iPad used for GPS offroad

Is anyone using an iPad for their GPS offroad?

The benefits are obvious - large screen. The concerns are several including:

1. No cell signal available most of the places off roaders go - there appear to be ways around this
2. The need to upload files ahead of time - not really an issue as most off roaders do this with their GPS anyway

I'll post up some information relevant to this issue in this thread.

MotionX GPS HD app


MotionX GPS HD for iPad on the iTunes App Store

From their website:

Description MotionX-GPS HD has all the Maps and Navigation Instruments you need for your outdoor life: walking, hiking, sailing, off-roading, flying, geocaching, or exploring, anywhere in the world. Download worldwide maps and store them on your iPad for offline access. MotionX-GPS HD works on a hike, on a boat, in a plane, visiting a new city, or just browsing the globe from home.

★★★★★ "Provides all the tools you’ll ever need, anywhere in the world." -iPadModo
★★★★★ "Recommended for people looking for a do-it-all navigation app that covers land, air and sea." -Navigadget
★★★★★ "MotionX-GPS HD iPad app looks even better than the iPhone version." -Gizmodo

▶ Download maps from anywhere in the world — free of charge — with just a Wifi connection.

▶ Better than a $2,000 chart plotter, showing your position and track at all times on street, topo/terrain, satellite, or hybrid maps all with worldwide coverage. Use the MotionX navigation instruments and mapping tools to know where you are, where you've been, and where you're going — anywhere in the world!

▶ Exclusively designed and optimized for the iPad, fully leveraging the large high-definition display.

▶ Uses the GPS chipset in the 3G iPad, but it also works great in Wi-fi mode!
_______________________________________
FAST ONBOARD MotionX MAPS!
✔ See your position and tracks anywhere in the world on fast live MotionX open topographic and road maps.
✔ MotionX terrain and road maps can be stored onboard for offline access and lightning fast rendering. Available worldwide and no data fees!
✔ Option for Course-up maps and Direction-up maps, integrated with the digital compass.
✔ Experimental NOAA maps for U.S. marine areas can be downloaded and stored onboard.
✔ Includes an onboard base map of the world.
✔ Google and Bing Road, Satellite and Hybrid maps.
✔ Total of ten map types to choose from. No other app offers a bigger selection of maps!
_______________________________________
WAYPOINTS!
✔ Save personal waypoints to mark your favorite locations.
✔ Use the MotionX TapTap® tool for easy waypoint creation.
✔ Geocoding capability converts any location to the closest known physical address.
✔ View coordinates in Lat/Lon, UTM, MGRS, or OSGB format.
_______________________________________
TRACKS!
✔ Save up to 101 tracks.
✔ See your track in real-time, then follow it later if you want to retrace your path.
✔ Post your tracks to Facebook or Twitter, or email them to share using Google Maps and Google Earth.
_______________________________________
INTERACTIVE STOPWATCH!
✔ Record time, distance, speed and max speed.
✔ Live speed and altitude graphs.
✔ Ascent/descent and gradient data.
_______________________________________
LIVE NAVIGATION!
✔ iPad magnetic compass integration.
✔ Use the compass for orientation in True or Magnetic bearings.
✔ While navigating to a waypoint, visualize your progress and ETA.
✔ Use the distance tool to find the distance and bearing between any two points on the map.
_______________________________________
MORE!
✔ Share your location and see where your friends and family are in real-time with Auto Live Updates.
✔ Search for landmarks, cities, countries, street addresses, or lat/lon using a freeform search tool.
✔ Access and control your iPod music directly.
✔ Voice Coaching: set up announcements to hear your elapsed time, distance, and/or current speed/pace.
✔ View your friends' latest Facebook Places check-ins and navigate to them!
✔ Wikipedia integration: your personal tour guide!
✔ Works hand-in-hand with MotionX-GPS, the leading GPS solution for the iPhone with over 5 million happy users.

MotionX is committed to constant improvement. We listen to our millions of MotionX users and continuously add the most requested features.

Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Here's an example of just one of the screen views available:


And one of the user reviews:

I've been using this app for going on 2 years and mostly for off roading in the Baja and other locations in the SE. Even when we have been out radio coverage the autoupdate feature (when we were still within cell coverage) has come thru with posting my location to my chase crews and pits. Now that we have iPad I've mounted it overhead on flip down visor format for location and trail updates. With being able to download all the TOPO maps for off the grid usage is critical. The only thing it still needs is bluetooth support.

Which iPad model to buy?

Which Model to Buy? iPad 2′s Assisted GPS Demystified — Apple News, Tips and Reviews

This webpage has some very helpful comments at the bottom (scroll down):
iPad GPS Navigation – Preview GPS Review


One of the comments:

In my experience, with the old iPad, the GPS accuracy is pretty good, but when you lose the lock on the satellites, there is no AT&T cell tower around, and you have moved some distance or had the iPad turned off over night, it can take very long to regain a lock.

