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Well, this had me shaking my head. Brand new iPad Wi-Fi + 3G. Installed iNavX. It showed my "position" at home, and also correctly showed my position another day when I took the iPad to the boat while still tied to the dock...and I don't think there is a Wi-Fi network at the marina.

Next day, went out sailing for two days, and to my amazement, there was no position icon on the chart. Hmmm. I had set up several waypoints on my intended track, and could not get any bearing or distance data to any waypoints from my position on the water. I could not, in effect, find out where I was (although as an experienced mariner, I knew exactly where I was using non-iPad related navigation). How could there be no GPS data?

I don't think it's relevant, but I had not set up any cellular plan with my local provider.

Now back at home, with the instrument banner visible, "Con" reports "Loc Mgr" and gives an accurate position of my house. At sea, I think there was just a dash under "Con".

version 1.0.1 of [color:blue]Marine GeoGarage apps[/color] -compatible with IOS4- are available on the AppStore right now :

. Marine NZ
. Marine US

Enjoy.

1) Launch iNavX.

2) Open a Chart.

3) Double tap chart to begin measuring. Note if the double-tap is near the position icon the origin of measuring will be the position icon and it will track with the position icon. The same can be accomplished by single tapping the green dot.

4) Drag on the chart to measure bearing and distance from the origin established in step 3. Distance and bearing are displayed at the top of the chart.

5) Origin of measure can be changed by dragging the green dot. Destination of measure can be changed by dragging the red dot.

6) To cancel measuring, single tap the chart.

To create a waypoint at a distance and bearing from a known point. Simply measure as described in steps 1..5 above. Single tap the red dot at the end of the measurement line. A menu will pop up with the ability to create a waypoint. The menu also includes the lat/lon of the end of the measurement.

Screen shot of measuring ..

http://www.inavx.com/images/compare/iNavXMeasure.png

Note: Single tapping chart anywhere will display a menu. On iPad, the top item will be the distance and bearing.

I tried searching this but couldn't find anything. I notice people buying Navionics Charts for use with Mac ENC, but can't we use the free downloadable NOAA enc charts available on their website? Is there a difference?

Thanks
Ray
fishfreedom.com

Is there a way to tell what version of the x-traverse chart regions are installed in iNavX? Got an email that three of my regions needed to be updated. As I didn't have time to do all at once (and had a slow wifi connection) I did them one at a time spread out over two days. Problem is, after doing two I couldn't remember which two I'd finished and which one still needed updating. I looked through the settings, and for some indication on the chart window, list of regions, etc. and couldn't find anything. I did find an info window on individual charts, but not on the region.

Scot

For the past several months I have been migrating between both MotionX and Gaia GPS for my terrestrial nav needs. Both are incredibly feature rich apps for the price, but I keep returning to Gaia GPS because it offers the option of cacheable and very cleanly rendered USGS topo maps.

Today the iOS4 upgrade came out and a new option was introduced: EarthNC NOAA raster charts. For $4.99 you can purchase a one year subscription to one of five US regions, that can be used on up to 5 devices.

Gaia GPS does not offer the dedicated feature set of iNavX, but it is a relatively simple, clean, easy to use app. Here's a link to iPhone version on the iTunes store . And if my understand is correct, I think it is a universal app that is installable on the iPad too.

iNavX can work as a remote to Coastal Explorer. Using the NMEA data Coastal Explorer receives.

1) Launch the latest version of Coastal Explorer.

2) Select "Tools > Configure Vessel and Electronics..."

3) Select "Data Ports"

4) Select "Data Server..."

5) Check "Enable Data Server"

6) Launch iNavX.

7) Select "Setup" from iNavX main menu.

8) Select "TCP/IP" NMEA Client.

9) Enter the Host, which is the the IP address displayed in Coastal Explorer "Data Server" "IP Address:"

10) Enter the Port, which is the value displayed in the Coastal Explorer "Data Server" "TCP Port:"

11) Select "OK" in Coastal Explorer to begin sharing the NMEA data.

11) Select "Link" in iNavX to make the connection.

12) Any NMEA data received into Coastal Explorer will be sent to iNavX and displayed in the monitor in the iNavX TCP/IP NMEA Client view.

More info on iNavX instruments..

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

For me to record all my moves, tacks, changes etc, iNavX has to be on/open? I can't keep track of my track while I check a text message, or look at the weather on a different app? It won't run in the background?

And so when I read about guys crossing the Pacific with this app, they kept their iPhones on, and this app open for the entire trip? They never let their screen come off of this app - it never went to sleep?

Or am I doing something wrong?

1) Open a chart.
a) Select "Setup" and set "Pos.Icon Loc." to "None" so the chart will not attempt to scroll back to your position.

2) Select "Routes". Note: "Routes" in on the "Waypoints" tab on iPhone/iPod, otherwise iPad has it's own tab.

3) Select "+" to create a new route or select an existing route.

4) Tap the "+" button to add the first waypoint to the route.

5) Select the Waypoint from the list.

6) Select the "+" button to add a second waypoint to the route.

7) Select the Waypoint from the list.

8) Select the green "+" button to add the next waypoint to the route.

9) Select the green "(+)" button next to the waypoint you want to add another waypoint after.

10) Select the Waypoint from the list.

11) Repeat steps 8..10 for each waypoint in the route.

If a waypoint needs to be removed, reordered, or inserted in the route, select "Edit" button. Change as needed then select "Done" button.

Creating Routes on the Chart

I brought my ipad out sailing last Saturday. It was a typical 90deg hot FL sunny day. The ipad worked fine for about 20 minutes, and then I got a warning message on the screen stating the ipad was shutting down because of high temperature. I naturally freaked out, shut down the ipad, and placed it out of the sun in the cabin below.

I keep my ipad in the apple ipad case. This case is made from a black synthetic leather-like material. It is possible that the case was the main issue, but I would still guess that to use the ipad out on deck in a hot sunny day, one would need to it in shade.


After cooling down, I started the Navionic HD app, breifly compared gps data to my other gps unit. All worked fine. I shut the ipad off, but left the tracking option in Navionics on.

The ipad went from cabin to boat bag to boat bag stuffed in car trunk for ride home. Later that evening I discovered that I had the left tracking option on, and I was impressed that it continued to track the remaining few hours of sailing, the walk from the boat to clubhouse to car and car ride home.