Garmin BlueChart Mobile & WiFi Adapter, hands-on #2
While my "hands-on # 1" enthusiasm for the BlueChart Mobile app was pretty clear, I'm not as bullish about Garmin's Marine WiFi Adapter kit. But first the good news. All I had to do was plug the black Garmin Ethernet cable above into Gizmo's test GPSMap 7212, make the other connections to the little black POE (power over Ethernet) box, and plug the results into a 12v socket {correction: Garmin is supplying 110 AC POE adapter, not 12v, see comments}. It didn't really matter where I put the adapter itself as it has the WiFi horsepower to reach an iThing anywhere on boats larger than mine. And it all just worked. Well, almost...
When I first set up the adapter and then selected the new "garminmarine" hotspot on the iPad3, BlueChart Mobile could not see the NMEA 2000 GPS that's networked to the 7212. While the problem was easily solved once Garmin tech support had me enable "NMEA 2000 Output Bridging", it's my understanding that some N2K data is never bridged onto Garmin's Marine (Ethernet) Network and therefore getting values like depth and wind direction/speed to the app is not as easy as some might presume. Even if Garmin decides that's a feature worth adding. And then there are the issues of cost and flexability.
It's not hard to figure out that Garmin's $200 WiFi Adapter is actually a Ubiquiti PicoStation M2-HP that you can pick up on on Amazon for $80
Frankly, I'm rather dim about the under pinnings of WiFi, but I'm definitely getting the impression that making it play with marine navigation networks is complicated, and I was glad to find ActiveCaptain's Jeff Siegel discussing specific Garmin complications on TugNuts today. I'm also glad that Jeff is hoping to help folks set up their existing routers to make the connection between Garmin MFDs and BlueChart Mobile. But if that happens, let's acknowledge that Garmin has every right to say "please don't call us with support issues." Let's also acknowledge that Garmin has gone some extra distance just trying to make the app integrate with existing hardware. Furuno is doing neat things with MFD WiFi and so is Raymarine, but not in a backward compatible way, and while Navico GoFree can connect at least a MFD generation back, not all data tiers are supported.
So what can BCM and the WiFi Adapter do for you? At the moment, the screen above tells the whole story. Tapping those Export and Import buttons worked exactly as explained, though it did take me a moment to understand that I needed to poke under the big BCM steering wheel icon to actually display something like the entire Gizmo migration track recently posted. It was fun to use BCM to drill down on those many thousands of track points as in the Baltimore screen below. It conjures up the nice morning Leonard and I checked out BMC Harborview, where Trawler Fest was setting up, and then executed an Inner Harbor pirouette before settling into the marina I mentioned on Monday. The track also reminded me that when I left by myself a week later I didn't fire up the 7212 until I got out in the channel. Tracks are fun but probably the main reason people will install the WiFi Adapter is routing...
BlueChart Mobile definitely has some sweet routing features, like the way its list view offers several quick sorting methods and thumbnail graphics of the routes themselves (as seen below). But the method of actually creating a route is different than it is on a Garmin touch MFD and I'm not sure I like the change...
Once I start a route on the 7212 I tap in the general vicinity of the next waypoint, then move my hand away and slide the chart around under the proposed waypoint until precision is achieved, and finally hit the Create Turn screen button. It's quicker than it sounds and it demolishes the early presumption that touch screens aren't good for route making because your finger gets in the way. (This is another subject that may deserve a whole entry as there are numerous solutions. The latest Raymarine displays, for instance, let you either tap create a waypoint or tap and hold to move your finger tip away from the spot and adjust it. I repeat: Touch screen charting is NOT one thing.)
At any rate, laying down waypoints in BCM is just a simple tapping process and I also find the icons a bit clunky, but they are easy to modify and it will also be easy for Garmin to modify the whole app as user responses come in. In conclusion, I caution people not to assume what the WiFi Adapter can do based on consumer electronics. It's just a Garmin Network extender. I think Garmin can add more functionality to the BCM relationship, and almost undoubtedly will when it comes to the new MFDs with WiFi built in, but as the package stands I think some Garmin owners will respond "meh!" and others will find $200 a small price to pay for connecting their iThing to their large nav system investment.
One other thing: This whole exercise reminded me of Garmin's HomePort Windows and Mac planning software and so I copied the 7212 data to an SD card and fired up HomePort on Gizmo's PC. An auto update revealed that the software is even more refined than what I wrote about it in 2010, but just the basics are worth comparing to BCM. You get to use the Garmin charts you already own, there's no extra expense to moving data back and forth, the track display can even include depth profiles, import of routes in third party formats is supported, and route-making with a mouse actually works quite well...if you're willing to be so retro.
Share
Ethernet networking, including WiFi, is not always 100% plug and play. DHCP etc have gotten us a long way, but sometimes it just won't work.
For this reason it seems most manufacturers say "You have to do it our way" and do not support joining existing networks (either wired or wireless). Sad that. I could even live with "it will work with existing networks but then you won't get any help from us regarding the network."
Luckily some manufacturers do it that way. Vesper and Navico (Simrad/B&G/Lowrance) spring to my mind, but I'm probably forgetting some.
Ben, I think it is time for another big spreadsheet!