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800 mAh
(standard)

It is capable of running SeeYou Mobile for PNA!  It automatically rotates the screen to portrait mode (vertical orientation) which is nice.  Just unzip the SeeYou Mobile for PNA install files into the root directory of an SD card, put it into the unit and reset it by putting the stylus into the small hole on the back of the unit.  Mobile looks great on it!

Warning!
If you want to use the built-in general aviation flight navigation software, do NOT install the SeeYou Mobile files onto the SD card that is included with the unit.  Doing so will make it impossible to run the built-in general aviation navigation software and street navigation software.  Instead, install it onto a different SD card.  The unit will then run SeeYou Mobile when that SD card is installed, and the general aviation software and street navigation software when the original SD card is used.  I installed it onto the SD card that came with the AV8OR and it overwrote some settings files on the SD card so that now the "Go Fly" button on the startup menu runs SeeYou Mobile, and not the built-in general aviation software.  That is great for me, but not for someone that wants to use the general aviation flight software.  The "Go Drive" button for street navigation is also affected if Mobile is installed on the supplied SD card.  Instead of running the street navigation software it runs SeeYou's ConnectMe program.

It has an RS-232 serial port, so it can connect to any soaring GPS, flight recorder or flight computer using the AV8OR-PS-5a-1 cable and a Goddard PS-5a power converter.

It comes with street mapping software and general aviation moving map software.

It has a built-in 20 channel GPS!  That makes it great for use as a portable system to be used in club or rental gliders.

Screen
The screen is similar in size as the iPAQ 310 (4.3 inches), but it has a much lower screen resolution at 480 x 272 pixels than the iPAQ 310 (800 x 480) or even an iPAQ hx4700 or 210 (480 x 640), but higher resolution than the older iPAQ h3000, h5000 and hx2000 series Pocket PCs (240 x 320).  The screen is noticeably brighter than an iPAQ 310 indoors and in sunlight.  The relatively low resolution of screen actually does not seem to be an issue.  The unit looks good to me.

Power Input and Data Cables
The manual says that it requires 6 VDC power.  However, the wall charger is rated at 5V, and a post on the Naviter (SeeYou) forum states that it runs fine with 5V power input from a Cambridge 302 or LX1600, etc.  My testing shows that it work well with the Socket Mobile Power Pack (and a standard USB cable) or Goddard PS-5a power converter with an AV8OR-PS-5a-1 cable.  The Goddard PS-5a power converter seems to be able to supply enough power for it.  However, the Cambridge 302 does not.  When I connected the AV8OR-PS5a-1 cable directly to a 302 the vario needle went nuts.  Therefore, to connect to a 302, you would need an AV8OR-PS-5a-1 cable, a PS-5a power converter and a PC-x cable. 

To connect to a Colibri you would use an AV8OR-PS-5a-1 cable, a Goddard PS-5a power converter and a PFC-1 cable. 

To connect to an EW microRecorder you would use an AV8OR-PS-5a-1 cable, a Goddard PS-5a power converter and a PEWmicroRec-0.3 cable.

Battery Life
It ships with an 800mAh battery which the Quick Tip Guide says will power the unit with the backlight on full for about 1.5 hours.  An optional 1600 mAh battery will power it for over 3 hours with the backlight on full.  3 hours isn't very long when you consider the time the unit must be on before takeoff and after landing, so I recommend powering it with either a Socket Mobile Power Pack or Goddard PS-5a power converter.  I have done a little testing with both small and large batteries.  I found it a bit annoying because the "Battery Low" audio and text warnings started when the battery was still half full.  I don't see any compelling reason to buy the large battery since I will always power the unit with external power.  I tested it using my 3 year old Socket Mobile Power Pack and a standard USB to mini-USB cable.  It ran for over 10 hours.  The first "Battery Low" warning happened at about 10 hours.  At that time I believe the Socket Mobile Power Pack was dead and the unit's main battery was draining fast.

Cradle and Mounting Options
The RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle works great this unit.  The unit ships with a cradle and both a suction cup mount for use in the car, and a yolk mount for use in a power plane.  I do NOT recommend using the car suction cup on a glider canopy because it has a rotating mechanism which allows it to pull a large suction - which would deform the glider canopy and perhaps cause damage to it over time.  It may be possible to use the provided cradle with a GNeck 2 gooseneck arm or RAM arm, but I don't recommend doing that because then it would be unusable in the car or power plane.  I recommend using the RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle with a Gneck2 gooseneck and RAM-GN3-238 adapter or a RAM arm, or a RAM suction cup mount.

