10 replies to this topic

[Tucky]

So I bought a Standard Horizon radio with AIS and hooked it up to my plotter (thread on fiddly NMEA wire complaint which see). It works beautifully and will prove useful. Have to replace the wirenuts

We took a mini cruise last week and all the contacts were commercial until on the last day clicked on a contact and saw something like
SAILBOAT- xxxxx (can't remember the name)
LENGTH- 54'
COURSE- 098
SPEED- 6.7 Kt

Of course at the time we were shy reaching under chute at about 12-14 kts and we all simultaneously said "Damn, we need a transmitter"- Pure multihull ego talking. Don't really need it, and should have bought a dedicated device if we wanted one.

My question is does anyone have real word experience with current draw when transmitting? If we are going to indulge our egos we need to be able to transmit, and our electrical capacity is laughable except when the sun is shining.

As well, the contact information shows things like destination etc. Is that part of having Class A equipment or can class B transmitters do the same. How does the data get entered- we saw a lot of variety among the commercial contacts as to how much information was displayed when we clicked on a contact.

And why is a $350 iPad running $40 worth of software so much better than an $1,800 plotter- except for seeing the screen in sunlight and needing a waterproof case, better resolution, faster zooms, easier to scroll, tap screen to enter a waypoint you name it better. Thats my latest rant.

[VALIS]

VALIS has the ACR "Nauticast" Class-B transponder, and the current drain is essentially 0.3A @12V. No doubt the current spikes up when it transmits, but the transmit bursts are extremely short, with many seconds between. I could not (easily) measure a difference between transmit enabled or disabled power consumption. As a bonus, with the transponder you get a built-in GPS. The downside is that you *need* to install that GPS antenna somewhere, or the transponder won't transmit (it's in the rules for Class-B AIS).

[Beau.Vrolyk]

Tucky,

The reason the iPad is so much better than a dedicated Chart Plotter is simply volume. I used to be in the "biznez" and with volume comes low price and higher quality (if the vendor wants it, which Apple does). Unlike boats, were a hand-built beauty is almost always the "better" boat. In computers and the semiconductor components that they are built from you need massive volume to get the price down and the quality up. There is no such thing as a "hand built" computer, at least not one that's worth much.

When you add to the volume advantage the fact that the things are general purpose and relatively easy to write software for, it's a no-brainer.

Just as folks now use computers with a printer attached as a cash register for a lot of stores, I would guess that in the future folks will use a tablet with a WiFi link to the sensors as their primary navigation tool. Oh wait! A bunch of us already do! I still have a chart plotter, but only because the boat came with one. Next time around, that power hungry had to use device goes off to Craigs_list_Land.

BV

[Dr. Electron]

Tucky,

I just installed a Raymarine e7D chart plotter on our new sailboat that mirrors the display to the iPad and iPhone, and can be controlled from both iOS devices.

here are my observations, contrary to the crowd. I use the iPad for most everything but find it isn't all that workable on a sailboat. certainly not, as compared to my new dedicated chart plotter. it isn't easily mounted, affixed to a stable and waterproof attachment. the display is difficult to read in sunlight, and the keyboard a nightmare to use in anything resembling a rough sea. I can read the new Raymarine display perfectly with sunglasses on, whereas my iPad is totally blanked out. I like the sun-readable display, the touch interface, and the integration of multiple data sources such as Radar, AIS, sonar, NMEA 2000 and 0183 instrumentation, and it also affords me the ability to go anywhere on the boat and have full control and display of the chart plotter. of course, it is sealed from spray and easily affixed where convenient. the iPad ... not so much.

I like the idea of the iPad but don't think it is ready for prime-time ... not quite yet. I do enjoy the added utility it affords. I can watch videos (including FLIR IR data and remote camera) on the Raymarine but really prefer the iPad for everything else. think weather retrieval, email, web access, videos, music, and books. I think the Standard Horizon (and others) trend of integrating Windows and WiFi at the chart plotter is a mistake. makes no sense, to me, when you have an iPad at the ready.

love the cost though ...

