|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home > PDA and PND/GPS SystemsPDA/GPS and PNA Systems
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What PDA/GPS Systems Can Do | What PDA/GPS Systems Can't Do |
|
|
Example Systems
Below are a few example systems. I've tried to pull together all
the components you need for a complete system.
How to Acquire These Example Systems
Not all the parts listed on this page are available from Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
I don't sell Pocket PCs because they change too rapidly so Pocket PCs and accessories are
available through alliances with PC Connection. In order to
purchase all the parts in some of the systems below, you would need to place
two orders - one with Cumulus Soaring, Inc., and one with PC Connection. I can buy them for international customers if you are also
buying other parts from me.
Cool Product
The Socket Mobile Power Pack is an awesome accessory for any soaring pilot
PDA user. It is a 5V Lithium Ion battery pack that measures only 102 x
76 x 25 mm (4" x 3" x 1") and yet it is rated at 7.2 Ah.
It fits nicely in to the side pocket of most any glider and provides 24
hours of power for your PDA. You can keep it connected throughout the
flight or just plug it in if the PDAs battery gets low. I used to
recommend only PDAs that have optional large batteries but this product
makes it possible to use any Pocket PC. It sells for $109.
You can see details on the Socket page.
Naviter Oudie PNA -
The Ultimate Portable System
The Oudie is a PNA that is nearly
perfect for use in gliders. Many current model PDAs and PNAs
suffer from some "gotcha" issue such as the lack of a serial port, or
low resolution, screen too small or too large, etc. The Oudie is
the perfect size for use in a glider and offers a built-in GPS and
built-in RS-232 serial port - so it can talk to soaring flight computers
and flight recorders. The 5" diagonal screen is a little larger
than a PDA, but the overall footprint is much smaller than the existing
"high end" soaring navigation displays. Testing has shown that the Oudie
is significantly brighter than an iPAQ 310 (which is brighter than most
PDAs). It is not as bright and does not offer the same screen
resolution as the NK ClearNav, but it has a much smaller footprint and costs
much less. The screen resolution is 480 x 272 pixels. That is
more than an iPAQ h3900, the same as the Bendix King AV8OR and less than
iPAQ 310 or ClearNav. I have played with an Oudie I was very satisfied
with its screen resolution. The $628 price is very reasonable
considering it includes a built-in GPS, suction cup mount, power/data cable
with built-in 12V to 5V power converter and a license for SeeYou Mobile that
is tied to the Oudie. I predict that the Oudie (with its built-in GPS)
will be popular both for pilots looking for a portable system in club and
rental gliders, and pilots looking for a semi-portable mounted system wired
into a glider's electrical system and connected to a soaring GPS or flight
computer
External Power
I imagine that the internal battery will power the unit for only an hour or
2. Therefore it will probably be necessary to power the unit either with an
external portable battery such as the
Socket Mobile Power Pack,
or to power it with 12V using its supplied 12V to 5V power converter.
The
Oudie works great with the
Socket Mobile Power Pack
and that standard USB to mini-USB cable (included with the Oudie) can be
used to connect them together. My 5 year old
Socket Mobile Power Pack
powered the Oudie for just under 12 hours.
Mounting Options
The unit includes a suction cup mount designed for use in a car. Since
it has a mechanism for pulling a strong suction (ideal for use on a glass
window in a car) it may or may not be idea for use on an expensive and
flexible glider canopy. I don't recommend using similar devices in
gliders because they "dimple" the canopy when in use and may cause crazing
over time. Several mounting options are shown below.
| Example System with Naviter Oudie | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
   |
|
|
Naviter Oudie System |
Naviter Oudie |
SeeYou Mobile Soaring Flight Software (included in the price of the Oudie) |
Oudie
Cradle with Oudie Cradle Modification (included in box with Oudie) |
RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAP-B-238
RAM suction cup mount |
Socket Mobile Power Pack The cable used to connect to the Oudie is included in the box with the Oudie. |
Total: $749.85
Optional
If you want to mount this PNA more permanently, I recommend the Oudie
Cradle with Oudie Cradle
Modification with a
GNeck2-Assy-Panel or
GNeck2-Assy-Side gooseneck
system, or a RAP-B-Arm-Std-PlBase B-size mounting arm.
with
or
or
iPAQ hx4705 with Transplant CFGPS
Portable System with large screen and large battery - For Soaring Club Members
This system is designed for quick installation in any glider. Just
attach the suction cup mount to the canopy of the glider and go soaring.
