WxWorx flight test

Today was a good day for it, as there were CBs in all directions
around Mobile (so, what else is new?). Around the airport, though, it
was scattered cu. with bright sun, a good test for the Sony notebook's
viewability.

The WxWorx receiver slipped neatly into the Cessna's right front map
pocket (about calf level, for those not familiar). I velcro'd the USB
GPS and the WxWorx antenna to the glareshield up at the base of the
windshield and routed the cables down the right side of the
glareshield. The receiver cable goes right to the WxWorx box in the
map pocket. The GPS USB cable goes directly to the pc and the WxWorx
USB cable comes out of the map pocket and also goes to the pc. Power
for the WxWorx receiver comes from the aircraft cigar lighter outlet,
which is conveniently within inches of the map pocket. This sounds
like a nest of snakes, but everything stowed pretty neatly. As far as
actual clutter to deal with goes, I wound up with the little notebook
pc on the right seat with two USB cables connected to it.

My airplane is parked under a metal shelter, and both the GPS and the
WxWorx receiver had trouble getting locked until I taxied clear. By
the time I was through with the runup, all the WxWorx features were
active. I must say it was a near religious experience to be sitting at
the departure end of the runway and seeng less-than-10-minute-old
NEXRAD and lightning strike data within a 60-mile radius. The Sony
screen was splendid - always easily readable no matter what the sun
angle. I took an hour-long flight around the bay, looking out the
windows at boomers of various sizes and watching them being painted on
the WxWorx screen - just too, too cool.

This thing is great. If it was panel mounted, it would be perfect.
Since I don't feel comfortable spending five figures to make that kind
of thing happen, this will do just fine. It's early days, I know, but
right now I am very satisfied indeed.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Thanks for the review, Dan.

I am looking at NavAir using the WxWorx system on a Tosh PDA. Do you think
the screen will be too small? I have flown through enough weather this
summer to try it on a whim, anyway...

Thanks,

Mark


"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
Today was a good day for it, as there were CBs in all directions
around Mobile (so, what else is new?). Around the airport, though, it
was scattered cu. with bright sun, a good test for the Sony notebook's
viewability.

The WxWorx receiver slipped neatly into the Cessna's right front map
pocket (about calf level, for those not familiar). I velcro'd the USB
GPS and the WxWorx antenna to the glareshield up at the base of the
windshield and routed the cables down the right side of the
glareshield. The receiver cable goes right to the WxWorx box in the
map pocket. The GPS USB cable goes directly to the pc and the WxWorx
USB cable comes out of the map pocket and also goes to the pc. Power
for the WxWorx receiver comes from the aircraft cigar lighter outlet,
which is conveniently within inches of the map pocket. This sounds
like a nest of snakes, but everything stowed pretty neatly. As far as
actual clutter to deal with goes, I wound up with the little notebook
pc on the right seat with two USB cables connected to it.

My airplane is parked under a metal shelter, and both the GPS and the
WxWorx receiver had trouble getting locked until I taxied clear. By
the time I was through with the runup, all the WxWorx features were
active. I must say it was a near religious experience to be sitting at
the departure end of the runway and seeng less-than-10-minute-old
NEXRAD and lightning strike data within a 60-mile radius. The Sony
screen was splendid - always easily readable no matter what the sun
angle. I took an hour-long flight around the bay, looking out the
windows at boomers of various sizes and watching them being painted on
the WxWorx screen - just too, too cool.

This thing is great. If it was panel mounted, it would be perfect.
Since I don't feel comfortable spending five figures to make that kind
of thing happen, this will do just fine. It's early days, I know, but
right now I am very satisfied indeed.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Mark T. Mueller" wrote:
I am looking at NavAir using the WxWorx system on a Tosh PDA. Do you
think
the screen will be too small?

I dunno, Mark. The WxWorx screen is a "landscape" layout; all the
PDA's I've seen are"portrait." Let us know how it looks.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote in message


...all the PDA's I've seen are"portrait."

Well, that really depends on how you hold the PDA, doesn't it?

