iPaq screen reflections - anyone really happy with their solution?

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 11:51:00 +1100, Jim Kelly wrote:

Summer has begun down under, and my first flight with an iPaq reminded me
just how bad the reflections are in bright light . . . sooo hard to read,
especially when wearing sunglasses.

I have an old Palm PDA with a black and white screen. I have loaded
Soaring Pilot on it and played with it but I never bothered to put it in
the glider.

However on the ground the display seems perfectly legible in bright light.

For those who have tried old PDA's, how do black and white screens shape
up against the latest colour ones?

Maybe it is worth trading some CPU power for a clearly readible display
and a decent battery life.


Ian

Hi,

I agree with others that the old Compaq Aero 1550 had the best contrast I've
seen to date. The slow processor is a bit of a pain, but Glide Navigator II
still runs great on it.

I've flown with 1550s, iPAQs, and Dell Axims. I find them all usable as
long as you can adjust the viewing angle in flight.

I think the idea of a shield or shroud over the iPAQ is an interesting idea,
but I've never tried it.

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring Supplies

"Ian Forbes" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 11:51:00 +1100, Jim Kelly wrote:

Summer has begun down under, and my first flight with an iPaq reminded
me
just how bad the reflections are in bright light . . . sooo hard to
read,
especially when wearing sunglasses.

I have an old Palm PDA with a black and white screen. I have loaded
Soaring Pilot on it and played with it but I never bothered to put it in
the glider.

However on the ground the display seems perfectly legible in bright light.

For those who have tried old PDA's, how do black and white screens shape
up against the latest colour ones?

Maybe it is worth trading some CPU power for a clearly readible display
and a decent battery life.


Ian

I have an old Palm PDA with a black and white screen. I have loaded
Soaring Pilot on it and played with it but I never bothered to put it in
the glider.

However on the ground the display seems perfectly legible in bright light.

For those who have tried old PDA's, how do black and white screens shape
up against the latest colour ones?

Maybe it is worth trading some CPU power for a clearly readible display
and a decent battery life.


Ian

had an old Palm Vx running Soaringpilot for flying. I then cooked its
battery and found it was too expensive to replace. I then started
shopping for a new PDA specifically to run Soaringpilot or the Pocket
PC equivalent. I looked at the various Ipaq's, Palm's etc and ended up
buying the IBM equivalent of the old Palm Vx for 100 pounds (new unit
but old technology) mainly as it had the monochrome screen.
Soaringpilot is a fantastic product (if you can call something that is
free a product) and flying with it is a joy. I use it in conjunction
with a LX 5000 as the navigation and task setting is so much easier to
use. Final glide is very similar in the two units but the speed-to-fly
is far better from the LX. I do not need a colour-moving map as I look
out the cockpit to see where I am - all I need to know is the airspace
and the various waypoints. You do not need colour and a powerful CPU
to show that. I have now bought a Colibri logger as my LX is so old -
it is not an IGC approved logger. Soaringpilot supports the data that
comes from the Colibri and will use the pressure altitude for
increased precision in the calculations.

Clinton
LAK 12

Hi,

I regret that I have not done much testing with screen protectors on Pocket
PCs. All the ones I have tried lowered visibility, but I haven't tried them
all.

I look forward to reading feedback from others.

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring Supplies
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Jim Kelly" wrote in message
u...
Greetings!

Summer has begun down under, and my first flight with an iPaq
reminded me just how bad the reflections are in bright light . . .
sooo hard to read, especially when wearing sunglasses.

Were there any solutions that worked well for you Northerners this
season??

I have noted a film from Brando at:
http://shop.brando.com.hk/screenprotector.php
(not much reference to stopping reflections though)

. . and ClearTouch as sold by Richard at CraggyAero:
http://www.craggyaero.com/screen_protectors.htm
http://www.boxwave.com/products/clea...t3_ipaq_39.htm

Perhaps Paul Remde, and others have solutions too?

Anything found to work REALLY well??

Any comments??

Thanks.

Best regards,

Jim Kelly

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 11:51:00 +1100, "Jim Kelly"
wrote:

Greetings!

Summer has begun down under, and my first flight with an iPaq
reminded me just how bad the reflections are in bright light . . .
sooo hard to read, especially when wearing sunglasses.

Were there any solutions that worked well for you Northerners this
season??

Yep, PDA's almost work in a sailplane cockpit.

Next question - while footling with the PDA how is your lookout?

Next question - do you have it mounted where it blocks the forward and
down view from the cockpit?

Mike Borgelt

| Next question - while footling with the PDA how is your lookout?
| Next question - do you have it mounted where it blocks the forward
and
| down view from the cockpit?
| Mike Borgelt


Glad you asked Mike!

We advocate mounting the 'gadget' centrally on the panel, as high as
possible without obstructing any forward view. This allows a pilot's
peripheral vision to have a half decent chance of alerting him/her
to outside movement. I am dead against these gadgets being left on
one's leg where the heads down to read must be a serious safety
problem.

Winpilot has been designed with the pilot in mind and the interface
is very slick, with many functions just a finger prod away (never
need to use the stylus in flight). It is expected that learning to
use it is done outside of the cockpit (using the free simulator
mode, or even the free Desktop version for folks still deciding to
buy an iPaq or not).

With the mounts and wiring the way we envisage, we will be catering
for any gadget without the tangle of wires and brackets, etc, so
often seen. By keeping the display near the panel one's focus should
be no worse than glancing at the conventional gliding instruments.

Cheers,

Jim Kelly

Mike Borgelt wrote:

Next question - while footling with the PDA how is your lookout?

Much better than when trying to decipher a sectional chart. And, once
set, GN II really doesn't require much "footling".

Next question - do you have it mounted where it blocks the forward and
down view from the cockpit?

See http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING/cockpit_3.jpg

Tony V. LS6-b "6N"

What are you doing, flying with your left hand?

"Tony Verhulst" wrote in message
...
Mike Borgelt wrote:

Next question - while footling with the PDA how is your lookout?

Much better than when trying to decipher a sectional chart. And, once
set, GN II really doesn't require much "footling".

Next question - do you have it mounted where it blocks the forward and
down view from the cockpit?

See http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING/cockpit_3.jpg

Tony V. LS6-b "6N"

Libelle Driver wrote:
What are you doing, flying with your left hand?

Yeah. Not much choice because of the location of the shutter button.
Also on the LS6, the gear handle is on the right so have to fly with the
left hand on the stick for a short period of time. Not really a problem.

Tony V.
http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING

Tony Verhulst wrote:

Libelle Driver wrote:

What are you doing, flying with your left hand?


Yeah. Not much choice because of the location of the shutter button.
Also on the LS6, the gear handle is on the right so have to fly with the
left hand on the stick for a short period of time. Not really a problem.

An awfully nice day to be flying with a zero Macready setting...
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA