Sleeping with Drag Queen

[Vincentc]

We anchored out Thursday night and I tried out an iPad anchor alarm called drag queen. I had the iPad with me through the night, the app worked well and helped me get back sleep each time a condition change woke me up. It saved me from going topside and checking the GPS.

Regards

 

[holtcl]

Glad to hear it works well- I loaded it up a couple of times but so far haven't figured out yet the correct way to use it as it hasn't made a sound. Either that or I haven't moved any. Think I may do some "testing" to make sure I've got the programming right.

Cheryl
Cinderella
1971 53 MY

 

[magnawake]

I have tested it several times (at the dock). I set the alarm and then walked down the dock. It shows the distance you are away from the spot, then Bee-Boo-Bee-Boo, alarm goes off. Kind cool. I have it on my smart phone and will install it on the Ipad. I'm setting all three, Laptop, Ipad, and phone, then maybe I'll able to sleep. I'm a nervous Willy when it comes to anchoring. We will be anchoring out a lot traveling between June 10th and July 20th.

 

[Angela]

That's it...I'm getting an iPad. Every time we anchor out, I can't wait to get back to the dock so I can sleep. I love being out, but I just cannot sleep at night as I am constantly getting up and walking around looking at my surroundings. It drives me nuts that I can't enjoy what I so very much enjoy.

 

[magnawake]

Angela you dont need the Expensive "Ipad". All note books or smart phones will work (as long aas they have internal GPS capability). If I had it to do over again, I prolly would get the nexus. Several other threads talk about them. I also use my Laptop with polar Navy program. I have an external GPS puck ($30) that plugs into a USB jack on the side. Polar Navy was $30 as well. So for $60 you can sleep well. We like anchoring out too.

 

[Pascal]

I think Angela still has a 90s vintage dumb phone

I ve used drag queen extensively, in the past year and it works very well, although l have to say that the 176lbs Bruce with good scope just doesn't drag, so beyond a couple of test I can't as the app actually .works

The downside of drag queen is that it doesn't run in the background and the screen stays lit up .so you need to dim it if you want to sleep and keep the phone plugged. The other issue is that it doesn't show the actual track, jut distance and bearing so you can't see the pattern and decide what to do if it goes off without using another GPS app

I ve started using another app called boat monitor app which shows you the actual tracks while monitoring. It also has a nice remote monitoring feature where you can set it up on one device ad access the track and receive alarm on another device off the boat. Obviously both need Internet access. Nice When you leave the boat

A few weeks ago I bought an iPad to replace my laptop, along with a lifeproof case ( waterproof to 6'). I m running the garmin app and absolutely love it. It truly rivals a built in plotter.

Note that the basic wifi only models do not have a GPS chip. You need one of the cellular model but do not have to activate the service for the GPS chip to be used. Or you can use an external Bluetooth GPS receiver, less convenient. And yes the built in GPS chip is as accurate as regular marine receiver.

And you get so many more benefits with an iPad... For instance, excellent weather radar (myRadar app)' storage for all those tech manuals in PDF format, wind app (wind alert) and much more.

For music, it can't be beat especially used with a AirPort express. You can set playlists depending on the kind of people you have on board .or your mood and wirelessly play them to any stereo on the boat connected to a $99 airport express (only one at a time though). There is even an app (PlayMyQ ) which allows you to control the music selection, volume, etc from an iPhone or I touch anywhere on the boat, so if you have the iPad running at th helm like I do, you can control the music from the aft deck, galley etc... Very neat.

And so much more.

 

[gbharrington]

Polar Navy on my laptop. I used it all winter and it was invaluable, not to mention inexpensive. I even used it to navigate when my chartpotters were down.

 

[Pascal]

Polar navy is great and absolutely offers the best bang for the buck in nav software

However there are some significant benefits to using a tablet Vs a laptop...

- iPad is shock proof and water prof with a lifeproof case
- iPad screen is much more readable in sunlight
- much easier to integrate at the helm than a laptop.
- much lighter and easy to grab. If you need to look at some details, it s easier to grab it and hold it than standing in front of a laptop especially in rough seas.

My only regret is into to have switched to an iPad earlier.

 

[magnawake]

Pascal is Correct. My laptop is sort of a pain to read if the sun is bright. We also have a hood so we can read the laptop easier. We just got the Ipad so we are forward to using it.

 

[Capt Paul]

I am pretty sure my wifi only ipad has built in gps. I can use Find My Ipad from another device and it picks up exactly where it is. Also Google Earth.

The Airport Express sounds great. I will check that out. Thanks for the heads up.

