MacGregorSailors.com

Just got back to office. I realized on the way home that my reasoning was faulty..indeed the only test of this is to try to lock in an area with no cell coverage but with the cell feature turned on, as Kevin notes above.

Sterilize imperfections

Hey Ross!

The case that is available from Mac for the iPad is a thick, rubbery, shock-insulating, and significantly, temperature-insulating foam-like fabric. I say this because I was concerned about heat dissipation, because the aluminum case itself (as in the Macbook), functions as a heat sink to cool the device. Brilliant- no fan, a moving part, required. But it must be OK or Apple wouldn’t offer such a case, and after running for hours at a time, no excessive heat builds up.

The screen is protected with an after-market thick clear plastic film, which has not affected its touch screen functioning, as far as I can feel.

Although I haven’t tried it, I would extend from all of this that in a jiffy, a heavy zip-lock freezer bag should provide cooling and screen functionality while keeping water spray out while in the cockpit.

-Brian.

I own and use an IPad 3 that has wireless and GPS built in. It is the most expensive Ipad model, of course. I used the GPS function with my downloaded charts without cell coverage. The IPad showed exactly where I was as I sailed along, or changed directions. The downside is that using the GPS chipset turned on all the time usually meant that I had to recharge the IPad overnight.
Three were times when I wanted to turn on cell coverage, but could not do so because no cell coverage was available in Desolation Sound sailing area. However, the GPS worked flawlessly. It was neat to be able to take the IPad into the cabin with your coffee or rum to plan the next route, or review where you had been.

Aha!! I think Phil's post and the other post above tip the balance to

Phil..is this ipad 3rd generation? Is it GSm or LTE network model.....?

Catigale wrote:Aha!! I think Phil's post and the other post above tip the balance to

Phil..is this ipad 3rd generation? Is it GSm or LTE network model.....?

Are you asking if the IPad 3 is a 3rd generation model? The one I bought is the most expensive model that includes phone card network capability (which I rarely use) and a GPS chip.

Active Captain requires flash. In its greed to dominate the market, Apple does not allow Flash to be installed or run on an IPad. AC is aware of that and points the finger at Apple. The navigation software by Navimatics works very well, especially if you are in America. You can read Active Captain, but cannot contribute to the database on an IPad.

OK everyone, please pay attention this time.
I have an iPad II 3G. That's the one with the integral GPS.
I do not have a data plan for it with any carrier.
I DO NOT EVEN HAVE A SIM CARD INSTALLED IN MY IPAD. There is no way my iPad could receive data even if it tried unless it is connected to a wifi network.
My GPS has worked flawlessly for two years without any cel phone coverage. I use Navionics charts for sailing and regularly sail in areas where there is no cel phone coverage for miles and certainly no wifi.

YES! IPAD 3G (or 4G) HAS GPS
NO! YOU DO NOT NEED CEL SERVICE OR WIFI TO USE IT!
I am not making this up.

That is the answer to the original question.
Can we move on now?

Thanks Mark......I have duly noted the thread result above.l.

Hey Guys,

Here are the facts in the matter:

1) All Apple devices that have a cellular chipset also have a built-in true GPS, except the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and all versions of iPad + Cellular data have GPS.

2) None of the apple devices that do not have a cellular chipset have GPS. Instead, they use WLS, a hack that identifies location by tasting the MAC addresses of WiFi receivers in your area and comparing them against a database. It's not very accurate and it doesn't work unless there's a WiFi transmitter nearby.

3) The GPS is built into the cellular chipset, but it does not require cellular service to operate. This means that "Cellular Data" must be enabled, but you do not need to have service.

4) Most navigation apps and some chartplotting apps download map data in real-time as requested rather than pre-loading it into memory. These are mostly worthless IMHO--You definitely want preloaded maps in your chartplotter app. If the app doesn't require you to download maps in advance, it's worthless for sailing IMHO.

5) The inbuilt electronic compass is also only present on devices that have GPS for the same reasons.

If you intend to use your iPad as a chartplotter, you really should get the cellular data model. I have no experience with Bluetooth GPS receivers and the iPad, but according to Obelix they work and would be a good solution for people who already have a WiFi only iPad.

this is starting to sound like the white vs blue hull debate (grin).

I don't have a dog in this fight as I use a samsung WITH GPS/NO DATA PLAN and it has a GPS.

Another board had this same discussion and more than one guy I trust that has one (3G or newer, no cell/data, not hooked to wifi) downloaded Navionics and uses as charplotter WITH GPS. Their debates have shown that the apple salesmen can't explain it clearly either.

I'm done.
Ron

Mastreb,

Your post is the best post in this debate, your statements are right on the money and are conform with the Apple specs.
Btw, not all bluetooth receiver will work, because Apple is using the less common technology. After much research I ended up buying the DUAL GPS receiver, switched it to the IPAD setting and it works as advertised.

Obelix

When I had a Blackberry Pearl without a GPS antenna, I bought a separate receiver http://www.amazon.com/Holux-M-1200-Blue ... ords=holux
Worked real well.

@Obelix--we'll, I'm an IT guy, I've owned every one of these devices, and I have all the available chart plotting apps. I'm kind of an app whore--over 400 in my library.

Here's what I use for chart plotting: Garmin 421s.

GPS, A-GPS, or ???... what I wantsta know is can I git it to play the Bee Gees 24/7 while I'm plotting?

@Mastreb,
Actually, I use a Lowrance 522 on the helm.
The IPad is more of a backup, in-cabin, secondary, planning and verifying solution to keep the helm unit earnest and get current Activecaptain and other user-supplied detail information.

Obelix

mastreb wrote:Here's what I use for chart plotting: Garmin 421s.