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89SeaRay220

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Hey Guys!

It's been about 8 years since i've been on the water. I'm picking up a 28' bayliner this week.

The boat does not have a GPS. Are there any good ipad app options, in place of a more traditional GPS unit?

I'm pretty far behind in current boating tech.

Thanks!
Danny
 
Welcome back. Navionics makes great apps for the ipad and alike.

Good luck !

Rob
 
Two things about iPad. In full sun it does not have a bright enough display (read NITS). Second it is not waterproof although it can be put in a case that can make it waterproof. The other thing is if you are beyond cellular range....or you have an iPad without cellular capability you will need to supplement it with a GPS unit such as Bad Elf or others position plotting can be questionable. In aviation I typically see errors of up to 60 meters under non supplemented conditions

.
 
I thought all (newer) Ipads had satellite GPS receivers built in. No need for cell service. You could be in the middle of Atlantic Ocean and it would give a lat/Lon fix. I know my Android tablet does just that. And yes - the Navionics app is excellent.
 
It will but not as accurate as with cell service. Trust me, I use an Ipad in the Atlantic ocean and while it will fix your EPE is on the order of several hundred meters. If that is accurate enough, fine but I would not use it as primary navigation in the shallows. I can also tell you that the position resolution out of cell range is very sloooooow.
 
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gps-on-all-ipad-pro-versions.1937499/
 
quote:
Originally posted by GeeBee

It will but not as accurate as with cell service. Trust me, I use an Ipad in the Atlantic ocean and while it will fix your EPE is on the order of several hundred meters. If that is accurate enough, fine but I would not use it as primary navigation in the shallows. I can also tell you that the position resolution out of cell range is very sloooooow.

Click to expand...


Wait - are you saying getting a location fix using cell tower location services is better than GPS?
When did that happen? Is that specific to iPads?
 
As noted in the link I posted, to have a GPS you must have the cell model. That said, when you do have a cell signal your position resolution increases much as WAAS does. You can see this clearly when you use an app such as ForeFlight Mobile by viewing the EPE. Turn off the cell service and your EPE is several hundred meters. Turn on cell service and it goes way down. Using a cell tower is not "better" than GPS, it supplements the GPS (much like WAAS) and provides better resolution of the position. It also provides a position acquisition quicker.

Equally so when I am over the ocean using my cell enabled iPad Pro because there is no cell service I have to rely upon the GPS chip set alone. I often see position errors of 20 miles or more which is why GPS equipped iPads are not authorized by the FAA as a navigation source. They are chart presenters only. If you supplement it with a WAAS enabled device they can be used for some navigational purposes.
 
My android tablet does not have cell capability - it's WiFi only and it sure does get GPS location. Not sure if it has WAAS capability -
probably not. So the accuracy will be reduced. Hard to believe the error is measured in miles. Before WAAS was introduced, as I recall, the potential error was measured in at most a hundred feet.
 
Static EPE are one thing, when you start moving and moving fast, things can add up real fast. Especially if you have a few lost locks.
 
As mentioned in the LI Forums, a basic iPad will be fine for inland cruising. Very doubtful that you plan to run 25+ miles offshore, but if so, the basic iPad 1 with Bad Elf (without cellular) worked perfectly during my shark tournament runs.

Good luck with the boat, we loved our '02.
 
Thanks everyone. I actually have one of every iPad from iPad 2 through the 12.9 pro. I think only a couple of the older ones are cell capable. I'll have to experiment.
 
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