I think Angela still has a 90s vintage dumb phone

I ve used drag queen extensively, in the past year and it works very well, although l have to say that the 176lbs Bruce with good scope just doesn't drag, so beyond a couple of test I can't as the app actually .works

The downside of drag queen is that it doesn't run in the background and the screen stays lit up .so you need to dim it if you want to sleep and keep the phone plugged. The other issue is that it doesn't show the actual track, jut distance and bearing so you can't see the pattern and decide what to do if it goes off without using another GPS app

I ve started using another app called boat monitor app which shows you the actual tracks while monitoring. It also has a nice remote monitoring feature where you can set it up on one device ad access the track and receive alarm on another device off the boat. Obviously both need Internet access. Nice When you leave the boat

A few weeks ago I bought an iPad to replace my laptop, along with a lifeproof case ( waterproof to 6'). I m running the garmin app and absolutely love it. It truly rivals a built in plotter.

Note that the basic wifi only models do not have a GPS chip. You need one of the cellular model but do not have to activate the service for the GPS chip to be used. Or you can use an external Bluetooth GPS receiver, less convenient. And yes the built in GPS chip is as accurate as regular marine receiver.

And you get so many more benefits with an iPad... For instance, excellent weather radar (myRadar app)' storage for all those tech manuals in PDF format, wind app (wind alert) and much more.

For music, it can't be beat especially used with a AirPort express. You can set playlists depending on the kind of people you have on board .or your mood and wirelessly play them to any stereo on the boat connected to a $99 airport express (only one at a time though). There is even an app (PlayMyQ ) which allows you to control the music selection, volume, etc from an iPhone or I touch anywhere on the boat, so if you have the iPad running at th helm like I do, you can control the music from the aft deck, galley etc... Very neat.

And so much more.

 

[gbharrington]

All this about the iPad is true, and someday I'll have one. However it's somewhat irrelavant when talking about anchor alarms and sleeping with confidence. Polar Navy has a great anchor alarm, and the last time I checked, daylight readability at the helm was not that important when I'm sleeping at night.

 

[SeaEric]

My only challenge has been in getting the abundance of eye makeup and glitter to wash out of the linens.

All kidding aside - I have Drag Queen on my Droid phone but have not yet had a chance to use it. I have read about reliability issues when the phone is below deck in the stateroom.

 

[bobk]

Pascal, can you contrast Polar Navy with the older Nobeltec products. I'm using N 7 (I think) and like the course plotting features. My 14" Toshiba has been on the bridge for years in a home made hood. So far so good, but awaiting a machine failure.

 

[Pascal]

I used nobeltech just once or twice a few years ago and didn't like it... Too bloated, too slow, ... PNavy is a pretty compact program that does the job for a fraction of the cost.

Personally I don't ask much from nav software. I rarely use complex router, too all I ll just use a waypoint at arrival or next major course change. For instance, when running from Newport to Nantucket, i ll use a wo at Nantucket and guesstimate that the little detour up along the Elizabeth islands will add 20 minutes or so... I don't plot each turn on a route. But if that's what you want to do, PNavy and the garmin app can do it.

Reason I brought up apps and iPads is that many don't realize that a tablet can now replace a Laptop and bring many convenient features you don't get with a laptop. Having used both I have seen how superior the iPad is when used on a boat.

Paul, check the specs, the iPad onl has a GPS chip if it s a cel modem, and againi you don't have to activate the data plan. Nt sure about earlier versions, maybe the GPS chip was on the wifi version as well.

Both my iPhone and iPad have excellent GPS accuracy below deck when located a few feet from the hull side

Btw, the original version of drag queen had an issue with the app occasionally shutting down if email or text messages came in under certain conditions, like in the Bahamas with cell data roaming off. The current version ( about 2 months old) fixed that

 

[TROUBLE]

I have been using an app called Anchor Watch. It runs in the background and you can program it to call another phone if your away from the boat.

Art

 

[Vincentc]

It was a one night experience with drag queen. I was in a fwd V berth and the GPS worked without a problem. The read out showed me the number of feet from my original position. Although it remained on, I had a lot of battery left. The light didn't bother me with the cover closed.

I have a smart phone and a noteboo, but the iPad is better, big enough to see and find in bed but small enough to sleep with and no cords to get tangled. On deck you can turn up the brightness and read it in sunlight. If I have cell service Google earth and mapquest are very useful, as are Radar Pro for storms and BouyData for wind and tide info. We took Lilly Marie and rented a house on Ono Island for a family Mothers Day long weekend and the IPad did what the Garmin 4212 could not in identifying the right house and dock using the street address. Google did a good job locating sand bars as well.

If I can just find a simple, low cost way to get G3 service at the Barrier Islands, about 9 nm from shore.