From what I’ve read about the Oregon 400t, it doesn’t do much better under similar circumstances (cell towers not being a factor for it, of course). I don’t know abou the Oregon 450.

In any case, if reception under canopies is important to you, you should consider devices that accommodate a larger diameter, perhaps pole-mounted external antenna.

Other considerations:

- The Oregon is designed for outdoor use, the iPad primarily for indoor/dry conditions use (though you could get a third-party water resistant or water proof case for it).

- The iPad is much larger (and heavier). An iPhone would be more comparable. It has a much better display resolution, but may be less readable in bright daylight? The latter may be the case with the iPad also.

- The Oregon is limited to doing just a few things related to GPS.

- The iPad/iPhone is a highly versatile computing platform. It supports cellular data, WiFi, USB, and Bluetooth. I have had good success overcoming the iPad’s poor unassisted satellite acquisition latency by using a Dual Electronic XGPS150 Bluetooth GPS receiver, which you can mount on top of a baseball cap, or such, for optimum reception under canopies.

- You’ll be constrained to the Garmin map application if you get the Oregon,

- There is a great and expanding choice of mapping applications for iOS.

- The iPad is too big and cumbersome, in my opinion, to carry around just for casual navigation while walking.

- The iPad is terrific if you need to take field notes and sketches, wan’t to be able to access lots of existing documents, field guides, online data, etc., and/or need to be able to see detailed map views for a substantial chunk of land at once. You may want to ruggedize it with third-party products and perhaps an external power source for all-day use with continuous wireless connectivity.

Over the last 15 years, I have used many handheld and built-in automotive navigation and tracking devices and map applications. Motion X GPS and Motion X GPS Drive on iPad are better than anything I have seen so far and also the most economical if you already own and use an iPad for other purposes.

At first glance this looks to be a good to great solution!

"Bad Elf Receiver"

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035Y7ZJ2/?tag=fordraptorforum-20


Here's a user review from Amazon's site (link above):

I purchased this unit to add GPS to my iPad, and also to be able to use GPS when my iPhone 4 is in airplane mode.

This product works great, exactly as described. You simply plug the unit into the iPad/iPhone/iTouch and it adds native GPS support to every app. I can't emphasize that enough, the apps you already own work great with it, they don't need to be updated at all to work.

The bad elf gps collects and keeps an atlas of the GPS satellites on board the unit, so even from a cold start it finds it's position very quickly. This is a high performance GPS too, it works at altitude in a jet aircraft just fine, even at 35,000' at 500 mph, when the native iPhone 4 GPS couldn't even find it's position. (Refer to any airline's policies on portable electronic equipment before operating any iDevice inflight, but I'm sure you knew that.)

Of course this GPS draws it's power from the iPad/iPhone/iTouch, so it does drain the battery some. My experience using an iPhone 4, using a program called Skycharts Pro, with a constant screen full bright updates (worse case) was that it drained 15% of the battery life an hour. Since the iPad has a much bigger battery, I expect excellent battery life using this unit with the iPad's glorious 10" screen.

If you have access to a power source, you don't even need to be concerned about battery life, it has a USB type plug and cord included that you can use to power/charge/sync the iDevice while using the GPS. The only small downside is that my car charger uses a docking plug, I have to buy a new car charger that I can plug a USB cable into instead, an input 30 pin connector would have been better in my opinion.

I am recommending this product to anyone who wants to add GPS to their apple devices, or those who change devices every year, as this device can transfer as newer iPads & iPod touches enter the market.

Found this mounting kit assuming the iPad2 is the way to go:

RAM Mounting Systems RAP-299-2-AP8U Flexible Arm Mount for the Apple iPad (Black)

Amazon.com: RAM Mounting Systems RAP-299-2-AP8U Flexible Arm Mount for the Apple iPad (Black): Car Electronics

Another site worth checking out:
Using Ipad 2 as GPS?

App

Topo Maps

App Store - Topo Maps

Good info Dan. I don't have an iPad and I'm an ex iPhone user (survivor? :mrgreen, but I really did like Topo on my iPhone.

I don't know of anyone using an iPad for offroad exploring. I have seen a few in-dash installs that looked pretty slick, and I'd imagine they're using them for some GPS duties in that capacity, but I don't know of anyone specifically that has opted for an iPad as their preferred means for off road navigation.

Thanks J.

I'm not sure why - maybe issues with connectivity when there's no cell service (that's what I'm trying to find out). From what I've read so far it shouldn't be an issue especially with a "Bad Elf Receiver" (if that works as advertised).

Many folks have iPads and for those who don't (like me), why buy a fancy Garmin (offroad GPS) when, for the same money, one can buy an iPad and use it in and out of the truck/Jeep?!

That's my logic and I'm sticking to it...until/if I find out the iPad sucks for GPS offroad. Still looking...