To search the collective mind...
Is anybody out there with personal experience - not hearsay - on gps receivers for tablets on yachts?
I am after an independent gps source, not an agps - which is an assisted gps working on triangulation based on repeaters, or towers - which most tablets have anyway.
Anyone used a GARMIN GLO? 
Hi j
I have and do use a bluetooth puck gps receiver like this onehttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Globalsat-BT-821C-Bluetooth-GPS-Receiver-4-Laptop-Tablet-SmartPhone-New-BT-368-/330894758403?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4d0add5203
I purchased my puck over 3 - 4 years ago for under $30 and have had it successfully work with eeepc (ibm) , osx and ios operating systems running navionics and cmap on opencpn as well as simple telem acess
i found them easy to use. Is this the sort of thing you had in mind ?
Failing that i have also interfaced via serial to usb and serial rs232 my garmin gps72 to my eeepc running opencpn etc not exactly a tablet though
IMHO
For lower power usage , ease of use , standalone reliability , navigation and data recording i cannot fault my old garmin gps72 though most people now days want charts displayed on their device therefore compromise's begin.
For yacht navigation you are far better off to use a puck with a SIRF 4 chip. Faster and more sensitive.
It seems both these ebay units use similar chipsets MKT ?? maybe they will talk better satellite Chinese 
The puck i have has a SIRF chipset and was sold under the CoPilot and Emtac brand and no longer available
my boat is that slow i dont really need extreme telemetry and i have found general gps technology to be very accurate
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition has GPS A-GPS and Glonass support. My earlier 2012 edition only has A-GPS and Gloanass.
Select to expand quotemadmission said..
It seems both these ebay units use similar chipsets MKT ?? maybe they will talk better satellite Chinese
The puck i have has a SIRF chipset and was sold under the CoPilot and Emtac brand and no longer available
my boat is that slow i dont really need extreme telemetry and i have found general gps technology to be very accurate
The Sirf 3 is ok but the sirf 4 will work all the time through steel roofs etc. The sirf 3 is ok most of the time inside a fibreglass hull but sometimes loses contact. Double the price but several times more sensitive.
The puck I linked to is overkill for boat navigation. It's main use is for faster data rate for track times etc, 10 times faster than the normal tablet/phone GPS like LooseChange is referring to. They are perfectly adequate as well it's just the other one is more accurate at race car speeds.
I have no idea what Sirgallivant wants this puck for. If it has to be wifi or cable. The sirf 3 units are fine if the puck can be placed in a good spot in a 'glass hull. {$30] . If its a steel yacht or "glass with stuff blocking the view go sirf 4 [$70]. Or fast data rate for road or track GPS the $100 one.
I have a GARMIN GLO that I used with open cpn and a windows 8 tablet. it works fine with the latest updates from windows. at first it had real issues with the Bluetooth stack. but recently there have been no issues. I have not used it exhaustively on long trips though as my phone with navonics has better maps than open cpn. but for Bluetooth gps the garmin seems to be good.
actually I had an issue updating the firmware of the gps and it is dumb how it takes the slightest knock to turn it on accidently. the firmwqre update is supposed to fix this but like I said I cant get it to update.
its accurate, fast locking, and works inside and outside the cabin. is very accurate. although phones nowadays are very accurate as well. glonass and GPS is the way to go for accurate fast fixes.
I use the nobeltec, it is a little more expensive but i have had no issues in the last year. works inside the boat
taylormarineonline.com.au/password
Bad Elf, having just sailed Adelaide to Geraldton, the Bad Elf and IPad were my backup, great product, also with its bluetooth capability any of your bluetooth phones or tablets can utilise its information. Also pretty cheap.
Select to expand quotepumpnjump said..
Bad Elf, having just sailed Adelaide to Geraldton, the Bad Elf and IPad were my backup, great product, also with its bluetooth capability any of your bluetooth phones or tablets can utilise its information. Also pretty cheap.
The prices on their webpage are fairly eye watering. Can we have a link please to the fairly cheap ones?
Personally, I'm not a big fan of GPS receivers that are not both fixed in place and wired to the chart plotter (software or otherwise). Using Bluetooth, WiFi or other wireless communications for such a vital function as position updates is just inviting one more thing to fail. In my case I went with a PC-based solution instead of a tablet-based one. Low-cost PCs are not much more expensive and a whole lot more versatile than tablets. Also, going with a PC opens a whole lot of choices in terms of good, but low cost GPS receivers. I went with a GlobalStat MR-350 GPS receiver, which costs all of US$53 on Amazon. I use it with Open CPN on a crappy old laptop and it has been super reliable, accurate and fast.
