PDA's for situational awareness

B

bluelake

Well-Known Member
PDA\'s for situational awareness

I am going to be purchasing an HP iPaq for non-aviation purposes. And its got me wondering, just how much effort would it take to use this in an airplane. Has anyone had any experience with this? I have seen on Avshop.com the GPS attachments and software for sale....
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

And another question...

Anyone have that weather service for PDA's that I always see in the magazines? I don't even have one, but it would be cool to be able get weather radar, etc. anywhere. Especially useful for out-of-the-way airports with no WSI or anything fancy like that.
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

You know, I keep wondering how that data is transmitted. It is is cellular then is going to butt slow and I have found that cel service in the air is generally weak. Anyone how it is transmitted, to the PDA's that is?
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

There are two general ways of transmitting info to cockpit weather displays. Satallite or radio. Satelite coverage is, well, almost world-wide but them ore expensive of the two srevices. The radio option is a little cheaper but not all areas have coverage yet (think of a cell-system for airplanes). I htikn most of the PDA stuff works with the radio style and all of 'em require (PDA that is) the purchase of a "modem" to attach to the PDA that is capable of receivingthe WX info.

That's a rough estimation, anyway.
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

[ QUOTE ]
Especially useful for out-of-the-way airports with no WSI or anything fancy like that

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a program in my Palm that allows me to dial up DUATS and get text weather with the free 1-800 number using the little palm modem. It's great for smaller airports cuz I can plug into any phone line and download whatever "Official" text briefing I need; since it's all stored in the Palm's memo files, I can read thru the text for flight planning and also review it later if I need to re-evaluate things during the flight (i.e. winds aloft, notams, etc). The only problem: NO weather graphics.
frown.gif


If you have a dial-up internet access account and a newer Palm, you might be able to browse the 'net with a dial-up connection at Smalltown Municipal FBO and get WX graphics that way.

BTW, I bought my almost-new Palm VIIx on ebay for $28.
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

I can't easily use my palm in the plane, pointing with the required accuracy is difficult in turbulence and requires too much head-down time. I have some planning apps and the AOPA airport directory loaded onto it. I love the idea of dialing up to DUAT, but don't know many phone lines will be easily accessible at airports.
 
Re: PDA\'s for situational awareness

[ QUOTE ]
I love the idea of dialing up to DUAT, but don't know many phone lines will be easily accessible at airports

[/ QUOTE ]

90% of the time I can go to an FBO's flight planning area or lounge and there's a phone there. I just unplug the phone line and plug it into the Palm. Sometimes if there's multiple phone lines, that complicates things, but there's usually a way around that (or there's a normal phone nearby...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top