I'm afraid I have given out some duff information to a few members regarding this brilliant tool, sorry about that chaps ..
If you have a ipad with a SIM card ( gen 3) you should be fine, however if you have a iPod , 2nd generation ipad this post should be of help.
As I understand it when you are receiving a location , this is generated from triangulated signals from shore based towers, if you loose these only a small part of the signal comes from a satellite , this is usually fine but is not always accurate .
Your vehicle uses a different system, it uses satellites only, we all know how these can drop out at the most annoying moment.
The issue we have here is accuracy , we need a very accurate system to find those important marks and combine this with you depth sounder .
Take for example the Valantine tank wrecks, no matter how many times I've looked,I couldn't find them.
These small marks are at best a pig to find, no matter what I tried it seemed impossible .
I was using my second generation ipad tethered to my iPhone via Bluetooth , it does NOT work. ( that's the duff information I've been giving out).
What you need to make this app work is a separate , fully accurate dongle , this locks on to dedicated satellites , without this you can miss these small marks and gullys by a very large margin , hence why I couldn't find what I wanted .
I have bought myself a little thing called a Bad Elf, it simply plugs directly into your ipad ( including all generations and iPod) .
I bought mine off eBay, it cost £94.00, I have done extensive research on this product, the write ups say this is the only one that is truly worth having, plug it in , download the app (. It's free, you don't have to do this as it will work fine as it is)
It will take around a few minutes to lock on to multiple satellites , not just one,this should mean it will be very accurate, within 6 ft or so .
This also works with many ipad , iPhone mapping systems , see the website for how it works.
You could in fact use this in your car with a free car navigation app, no more lost satellite problems.
I have also learned many small aircraft users use a Bad Elf gps , it works upto 1000mph and upto 6,000 ft.
It also works worldwide, best of all it cost nothing to use ( In fact the standard system also costs nothing as it is not a part of your data package )
Please use google to look in to this , it's a complicated thing how this all works, it will tell you all the technical stuff..
I will let you know how I get on, I have a feeling this could be the end of my frustrations regarding using iPads etc and navionics ( I will bring it to the next meeting for full updates)
Been using one for months they also do a wireless blue tooth version. 100% accurate
Ditto brilliant piece of kit ..... Navionics are now also doing a wifi fishfinder which integrates into the app. It is on my must have list ..... You can also use it through multiple devices on board so strap a smartphone to,your wrist and see the wreck as you fish over .... Where will it all end?
Peter
I think any of the iPads with sim/3G/4G capability have the gps receiver chip. You don't need to put a sim in it for it to work, but with a sim it can fix your location quicker of startup as it uses phone masts to estimate you location.
Hence a sim enabled iPad is worth the extra £100 if you are using it for nav!
So which is the best chart plotting app. for iphone then?
While I was looking through them last week I seem to remember there was one optimized for iphone 5 series which is what I've just got.
Trev, Will it still be working tomorrow, derek <img src="/emoticons/default_smile.png" alt=":)" data-emoticon="" srcset="/emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" /> <img src="/emoticons/default_smile.png" alt=":)" data-emoticon="" srcset="/emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" /> <img src="/emoticons/default_tongue.png" alt=":P" data-emoticon="" srcset="/emoticons/tongue@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />
So which is the best chart plotting app. for iphone then?
While I was looking through them last week I seem to remember there was one optimized for iphone 5 series which is what I've just got.
The other slight problem is clarity of the screen in bright sunlight , use the white on black setting.
I have found the Navionics is superb as a plotter, it's very simple to use , it's not the software , it's the device you put it on.
iPhone screens seem too small, it all just gets a bit fiddly .
I believe I had a absolute bargain for my brand new wifi ipad from PC world , £150.00 ( my old one completely died).
So to that I already had the Navionics saved on my iTunes (for the iPhone)
I then purchased the Lifeproof case, then a mounting kit, this will then have the Bad Elf gps.
So that should do it, spend total £ 320 , for a touch screen plotter.
I have no idea of the price of a Lowrance touch screen plotter ??? Or similar ,
I do now how much the separate gold card is if you have to purchase it for your dedicated plotter.
You could always borrow mine for the day to see what you think, opinions differ, best to try it out before,you spend those penny's
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You can also get a transducer for the iPad so you can have a fish finder as well , apparently about £90 but you would need a uprated power supply not a standard one
Incredible , all this technology , all this latest gear, shame I'm so useless at fishing !
I've got a 10.1 inch tablet with built in gps, amazing screen and detail .....even in bright sunlight !
Loaded Navionics Gold app and it pinpoints wrecks etc. exactly the same as my chart plotter, been told I should be able to load marks onto it...........but need my daughters other half to do that !!!!
Great piece of kit, especially when you look how much a 10 inch plotter would cost. <img src="/emoticons/default_smile.png" alt=":)" data-emoticon="" srcset="/emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />
Mick
If you download the Ipad version of navionics (rather than the iphone version) you will get a much better resolution on the Ipad....
HD version for iPad
I dont have the faintest idea what anyone is talking about!!! i have tried routing my fufu valve through my chuff box while sitting in my koi pond but all i got was a rush of air and my phone has stopped working. derek <img src="/emoticons/default_huh.png" alt=":huh:" data-emoticon="" /> <img src="/emoticons/default_huh.png" alt=":huh:" data-emoticon="" /> <img src="/emoticons/default_wacko.png" alt=":wacko:" data-emoticon="" /> <img src="/emoticons/default_wacko.png" alt=":wacko:" data-emoticon="" />
I dont have the faintest idea what anyone is talking about!!! i have tried routing my fufu valve through my chuff box while sitting in my koi pond but all i got was a rush of air and my phone has stopped working. derek <img src="/emoticons/default_huh.png" alt=":huh:" data-emoticon="1"><img src="/emoticons/default_huh.png" alt=":huh:" data-emoticon="1"><img src="/emoticons/default_wacko.png" alt=":wacko:" data-emoticon="1"><img src="/emoticons/default_wacko.png" alt=":wacko:" data-emoticon="1">
It's ok Derek, you can get cream for that!
A word of caution on the Navioniocs app. It is really great for all of the plotting capabilities that are mentioned above but steer clear of their Sonarcharts addition for showing depth contours in more detail.
On the face of it a great idea but in reality the contours which, I believe, are computer generated are just plain wrong. For instance, if you try to find the peaks and troughs off the S off the IoW you'll be sadly disappointed, the contours are just not there.
I spent a couple of hours a month ago trying to find ridges and troughs that just don't exist, grr