More info on my setup:
blog.arribasail.com/2013/10/tech-testing-globalsat-mr-350-gps-with-opencpn.html
Maybe my fairly cheap is not yours, I got mine about 18 months ago for $150 delivered, that was off Ebay and from the US, they are still listed there for under $200, which I consider quite reasonable for such a great piece of kit, one that you can rely on at sea. They are certainly not a toy, rugged and waterproof, most of the time on my passage I used this with navionics on my phone. The other good thing with these is the live readout on its screen for coordinate position fixes to plot onto paper charts, so you are not relying on position readouts on a second device.
Interesting posts in this thread. Thanks for the Sirf3 vs 4 info Ramona.
What I am looking to buy is a puck GPS receiver that has a tiny digital display that shows Long/Lat, so it can display position if my PC is down or not with me. Could easily power it from a small pocket USB power bank. I haven't seen one, but I'm casually looking.
By the way I know there's some VHF radios with GPS, but I've heard opinions that leaving the GPS on is a heavy drain on the VHF battery.
Select to expand quoteKarsten said..
By the way I know there's some VHF radios with GPS, but I've heard opinions that leaving the GPS on is a heavy drain on the VHF battery.
That would be hand held VHF you are talking about, yes??
I use a 'dual' Bluetooth model, it's great. Not all GPS receivers are Apple compatible so make sure you do your research.
As usual, the forum provides a wide ranging opinion which is good. Very good. But...
I am planning to use an Android tablet, no computer on my boat and l do not want any if l can help it. I would not touch Apple-stuff with a sixty feet barge pole. I got two independent chart plotters, an Android phone, a land based gps on board not talking about paper charts.
Simly, l would like to run a system, tablet and hard wired independent gps, just to play with. I am not for bluetooth.
As an electronically challenged person l want to K.I.S.S.
Yeah, l got a few male-female cables at home so that is ok might need one anyway to put the receiver outside.
Thanks for the thoughts!
For fans of Navionics there is a good thread here.
forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/navionics-charts-wrong-reliable-accurate.424996/
Select to expand quotecisco said..Karsten said..
By the way I know there's some VHF radios with GPS, but I've heard opinions that leaving the GPS on is a heavy drain on the VHF battery.
That would be hand held VHF you are talking about, yes??
Yes indeed.
Select to expand quoteKarsten said..cisco said..Karsten said..
By the way I know there's some VHF radios with GPS, but I've heard opinions that leaving the GPS on is a heavy drain on the VHF battery.
That would be hand held VHF you are talking about, yes??
Yes indeed.
Off the topic Karsten, but you asked about diesel stoves I think a while back have a look at Wallas stoves Google
If it is not based on WGS84 data which is the paper chart equivalent, one should not navigate on it. Sooner or later one is going to regret it.
I got grave problems with American charts and any others which are not based on either British Admitalty charts or Australian Hydrographic Office charts or data as far as accuracy is concerned.
As far as l know, legally one should NOT navigate on Electronic Charts in Oz. One must use paper charts by law.
I do.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
If it is not based on WGS84 data which is the paper chart equivalent, one should not navigate on it. Sooner or later one is going to regret it.
I got grave problems with American charts and any others which are not based on either British Admitalty charts or Australian Hydrographic Office charts or data as far as accuracy is concerned.
As far as l know, legally one should NOT navigate on Electronic Charts in Oz. One must use paper charts by law.
I do.
I prefer Columbus's approach, it's a lot more exciting!
It's not so much the medium (paper vs electronic) that is legislated, it is the status of the data. To rely on a chart in any medium, the source supplying the data must be approved by the regulator.
Most commercial ships routinely use electronic navigation, and have done for years. But they don't download their charts from the Google Play store, like us. They pay serious money for officially issued and approved chart data and daily updates. Probably the same for superyachts and high end cruisers.
The "original" chart data is stored and maintained electronically, and just printed out to paper when required, so the data is not inferior because it is in electronic form.
Select to expand quoteKarsten said..
The "original" chart data is stored and maintained electronically, and just printed out to paper when required, so the data is not inferior because it is in electronic form.
But it might be if your plotter, PC or tablet goes all pear shaped and you are left with an expensive electronic paper weight in the middle of .... well, in the middle of just what I'm not sure of.
I believe the requirements are that must carry paper charts not that you must navigate by them.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
If it is not based on WGS84 data which is the paper chart equivalent, one should not navigate on it. Sooner or later one is going to regret it.
I got grave problems with American charts and any others which are not based on either British Admitalty charts or Australian Hydrographic Office charts or data as far as accuracy is concerned.
As far as l know, legally one should NOT navigate on Electronic Charts in Oz. One must use paper charts by law.
I do.
Cruise ships no longer use paper charts.
In NSW if your vessel is in charter you are required to carry a paper chart of your area of operation. On my fishing vessel I had it in a frame on a cabin bulkhead. All navigation was Seaclear on a PC with Admiralty charts.
Now on my yacht it's Seaclear on a permanently installed laptop. I do carry photo copies of charts in a folder in the chart table.
