On Sep 11, 12:38*pm, John Galloway wrote:
I very much like the idea of a daylight readable screen and I am attracted
to the ClearNav and the Ultimate but they both puzzle me:

ClearNav - I don't understand the logic in having the GPS and logger
inside the display unit instead of in a compact panel mount
vario/gps/logger unit similar to the Cambridge 302. *It may all make sense
if they come up with a very good and inexpensive compatible variometer. *
Until then I'm out.

Ultimate - No matter how good the display I couldn't bring myself to pay
$2,500 (almost as much as the ClearNav) for a PDA replacement even
although it is bigger brighter and faster.

John Galloway

The ClearNav folks clearly have a team capable of doing a world class
vario/logger and say it's coming in 2009. Like you I don't fully
understand the logic of what they've done so far -- I'd prefer to see
a separate black box with GPS/logger/vario/airspeed/temp/undercarriage
sensors etc. all in once place with the display providing just display
and compute. Maybe support different version with basic GPS through to
full vario etc. in the black box, and with a goal of easily upgrading
either component over time as technology changes.

When CleanNav comes out with a vario I hope they have an option to
*not* have it panel mount. I would be out of space. A thin moving tape
type display for the vario might work well down the side of the
ClearNav for example. This becomes an issue when wanting to integrate
third party software like SeeYou with a device like this. The desire
to be integrated would mean you end up where it really is more than a
port of existing software.

Darryl