GPS Navigation for PDAs?

[twistedenginestarter]

I've been looking through magazines like Pilot, Flying etc and on the Internet but I can't see any flight navigation packages to load onto your PDA+GPS. Plenty of special (and overpriced) devices but no software-only solutions. Any recommendations?

[Rans Flyer]

http://www.memory-map.co.uk/maps_uk_intheair.htm
I’ve got Lowrance 600C with terrain awareness in my Rans S6 and a MIO PDA with built in GPS as a backup.
I create my routes on my home PC using memorymap’s scanned CAA charts, and then download them to the Lowrance and my PDA.
Although the Lowrance is my primary GPS I use a MIO in the air to:
A. Confirm my position with the chart.
B. Back up my primary GPS and
C. Give my passenger something to look at.
Memorymap hasn’t got ‘go-to nearest’ etc futures that are found in a dedicated unit, but when it comes to working out where you are, you cant beat looking at the real CAA map on display on the PDA as apposed to a digital representation that Garmin/Lowrance etc do.
Les.
www.FlightForLife.co.uk

[IO540]

This has been done here quite a few times.

I think that if you want a GPS moving map on a PDA (which means a Palm or Pocket/PC device) and you want something approaching usable European coverage (rather than US-only) then you are limited to

1. Memory Map (aviation charts for UK only; they have the CAA charts)
2. Oziexplorer (you have to scan in your own charts from e.g. the printed ones)
3. PocketFMS (an "open source"-type project)

If however you mean "PDA" loosely then there are also tablet PCs. The smallest current one is perhaps the Motion LS800 (do a google). These will run all of the above, plus Navbox, Jeppview (Flitedeck), Flitemap (no longer sold), and probably other stuff I don't know about.

My personal view, having played with PDAs, is that they are of very limited use when flying. The screens are small, not sunlight readable, the touch screens are prone to accidental touching, and the buttons are too fiddly.

If I was buying a VFR GPS today I would get the Avmap EKP IV, without a doubt.

[Pudnucker]

Thing that worries me is that mine keeps crashing (PDA that is not the plane)...... Personally I don't want anything that Bill Gates has been near on board my a/c...

Blue Screens Of Death and aviation don't mix in my opinion

[Humaround]

"Personally I don't want anything that Bill Gates has been near on board my a/c..."

Sadly, there's hardly ANY aviation-useful software for Mr Jobs' computer...

[dublinpilot]

I can recommond pocketfms.

Pocket FMS

If you already have the PDA and the GPS then you've nothing to loose. The software is free, although you do get more detailed maps if you donate €50.

They are releasing a new version in the next week or so.

dp

[drauk]

Personally I don't want anything that Bill Gates has been near on board my a/c...

Don't buy any one of a number of modern aircrafty with Avidyne glass cockpits then - they use (a supposedly modified version of) Windows NT as their operating system.

[Pudnucker]

True... But it's been tested to hell in order to get certification whereas your average PC World/Dixons item is usually tested on the punter... Isn't that why my Garmin 296 was around - £4-500 more than the identical (marine) Garmin 276????

Also.. when your PDA runs flat all useful data has to be fully reloaded... I'm not buying another PDA - they're c p IMHO!

[englishal]

Samsung has come out with the Q1 which is probably smaller than the Motion tablet. I had a play with it at Dixons duty free a few days ago and it is excellent. It is also a good size for aviation charting and costs about £800.

My Ipaq is also good with memory map. You can see the screen in direct sunlight and I have it linked to a bluetooth GPS receiver.

But if you want to go the whole hog this would be nice...http://www.mc.com/vistanav/index.cfm..however I dopubt the database works in Europe.....

[dublinpilot]

True... But it's been tested to hell in order to get certification whereas your average PC World/Dixons item is usually tested on the punter... Isn't that why my Garmin 296 was around - £4-500 more than the identical (marine) Garmin 276????

Your Garmin 296 is not certified if that is what you are saying. It is no more certified than your average PDA, or your home TV. As for why it costs more than a marine version you'll have to ask Garmin. They will probably tell you it's to do with the costs of it's database. Someone else will probably say it's to do with market forces.

Also.. when your PDA runs flat all useful data has to be fully reloaded... I'm not buying another PDA - they're c p IMHO!

I've used a PDA solution for the past 3 years or so. The main battery has run flat a number of times (when left around at home, not in the air), but I have never had to reload everything. Any decent PDA will have a good backup battery which will ensure data is stored for a long time. Mine has been on backup battery for a couple of weeks in the past with no problem.

A PDA by it's very nature does have weaknesses & strengths over a dedicated handheld GPS, but certification is not one of them.

Some of the advantages include colour screens, easily updateable to the latest version of software with all the new functions, provides a handy method of getting weather and notam data when away from base.

dp

[IO540]

The large flat panel multifunction displays that run on NT use a stripped-down version of NT. Stuff like printer and network support are stripped out, as are the countless services, plug & pray, etc.

This should be very reliable; NT3.51 was one of the most reliable bits of software around.

Most of the reliability issues come from badly written applications; unsuprising since most PC users think they are entitled to throw any piece of PC software at it (and they aren't wrong).

I think that about £200 of the price of a typical aviation GPS is the Jeppesen database. If Navbox used Jepp VFR map data, its price would rise from £60 to probably £300.

The tablet market is changing rapidly too. The performance has been there for a while; they need to get thinner and lighter, and dissipate much less heat.

[englishal]

Also.. when your PDA runs flat all useful data has to be fully reloaded

My battery was flat last time I went flying (I was lazy, left it in my bag at home for ages). I plugged it into the aeroplane cigar lighter socket and it sprang back to life. I store my charts and Memory Map on a 1GB SD card which is non volatile just for added safety.