SkyDemon for iPad

[toptobottom]

Been using it for a few weeks now - and love it. Shame there isn't a way of downloading waypoints from the PC App to the iPad - also a shame about the discrepancy in the way GPS co-ords are represented twixt PC and iPad, but an excellent product overall. Real time NOTAMS and METARS, Wx overlaid and all relevant frequencies displayed as the flight progresses. Top banana!!

[Kevin31]

GPS

Hi guys,

Not posted much but read here daily. Just signed up at my local school today and have my first lesson next saturday.

I have a wifi only iPad 2 so no gps and really want to use skydemon can anyone recommend some external gps for iPad 2 please? Heard bad elf is good but seem to be US based and im in the uk?

Cheers

Kev

[Humaround]

Kev

The Dual ipad GPS seems to be the favourite at the moment - not as easy to obtain as the GNS unit but you can get it in the UK - Google it.

I have the GNS unit and its only real fault for me is that it tends to turn itself in in the flightbag and so the battery's flat when i need it.

[toptobottom]

Just installed an update that allows you to download waypoints to your iPad via iTunes file sharing

[bigndaft]

Hi all,

I am strongly considering purchasing SD for the iPad, however, the more I read about using a GPS I find more people advise against using an iPad etc and to stick with a dedicated GPS unit like SD's own.

So, does anyone have the SD mobile MD GPS SkyDemon Online Store if so what do you think of it?

Ta.

[toptobottom]

bigndaft
I have both a Skymap and a Garmin 430 in my aircraft, but I use SD on the iPad as my primary GPS tool. It uses a lot of juice so I'd recommend an auxilliary power source, but, in terms of functionality, I haven't found anything else on the market that comes close. Some folks say that Airbox for iPad is good as well, but I haven't felt the need to compare the two, as SD is just so good
TTB

[bigndaft]

Thanks toptobottom, just need to convince the better half now

[Paully617]

ipad software

its simple.

Get the new runwayHD app from airbox.

awesome.




SKYDEMON WHO???

[flybymike]

It uses a lot of juice so I'd recommend an auxilliary power source,

Mine seems to use approx 10%-12% of battery capacity per hour on a medium level of brightness with GPS running but no GSM. More than enough endurance for any outbound and return trip for me. I do carry a 7ah sealed lead acid battery as back up power for other devices, and this can also be used to power or charge the Ipad if necessary.

[FLYINSC0T]

iPad for GPS navigation

Hi there,

I purchased SD for the PC and downloaded the waypoints to my iPad for use with Air Nav Pro - works great but... on a recent trip to Malta from France my iPad experienced on two occassions high temperature and shut down !! This is a BIG problem with the iPad and or iPhone so beware if you are planning to fly in somewhat warmer climates ! I resorted to my old trusty stead a Lowrance Airmap 1000 which performed faultlessly without any overheating problems.

Anyone know if SD Mobile has temperature problems ?

Happy landings

[toptobottom]

I spent 5 days in Portugal last week, temp around 35c and used SD on iPad3 for up to 3 hours at a time - I didn't notice any over-heating problems. The iPad3 was in its after-market cover and no a/c, just to rub it in

[peterh337]

There are sporadic reports of the Ipad overheating and shutting down, but these are countered by reports from other users of running the Ipad in sunlight and getting it hot and it kept going.

So it may be dependent on the backlight brighness setting, which would be fully expected as practically every other "high power" tablet computer implements similar brightness-related power management.

I have found the GPS in my Ipad2 to be so unreliable it is all but useless - this is in the TB20GT cockpit which has a composite roof. The only way to make it run was to use the XGPS150 external bluetooth-connected GPS.

[david viewing]

I have found the GPS in my Ipad2 to be so unreliable it is all but useless

The quality must vary quite a bit because mine (iPad2) is sufficiently reliable to be quite useful, in 152/172/PA28 and Landy all with metal roofs. However it's not faultless, any more than the 430 is, and will occasionally show the little plane pointing the wrong way or stationary. Sometimes this condition lasts for a minute or two.

I think this is a good thing since you do need to avoid the mentality of trusting one piece of kit to the detriment of the rest. Frankly, if iPad/SD was 100% reliable then you would not bother switching on the rest of the navaids, let alone carrying a map.

I'd suggest an ipad with a really poor gps might justify a visit to the apple store.

[peterh337]

They will never swap it, because they probably won't be able to reproduce the problem in the shop (no signal), and anyway the GPS in my Ipad2 works perfectly on the ground i.e. when not in motion.

I have taken a few things back to the "Genius Bar" (we have had a 100% failure rate on Apple products - admittedly based on just 2 devices so a very small sample) and while they give the appearance of being very helpful they will skilfully fob you off unless they can reproduce the problem.

Even then sometimes not. I took back an Ipad2 with the Apple HDMI adaptor, which was producing a "accessory not recognised" error message if the Ipad was turned on with the adaptor plugged in. Apple refused to touch it, saying the error message wasn't important. In fact the HDMI output was flakey, sometimes working with some apps and not others, and we have given up on trying to get it to work.

[david viewing]

Sale of goods act? Fitness for purpose? Surely you can just return it, insist on a refund, and buy another one. There are ex-repos on eBay for instance.

If you can't get SD to work on iPad, it really, genuinely, is your loss...

[stickandrudderman]

I've been deliberating for some time over whether to
a) buy an ipad in the first place
b) which software to install. (Air nav pro, skydemon, runway HD, rocket route, pocket FMS......)

I've had ANP on my iphone for some time but haven't found it particularly untuitive.
I also downloaded the rocket route trial and didn't much care for that either. It's alright but requires too much thinking on my part.
Then I tried pocket FMS on my PC and things started to improve.
Then the Mrs decided she wanted an ipad
After reading all the threads on here and the other side I thought I'd give Skydemon a try and oh what a sublime piece of kit. I knew instantly that this was what I'd been looking for, bought the full version within half an hour of trying the trial version, had filed and cancelled a flight plan an hour later, and used it on the ipad (along with the very expensive kit already installed in my a/c) to file a FP and execute the next day. Bloody brilliant!

[LowNSlow]

I'm coming back to the UK next month and have finally realised that GPS systems have progressed beyond a Garmin Pilot III!!

The useability of SD on an iPad seems fantastic but where can I mount an iPad in the cockpit of an Auster with it's brace of sticks and a throttle quadrant??? Any suggestions gratefully received!

Alternatively, has anybody used SD on an iPhone 4 as this would be more easily mounted on the glareshield?

[BackPacker]

I don't mount the iPad anywhere. Just keep it on my lap, on the coaming or on the seat next to me as required. Just like the map, flight guide, clipboard and so forth.

With a screen protector and a Kensington BlackBelt around it, it's not going anywhere.

[Harold dobson]

MR

Considering SkyDemon for IPAD(3) for use in a C172 . How reliable is the GPS on a kneeboard where it is not 'line of sight' ?

[Ph1l]

I've never had any signal problems with mine at all. Always works exactly as it should.

I have a 3G iPad 3 and it does get VERY hot, to the point that I have turned it off for 10 minutes just in case it turns itself off at the critical moment I arrived back in the R112 zone!

It never has switched itself off, but as an Apple expert I would suggest it is not relied upon as a sole gps device due to the thermal shutdown.
I use it along with my old garmin, which I would otherwise have had to replace.

Best one for skydemon is the current iPad 2s, £100 cheaper and have a bigger battery than the original iPad 2 and don't run as hot.