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GPS Ideas



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 6th 03, 12:58 PM
Cub Driver
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Can someone give me an opinion on what type of GPS unit is good enough for
me. I'm a GA pilot, very low time, looking for a decent GPS to take along
for some X/C flying in the rentals. Just need to see highways and cities
etc. I'm not very worried about airspace as there isn't much around my local
airport and the charts do a good enough job.


I use a Garmin III Plus as my main (not primary navigation tool in
the Cub. I did download a data chunk of airports and other landmarks
within 200 miles ($4.50?) , massaged it on my computer with Easy GPS
(free), and uploaded it to the Garmin.

I am however a recreational pilot, so I don't do towered airports as a
rule.

www.pipercubforum.com/garmin.htm -- scroll down for the Easy GPS link.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at
www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com
  #12  
Old December 6th 03, 03:06 PM
Thomas Borchert
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Rd,

Just need to see highways and cities
etc. I'm not very worried about airspace as there isn't much around my local
airport and the charts do a good enough job.


Well, I have to ask: why do you want one, then? GPS is great for airspace
awareness, it is better than charts for that. But if you don't fell a need
there, why not spend the money on flying?

If you are using a PocketPC anyway, the PDA solutions might be best. If not,
I'd look at the Lowrance Airmap 500 and the Garmin III Pilot for entry-level
units. Many people think the Airmap 500 offers a better value.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

  #13  
Old December 6th 03, 03:06 PM
Thomas Borchert
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John,

To compare the dedicated unit to the PDA unit, consider these points:


you forgot: In-flight entertainment. Your PDA will double as an MP3
music player on long flights which can be connected to the intercom.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

  #14  
Old December 6th 03, 03:06 PM
Thomas Borchert
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Steven,

Anybody know where to get yoke mounts?


RAM mounts are hard to beat. Not the cheapest, but probably the most
rugged and definitely the most versatile.


--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

  #15  
Old December 6th 03, 03:42 PM
Tom Jackson
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I have a Garmin GPS III (not the "Pilot" version - received it as a gift)
I use it in the aircraft all the time, and love it.
Out of the box, it contains virtually no information, other than highways,
water, cities, etc.
However, using any one of many on-line sources for generating
airport/navaid/obstruction waypoints, and other software to upload these to
the unit, I now have a very nice unit. It shows all of the airports within
a 200 mile radius (indicated by an airplane symbol,) all of the VOR's, and
all of the towers 1,000' AGL (indicated by a tower symbol.) The unit is
limited to 500 of these user-defined waypoints, but if I decide to take a
longer trip, I can easily go to a website and generate waypoints for the
route and upload these instead of the 200 mile radius ones.

Also, just about any unit can be used with other PC based moving map
software. I am starting to play around with Oziexplorer, using the FAA
sectional charts that Kyler Laird has provided on his website. Wow - what a
neat little, cheap moving map solution!

"RD" wrote in message
...
Good day,

Can someone give me an opinion on what type of GPS unit is good enough for
me. I'm a GA pilot, very low time, looking for a decent GPS to take along
for some X/C flying in the rentals. Just need to see highways and cities
etc. I'm not very worried about airspace as there isn't much around my

local
airport and the charts do a good enough job.

1. Are basic GPS modules such as the ones you take camping/fishing good
enough?
2. What about PalmPilot/Windows CE based hand held units?
3. Is it worth buying a decent Garmin model?

What are your experiences?

Thanks,
Ryan




  #16  
Old December 6th 03, 03:57 PM
David Megginson
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RD wrote:

Can someone give me an opinion on what type of GPS unit is good enough for
me. I'm a GA pilot, very low time, looking for a decent GPS to take along
for some X/C flying in the rentals.


I just bought a Garmin 196, and it's an astoundingly good unit (and easy to
mount in different planes).

If you want to pay a lot less, though, you can try a non-aviation Magellan
315; I've used one for a while, and since it's so small, I'm keeping it as a
backup. Here are some of the benefits:

1. Cheap.
2. Small and light enough to carry in a jacket pocket.
3. Waterproof (and it floats).
4. Free, up-to-date U.S. aviation database available from
http://home.stny.rr.com/bkw/315/

Here are the drawbacks:

1. Map display includes points only, no lines (i.e. no highways, coastlines,
or SUA).
2. Does not inform you when it loses satellite lock.
3. No support for an external antenna (though the internal one works well).
4. You have to buy the PC cable/cigar-lighter adapter separately.

