iNavX, A Fresh Look at an Affordable Chartplotter

There is a multitude of sites through Google search which give excellent reviews and information about iNavX. Search and see for yourselves; but I'll place a few here; and there are links in the following information.
Try iNavX Review which has some great video tutorials.
Take a look at i-Marine Apps for their "Getting Started with iNavX.
And then take a look at the iPad holders from Zacor. And this waterproof casing here.
Finally link it all together with your electronics with an iMux as alluded to in a former blog or have it as a stand alone product with its own GPS from Badelf.

Here is a snopsis from iNavX themselves.......
iNavX™ brings the freely available, official and up to date NOAA RNC raster United States waters marine charts to your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Included detailed chart coverage: West Coast, Gulf Coast, East Coast, Great Lakes, Alaska, Hawaii, and US Virgin Islands.
One app for all your devices with access to thousands of charts and maps: official CHS Canada charts, Navionics Gold charts, Fish'N'Chip charts, HotMaps, NV. Verlag charts, Hilton's Fishing charts, TRAK Canada lakes fishing maps and Solteknik European waters charts may be purchased separately from X-Traverse.
With iNavX™ you can use the built in location services (i.e. GPS, cell tower, WiFi) to plot your position in real-time on the multi-touch scrolling and zooming and rotating (including course up) marine chart.
Using the iPhone's, iPod touch's and iPad's WiFi connection, iNavX™ can act as a repeater for popular marine navigation software that supports NMEA data over TCP/IP such as MacENC and Coastal Explorer. This includes GPS, AIS receivers & transponders, and Instruments (Depth, Speed, Wind, etc.)
In addition to real-time chart plotting and printing, iNavX™ supports waypoints & routes including KML (Google Earth) and GPX import/export, track log, measuring bearing/distance, GRIB weather forecast, tides/currents, anchor alarm, graphic instrumentation display and port/navaid search.
The power of a color chartplotter for a fraction of the cost.

And Boaters.Com has this to say.....
In fact, the iNavX web site now boasts "The power of a color chartplotter for a fraction of the cost" and, while I'll stay out of that argument for the time being, developer Rich Ray does make a good case for how far he's taken the software, and how able it looks on the bigger iPad.  Note, for instance, the series of screen shots comparing iNavX iPhone and iPad versions.  Ray has also gotten his program to play nicely with a Digi Connect WI-SP WiFi serial server, which means you can get AIS and other NMEA 0183 data flowing to your iThing without any other computer involved (and he even added a Digi Connect guide to his extensive help files).

And if you want to use your spiffy iNavX/iPad combo with anything but free NOAA raster charts, you'll be pleased to know that X-Traverse keeps growing its already giant cartography portfolio, and adding to what the service can do (new Facebook integration, for instance, plus integration with Navionics NavPlanner 2).  When you purchase charts via X-Traverse you get two activations, so if you're already using them on, say, an iPhone but haven't activated them with a PC or Mac, you're probably good to go if you get an iPad.  The exception:  Navionics is pricing its iPad charts differently -- understandable, I think, given how inexpensive their iPhone charts are, and their many partnerships with companies that manufacture those old time chartplotter things -- though $50 for the new U.S. super region is not bad.  That region includes the Northern Bahamas, by the way, but below is a sample of alternate NV charts of the same area, also offered by X-Traverse.  Choices are good.  And I'm not done...
Navimatics has not only adapted its Charts & Tides program for the iPad, but expanded the included regions of NOAA ENC charts, lowered the price, and is just about to add support for ActiveCaptain!  The implementation looks good on an iPad, too, as you can see below.  As with MaxSea TimeZero 1.9 (just about to release!) and the Coastal Explorer 2010 beta, the ActiveCaptain data is cached so you still have it when not connected to the Internet.  And we know Active Captain itself is also working on an iPad app.  Damn.


i-Marine Apps tells us how to get additional charts through X-Traverse

If you want additional charts other than the free NOAA charts you can purchase these through X-Traverse. This process is complicated, so follow below.

You will need an X-Traverse account to purchase and access your charts. This account will cost you $10.00 per year and allows you access to your charts through the iNavX app. Access to Grib weather files and transfer of waypoints and tracks can also be done through your account. 

Once you have your X-Traverse account you can then purchase additional charts. Make sure you purchase the iPad charts for download. They offer a wide range of Navionics, CHS Canadian Charts, Fish"N"Chips, HotMaps, NV Verlag and Hilton fishing charts.

To access and download your purchased charts in your iNavX app you need to add your X-Traverse account information to the app. Go to "Preferences" and select "X-Traverse Account". This is where you will add your email and password for your account.

Next select "Show Account Information" this will retrieve your account info showing you what products you have activated for use by the iNavX app.

You will next need to go back to the Charts list and select "Add More Charts to Menu". The next menu should show you the list of charts. The charts you purchased should show up as bolded. I purchased Navionics Gold Marine Charts 2011.  Select this and another display will show the charts in that package. Turn "ON" the charts you purchased.