It's perfect for club members who want a GPS, graphical moving map with
airports and SUAs, differential final glide, reachable airports highlighted,
and "unofficial" IGC flight logger that can be used in any glider.
The large 4" screen is the largest available on a
Pocket PC - most are 3.5" or 3.8". In my
informal test this large battery powered the 4705 with the backlight on full
power and a
Transplant Primum CFGPS GPS for
just over 6 hours. This Pocket PC also
offers a high resolution screen. Most Pocket PCs have a screen
resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. This one has a resolution of 480 x 640
pixels. That doesn't make a major difference in the amount of data
that can be displayed because the text has to be large enough to read in the
cockpit. However, it does make the text more sharp and the maps more
detailed. pocket*StrePla and SeeYou Mobile look very nice on the high
resolution display. There are no cables or electrical connections to
make to the Pocket PC or GPS. The iPAQ hx4705 has a serial data port so it
can be connected to an external GPS or flight logger using the
I38C-x cable. If you need more
battery power you can use the Socket Mobile
Power Pack shown below.
Note: The iPAQ hx4705 is no longer available as new. Used units are available on ebay and Amazon.com.
| Example System with iPAQ hx4705 Pocket PC and Transplant CF GPS | |||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Soaring Flight Software |
hp iPAQ hx4705 |
Holux GR-271 CF GPS |
Nimbus Cradle with USB "A" connector option for plugging directly into the Socket Mobile Power Pack |
RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAM-B-238 | Socket Mobile Power Pack |
Total: $787.85
iPAQ 210, 211 or 214 with CF GPS
Portable System with large screen - For Soaring Club Members
This system is designed for quick installation in any glider. Just
attach the suction cup mount to the canopy of the glider and go soaring.
It's perfect for club members who want a GPS, graphical moving map with
airports and airspace, differential final glide, reachable airports highlighted,
and "unofficial" IGC flight logger that can be used in any glider.
The large 4" screen is the largest available on a Pocket PC (but smaller
than the screen on the iPAQ 310 PND - see below). This
Pocket PC also offers a high resolution screen. Most Pocket PCs have a
screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. This one has a resolution of
480 x 640 pixels. That doesn't make a major difference in the amount
of data that can be displayed because the text has to be large enough to
read in the cockpit. However, it does make the text more sharp and the
maps more detailed. pocket*StrePla and SeeYou Mobile look very nice on
the high resolution display. The built-in battery will power the PDA
and CF GPS for only a few hours, so you'll want to include the Socket Mobile
Power Pack to power the system.
Note: The iPAQ 210 does not have a built-in RS-232 serial port, so you will need a Socket Ruggedized Serial I/O CF Card to connect it to a soaring GPS. A special version of the Nimbus cradle is available to allow an iPAQ 210 to be connected to a Cambridge 302, Goddard PS-5a power converter, etc.
| Example System with iPAQ 210, 211 or 214 Pocket PC and Transplant CF GPS | |||||
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Soaring Flight Software |
hp iPAQ 210, 211 or 214 |
Holux GR-271 CF GPS |
Nimbus Cradle with USB "A" connector option for plugging directly into the Socket Mobile Power Pack |
RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAM-B-238 suction cup mount |
Socket Mobile Power Pack |
Total: $737.85
iPAQ 310 (USA), 312, 314, 316 or 318 PNA (Personal Navigation Assistant)
Portable System with built-in GPS and large, high-resolution screen
This system is designed for quick installation in any glider. Just
attach the suction cup mount to the canopy of the glider and go soaring.
It's perfect for soaring club members or those who rent gliders who want a GPS, graphical moving map with
airports and airspace, differential final glide, reachable airports highlighted,
and "unofficial" IGC flight logger that can be used in any glider.