No Glare Reducer Necessary - I was very pleased to see that this PDA does not have a glass-like shiny screen.  It does not need a glare reducer - which is nice since glare reducers reduce the brightness.

Tip
When using the AV8OR's internal GPS and SeeYou Mobile, it is important to go to "Menu / Next / Input / Last sentence" and select "$GPGGA".  That sentence contains altitude data.  It is only sent every 4 seconds.  If it is not selected as the last sentence then the altitude display will bounce back and forth between good altitude data and "N/A".  The bad news is that the map will only update every 4 seconds.  The good news is that the altitude data will be correct.  This is not an issue when receiving data from an external GPS such as a Cambridge 302 or Colibri.
Fix
A customer has reported a fix to the issue above which he received from Bendix King.  "Take the unit somewhere where it cannot receive a GPS signal, and then reset the GPS utilising Settings/GPS Status/GPS reset. It only takes a minute once you know what you have to do, and it seems like a once and for all fix.  It changed the GPS output to include the GPGGA sentence which reports altitude every second. So all is now well.  I have discovered that when I use the native Go Drive software it returns the internal GPS output to have altitude data only every 4 seconds, but using the fix mentioned above restores altitude every second when you want to run SYM again."

The price (in the $650 to $799) is quite a bit higher than the iPAQ 310 ($249), but it does have an RS-232 serial port and built-in general aviation moving map software, and a brighter screen than any other portable device I've tested.  Also, I like that this unit can be connected to a Socket Mobile Power Pack using a standard USB cable (the iPAQ 310 needs a custom cable).  I don't currently sell this product (that may change), but I do sell SeeYou Mobile for PNA and cradles and mounts and data/power cables for it.

4000 mAh
(standard)

Interesting AV8OR ACE product review video by AvWeb:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZwbQsZpV6M&fmt=22  

It should be capable of running SeeYou Mobile for PNA!  I have not tested this unit with SeeYou Mobile yet.

It has an RS-232 serial port, so it should connect to any soaring GPS, flight recorder or flight computer using the AV8ORACE-PS-5a-1 cable and a Goddard PS-5a power converter.

It comes with street mapping software and general aviation moving map software.

It has a built-in 20 channel GPS!  That makes it great for use as a portable system to be used in club or rental gliders.  However, it may well be too large to use as a portable device.

Screen
The screen is very large. In fact, it may be difficult to fit into most gliders.  The screen resolution is excellent at 480 x 800 pixels.  I have not tested one in sunlight, but the available information indicates that it will be brighter than any other PDA or PNA - just like the standard AV8OR.  However, I doubt it is as bright as the ClearNav.  This is a very large unit.  The unit is 4.80" W x 7.58" H x 1.07" D and weighs 1.25 lbs.  Before buying one, I recommend making a paper model of it and holding it up to your glider's instrument panel.

Power Input and Data Cables
The AV8OR ACE uses the same optional serial cable as the AV8OR.  That is great news.  AV8ORACE-PS-5a-1 cable will provide both 5V power and data.  It should be able to supply 5V power to the unit and serial data from any soaring instrument.  The only question is - how much current will it require?

To connect to a Colibri you would use an AV8ORACE-PS-5a-1 cable, a Goddard PS-5a power converter and a PFC-1 cable. 

To connect to an EW microRecorder you would use an AV8ORACE-PS-5a-1 cable, a Goddard PS-5a power converter and a PEWmicroRec-0.3 cable.

Battery Life
It ships with both a 2000mAh battery and a 4000 mAh battery.  The Bendix King FAQ page states that the 2000 mAh battery will power the unit for about 1.5 hours and the 4000 mAh battery will power it for about 3 hours.  3 hours isn't very long when you consider the time the unit must be on before takeoff and after landing, so I recommend powering it with either a Socket Mobile Power Pack or Goddard PS-5a power converter. 

Cradle and Mounting Options
Unfortunately, there isn't RAM cradle that will work with this unit, so it will be necessary to modify the cradle that it supplied with it.  Due to its large size and weight, I recommend mounting it using a "B" size RAM arm.

The price (in the $1799 to $1999) is a bit high, but it does have an RS-232 serial port and built-in general aviation moving map software, and very bright screen.  I don't currently sell this product (that may change), but I do sell SeeYou Mobile for PNA and mounts and data/power cables for it.

Replacement lithium-ion rechargeable batteries for the Compaq Aero 1500 series Pocket PCs are no longer available from Compaq/HP or Ambry.  However, if you do a Google search for the part number "146656-001" you will probably find several sources.

