PC/PDA based approach plates

I use a tablet PC for XM Weather in flight, and figured I should add
approach plates... What vendors are available? Seattle Avionics
appears to have a good deal (~$100) with endless free plate updates.
So, I am looking for feedback on Seattle Avionics SmartPlates. Also,
looking for generic feedback regarding the use of PC/PDA based
approach plates in lieu of paper.

Thanks,
Nathan

If your tablet supports 1024x768 resolution then Jeppview 3.0 is
actually pretty good IMO. It gives you everything from approach plates
to enroute charts. And since pretty much all their stuff is
geo-referenced it will overlay your position on all the charts and
pretty much every approach plate(given a GPS input). Great for
situational awareness.

Where/how are you positioning and viewing your tablet during flight? I
have a tablet and am finding my biggest problem is using it under
actual IFR- no really good place to position it in the 182.

-Max


Nathan Young wrote:
I use a tablet PC for XM Weather in flight, and figured I should add
approach plates... What vendors are available? Seattle Avionics
appears to have a good deal (~$100) with endless free plate updates.
So, I am looking for feedback on Seattle Avionics SmartPlates. Also,
looking for generic feedback regarding the use of PC/PDA based
approach plates in lieu of paper.

Thanks,
Nathan

On 24 Jan 2005 23:09:45 -0800, "max" wrote:

If your tablet supports 1024x768 resolution then Jeppview 3.0 is
actually pretty good IMO. It gives you everything from approach plates
to enroute charts. And since pretty much all their stuff is
geo-referenced it will overlay your position on all the charts and
pretty much every approach plate(given a GPS input). Great for
situational awareness.

Geo-referenced or vector based is a nice asset. The Tablet PC is
connected to my Garmin, and I already run moving map software on it,
so it would be nice to add moving map plates.

Where/how are you positioning and viewing your tablet during flight? I
have a tablet and am finding my biggest problem is using it under
actual IFR- no really good place to position it in the 182.

I have a Cherokee 180, and fly solo 90% of the time, so the
passenger seat typically holds the charts, and now holds the tablet
PC. To view the tablet, I occasionally sneak a glance at it. If I
really need to study it, I pick it up and look at it. In both cases,
I use the autopilot as it is not a good idea to be bouncing my focus
between the panel and the front seat.

I have a Fujitsu ST4121 and it is probably too big to yoke mount, but
I have a yoke mounted 295, so I would not want to yoke mount it
anyway. The ST4121 is also a very capable computer (933MHz Pentium
III, 512MB RAM, 50GB HDD), so it is useful outside of the cockpit as
well.

One issue is cabling. Power for the ST4121, USB for the WxWorx
receiver, PCMCIA card/dongle/cable for the serial RS232 to the GPS,
and stereo cable for playing MP3s into the intercom.

In order to reduce cabling, I have been considering adding a 2nd PC to
the cockpit (an older laptop with Wifi) to act as data server,
gathering the WxWorx info + GPS signal, and then relaying them across
Wifi to the ST4121's embedded Wifi receiver. But, who knows when I
will get the time to do the programming for that...

-Nathan

In a previous article, Nathan Young said:
One issue is cabling. Power for the ST4121, USB for the WxWorx
receiver, PCMCIA card/dongle/cable for the serial RS232 to the GPS,
and stereo cable for playing MP3s into the intercom.


A friend of mine made a nice little tupperware box for everything he
needed to power his laptop, WX Works reciever, GPS and all:
http://xcski.com/gallery/wxworks


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.
Probably a bad thing; most things are bad things.
-- Nile Evil *******

Peter wrote:
Are you sure Jeppview can give a moving map? A friend uses JeppView
but had to buy FliteMap to get a moving map.

Yes, as of version 3.0 of Jeppview/FlightDeck you get moving map
(vector based/geo-referenced) enroute charts. Likewise for pretty much
every approach plate. The only procedures it will not depict you flying
over are the ones that where route lengths are butchered to fit all on
one page (alot of SIDs/STARs are like this).

Your friend may still be using Jeppview 2.0. You have to ask for the
upgrade if you are a 2.0 user, they don't just give it to you. But 3.0
goes to all new subscribers AFAIK.

-max

Peter wrote:
indeed but AIUI the moving map comes from FliteDeck, not Jep=ADpView.

According to their website-

"The JeppView Service now comes standard with JeppView FliteDeck, which
provides the capability to view enroute and terminal charts, electronic
text, and when used with GPS, provides a Moving-Map capability in an
application that is optimized for use in the cockpit of your aircraft."

I'm pretty sure this applies to all coverages. Also it's interesting to
note that pricing for their various Jeppview coverages have actually
gone down slightly even though FlightDeck has been added as a standard
feature.

-max