Go back to the iNavX menu and select the chart you turned on to view you charts. Select your chart title and download you your iPad.

WiFi onboard with an iMux

iMarine Apps  gives a good account of the Brookhouse iMux. I just might get one of these for the iPad  which is sure to come one day. Read on...

Brookhouse iMux

What the heck is an iMux? Well, glad you asked. Mux is short for multiplexer and the i wirelessly connects your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch providing data from all your ships electronics and navigation hardware.  This is truly a geeky item folks.

Brookhouse is run by a bunch of Kiwis from New Zealand. They have been around since 2002 providing solutions for integrating marine electronics on commercial and recreational yachts.  A multiplexer combines many sources of NMEA 0183 data and creates a single stream of data that can be used  by computers, chart plotters and other navigation devices.  It takes data from any NMEA 0183 source such as, depth sounder, speed sensor, wind direction indicator, wind speed indicator, radar, weather station, GPS or fluxgate compass.  I can them provide the data to any number of computers, laptops, smart phones, or tablet for use with navigation programs.

Features:

• 4 opto-isolated “NMEA Listener” (Input) ports, 3 at 4800 bps, 1 at 38400 bps for AIS.
• 1  RS232 output port  for connection to a chart plotter or computer
• 1 RS232 input port
  (baudrate conversion input).
• 1 Output RS422 port (differential NMEA talker port) 4800bps
  (baudrate conversion output)
• Baudrate conversion 38400bps-4800bps.
• Indicators: red LED for power, green LED for data-transmission.
• Supply Voltage: DC 9-35 Volts.
• Reversed polarity protection.
• Physical size: 110x65x37mm (hxwxd)
• Weight: 140 grams
• Mounting: bulkhead mounting with screws.
• NMEA management and control:
  • NMEA Sentence Filtering
  • NMEA Sentence editing “on the fly” for NMEA protocol conversion.
  • Automatic port switching.

This device is unique in that it does not require a computer to operate.  So you can leave your laptop at home and wirelessly receive all your ships data on your iPad.  The unit works great with the iNavx application and the Brookhouse website has alot of information on how to integrate an iMux into your ships systems and work with you iPad. iNavx is a great navigation and charting program which can be used on the iPad or iPhone.

Brookhouse has other multiplexers with USB and Bluetooth capabilities. Check out their website for the one that fits your needs. They do have a iMux-ST version which allows integration of SeaTalk data from your Raymarine instruments.

You can order your very own iMux for $299.00.

iPhone, iPad navigation softeware; Transas iSailor

Here's an interesting app for your iPhone or iPad, with downloadable charts for almost any region in the world. The app is down loadable for free from the app store and you only pay for what charts you want. The iSailor app is touted as an easy to use charting system for amateur boater. It has the basic features of a GPS navigation and charting program but comes up short of being a full featured program. It is available from Transas iSailor and here is a little introduction...



iMarine apps had this to say about it
Features:

• The iSailor app is free to download from iTunes
• Chart sets are purchased for $4.99 to $24.99 each.
• Chart positioning can use internal GPS or cellular location.
• Charts are provided by Transas's own vector chart format TX-97
• Charts are downloaded from within the app.
• Chart orientation can be changed by twisting you fingers to orient the map anyway you want
• Panning and multi touch capability are utilized to move around the chart
• Soft keys on bottom of app include GPS, Info, Measuring, Record Track, Routes and settings
• Monitors Lat, Long, Course and Speed on a overlay on top of the screen
• Day and night chart coloring

Pros:

I liked the app but there are a few things that I found lacking when compared to some of the other apps in this class.  The bright spot with iSailor are the charts.  I am impressed with the look and feel of the charts themselves. Depths are shown in gradients with different colors.  There seems to be a lot of detail with lights, wreck and points of interest both on the water and shore.

One tap to the screen brings up the soft keys which allows GPS tracking, an information feature, a measuring feature, a track recorder, routing and settings. Tapping the GPS shows the users location on the chart.  The information features brings up a overlay on top of the screen that shows latitude, longitude, course and speed. Page to the right shows just course and speed. Page right again and it shows the active route.
The measuring feature worked by tapping and holding the pinpoint. The indication of distance and bearing is shown on the display. Track recording is turned off and on by tapping the track soft key a REC indication let you know when the tracking is in record mode. 

The routing function works by tapping and holding your finger to create a new point, continue tapping and holding to create additional points in the route. In the saved routes it also has a handy fuel consumption calculator. You can set your cruising speed and fuel consumption and it will calculate how much fuel will be consumed during that route.

Cons:
One thing that was missing was the ability to create and name a waypoints. This seems like a no brainer but maybe I am missing something here.  You can create points in a route and view those but there seems to be no way to rename them as a waypoint. It does have the ability to save and rename a route.  Within routes you can view the points but you cannot rename them.


I downloaded the app and bought a map region to give it a try. I like what I see so far but hope the authors will add additional features to build on an already slick looking app.