[Navigare]

1340810686[/url]' post='3766554']

So I bought a Standard Horizon radio with AIS and hooked it up to my plotter (thread on fiddly NMEA wire complaint which see). It works beautifully and will prove useful. Have to replace the wirenuts

We took a mini cruise last week and all the contacts were commercial until on the last day clicked on a contact and saw something like
SAILBOAT- xxxxx (can't remember the name)
LENGTH- 54'
COURSE- 098
SPEED- 6.7 Kt

Of course at the time we were shy reaching under chute at about 12-14 kts and we all simultaneously said "Damn, we need a transmitter"- Pure multihull ego talking. Don't really need it, and should have bought a dedicated device if we wanted one.

My question is does anyone have real word experience with current draw when transmitting? If we are going to indulge our egos we need to be able to transmit, and our electrical capacity is laughable except when the sun is shining.

As well, the contact information shows things like destination etc. Is that part of having Class A equipment or can class B transmitters do the same. How does the data get entered- we saw a lot of variety among the commercial contacts as to how much information was displayed when we clicked on a contact.

I have a CTRX Class B box from True Heading in my F31.7 and I've not encountered any battery drainage issues. The spec's says 6W on average; http://www.trueheadi...RX_20090128.pdf

1340810686[/url]' post='3766554']
So I bought a Standard Horizon radio with AIS and hooked it up to myAnd why is a $350 iPad running $40 worth of software so much better than an $1,800 plotter- except for seeing the screen in sunlight and needing a waterproof case, better resolution, faster zooms, easier to scroll, tap screen to enter a waypoint you name it better. Thats my latest rant.

Couldn't agree more, and apart from being an outstanding plotter the iPad does all the other stuff a traditional navigator doesn't do..

[Ishmael]

What's that smell?



Whiff o' steer droppings, I think.

[nwsailboat]

That's the smell of a couch surfer, eating doritos.

[PNW Matt B]

Because I just can't resist doing so...

My primary navigation device at the moment is an iPad2. I have three GPS handhelds on board, but so far this trip they've only been used to update the DSC-enabled VHF and as an anchor alarm (which they still do better than iNavX - or I haven't found the way to make iNavX do it properly, more likely.

I used it in the sun today while wearing sunglasses and had no trouble. I needed to move it to get it out of the glare from time to time, but that wasn't difficult.

My wife found it easy to use when she spelled me at the tiller. (Her sunglasses did have more trouble. Still usable.)

And now that we're docked in Friday Harbor (needed shore power for an emergency "do this work thing", plus the chance for showers and laundry) I'm sitting in the cockpit using it to do the preliminaries of that work while waiting for the laptop to finish charging... on the iPad.

But I don't have any Cheetos. I think there might still be some Oreos, though - close enough?

[Ishmael]

If you aren't at a dock you are way too close.

[Tucky]

Tucky,

The reason the iPad is so much better than a dedicated Chart Plotter is simply volume.
BV

My assumption is that Apple has essentially written all the structural bits- how the swipes/zooms etc. work, all the things that make the iPad so functional. I guess the app writers just put their layer on top. I think that is the brilliance of the whole concept- and the volume makes a huge difference

The problem for Garmin/Raymarine etc. is having to spend time on these basic bits over and over. Just the moving the cursor function is frustrating- goes too slow then jumps too fast, doesn't work smoothly at different levels, you name it. I picture some software type re-inventing that wheel, while the iPad writer is one hundred steps beyond it.

I had a silly app on my phone that fogged the screen with droplets when you breathed on it, and then made a perfect squeak and cleared as you wiped your finger across it. Of course my plotter does that too on a foggy day.

[Willy T]

Part of the reason they suck with sunglass is that the screens are polarized.

As for glare, get a nusheild