See details or order:
Dell.com

See details or order:
Dell.com

Important Note: Although the Dell Axim Pocket PCs are a good value, they seem to have a non-standard RS-232 serial data port.  We have not be successful creating cables to connect them to external GPS units.

See details or order:
Dell.com

Important Note: Although the Dell Axim Pocket PCs are a good value, they seem to have a non-standard RS-232 serial data port.  We have not be successful creating cables to connect them to external GPS units.

QuickSpecs

However, the 24-pin connector is different from the connectors used on all previous iPAQs - so existing soaring data cables will not work with it. The big bummer with this PDA is that it does not have an RS-232 serial communications port built-in.  That means that it cannot connect to soaring GPS units through an RS-232 serial data cable unless you use a CF card serial port (see below). 

This PDA does have the ability to be a USB master - which theoretically makes it possible for this PDA to support USB to serial adapters.  I have heard rumors that some technical people have been successful at using this PDA with a USB to serial adapter.  This approach sounds somewhat appealing.  However, my experience with USB to serial adapters on PCs has been that they are not the same as having an actual serial port.  Getting this unit to work with a USB to serial adapter seems to me to a lot of work and I don't plan to do any testing of this at this time.  I think the likelihood of a reliable solution is mediocre.  Please let me know if you know more about this or have suggestions.

I have done some testing using a Socket BlueTooth Serial Adapter on a Cambridge 302 in hopes that it would allow the PDA to talk to and receive data from the 302.  I was able to get it to receive data sometimes, but it was not very reliable, and I could not get it to allow the PDA to talk to the 302.

K6 Bt BlueTooth Adapter
The K6 Bt BlueTooth Adapter makes it possible to use the iPAQ 210's built-in BlueTooth radio to communicate through the K6 bt to a soaring GPS.  Testing with a beta version of SeeYou Mobile looks promising.  This may be a good way to connect this PDA with a variety of different soaring instruments.  However, make sure the soaring software you are using is compatible with the K6 Bt.

However, it works great with a CF Card GPS or a BlueTooth GPS to provide a fantastic portable system.  In that case, you will want to use external power, or the Socket Mobile Power Pack.

No Glare Reducer Necessary - I was very pleased to see that this PDA does not have a glass-like shiny screen.  It does not need a glare reducer - which is nice since glare reducers reduce the brightness.

Serial Port CF Card
It is possible to use a Serial Port CF Card to connect the iPAQ 210/211/214 to a soaring GPS.  It may not be the most elegant solution since the data cable exits the top of the PDA and the PDA must be powered from a mini-USB connector on the bottom of the unit, but it does work.  One example CF Serial Card is available here: Socket Ruggedized Serial I/O CF Card.  I tested the that card with my with a Cambridge 302 and iPAQ 210 and it worked great.  I was able to receive GPS data from the 302 and download flight logs from the 302 and upload waypoint files to the 302.  We have created a new Nimbus cradle with a standard Cambridge 302/Goddard PS-5a connector that provides 5V power through a protected mini-USB connector on the bottom of the iPAQ and a data connection to a CF Serial Card in the top of the iPAQ.  Other than the connector on the top of the iPAQ it will work just like any other Nimbus cradle.

Glide Navigator II Memory Issue
There seems to be a problem with Glide Navigator II on this PDA.  There must be a change in the way memory is handled in the PDA because GN II seems to crash after 2 to 8 hours on this PDA.  We are working on fixing this issue.

QuickSpecs

Screen Technology
My tests show that it is a little bit easier to view in sunlight than all recent Pocket PCs.  I need to do more testing.  The screen technology is different than the screen technology using in Pocket PCs.  The screen is a Transmissive TFT display.  Recent Pocket PCs have all used Transflective TFT screens.  I don't know which technology is better.

Not a Pocket PC
Soaring pilots that are used to Pocket PCs should know that this unit is not a Pocket PC.  It is a Windows CE device.  Pocket PCs run a special version of Windows CE.  Therefore the user interface is quite different than the user interface found on Pocket PCs. 

Screen Orientation
The screen is oriented in landscape mode rather than portrait mode.  I would prefer portrait mode because I'm usually more interested in the area ahead of me than the area to the sides.  There are some shareware drivers available which make it possible to get the screen to switch to the portrait mode.

I was very excited when I learned that Naviter has a new version of SeeYou Mobile that runs on this device.  I tested it and it works great!

