Panel mounted WindowsCE device

We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with Winpilot, PalmNav, Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed a package 'out of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of permanently mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get a minimum order together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian

Ian,

At one time Cambridge were going to do that - I think
it was going to be the 305. It would be a good solution
as long as there is an accessible CF card (or similar)
slot for data exchange. One downside is not being
able to set up tasks etc for a 302 away from the glider
although this could be done on another PDA and transferred
via the CF card.

John Galloway

At 08:24 12 December 2003, Tango4 wrote:
We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to
our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with
Winpilot, PalmNav, Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed
a package 'out of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of
permanently mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get
a minimum order together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or
PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 08:13:35 +0000 (UTC), "tango4"
wrote:

We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with Winpilot, PalmNav, Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed a package 'out of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of permanently mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get a minimum order together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian


There are any number of industrial computers running CE.
Check the power requirements and price. For that matter check the
power requirement of a PDA when it can't go to sleep.


Mike Borgelt

At 13:30 12 December 2003, Mike Borgelt wrote:

'For that matter check the power requirement of a PDA
when it can't go to sleep.'

Mike Borgelt

Yes - that would be a problem.

John Galloway

Do you have a link to one of these systems? I haven't seen one.

tango4 wrote:

We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with Winpilot, PalmNav, Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed a package 'out of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of permanently mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get a minimum order together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian



--
-----
change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

http://www.cdynamics.com/choicetcembsys.html

Install one of those in your cockpit, with a LINUX based flight display
program... then you just might have something! This is a project I would
be quite interested in, but working in Starbucks or McDonalds is more
profitable than writing soaring software.

Guy Byars



"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Do you have a link to one of these systems? I haven't seen one.

tango4 wrote:

We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with Winpilot, PalmNav,
Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed a package 'out of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of permanently
mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get a minimum order
together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian



--
-----
change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Hi,

Interesting. I sell Computer Dynamics (a division of GE Fanuc) products in
my day job in industrial automation. I've sold their WinCE panel mount
computers. They are very nice. I'm not sure, but I don't think they'll
work for us in gliders. I've looked at panel mount WinCE devices in the
past and found that they have a few gotchas. They usually require 24V
power. It should be possible to work around that. They also require huge
amounts of current to power the backlight. I don't have a solution for
that. Hopefully screen technology will eventually produce a screen that
works in sunlight without a high-current backlight. Also, the WinCE
computers we sell are a bit too big for use in a glider. The bezel is
large.

Paul Remde

"Guy Byars" wrote in message
...
http://www.cdynamics.com/choicetcembsys.html

Install one of those in your cockpit, with a LINUX based flight display
program... then you just might have something! This is a project I would
be quite interested in, but working in Starbucks or McDonalds is more
profitable than writing soaring software.

Guy Byars



"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Do you have a link to one of these systems? I haven't seen one.

tango4 wrote:

We've just had a very swanky aircon system fitted to our offices. The
control panel is a WindowsCE device compatible with Winpilot, PalmNav,
Fly
with CE and a couple of others. ( Ask me, I installed a package 'out
of
hours' ) I'm wondering if anyone else has thought of permanently
mounting
this type of device in their panel. If I could get a minimum order
together
it might be worth it.

No mounts
No loose cables
Integrated power supply
Install your own software of choice with a laptop or PC
A lot more difficult to steal!

Ian



--
-----
change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

On 12 Dec 2003 14:16:49 GMT, John Galloway
wrote:

At 13:30 12 December 2003, Mike Borgelt wrote:

'For that matter check the power requirement of a PDA
when it can't go to sleep.'

Mike Borgelt

Yes - that would be a problem.

John Galloway



For a soaring computer you do not actually need a Windows type OS.It
just adds to the memory and processor power requirements(read
electrical power)nor do you need the license fee for the OS.

Not that for VFR flight we really need colour eye magnets in the
cockpit.

Mike Borgelt

Nobody 'needs' these things Mike but all the top comp pilots seem to fly
with them. An integrated solution mounted high in the panel is just neater,
safer and more secure.

A standardised OS allows the user to install their own personal preference
of software package or packages. Varios and loggers deliver NMEA ( a
particularly clunky interface ) that allows the user to build up a hardware
system to suit their requirements. If loggers were built without their
displays and keyboards they'd be a little cheaper and all programming and
setting could be done down the serial interface. Not to mention that they
could be mounted remotely, uncluttering the cockpit, reducing the
distractions to the pilot and increasing the OO's confidence in the
'security' of the installation. The same with varios, if they were built as
black boxes without any panel knobs and switches it could all be controlled
via a serial interface. One less hole in the panel and a much slicker
installation. Personally I think the LX1600 is the way to go. It wouldn't
change the market much, still room for the current crop of manufacturers but
the ship owner could mix and match his preferences. Club ships could be
fitted with a 'fancy' panel system with the club pilot simply plugging in
his logger, GPS or even vario unit of choice.

The permanent, one off licence for WindowsCE 3.0 is about UKP12 per
instance, not a huge overhead given the massive functionality that is
delivered.

If power is really a problem then simply put in a second battery or upgrade
to an 11 A/h pack. I'm surprised the manufacturers still impose 7.5 a/h
mounts on us with the increasing demands for current these days. As the
prevalence of palm nav systems and transponders increases surely more
battery capacity is required.

Ian