MacSailing.net

I've written a review of Navionics Marine UK & Netherlands iPhone app. It's an excellent app.
ORIGINAL POST HERE

I agree.
The BC version at only $C9.99 ( Canada) is amazing value.
All the way from Olympia, Washington to Juneau, Alaska on BOTH sides of Vancouver Island.
Very handy as a back up to my MacENC running on my MBP and the standby paper charts!

I also agree that the Navionics Marine UK & Netherlands iPhone app is a very nice program for the iPhone.
Only the build in GPS module in the iPhone is crap.

I hope Navionics will support external GPS modules in later versions. Like the Tomtom iPhone cradle (http://iphone.tomtom.com/)

Best regards,

Johan

Mûzefalk

I do not have a i phone yet , but hope to soon.The program franson gpsgate which is from $39 ish may have the facility to re-broadcast the gps info over wi-fi. Cannot remember exactly.It may only duplicate to another port of choice. Have a look there anyway. www.franson.com good sailing!

If you want to have the iPhone repeat the NMEA data from a PC or Mac you would need to use iNavX as the Navionics app does not include such functionality. GPSGate is a good way on Windows to repeat NMEA data to TCP/IP. iNavX also includes these additional features:

Access the largest library of up to date official charts and maps
Comprehensive route and waypoint management and navigation
Import/Export of waypoints, routes and tracks in both KML and GPX format
GRIB Weather overlay (wind, pressure, waves and temperature)
Anchor alarm
True and Magnetic bearings
Great circle computation for all bearings and distance
AIS target (transponder and receiver) display
Digital compass

Hi John

Great review.

I didn't realize that Navionics Marine can show currents!

Why can't iNavX show them if the charts are the same?

Regards,
Manou

Because iNavX works with many charts in addition to the Navionics we use the AyeTides app to provide tides and currents.

GPSNavX Wrote:Because iNavX works with many charts in addition to the Navionics we use the AyeTides app to provide tides and currents.

Thx for the reply. I understand that you want to support AyeTides, so you don't have to write your own tide app.
The problem I do have is that AyeTides mostly has currents info for US waters. For nearly all European waters currents info seems to have been licensed. Navionics charts seem to have the EU current data included so it would be great to have a possibility to read it via iNavX.
I do have Navionics Marine too, but switching between both apps isn't exactly what I wanted.

Tidal curves are well catered for by Ayetides, and I've been using that excellent app for some time now.

However there are two significant features of Navionics for iPhone that iNavX in conjunction with Ayetides doesn't yet offer, and in my opinion should do.

Tidal Flow
For me, sailing around the Solent, tidal flow is a major factor, and can make the difference between a 3 hour sail and a 5 hour sail. Having this information accessible from the charts themselves is invaluable. Before I started using Navionics, I had a local download of an animated gif that showed the complicated tidal flow hourly after HW. This meant opening Ayetides, finding the time for high water, switching to another app, working out what the time difference would be for where I anticipated I to be at that time, and then peering at low resolution image with red arrows on it to come up with current speed and direction that was at best an average of the whole lunar cycle. With Navionics, I click on an icon, drag the timeline and it tells me the flow and direction with surprising accuracy.

Keith Bater's Solent Tidal Flow diagrams (what I used to use)

Integrated system
It is logical to have chart and current information in the same place as GRIB forecast information as these inputs allow accurate calculation of your route. This saves jumping between apps which can be annoying and unnecessary. One of the reasons that people pay the normally steep prices for Navionics cartography is that it provides an integrated environment. (however, I understand that this is not the case for S57)

I can only talk from personal experience when I say that for my sailing requirements, integrated current display comes higher on the list of priorities than feature such as GRIB download, instrument integration or AIS. Therefore I currently use Navionics on my iPhone. However, if iNavX were to offer these features, then I would certainly switch back to get those other useful features.

Lastly, I would rinse and repeat this whole post for MacENC too. Now that it has support for Navionics cartography (and extremely well implemented if I may say so), go the whole hog and support tidal flow and current. Please bear in mind that users are actually paying Navionics for this data anyway.

Please take this as genuinely positive. I'm a huge fan of MacENC and iNavX. It's just that I've been bashing on about diplaying tidal flow data for years.. now that we have decent cartography that provides this data, it would seem illogical not to implement it.

Help guys please!
I've just ordered an itouch 8GB as a tag on rebate order with my daughter's present, a macbook.I get the itouch! (Allegedly € 34 after mail- in rebate) .
Bit confused as I read perhaps incorrectly that navionics iphone app only reads gps from the internal gps.
Q. itouch does not have gps so will have to hook up with say a mac-mini onboard which has a gps fix from a say usb gps.
Q2.Does this mean I must use iNavx to run charts and if so will the program display Navionics charts?
Q3. Am I wasting my time here if I need charts for Med and Irish Sea area?

>> Q1. itouch does not have gps so will have to hook up with say a mac-mini onboard which has a gps fix from a say usb gps. <<

Right so you would need to use WiFi NMEA data for iNavX such as that from a laptop running MacENC.

http://www.gpsnavx.com/iNavX/help/macenc.htm


>> Q2.Does this mean I must use iNavx to run charts and if so will the program display Navionics charts? <<

Yes iNavX can display Navionics charts purchased from X-Traverse..

http://www.fugawi.com/web/x-traverse/navionics_faq.htm


>> Q3. Am I wasting my time here if I need charts for Med and Irish Sea area? <<

No. Navionics charts from X-Traverse has the coverage you need.