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
__________

"John T" wrote:
...all the PDA's I've seen are"portrait."

Well, that really depends on how you hold the PDA,
doesn't it?

Ha! I guess so! All the buttons would be sideways, but so what?

"Dan Luke" c172rgATbellsouthDOTnet wrote in message


Ha! I guess so! All the buttons would be sideways, but so what?

Yeah, but some of the Garmin models allow you to rotate the screen, too.

But the general intent of the PDA screen is portrait mode - even though I
have a couple of apps that set it up in landscape.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
__________

... The WxWorx screen is a "landscape" layout

This is an interesting point. I have a Fujitsu tablet that I use for
JeppView approach plates. Of course, JeppView makes the most sense in
portrait orientation. So would you have to flip the orientations back
and forth? Or does WxWorx skew their window to whatever the long
dimension is? Or would it work in Portrait mode?

Hmmm....

-Jon C.

FWIW, I asked WxWorx about this, and currently their software does not
support portrait orientations. Apparently they're working on it for a
future version.

-Jon C.


"Jon Carlson" wrote in message
news
... The WxWorx screen is a "landscape" layout

This is an interesting point. I have a Fujitsu tablet that I use for
JeppView approach plates. Of course, JeppView makes the most sense
in
portrait orientation. So would you have to flip the orientations
back
and forth? Or does WxWorx skew their window to whatever the long
dimension is? Or would it work in Portrait mode?

Hmmm....

-Jon C.

"Jon Carlson" wrote in message news:zX_bb.558103$o%2.244106@sccrnsc02...
FWIW, I asked WxWorx about this, and currently their software does not
support portrait orientations. Apparently they're working on it for a
future version.

-Jon C.


"Jon Carlson" wrote in message
news
... The WxWorx screen is a "landscape" layout

This is an interesting point. I have a Fujitsu tablet that I use for
JeppView approach plates. Of course, JeppView makes the most sense
in
portrait orientation. So would you have to flip the orientations
back
and forth? Or does WxWorx skew their window to whatever the long
dimension is? Or would it work in Portrait mode?

Hmmm....

-Jon C.

There are 3rd party software tools for rotating displays from portrait
to landscape. As long as the host program can accomodate a screen
resize, it will work. I used one with a remote touchscreen display
for my laptop and it worked well.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the program.

-Nathan




Nathan

Mark,

The NAVAir display on a PDA is only available in portrait mode. On
PCs, Tablets and EFBs is operates in both Portrait and Landscape
modes.

The PDAs have a small, low pixel count screen (240 wide by 320 high),
and we found they would not support enough forward navigation
real-estate in landscape mode. When we modeled it, the pilots that
flew these tests all prefered more forward than sideways "visibility"
and display range.

On EFBs, where we have 800x600 or more to play with, that is less of
an issue.

Still, almost all who fly with our products on an EFB, from single
engine props to Bizjets, report that Portrait is their poison of
choice. The reasons are the same as on a PDA, and the fact that in
most cockpits, portrait is easier to fit physically. We tested various
units in anything from a Citation II to G-Vs and getting the unit
positioned in landscape mode in a tight cockpit is next to impossible.

Addditonally, if you are using Jeppview or NOS approach plates on the
EFB, they really require a vertically oriented presentation to be
usable on anything less the 1024x768 screens, and those, for the most
part are too big to fit in most cockpits.

On the PDA in portrait mode, you can easily see detailed WX to ranges
of 500 and even 1000 miles. While we support 2500 mile zoom range, the
PDA screen is too small for anything less than continent-wide WX
systems.

Another point to think about is wiring complexity, and we have created
a unique, integrated wiring harness that feeds both the WXWorx
receiver and the PDAs from a single power input supporting 12 - 28VDC.

NAVAir Support - http://www.airgator.com

"Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message ...
Thanks for the review, Dan.

I am looking at NavAir using the WxWorx system on a Tosh PDA. Do you think
the screen will be too small? I have flown through enough weather this
summer to try it on a whim, anyway...

Thanks,

Mark