The large 4.3" screen is the largest available
in a portable PDA or PNA. This
PNA also offers a high resolution (800x480 pixel) screen. Most Pocket PCs have a
screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. So far SeeYou Mobile is the only soaring software
that supports this device. 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. The Socket
Mobile Power Pack is able to power the iPAQ 310 for about 9
hours and 15 minutes. During the test the iPAQ 310's backlight was at
full brightness and the built-in GPS was working. The test was done
with my 3 year old Socket Mobile Power Pack. A new unit would probably
last even longer.
Note: The iPAQ 300 series does have a built-in serial port capability. However, it is somewhat limited. It requires a serial voltage level converter, and it works only at 9600 baud or higher. Therefore it can't be used with a Cambridge 302 or Volkslogger or ILEC SN10. But it should work great with an EW microRecorder or LX Navigation Colibri. The K6 Bt BlueTooth Adapter makes it possible to talk to just about any soaring instrument over BlueTooth. But a cable solution is preferable if possible.
| Example System with iPAQ 310 | |||||
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
| Assembled System |
SeeYou Mobile Soaring Flight Software |
hp iPAQ 300 Series (310/312/314/316/318) Travel Companion Personal Navigation Device (PND) |
Cable-USBA-mini-USB-Pwr-1 | Socket Mobile Power Pack |
RAM-HOL-PD2 with
RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAP-B-238 |
Total: $759.80
Optional
If you want to mount this PND more permanently, I recommend the
RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle with a
GNeck2-Assy-Panel or
GNeck2-Assy-Side gooseneck
system, or a RAM B-size mounting arm.
with
or
or
Bendix King AV8OR PNA (Personal Navigation Assistant) - The Ultimate Portable System?
Portable System with built-in GPS and large, medium-resolution screen
This system is designed for quick installation in any glider. Just
attach the suction cup mount to the canopy of the glider and go soaring.
It's perfect for soaring club members or those who rent gliders who want a GPS, graphical moving map with
airports and airspace, differential final glide, reachable airports highlighted,
and "unofficial" IGC flight logger that can be used in any glider.
The large 4.3" screen is very nice. This
PNA offers a medium screen resolution (480x272 pixel) screen. Most Pocket PCs have a
screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The iPAQ 310 has a 800 x 480
pixels - which is much higher. The screen resolution of the AV8OR is
even less than my iPAQ hx4700 (640 x 480 pixels). However, I thought
the screen looked good (better than most PDAs) and I really didn't find the
"medium" screen resolution to be a problem.
The screen is the noticeably brighter than my iPAQ 310 and all PDAs I have
compared it to. So far SeeYou Mobile is the only soaring software
that supports this device. The unit's internal 800 mAh battery will
power the unit with the backlight on full power and the GPS running for just
over 1.5 hours. A 1600 mAh battery is also available as an option and
will power the unit for about 3 hours. Since that is not really long
enough for the most soaring flights (plus the time before and after the
flight) I recommend powering it with external power.
The Socket
Mobile Power Pack works great with it.
I tested it using my 3 year old Socket Mobile Power
Pack and a standard USB to mini-USB cable and 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. It is rumored
that it can also be powered by a Cambridge 302 or LX1600.
Unlike the iPAQ 310, this device does have a built-in serial port (through the mini-USB connector). The iPAQ 310 has a serial port, that works at 9600 baud and higher baud rates, with the use of an serial voltage level converter. The AV8OR does not need the voltage level converter and works great at any baud rate. That means that it will work great with all soaring GPS flight recorders and flight computers.
The price ($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. I also offers the brightest screen I've seen in a PDA or PNA and can connect 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.
| Example System with Bendix King AV8OR | |||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
SeeYou Mobile Soaring Flight Software |
Bendix King AV8OR |
Socket Mobile Power Pack |
RAM-HOL-PD2 with
RAM-B-SCMK-RAP-B-201-RAP-B-238 |
Total: $1149.80
Optional
If you want to mount this PND more permanently, I recommend the
RAM-HOL-PD2 cradle with a
GNeck2-Assy-Panel or
GNeck2-Assy-Side gooseneck
system, or a RAM B-size mounting arm.
with
or
or
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
