Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm pulling the boat home next week to get my spring cleaning done and add a 10" Bazooka powered sub and put my 8" Samsung tablet in my center dash. One question I have is what's the best way to get power to it? It uses the typical phone type micro usb charger. I will run power the wire through the back of the dash, but not sure how to hook up. Can I just cut the wires on an old charger and splice into power? Would love to hear from someone with experience doing this.

You can see the the perfect mounting spot right in the center where a factor GPS would have gone.

Thanks!

One thing to consider before using a tablet. Can the tablet screen be seen (usable) in direct sunlight? Don't cut the console until you know what will work. Will polarized sunglasses darken the screen?

My Asus tablet would not work well in sunlight.

Here's some that may work. I haven't tried any of them.

https://www.cnet.com/news/tablets-with- ... t-screens/

What about being waterproof? Sounds like a problem.

I just plug my tablet into the cigarette lighter for power. I have a nice tablet cup holder mount that allows me to angle it an any direction that I want...helps with any glare and is very stable. For the few times it rains I just use a zip lock bag.

Don't just cut the mini-USB cord & wire it to 12V--you'll destroy your tablet. USB is powered off 5V.
First time I wanted to hard-wire a 5V adapter behind the dash I just cracked open a lighter adapter & used the pcb inside. This is a much better solution and doesn't require soldering:

[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/t/DC-DC-Dual-USB-O ... YM/$_3.JPG[/img]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-3A-6-4 ... SwdzVXkOX2

If the links don't work just look for "5v buck converter" on eBay or Amazon and take your pick from hundreds under $10.

Another option is a USB dash-mount outlet that has the step-down converter built in. Many aren't truly waterproof but many do include a plug to keep water out of the jack when not in use. You can buy 1-foot USB to mini-USB cords to keep it neat.

[img]http://i1333.photobucket.com/albums/w63 ... j8fuez.jpg[/img]

"12V USB Lighter Socket Adapter"

I'm installing several tablets at work right now. Ram mount sells a good 3 amp charger that wires direct into your fuse block and has a female usb.

http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-GDS-CHARGE-V2U

Should be water proof also.

The easiest way would be to put an additional USB charger like the one on the right side of the helm in one of the unused gauge spots. You also could pull the dash away at the bottom just a bit and run your charger cable behind it and carve a little notch with a dremel that the cord passes through and have the cord there all of the time. Then you would need either a cigarette lighter with a plug in usb charger or hard wired usb charger. As for mounting ram mounts work well. I've also played around with a few using headrest mounts that are modified. Right now on ours I used industrial strength hook and loop fastner to hold our 8 inch tablet. I actually like the velcro now even though it was intended to be temporary. It actually gives it a flush mounted look and is easy to remove the tablet. The only downside I've found is you can't rotate it like on a ram mount or other type of mount that is adjustable.

On another note for anyone with Navioncs on Android....I suggest getting the night mode app to go with it. Mine is still overwhelmingly bright at night even when dimmed down but this app lets you take the backlight down further than factory adjustments. One word of warning though...don't forget to hit stop on the app when it's still dark or the next day it will be really hard to see the display in any light at all. I had to take mine into a dark closet just to stop the dimming the app took it down so dark.

Thanks for the great info. The step down converter is a great idea. For mounting, my plan is to use heavy duty velcro strips to hold the tablet horizontal in the rectangular bulge that was the original cutout. The 8" tablet fits perfectly in that space. I could always just run a short cord to the cigarette lighter or USB port to keep it charged as well. I like the idea of no wires showing though.

I will be using a waterproof case on the tablet it for when it rains. The ability to see in the sun in a concern, but these Samsung tablets can get super bright so may not be too bad. Can't wait to get the pontoon home for the spring clean and Bazooka and tablet install!

I would try using the tablet without making any permanent modifications. I started last year with a tablet using a power adapter for the cigarette lighter and could not find a combination to make the screen readable during the day. Even with the bimini top up, I did not get enough sun block in order to see the screen comfortably. I tried different products that claimed to work, but apparently the sun is brighter where we're at.

I do not have a Samsung tablet.

I can tell you from experience that the Velcro strips won't hold. Once the glue on the back of the Velcro sees any kind of sunlight it will lose all of its holding power. I tried the same exact kind of mount....it couldn't even hold a smartphone once it got hot. Go with a cupholder mount or a Ram mount instead.

[/url]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0 ... UTF8&psc=1

How about you just go buy a GPS /Nav unit that's made for what you want. Save the time jacking around trying to Southern Engineer it.

How about you can get a 8 inch touch screen navigation unit that updates constantly for $5 a year and only $20 plus a $30 mount. Show me where to buy a navionics powered chart plotter for $50 and I'm all over it. Even if you have to buy the tablet you can get one for around 50 bucks that runs it great. Add a $200 wifi depth finder and worst case your in it for $300 for raymarine chirp down scan and navionics with an 8inch touch high definition display. Again find me a unit for that new and I'd be glad to buy it. Tablet based chart plotter, radar, depth finder, etc is the wave of the future and some are even manufacturing dash pods to put the tablets in to protect them from the elements or they make high end military grade tablets that are waterproof that are being successfully demonstrated in the marine environment.

Mercury even makes a vessel view bluetooth module that turns your phone or tablet into a vesselview display. You are going going to see more and more things going this way.

I'm going this route also. I've been running navionics on my phone, but I'm going to switch to my 9.6" samsung tablet this year. I also stream music from Spotify, so I will use the tablet for that also.

Hard to beat an all in one unit that can be used for multiple applications, easily updated, ect. There may be a few things that it can't do compared to a high dollar marine GPS unit, but I'm not spending 500+ dollars on something I use on occasion.

Using your cell phone or a cellular tablet is only good if you have service... RIGHT? If you have low or no service areas...no Nav... Is this correct? PLUS it has to eat away at data if you go this route. I'm looking at the small Garmin units... 7" screen combo units. Just wish there was a way to install it more cleanly & professionally looking.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/576400

I use Navionics and SonarPhone on multiple tablets/cell phones on my boat that have NO cell plan at all. All you need is GPS capability in the device for the Navionics. It's a myth that you have to have cellular coverage. All you need is to load/update the software via WiFi once in a while at home.

I "recycle" my old smartphones and use them in the front and back of the boat so that I don't have to run back to the dash every time I want to check what is going on. Works fantastic when trolling.

You can split screen both so it looks like this on a tablet or smartphone:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?view= ... u14e8wEsDh