Airbox nav unit?

[liam548]

Anyone using or had experience with these, what do you think?

AIRBOX (http://www.airboxaero.com/)

[tangovictor]

i brought one, before general release, an amazing piece of kit, having used a 296 before, it takes a bit of getting used to, very friendly people, who are both UK pilots so know exactly whats required, from a gps in the UK rather than a lot further west

[XXPLOD]

I'm keen to hear more opinions on the Airbox, anyone else got one?

[122.85]

I picked one up a few weeks ago and it had one glitch as it restarted mid flight once, spoke to Airbox who immediately emailed me over an update. Very friendly support team, I highly recommend this product both for ease of use and backroom support team.

[Slopey]

The Foresight looked good. The Clarity less so - I went for an AV80R over the clarity (USB connection for transfer/charging and cheaper updates were what did it for me, but ultimately I prefer the GPS display over the chart as you can better de-clutter it).

IIRC the foresight has no battery so has to be externally powered by a power charger brick/power gorilla, or connected to a 12v in the aircraft.

[liam548]

what are the main problems with the clarity?

[122.85]

Battery life is not massive but as unit is so nicely compact thats to be expected. I am pleased with purchase and believe the desk top software will be out in about a month.

Cheers
M

[liam548]

Battery life is not massive but as unit is so nicely compact thats to be expected. I am pleased with purchase and believe the desk top software will be out in about a month.

Cheers
M


A large battery pack would solve the power issues though...

[Slopey]

what are the main problems with the clarity?

For me, lack of USB as mentioned already - the AV80R charges off the USB port which I find really handy.

Also, I usually use 1:250 charts rather than 1:500 as I find them cluttered, so I have the same problem on the Clarity (and I'm not paying 130 quid for the 1:250 on top!). I found the zoom to be ok, there are 9 levels I believe, but not as sharp as the AV80R, and I'd rather have the GPS style view where I can choose what shows and what doesn't at each zoom level rather than see the actual chart. Zooming in on the clutter just shows you more clutter, and zooming out doesn't remove info like the AV80R can obviously as it's a chart.

The AV80R has terrain topo on the map colour coded by height which I also liked, not to mention it doubles as a car sat-nav which the Clarity doesn't. Lastly, the CAA chart updates are more expensive than the database updates for the AV80R.

[flybymike]

The power guerilla units are very expensive. Apart from weight and size what advantage do they have over a sealed lead acid type battery? Do they last any longer than say a 7ah SLA? What types of external power source do others use as back up to internal batteries or where there is no power in the aircraft ?

[lordhedges]

Just to clarify, the Clarity DOES charge off a USB like the AV8OR, a single 1:250,000 chart costs just £25 (the full set of 8 is £125) and these come with airspace and airfield data included.

The Clarity's screen resolution is 800 x 480 pixels versus the AV8OR's 480 x 272 pixels.

Airbox will, in the near future, be adding a terrrain topo overlay which can be switched in favour of chart if the user wishes by choosing the appropriate option in the menu.

The Airbox Fast Plan desktop utility is nearing completion and this will enable full desktop flightplanning and the transfer of routes between PC and an Airbox unit. It will also check online automatically for the latest airspace, chart and software updates and download those accordingly.

[Goldman]

HI

(First post)

I’m jest a low hour PPl without a great deal of experience with GPS systems; I had a good look around before making my mind up, Id flown with friends who had a fly angle and I brought back a TB20 from Egypt with one of the bendix king systems in it.

I went for the foresight as I jest found it so simple to use, There’s a lot of little things that jest made it right for me, I don’t believe that I’ll ever find one GPS that ticks all the boxes that I wanted but the foresight ticked the most. From a large easy to read touch screen to the way I can alter the info to display what I want at that time weather that’s my relative position to towns or to airfields or eta to next waypoint or destination. The more IV used it the more I’m pleased with the choice I made. Id highly recommend one but like all things some careful thought is needed before parting with your hard earned.

[flybymike]

"Bringing a TB20 back from Egypt" is a not inconsiderable achievement for a low hours PPL.

[Goldman]

Sorry re reading that its missleading...Right hand seat, jest there to make to make uo the numbers and play with the buttons.:E

[Hugh_Jarse]

"jest" ?

Tell me your just jesting ... ?

[liam548]

how does this compare to the cheaper Airbox unit? Im not really interested in using it in the car but want the best unit for flying.

Adventurer Pilot 7000 7" Touchscreen GPS @ Flightstore Pilot Supplies (http://www.flightstore.co.uk/prod/ADVP7000/gps/gpssystems/)

[BRL]

"jest" ?

Tell me your just jesting ... ?