If I were starting from scratch, and didn't want to spend USD 800-900 on a
Garmin 196, I'd probably buy a snap-on GPS for a wireless PDA. I think
there's some clever software that can also download weather over a wireless
connection and show it on the PDA along with the aviation data.


All the best,


David

  #17  
Old December 6th 03, 06:14 PM
Gerald Sylvester
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However, using any one of many on-line sources for generating
airport/navaid/obstruction waypoints, and other software to upload these to
the unit, I now have a very nice unit. It shows all of the airports within
a 200 mile radius (indicated by an airplane symbol,) all of the VOR's, and
all of the towers 1,000' AGL (indicated by a tower symbol.) The unit is
limited to 500 of these user-defined waypoints, but if I decide to take a
longer trip, I can easily go to a website and generate waypoints for the
route and upload these instead of the 200 mile radius ones.


which website do you use? Do you happen to have a list of
websites that offer these waypoints?

thanks

Gerald Sylvester

  #18  
Old December 6th 03, 06:49 PM
Frederick Wilson
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Ryan,

I have been using a simple Garmin 12XL GPS for I guess the better part of 6
years now. I even take it with me when I fly for the National Guard in the
good ole Huey. I have programmed several waypoints and airports into it. It
works real good for what I need. Especially since in the national guard, on
tactical missions we are using ground map with MGRS this GPS has it. It has
a bunch of map datum to choose from too.

I have all the local airport programmed into it. One reply here says that
the nearest airport features are nice. I bet they are. I have found myself a
few times looking for an airport. But for the most part I program all the
navaids and airport in the vicinity of my route.

FWIW, I've been looking the palmpilot stuff too. It will be interesting to
see what turns up here. I know one of the common complaints about them, is
that they are hard to read in direct sun light.

Fred


"RD" wrote in message
...
Good day,

Can someone give me an opinion on what type of GPS unit is good enough for
me. I'm a GA pilot, very low time, looking for a decent GPS to take along
for some X/C flying in the rentals. Just need to see highways and cities
etc. I'm not very worried about airspace as there isn't much around my

local
airport and the charts do a good enough job.

1. Are basic GPS modules such as the ones you take camping/fishing good
enough?
2. What about PalmPilot/Windows CE based hand held units?
3. Is it worth buying a decent Garmin model?

What are your experiences?

Thanks,
Ryan




  #19  
Old December 6th 03, 07:31 PM
Greg Burkhart
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Default

"Gerald Sylvester" wrote in message
nk.net...
However, using any one of many on-line sources for generating
airport/navaid/obstruction waypoints, and other software to upload these

to
the unit, I now have a very nice unit. It shows all of the airports

within
a 200 mile radius (indicated by an airplane symbol,) all of the VOR's,

and
all of the towers 1,000' AGL (indicated by a tower symbol.) The unit

is
limited to 500 of these user-defined waypoints, but if I decide to take

a
longer trip, I can easily go to a website and generate waypoints for the
route and upload these instead of the 200 mile radius ones.


which website do you use? Do you happen to have a list of
websites that offer these waypoints?


I've used these to get data from:
http://www.airnav.com/ for airports and NavAids and
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrS...tionSearch.jsp for
antennas and towers.
I put the data into spreadsheets, export it to my GPS mapping software then
download it to the GPS. Works fairly well.

There are aviation databases available for download which are quite large. I
remember downloading a database once and deleting all the waypoints that
were above or below certain latitudes and longitudes to get the list down to
the state/area that I would do +95% of my flying.


  #20  
Old December 6th 03, 08:04 PM
Tom Jackson
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Waypoints along a route, towers, etc. (slightly out of date)
http://131.238.38.204/~sarangan/avia...min/index.html
More updated information, world-wide, no obstructions, GPX format, which may
need to be converted to a format for your import/export software (see
Topographix website): http://navaid.com/GPX/
FAA GeoTIFF sectionals: http://aviationtoolbox.org/raw_data/FAA_sectionals/
Oziexplorer: www.oziexplorer.com



"Gerald Sylvester" wrote in message
nk.net...
However, using any one of many on-line sources for generating
airport/navaid/obstruction waypoints, and other software to upload these

to
the unit, I now have a very nice unit. It shows all of the airports

within
a 200 mile radius (indicated by an airplane symbol,) all of the VOR's,

and
all of the towers 1,000' AGL (indicated by a tower symbol.) The unit

is
limited to 500 of these user-defined waypoints, but if I decide to take

a
longer trip, I can easily go to a website and generate waypoints for the
route and upload these instead of the 200 mile radius ones.


which website do you use? Do you happen to have a list of
websites that offer these waypoints?

thanks

Gerald Sylvester



 




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