GPSMAP 66i as a GPS for a Wi-Fi only iPad

Is there a way to inject GPS data from a Garmin 66i into a wifi-only iPad so the info is available to all the apps including CalTopo? It works with the Garmin Explore app, but that is about it.

Thanks!

0 Willie over 1 year ago

I also tried to drive Navionics, a Garmin brand, on the iPad but it didn’t work either.

0 twolpert over 1 year ago

On iOS, in theory, all connected GPS devices are available to location services. So you SHOULD be able to use it with any GPS-enabled app. That said, the location-aware app does not usually allow manual selection of a connected GPS device. The app asks for a particular accuracy (or better). Location services gives the app the "best" qualifying device. Best guess would be that the 66i properly reports lousy accuracy and is never chosen. (It's not that the 66i GPS is inherently inaccurate. It's that the 66i MAY be taking a fix only when transmitting a sent point. For example, once every 10 minutes.)

You can try making sure that "logged points" (aka activity recording) is enabled at a reasonable interval. If that does not fix it, you're probably out of luck.

You can try opening a support ticket. But since it works with the Explore app, and since CalTopo is a third-party product, I don't think it's likely to go anywhere.

0 Willie over 1 year ago in reply to twolpert

Thanks for your reply. When I said it was working with the Garmin Explore app, I incorrectly assumed "Sync Everything" included the GPS Lat/Long from the Garmin GPS. Apparently that is not the case because the current position is clearly not aligning with the track data that is being sent. The position data is probably from the Wi-Fi I am connected to, which is not very accurate. Sorry for the fire drill. It looks like GPS data is not available from the Garmin using the Bluetooth connection.