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Cell phones in open water


LannyV

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I found this posted from 09.

"September 2009 - 07:04 AM

The iPhone uses GPS technology for finding its position, not cellphone positioning. It works fine when out of phone service range.

That being said, the GPS in the iPhone is not nearly as accurate as what you find in marine electronics. The "sampling rate," or whatever it's called, is also much lower so it can't calculate speed and direction accurately.

I'll use my iPhone for casual use on the road, but I'm not getting underway without good marine electronics on my boats. I've never seen a mobile phone with a radar either! :-)

Captain Ethan Maass

Sea Tow South Shore

(Cape Cod Bay area)"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Looking for some information. I currently have a Garmin iQue M5 PDA/GPS that I use for hunting with topo maps and as a backup to my chartplotter on my boat using NOAA free maps. This unit is starting to show signs of failing. I am looking at replacing it with another PDA/GPS or preferable a iphone, droid, windows 7 phone, etc. I have several questions I have not been able to get answered talking to the phone people from the various services(att, Verizon, etc)

Below are some of the questions I have and was hoping that some of the boaters on here may be using them and can shed some light.

1. Make and models of phones you are using out in the open water?

2. Some of these phone use aGPS and/or GPS. If 12 miles off shore and no cell service will the aGPS still

track and keep showing your current location or do they only use the cell towers to triangulate your

location?

3. Do I need to get a phone that has GPS and aGPS if they make them? Brand, model?????

4. Software or apps for these phones…and recommendations? I have seen one by memory-map.com that makes the

software I use on my PDA now makes an app that can be used on and iPhone

http://www.memory-map.com/mm-iphone.htm . Has anyone tried it on an iPhone and not have cell service?

5. What about apps for the other phones?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Lanny

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I use a Droid X and yes it has a true GPS receiver. It works perfectly with no cell signal. Navionics makes an app for the Droid that is identical to the Navionics Gold package on my main plotter. The app cost $9.95 and it is incredible for the price. Hope that helps.

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I use a Droid X and yes it has a true GPS receiver. It works perfectly with no cell signal. Navionics makes an app for the Droid that is identical to the Navionics Gold package on my main plotter. The app cost $9.95 and it is incredible for the price. Hope that helps.

Thank you for the info. Been checking apps for the various phones...can't believe how inexpensive some of these are compared to the cost for a pc or marine electronics.

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  • 4 months later...

I know this is an old thread, but my 2 cents:

iPone and iPad navigation apps are great. Navionics in particular is quite spectacular and does way more than you need for average boating. That said, using an iPhone or even an iPad for navigating kinda sucks. They cannot be seen in bright daylight conditions. You know what I mean if you've ever tried to use your iPhone in direct sunlight. In the case of the iPhone, the screen is absurdly small for this task. Unless you have a mount for it, you have to use both hands to operate it so there's the obvious problem of not having one hand for the boat.

These are not deal killers for using these devices, but something to be aware of.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 years later...

An Android or iPhone will do the work. Or if you want a bigger screen you can use an Ipad. When you buy offline charts in the navigation app that you are using, it is not dependent on cell reception, and will work accurately in open water. When it comes to the app you got to find one thats working for you. Some prefer advanced charts, and others are more in need of something more "user friendly". The best apps manages to balance both. I would recommend checking out Embark boating charts (my favorite) or Navionics.

Good luck!

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