Bluetooth
 

Does anybody know what the official line is regarding the use of Bluetooth technology in a GA plane ? I'm thinking about buying the NavMan 4400 bluetooth GPS receiver for use with an IPAQ and it stuck me that there might be an issue with it interfering with instruments etc ?

Thanks and Happy Christmas !

It is used in the US in home build and I know of several PFA aircraft that intend to use it in the UK. I would be very surprised it has been officially tested.

Rod1

Can't find the relevant document, but since BT is a transmitting technology, it's probably illegal to use on takeoff or landing, or without the captain's permission.

Isn't BT 2.4GHz? It is also very low power (few milliwatts I think) so it's a good deal less likely than e.g. a mobile phone (variable power up to some 500mW) to affect any given piece of avionics.

I can say from personal experience that RF immunity between different pieces of installed equipment isn't something which gets exhaustively checked even in certain brand new planes, so I wouldn't do an ILS in real IMC with anything like that switched on.

However my view is that interference with avionics would be extremely unlikely.

I use the Ipac 2210 with a Socket Bluetooth remote antenna running Anywheremap.

Works just fine in my Aerobat and my car.

Chuck

At Bluetooth power levels, highly unlikely to interfere - but being transmitting equipment, the rules probably still apply.

There's a new Bluetooth, isn't there, with much greater range? Might be a few more mW too.