He is quite posh really, thinks a Crèche is a car accident in Knightsbridge!.. :D

[IO540]

I am amazed people spend this much money on a box which as far as I can tell doesn't do anything outside the UK.

[Justiciar]

IO I expect that you either can or will be able to get Jep charts for europe. That was and is the position with flymap, though I am not certain whether they still support the Fly Angel I bought at some expense two years ago. That unit has quite long battery life and is also quite small. It straps to my leg in the Chipmunk, which is convenient when there is nowhere else to put it!

As a back up unit I would look for long battery life but ideally any unit should IMHO have the ability to download NavBox flight plans to it, which you cannot do with Flymap, Airbox or indeed the AV80R, which I was also looking at recently. All these need bespoke PC software, which is not as good as NavBox (well ceretainly the flymap one is not!) and means using two pieces of software to plan flights. This steers you towards something like the Garmin 495 or 295, which are a good bit bigger.

[tangovictor]

i'm pretty sure that Euro charts are available for the Airbox, it was certainly mentioned when i picked mine up

[lordhedges]

correct; they are...

[Chequeredflag]

Well, I've been using my good old Garmin 296 for over four years now, and it's been perfect. I particularly like the battery life, which is still well over 6 hours even after four years (I do, however, always have a fully charged spare with me just in case.....)

I quite like the idea of having the 1:500000 charts on the plotter screen, and some of the new units do look good, but with it's terrain page, and the Jeppeson charts, I find the 296 just the job, and should it die, the 495 will defo be it's replacement!..

[worrab]

He is quite posh really, thinks a Crèche is a car accident in Knightsbridge!.
...and sex are for potatoes!:oh:

[IO540]

How much extra are the Jepp VFR/GPS charts on this product, and can it do a continuous (many hours) GPS log of one's track which can be downloaded?

What sort of temperature rise does the unit have? This can be an extra issue at high altitude where the air is thinner (500mb at FL180).

My ls800 tablet tends to be used mainly to run the Euro GPS charts, for curiosity / emergency.

[liam548]

How much extra are the Jepp VFR/GPS charts on this product, and can it do a continuous (many hours) GPS log of one's track which can be downloaded?

What sort of temperature rise does the unit have? This can be an extra issue at high altitude where the air is thinner (500mb at FL180).

My ls800 tablet tends to be used mainly to run the Euro GPS charts, for curiosity / emergency.



id like to know if it can log your flight too for later download, anyone with either of these products lilke to confirm?

[ILblog]

Yes both devices (airbox and Adventurer) are perfect. But what a strange thing, aircraft can travel, and sometimes, they fly outside UK....

[Qwikstop]

Has anyone got any hands-on experience with the new Memory Map GPS? I think it is being reviewed in next month's flyer magazine. Also curious as to how useful the flight planning software is. Looks good value for a 7-inch screen with CAA maps included.

[Alan_D]

I bought the 'Pilot 7000' and returned it for a refund 3 days later.

I would describe this item as 'not fit for purpose'.

The battery life is appalling - no-where near the 1.5-2 hours specified. It had given up and shut down in less than 1 hour after a full charge.

There is no yoke or knee mount provided, and the supplied car sucker mount wouldn't stick to the curved window in the Cessna's I fly, besides it would block out too much external view that it would be dangerous on the screen. I tried it sitting on my knee, but the viewing angle of the screen made it hard to view at that angle.

In aviation mode it frequently errors on start-up about the GPS, but then starts ok other times. Position-fix is slooow.
The user interface is very limited. The 'find' function doesn't find anything (can't search for aerodromes), there is no ability to divert to another airfield, because you can't search for one.

The tiny on-screen keyboard is so small that I can't use it sitting still at home, never mind in a vibrating cockpit (it's about 8cm x 3cm in size, each key being about 4mm across). There is no stylus supplied.

The method to add waypoints is clunky, and editing or deleting them is even more so.
The (x) buttons to close windows are far too small, and difficult to use with finger presses, especially as they are located at the top right of the screen, next to the plastic screen surround. Information pop-up windows are not fixed, so in the attempt to hit the (x) button to close them often causes them to slide off the screen!

The supplied PC software refuses to talk directly to the GPS device, and says 'Failed to connect', so routes planned there aren't transferred to the GPS unit. The only work-around I found was to put the SD card into a card reader and save a route to it, then open that on the GPS.
The search in the software doesn't find any results either.

There are few instructions, and having read through the ones within the software it is very general, and doesn't seem to cover much.

Removing the power cable in any mode causes the GPS to shutdown in 20 seconds if you don't press a button. When it comes on again it then has to start again and re-find the GPS signal. Power cables into cigarette sockets *do* get intermittently moved while driving & flying, this is really annoying.

