or sometimes in the cockpit with navx and find it actually easier than using the RM. By having both we have redundant systems each with different chart sources.


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Old 13-05-2015, 21:05   #17
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

We sailed 1500 nm using iPads with Navionics at the helm - no issues - we now have a B&G Zeus at the Nav station with gofree connectivity - this works for us . We carry 2 iPads for redundancy and have C-Map n the MFD. This works fine for us
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Old 13-05-2015, 23:53   #18
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

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Originally Posted by nesscapade View Post
We have the Raymarine MFD at the helm. I find the wifi and RM app not very useful. It's confusing: there are 3 apps you use not one; there is latency between the two and the UI isn't that intuitive.

We do have an iPad at the nav station or sometimes in the cockpit with navx and find it actually easier than using the RM. By having both we have redundant systems each with different chart sources.


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I'm a bit confused with your reply. I only use the one RayControl app on the iPad without problems with our a77. I find it very useful. The UI is just the same as on the a77.

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Old 14-05-2015, 03:43   #19
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

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Originally Posted by Rough Magic View Post
Wifi is great and works well.... Until it doesn't. Raymarine is built to a much higher standard of reliability, hardware, and waterproof screens than an iPad. I love Navionics and their maps, I use them in my pad as a backup system. For me, a hardwired system at the helm, designed for a salt laden environment is the only way to go.
This.

Why would you put a real chart plotter at the nav table, and consumer electronics in the place filled with salt spray, bright sun, hard knocks, etc.? Doesn't make any sense.

Real chart plotters are now less than $1000; there is hardly any excuse not to have them in both places as primary navigation. You really don't want to risk losing navigation because of a splash of salt water or a battery has run down, or someone sits or steps on the Ipad. I recently discovered what a PITA consumer electronics can be even for secondary or tertiary use in navigation -- some water down the companionway landed on my laptop and killed it. I had OpenCPN on it and lots of charts and other resources. Didn't affect my primary navigation, but I really hated to lose all the functions I was using the laptop for.

For GoFree (which I absolutely love), I'm using a Sony Z2 tablet, which is waterproof. So at least that risk is reduced. But you still wouldn't want to depend on somethign like that -- consumer electronics -- at the helm. In my opinion, it's a very poor idea.
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Old 14-05-2015, 07:39   #20
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

Yes definitely place the plotter at the helm. The Raymarine wifi works great, as does the ray control app. The app can control most plotter functions but not the AP.
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Old 15-05-2015, 07:18   #21
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

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Originally Posted by gspeak View Post
I'm a bit confused with your reply. I only use the one RayControl app on the iPad without problems with our a77. I find it very useful. The UI is just the same as on the a77.

Dave

Yes I get the same UI on the ipad as on the MFD. It's not terrible but I just find the iPad, with pretty much any of the apps available, much easier.

I do some UI design work and in this case I think it's because the designers of the MFD have physical buttons to work with. They attempted to render those same buttons on your iPad with the RemoveControl app. Generally that's not as intuitive or easy as an app fully designed for touch from the get go. It's hard to render physical buttons on a touch device and deliver an equal (or better) experience.

The iPad also has the ActiveCaptain capability which I find really useful. I wish RM would integrate their content.

At the same time, I would not rely solely on my iPad at the helm. We've been in some blows and its just not designed for that type of weather. I still believe the best combination is a marine duty MFD at the helm with an iPad (or two) and an iPhone (or two). I did not install an MFD (they are expensive) at my nav station. I either use the RM app or iNavx on both the iPad or iPhone.
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Old 16-05-2015, 09:22   #22
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

Just like some of you we were originally going to put an iPad at the helm and have a MFD at the nav desk. After further research I changed my mind. Now we have a RM e7 at the helm and keep the iPad on Rayremote at the desk.

On our first sail for the season, sicily to malta, we had a rogue wave wash over the bow and completely doused the cockpit. If we had our iPad at the helm even in its lifeproof case it would have been destroyed. The GPS uses loads of energy which would necessitate it being plugged in to charge. This breaks the waterproof seal.

We keep the iPad inside on the charger with its own set of charts. When we are in the cockpit we may bring it out to read, game, or do routing.

Unless you are lake sailing keep IPXX rated stuff in the cockpit and your consumer electronics inside.


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Old 16-05-2015, 16:23   #23
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Re: MFD in the Nav station and ipad at the helm?

We put Simrad chartplotters at the nav station (12 inch) and at the helm (7 inch) and use two iPads as backups. I want dedicated nav equipment for navigation! Navionics chip goes in the 7 inch as that is the on on all of the time and the 12 inch can access the chip.



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