navigation software

AFD

AFD

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,250
Boston Harbor/Falmouth Ma
Boat Info
1997 Sundancer 290 The fat beam version
Engines
twins.
Starboard 5.0 alpha 220HP
Port 357 alpha 275hp
4HP Yamaha for Dinghy
Bluechart G2 is a little expensive for me right now considering all the other expenses that this boat sucked out of us this first full season. we will have to live with the standard software on our 740s for this first season. are there any apps or software or even books that are free or inexpensive to plan out trips ahead of time on a laptop without springing for the BlueChart just yet? not specifically garmin as i can plan it out in my head and laptop then just punch in to the plotter when we get to the boat.



I know the bluchart vision is awesome, the demos are great and i will probably get it over next winter but at almost $10,000 out of pocket so far this season already and it's only Feb. It's just not in the cards for us this year.

thanks for the help ahead of time.
Anthony
 
My favorite is Garmin's own Homeport. It's a $29 download and uses the map data that came with your 740. When I switched to Macs a few years ago, I emailed Garmin and asked to move my license to the Mac platform and they gave it to me the same day. Homeport also integrates with ActiveCaptain and Google Earth.

FWIW, the G2 Vision chip IS nice, but if I were to lose it, I doubt I would replace it. I NEVER use the auto-route function. It doesn't account for buoys or channels. While I don't necessarily think it would lead me into rocks and I'm willing to take calculated shortcuts here and there, I don't like my plotter to do it. I'm also frequently "followed", and I don't like the idea of putting someone ELSE onto a rock that I missed because auto-route zigged and zagged while the dummy behind me didn't. (just about setting good examples I guess)

I like the iOS BlueChart mobile, but more as a backup GPS than a planning tool. (which is NOT how Garmin intended it to be used) If you plan on your iOS device, then you have the challenge of transferring the data to the 740, which could be more expensive than just buying the Vision chip.
 
I've got the Navionics app on my ipad (bought the one for the iphone and use it on the ipad and saved a bunch of $$).

I also use activecaptain.com I saved my routes to a gpx file and then upload them into my Garmin.
 
Thanks guy, I guess I didn't realize you can use Homeport without the G2 vision chip. I'll check that out for the $30 first and play around with activecaptain.com ad well.
 
Navionics eh? I have been trying to figure out which app is best for my iPad, so I will try that as well.
 
I think you can save off a copy of your maps from the garmin onto a SD card, then use those in Homeport. I have the vision chip which I use for maps in homeport, then transfer the routes via the SD card to the 740 dash unit. Also, depending on how long you've had the garmin unit, you may be able to get your one free update of the base maps. Download that to a fresh SD card and update your head unit, but also keep the maps on the chip... now you have two copies!

I do use the garmin blue chart mobile on my ipad as well. If I'm going some place new, I leave the pre-plotted track zoomed in on the dash unit with radar overaly and follow along with the ipad laying on the helm for a "big picture" zoomed out view of whats around me.

With the bluechart mobile app... you can download the phone app and tablet app... and pay for the maps only once no matter how many devices you load them on. The apps are free. Once you go into each of the apps, in the settings, there is a place where you can log into your itunes (for example) and download the maps you paid for previously. Navionics you have to buy the maps twice. Phone version ~$10, and ipad version ~$50. Or get the phone version on your tablet and do the 2x zoom if you want to save $$.
 
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anybody want to fill me in on ActiveCaptain? i am playing around with it but had a few questions that i cannot easily find the answers to.
how do you integrate with garmin if you plan a trip with waypoints?
are all of your routes available for anyone to search?
I have private family land on the ocean with a dock and don't really want to "publish" the location for others to see. not that you can't see it from the water but i don't want people to think it is a destination spot just because it is my destination spot.
I'll have other questions when i actually get the Garmin up and running on the boat but for now it sits in it's box and the boat under a pretty white wrap.
 
I can't say enough about navionics. I put my iPad in a life proof case and use that more than my e80. So much more intuitive with zoom and touch and more current and accurate than the older raymarine gear. With that said I do need to upgrade my electronics on my boat.
 
AFD said:
Bluechart G2 is a little expensive for me right now considering all the other expenses that this boat sucked out of us this first full season. we will have to live with the standard software on our 740s for this first season. are there any apps or software or even books that are free or inexpensive to plan out trips ahead of time on a laptop without springing for the BlueChart just yet? not specifically garmin as i can plan it out in my head and laptop then just punch in to the plotter when we get to the boat.



I know the bluchart vision is awesome, the demos are great and i will probably get it over next winter but at almost $10,000 out of pocket so far this season already and it's only Feb. It's just not in the cards for us this year.

thanks for the help ahead of time.
Anthony
Click to expand...

Your 740s has Garmin's "U.S. BlueChart g2 Marine" maps installed, you do not need any other maps. The g2 Vision cards are a fun "toy" but not needed and if I hadn't gotten mine free with my 740s I wouldn't spend the money on it for my area. This is what you get above the preloaded maps if you add a g2 Vision card: "3-D perspective above and below the waterline, Auto Guidance, high-resolution imagery, and aerial photos of ports, harbors, marinas, landmarks and other points of interest." Now if one has a 720s, that only came with the "Worldwide Basemap".

I love the Navionics on my iPad as a backup and overview plotter. It is always running right next to my Garmin when underway and serves as my weather radar if near enough to the coast, just wish I had a split screen view.

MM
 
good to know. thanks MonacoMike, i haven't had a chance to run it yet because i bought it after the boat got wrapped and it was on sale. I just ran with the compass and paper charts but that isn't a heads up type of option and everywhere is "new water" to me as i have been stuck to lakes and ponds or my familiar water where i grew up but i'm new to the Boston area by sea.
just wondering does anyone know how to sink acticecaptain to the Garmin or is it not an option?
 
AFD said:
just wondering does anyone know how to sink acticecaptain to the Garmin or is it not an option?
Click to expand...

No sync to anything for the 740s. That is part of what they are selling in the new 7xx series. Also I do not trust the Auto Guidance feature, it wants me to ram the breakwall to get to my marina, because EVEN the newest charts (from any provider) still show that breakwall open to the lake. (It has been closed 10-12 years.)

MM
 
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Afd, to answer your question about activecaptain , no one else sees your routes or waypoints it is a tool used to reference others observations, ie: marinas,fuel, restaurants, shallow water etc. in order for your info to be published you have to submit it and activecaptain will determine whether or not to put it on the datasae. Great tool for cruising.
 
Here is how I put my routes from Activecaptain onto my Garmin 4208 -

Create your navigation route, name it and then save it. In the section titled "mycard" you will see the name of the route. Click on "more" and it will bring up a small tab. Select "export" and it will create and save a .gpx file to your computer. Download that file onto an SD card and put the card in your GPS and you are good to go.


One other thing you can do is use your ipad GPS program to upload the gpx file as well and run it from there. I use the $5 MotionX GPS app on my ipad and downloaded NOAA navigation charts and overlayed the file onto it. Now I have a backup chartplotter on my ipad with real time GPS overlay AND I have my Navionics app if I need to reference it.
 
Nice, thanks K9medic.

BTW, nifty name of actual job title?
 
At one time it sort of was. I worked a police K9 and was also a medic on my off days. Some how I got called that "k9medic guy" by an old Sergeant who couldn't remember my name and it stuck.
 
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