iPad (3rd gen) mount - Cessna 172

[PH-UKU]

Got an ipad2 with internal gps, no simcard installed. Works brilliant on a RAM yoke mount on RHS. Battery lasts about 8hrs. Been to France and Norway using skydemon - amazing. Dropped signal twice, in 45hrs of flying, once passing military location in Norway, and then 20minutes from home (Prestwick). In comparison the panelmount Lowrance 2000c with external aerial dropped signal about 20 times in same trips.)

Some folk have gps problems, i have had none and think it is absolutely brilliant.

[CruiseAttitude]

Hi again everyone,

After playing with the iPad 3 at my local Apple store I decided to take one home. I've installed SkyDemon on it, I had been using this on a Windows PDA up until now.

I understand that the 'airplane mode' disables the GPS, however would just disabling mobile data (under settings) turn off the GSM radio and still allow the GPS to function?

I've just tried this and SkyDemon maintained a position fix, I made sure wifi was also off as I know that can also be used by the iPad for location information. I might be missing something here though.

NB: When mobile data is disabled, where the network operator name usually appears in the top left is replaced with 'iPad'. So I imagine that it is not connected to the network at all.

Thanks

Ps, thanks for the recommendations of the RAM mounts, I will have a look.

[peterh337]

Dropped signal twice, in 45hrs of flying, once passing military location in Norway, and then 20minutes from home (Prestwick). In comparison the panelmount Lowrance 2000c with external aerial dropped signal about 20 times in same trips.)

Some folk have gps problems, i have had none

[my bold]

Not sure I follow you. You currently haven't got a single GPS that's working to an acceptable standard for navigation.

I've had 2 or 3 losses in 1500hrs, which is more like it should be.

I wonder if you have the fairly common VHF interference issue (harmonics of 121.2 and surrounding)? See here, page 118 of the PDF.

[CruiseAttitude]

Hi again guys,

I've been reviewing iPad mounting solutions and it came down to either a RAM glare shield mount (seemingly only avail from the USA) or a RAM yoke mount (available from pilot shops in the UK).

I think I'm going to go for the yoke option and mount it on the co-pilot side and angle it towards P1. just wondering if anyone who has done this can give me any feedback about this setup. I fly a C172P.

Also, just to confirm that the iPad GPS seems to work perfectly with mobile data set to off and that also seems to disable the GSM radio - no need to take sim out. I've been testing in the car. Looking forward to trying it out in the air once I get the mount..

Thanks again

[BackPacker]

Also, just to confirm that the iPad GPS seems to work perfectly with mobile data set to off and that also seems to disable the GSM radio - no need to take sim out. I've been testing in the car. Looking forward to trying it out in the air once I get the mount..

Yep. Same here. I have a prepaid sim which I rarely use (prefer Wifi instead) and I normally have the cellular connection turned off. No problem in flight whatsoever. For better battery life I guess I should turn off Wifi too, but I typically don't bother. (So far I still need to find an application for Bluetooth, so that is turned off permanently anyway.)

I get the impression that most people just leave them on their lap, and move them around as needed.

I don't use any sort of mount since I rent aircraft, and rent various types so no single solution would work. I just keep it in my lap, but I bought a Kensington Black Belt for it. A thick rubber ring that goes around the edges, leaving the buttons free to access. The GPS doesn't seem to be bothered by it, and I have the feeling that this will greatly reduce the chances of damaging the iPad. I have also put on one of those clear plastic screen protectors. You never know what might scratch the glass.

Of course if you put the iPad between seats or some other shielded location, expect loss of GPS lock.

some kind of lock feature would be useful

I posted the same complaint to the Skydemon forums and the response was that the lock is already in place, but is only actived in Flying mode, after a few seconds, and when movement is detected. Or something to that effect. So a quick test at home would not give you the definitive answer.

I have not flown with SD since I got that response so I have not verified the exact behaviour, but there is some form of lock at the very least.

Nevertheless, better safe than sorry. So I try to minimize accidental touching of the screen.

[BabyBear]

Quote:
some kind of lock feature would be useful
I posted the same complaint to the Skydemon forums and the response was that the lock is already in place, but is only actived in Flying mode, after a few seconds, and when movement is detected. Or something to that effect. So a quick test at home would not give you the definitive answer.

I have not flown with SD since I got that response so I have not verified the exact behaviour, but there is some form of lock at the very least.

Nevertheless, better safe than sorry. So I try to minimize accidental touching of the screen.

I can confirm this to be the case. I tried changing the route I was flying last week and couldn't without taking it out of navigation mode!

BB

[n5296s]

It took me a while to figure out what works best. I wrote something about it, search for "ipad happiness at last" (since the idiot pprun3 naz1s won't allow the actual url).

Basically I use a modified (extended) RAM mount, which holds the ipad in front of the yoke where it doesn't obscure anything. It's a compromise - life is full of them. I use the mygoflight holder, which can also be strapped to one knee.

The touch sensitivity of the thing is a nuisance, you will indeed every now and then find yourself looking at it and thinking "why is it showing THAT?". Just something you have to get used to.

I find that the built in GPS works fine in level flight. In steep banks it often doesn't, no practical impact except the CloudAhoy track looks funny. I also noticed on a long descent the other day that it lost GPS for a minute or two. If any of this bothers you, you can get an external GPS for around $100.

I don't really know why you would bother with airplane mode, but if you do worry about these things then I guess an external GPS might solve the problem (though it might also get switched off in airplane mode, I have no idea). The idea after all is that even radio receivers generate RF which might affect our oh-so-delicate navigation equipment.

By the way Cloud Ahoy is a fabulous app (though I don't know if it works outside the US). It shows in detail all aspects of your actual flown route, once you're on the ground.