For a unit costing as much as this I expected far more. I get the impression than this product has been rushed to the market, and is really still in the development stage.

The car navigation functionality is basic, nothing like as good as even the cheapest TomTom model. On start-up it asks you if you're in a car or caravan (as it avoids low bridges and narrow roads in caravan mode) but this soon gets annoying as there is no way to get it to default to 'car' every time without asking.

The built-in TV and radio functionality did not find any stations at all with the built-in aerial. I didn't bother unwrapping the supplied external one as the decision had been made by that point!


So, I'm now considering one of the Airbox units, probably the Clarity as I'd prefer CAA type charts. Any reason NOT to buy this model?

[liam548]

So, I'm now considering one of the Airbox units, probably the Clarity as I'd prefer CAA type charts. Any reason NOT to buy this model?

ive been reading lots of reviews and the only negative commenst are about screen size.What size was the Pilot 7000?
I think they are updating it to include NOTAMS and worldwide/european cover soon too.
This is the model I am looking at buying.

[Alan_D]

The 7000 has a 7" screen.
I know the Clarity is a smaller screen, but willing to go smaller in exchange for decent functionality at a similar price to the 7000.

[Qwikstop]

First experience with the Airbox Clarity is good. The screen resolution is pin sharp and you have a choice of 1:500 and 1:250 maps.

The planning software is a beta release and very very basic. Also it doesn't let you download your flight track yet - but I understand it is under development. I got mine in a special offer which included a PowerMonkey, but even without recharging the battery lasts almost 3 hours (if screen input is minimal).

I have my unit secured to my kneeboard where it fits very nicely.

[Alan_D]

I also bought the Clarity in the end. I've flown with it a few times now, very good.
I bought the optional yoke mount, which is fairly heavy-duty and grips well.

I've *not* got the 1:250 maps though - were they thrown in with the deal you bought or purchased seperately?

I've spoken with their support people several times about their development road map and my 'wish list', and found them helpful.

[Miroku]

Quikstop,

Could you confirm you mean the £600 version and not the NATS one?
I'm a bit surprised about your comment on the nav function - I'm thinking about getting the 'expensive' version but not if the nav is not up to scratch. The obvious alternative is the Garmin Aera 500.

[lordhedges]

he's referring to the PC planning software that comes with each Clarity - it's nowout of beta testing but will have many features added to it as free updates over the year eg weather/NOTAMs etc.

[Qwikstop]

Indeed it is the Clarity - it was on special offer with both sets of maps and a powermonkey.

A nice touch with the planning software is the Google Earth simulation of the flight with an airspace overlay. My version doesn't calculate headings etc yet - just shows the track.

Intrigued to know how the weather/Notams will work. Will this be after sync-ing the device on a PC?

[liam548]

looking forward to getting my clarity, that google earth viewing on the plaaning stage sounds great!

[Miroku]

You can get the google earth view if you use the 'Go Flying' website for planning which I think is superb.

[dublinpilot]

It's also available in PocketFMS....for preflight planed route and post flight breadcrumb analysis. You can even view the two together if you wish.

[liam548]

Also note the Clarity will will work with the new Euro GPS when it comes online,

"The Clarity will be able to use Galileo when it becomes available. We obviously haven’t been able to test it ourselves, but the chip is a SIRF III+, which are supposed to work seamlessly with Gallileo."

[FireflyT67]

I bought one of these Adventurer Pilot 7000's and agree with all your comments. Mine failed to pick up any satellites in car or aviation modes, to be fair they changed it for another one very swiftly, the replacement worked once....
Flightstores were very good about changing it.
Back to Garmin we go, don't think the unit is ready for sale yet and I certainly wouldn't want to depend on it for airborne navigation.

[letpmar]

We have an Airbox Foresight in our Sportcruiser and on the whole we are very happy with it. I recently went via Holland to eastern Germany by myself and it helped a lot.
There is nothing like seeing the map all the time and getting the airspace warnings.
We got one fairly early and the software has had to catch up a lot, but it has come on in leaps and bounds. if it keeps improving as it has done it is going to be hard to beat. We have a dock that takes a 296/495/Aera and I think for planning routes that is still the primary GPS. We tend to use the Airbox for situational awareness and airspace alarms although its well capable of being your only GPS even if the flight planning software is a bit weak at present. But this is getting better all the time.

Pete

[mikehallam]

Can't praise the basic NATS/Aware unit enough for safely knowing, with the red warning changing from green where the controlled air space is on the CAA chart display.
Plus the nav help, from the 5 minute pointer, especially when closing in on a new destination.
Takes all the hassle away without having to to any plotting, apart from the regular chinagraph on the paper chart.

A winner at at £149 & free updates too.

mike.