Hi All If you want to stay in budget I would recommend XC Soar on PDA, it works great for me and is a free download, you may need to contact the developers to obtain terrain/topology files for your area though.
The option of using a Compact Flash sleeve and CF GPS is OK, however it more than doubles the thickness of the PDA. Some sleeves can also provide extra battery capacity, however most replacement L-ion IPAQ batteries are higher capacity than originals(original 1400mah, new oem 1800mah), mine goes for 5 hours + easily on its own battery(not using backlight), and most Bluetooth GPS last between 8-9 hours on their own rechargeable L-ion batteries, the compact flash GPS increases IPAQ power draw to the point of requiring 12V from the glider power to have enough time for long flights, needing some cabling, of which the Bluetooth option needs none. Those of you who use Garmin can obtain the Garmin plug to assemble your own cable, just go to www.pfranc.com, 2 plugs for $15, and cut up an old PC serial cable is a lot cheaper than a Garmin cable! There are plenty of wiring diagrams on this site too! A flarm alone will blow your budget, without PDA etc, and is next to useless for collision avoidance unless ALL other gliders have one. They are easily fitted with Velcro to the top of instrument panels if a temporary setup in a club ship is required (Plenty of this happened at the Gawler Nats last year), needing only a 12 volt supply to function. Certainly Robert's option is a good one but does go waaay over your budget. Does anyone know if the Garmin's with barometric altimeter allow the PDA to do vario functions, and how accurate is a pressure sensor not connected to a static port, only using cabin pressure? My comparisons of GPS altitude to altimeter reading seem pretty close. Another thing I have yet to try is making a suction cup canopy mount from a sink plunger, another cheap option. Commercial mounts are ludicrously expensive! Regards Dave L -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Hart Sent: Wednesday, 8 November 2006 12:10 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] GPS units - opinions please... Mitchell Preston wrote: > I'm toying with the notion of buying a GPS unit; budget around $500. > What makes and models may be recommended by your good selves? I suggest that you consider a FLARM plus an iPaq running mSeeYou. This will not only provide you with an in cockpit GPS system, with final glide computer, but also give you the benefit of FLARM (see http://www.rf-developments.com/page008.html). This however si really only an option if you have your own aircraft as you need to wire the FLARM into the power and position it so it is both visible to you and the sky (for the GPS aerial and the FLARM aerial). You can find the wiring diagram for linking a FLARM and an iPaq at my mobile SeeYou pages (see http://www.hart.wattle.id.au/alice/gliding/UsingmSeeYou.html). This will break your budget, but it does, I believe, provide the best possible system. If you are looking just for a basic GPS, I strongly recommend that you buy one with a barometric altimeter. I have just purchased a Garmin Geko 301. This is quite usable by itself (don't forget to buy the cable to ling the unit to your PC so you can transfer data around) but I also use it with my iPaq when XC coaching in our club 2 seaters (I have made up a harness that plugs into the glider battery and then the glider systems plug into it). -- Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] +61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
