RivetBangers.com

Hope everyone had a good Xmas, I got myself a iPad mini, just the wifi one, been looking at Bluetooth and non Bluetooth GPS antennas for it for flying, what is everyone using? They all seem to be about the same price, so just trying to get the skinny as to which is the best one.

Mitch,

A plug-in GPS should work fine in a small airplane cockpit with lots of windows around. The downside is that you can't have the iPad plugged into a charger when you're using the GPS. Also, the GPS sticks out of the iPad connector which seems a little fragile to me.

Bluetooth GPSs work fine too, and if you want to spend some more shekels you can get one that has an ADS-B receiver for traffic and weather if you use map/flight planning software on your iPad. If I were buying a GPS receiver today, this is what I'd get.

Check Sporty's, they have a good selection so you can see what's available. But you can probably get a better price somewhere else...

HTH

Dave

Take it back now and get the GPS included unit, you will want to pick up your iPad and use it without the hassle of the extra receiver, later by all means get the extra receiver (with GLSNOSS) if you have trouble recieving a signal in the cockpit

If you plan to go ADS-B with either the Stratus unit (ForeFlight App) or the Garmin GDL-39 (Garmin Pilot App), both of these ADS-B receivers have a GPS built in which communicate back to the iPad. No external GPS required.

I had a wifi-only iPad mini and purchaed a Dual XGPS150A BlueTooth GPS for it. It worked well, but what a PIA it was to have it being charged and turning it on separately.

I sold all of my iPad stuff and am an Android guy now. The new Google Nexus 7 (2013 Edition) has an AMAZING sunlight readable screen. It's perfect in the RV cockpit. Plus it's cheap (about $200) and it has a built in GPS.

Mike, I like that the Nexus 7 is a better view-able screen than the iPad's in direct sunlight. What Aviation apps can run on them ?

Yes, we need more info on the nexus!

I flew up to KGON (Groton, CT) the other day and used the Nexus 7 as my main navigation device. The readability in all lighting conditions was great. I added a cheap anti-glare screen to it which seems to help out tremendously, however, it does cause some distortion in the viewing of the screen. I might experiment with different anti-glare screens in the future.


The toughest thing about getting used to the new tablet was not being able to use ForeFlight. Over the past year and a half, I have really grown to know and like ForeFlight. The three Android navigation software packages out there that I am aware of are Naviator, Avilution and Garmin Pilot. All three of them have nice options. I really wanted to like Naviator, but it doesn't automatically select the chart to show for you. You have to select it yourself. That's fine for local flying, but with the speeds of the RV, it's nice to have the whole picture in front of you. Especially for cross country flight planning. It also doesn't let you know the floor/ceiling of restricted/special use airspaces. Around me, I have plenty to worry about!

I settled on Garmin Pilot. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I also bought a Garmin GDL-39 ADS-B Receiver, so I am somewhat married to the Garmin App. The iPad version of the Garmin pilot is much better than the Android version is - and I hope the features will trickle down to the Android platform in the near future.

The only thing I am having a VERY hard time getting used to is how Garmin color codes the conditions of airports. Green = MVFR, Red = Low IFR, Yellow = IFR and Blue = VFR.

I still miss my ForeFlight for the ease of functionality and the presentation of data, but it was not very RV cockpit friendly with the size of the iPad or iPad mini (oh yes, the Nexus 7 is smaller than the Mini) and the dim screens they have. So it's growing pains, but a good step in the right direction.

Mike,

Slightly off-topic, but in the iPad version of Garmin Pilot you can change the weather color coding to suit your preference...maybe the Android version does that too?

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for the suggestion....I saw the option on the iPad version of Garmin Pilot...unfortunately there is no such option on the Android version. It seems Garmin releases the Pilot features first for the iPad version, and the Android version lags.