Screen mirroring of a chartplotter

[Bullshooter]

I am trying to figure out the possibility of using an iPad to mirror a Garmin 1243 on a boat that will be going on a circumnavigation.

Is there a way to do this when out of range of wifi?

I see that Active Captain can do this when wifi is available, but I believe it does not work without wifi. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

I have been searching for ways to do this, on CF and Google. So far, it does not seem like Wifi Direct, Air Play, or Google Cast would be able to accomplish this.

Maybe Miracast? I have read that "Only devices marked Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast have been certified by Wi-Fi Alliance® to work well with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ devices, employ the latest security protections, and deliver a high-quality user experience." And that Garmin chartplotter does not show up on their certified devices list.

I would rather not use a cable, with an HDMI adapter, but is this a possible solution?

Anyone that could at least point me in the right direction for a search would be great.

Barring actual mirroring, are the charts loaded on the chartplotter share-able with the iPad without an additional subscription? The iPad is a new one and has GPS.

Thanks for any help,

BSer

[markrsimon]

To my knowledge, Active Captain screen sharing only works when your iPad is connected to the Chart Plotters own wifi. Meaning - the wifi will always be with you.

What wifi are you currently using to access Active Captain?

[Ryban]

I'm not familiar with the Garmin 1243 but I just want to clarify what you mean by WiFi and being out of range of it. You can set up a local Wifi network on your boat, as a lot of us do, and your Garmin 1243 may be able to even act as a hub, but if not, an inexpensive router tucked away somewhere on the boat will do the trick.

So if your Garmin has a screen mirroring feature that just needs you to be connected on the same network as the other device, then that would work. If the screen mirroring feature requires it to go to the cloud first, and then back down, which would be silly in my opinion, then that wouldn't work.

[pjShap]

Looking at Garmin's website, the 1243 seems able to be a WiFi host. Look at setting up the WiFi on the plotter, and then connect to it from your iPad before opening the ActiveCaptain app. You won't have any Internet service for the iPad while it's connected to the plotter. Close Active Captain and disconnect from the chart plotter WiFi to restore Internet, assuming you have mobile data or some other network available. I would set the iPad to NOT auto-connect to the plotter WiFi, so I manually connect when desired.

I've looked at plotter screen mirroring on my cell phone. It's really unusable with the small screen. The iPad might have a big enough screen to be usable.

[Bullshooter]

Thanks for your suggestions. I did not understand that the Garmin chartplotter had its own wifi, per my discussion just now with Garmin support.

I now plan to add Active Captain to the iPad, and name the network on the chartplotter to connect the two. It sounds like it will work seamlessly.

Thank you markrsimon and Ryban.

BSer

[Bullshooter]

And thank you pjShap

[rls8r]

Bullshooter -

I have a Garmin 1243 and a Windows-based tablet. I connect the two using the 1243's WiFi and the "Helm" feature of Active Captain. Works fine. You shouldn't have any problems. Just connect your iPad just like any other WiFi.

[Bullshooter]

rls8r,

Since you have the same chartplotter, may I ask a question? I am not at the boat, so do you know if it has 2 micro SD slots? I do know that one card is present, and I am not sure if maybe it has some data on it that should not be removed. The steps for setting up the wifi include either using a new card or formatting the existing one.

I don't want to format the existing card if it has data that is needed/useful. If there are 2 slots I will just put a new card in. I am wondering, if there is only the one slot, what would be lost if I removed it to set up the wifi using a new card?

I hope that makes sense, I am new to this.

Thank you,

BSer

[pjShap]

Garmin's website will have the device specs, including the number of card slots. One card is for Active Captain, and I think it has to be in place for Active Captain to connect. Most of their plotters have 2 slots, so the other one is for a chart card.

[rls8r]

BSer -

Yes, pjShap has it right. There are 2 microSD card slots. Each slot in the 1243 supports up to a 32 GB memory card, formatted to FAT32 with a speed class of 4 or higher. However, they recommend using cards with a speed class of 10 or higher. The chartplotter comes with an 8 GB memory card.

[leecea]

If the card slots are not easily accessible maybe this would be useful:

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1495645/pn/010-02251-10

[Bullshooter]

OK Thanks. I will report back when this is resolved. Hopefully next week.

[Nicholson58]

We installed our Simrad at the chart table, below deck. I added a Xenarc remote hard wired remote on deck at the binnacle. It in a custom housing to keep out the water. Works very well below the dodger/bimini cover. There is also a Simrad remote at the binnacle to mirror the controls.

https://www.xenarcdirect.com/LCD-Monitors/

[BobMc]

Originally Posted by Bullshooter

I am trying to figure out the possibility of using an iPad to mirror a Garmin 1243 on a boat that will be going on a circumnavigation.

Is there a way to do this when out of range of wifi?

I see that Active Captain can do this when wifi is available, but I believe it does not work without wifi. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

You are correct. You either must have a WiFi connection or some sort of bluetooth or wired connection if you intend to MIRROR the screen.

We did the same sort of thing on Sanderling using WiFi, a windows PC (running nav software) and an Android tablet with a VNC (Virtual Network Connection). As long as the tablet was within range of the WiFi, it would work (basically anywhere within 150 feet or so of the router, which pretty much covered the whole boat). I don't remember the name of the app interface we used, but there are several VNCs that will pop up using google. Run it on both the PC and the tablet. Easy-peasy! Changes made to a route/course on the tablet would even take effect on the PC. Saved a lot of steps between the upper and lower steering station.

[GregGarner]

If it has HDMI output, you could use a wireless HDMI tx/rx pair and send to a cheap monitor.

Greg Garner
Www.katinsky.net