RS-232 Serial Port
After much research and testing we have confirmed that the iPAQ 310 does have an undocumented serial port which can be used to connect directly to some soaring instruments.  An inline RS-232 voltage level converter is required to make it work, but it works great.  However, we have found that it works only at baud rates of 9600 or higher.  It does not work at 4800 baud.  That is fine if you want to connect it to an EW microRecorder, ILEC SN10 (wirmware version 2.34 or higher) or LX Navigation LX1600 (firmware version 2.10 or later), LX7007, LX8000.  However, it is a problem if you want to connect to a Cambridge 302 or Volkslogger, or LX Colibri or LX7000.  Those send GPS data only at 4800 baud.  A direct cable connection is preferable to a BlueTooth connection for devices that can communicate at 9600 baud because it is possible to upload task declarations and download flight logs over the direct cable connection - not so with a BlueTooth connection (depending on the combination of hardware and software).  An I310-PS5a-1 cable can be used to connect the 310 to a Goddard PS-5a power converter.  From there a cable can be used to connect to a variety of soaring instruments.  An I310-LX1600-1 cable can be used to connect directly to an LX1600.  The LX1600 powers the iPAQ 310.  An I310-PS5a-1 and EWmicroRec-DB9f-x cable can be used to connect to an EW microRecorder.  The EW microRecorder provides both GPS data and 5V power for the iPAQ 310.

K6 Bt BlueTooth Adapter
The K6 Bt BlueTooth Adapter makes it possible to use the iPAQ 310's built-in BlueTooth radio to communicate through the K6 bt to a soaring GPS.  Testing with a beta version of SeeYou Mobile looks promising.  This may be a good way to connect this PDA with a variety of different soaring instruments.  However, make sure the soaring software you are using is compatible with the K6 Bt.

No Glare Reducer Necessary - I was very pleased to see that this PDA does not have a glass-like shiny screen.  It does not need a glare reducer - which is nice since glare reducers reduce the brightness.

Cradles and Mounting Arms
The iPAQ 300 series units ship with a nice suction cup mount.  However, I don't recommend using it on a glider canopy.  The reason I hesitate to recommend using it on a glider canopy is that it has a lever which allow to the suction cup to pull a large amount of suction.  That is great for use on a car window, but I think it may damage a glider canopy.  When I tested a similar suction cup on a glider canopy it created a temporary dimple on the canopy - sucking the canopy into the shape of the inside of the suction cup.  I immediately removed it because I didn't want to damage my expensive glider canopy.  It didn't damage the canopy, but I fear that it would cause internal crazing in the plastic over time.

The bad news is that there are no Nimbus cradles available for the iPAQ 300 series.  The great news is that it works great in a RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle.  The RAM-HOL-PD3 also holds the iPAQ 300 very securely, but the fingers block the USB port - making it impossible to connect external power.  I recommend using a RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle with a RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAP-B-238 suction cup mount for portable (temporary) installations and using a GNeck2-Assy-Panel or GNeck2-Assy-Side gooseneck system for permanent installations.

External Power
The unit's internal battery will power the unit with the backlight on full power and the GPS running for just over 2 hours.  I therefore recommend powering it with external power.  The Socket Mobile Power Pack works great with it, but only if you use the special Cable-USBA-mini-USB-Pwr-1 power cable.  A standard USB cable did not seem to allow the Socket Mobile Power Pack to charge the iPAQ 310 - it was indicating that it was receiving external power, but the battery level was slowly decreasing because the unit was not switched to high current charge mode.  The Cable-USBA-mini-USB-Pwr-1 solves that problem.  Another option is to power the 310 with a Goddard PS-5a power converter.  An I310-PS5a-1 cable can be used to connect the PS-5a to the 310. 

Compatible Soaring Flight Software
SeeYou Mobile works great on this device.  Unfortunately Glide Navigator II does not currently run on this device.

Backlight Tips
It can be a bit of a pain to get the iPAQ 310 backlight to stay on.  Below are tips from http://www.bware.it/xcsoar/ which seem to work well.

QuickSpecs

See details or order:
hx2410

See details or order:
hx2490

See details or order:
hx2750
hx2755

See details or order:
hx2790

Glide Navigator II Memory Issue
There seems to be a problem with Glide Navigator II on this PDA.  There must be a change in the way memory is handled in the PDA because GN II seems to crash after 2 to 8 hours on this PDA.  We are working on fixing this issue.

QuickSpecs

Paul E. Remde

8661 Connelly Place
Savage, Minnesota 55378
USA

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