Hi Gang
My 2 cents worth. All of the current PDAs are very poor in bright
sunlight and are best in the reflective mode without a backlight.
I started with the 1550, then the 3750, then the Navman and most
recently the 5015 ( I think that's the number) which has a GPS and
lasts several hours with its internal rechargeable lithium battery in
the reflective mode. I use GN11. The 5015 is my preferred computer/
logger and is installed in the SparrowHawk.
You must declutter the screen of terrain for the little screen to be
intelligible. You should have a goose neck cradle firmly attached to
the instrument panel or something rigid and you must orient the screen
directly towards your face for optimum viewing visibility. When done
the system is just acceptable.
What are the characteristics of the perfect soaring PDA? For me a
much larger screen is number one. Secondly it must have a reflective
screen clearly usable in shade through bright sunlight - gets rid of
power problems. Must be self contained including battery, GPS, logger
(not secure) and a USB port (convertible to serial port) to connect to
a secure logger for down loading secure IGC files. Must be able to
operate with all the soaring programs such as SeeYou and GN11. Must be
portable and easily removable from its cradle in the glider so that it
can be interfaced with a computer and the battery must be rechargeable
through a USB port for convenience. Something similar to the Garmin
496 with GN11 and some of the stuff I have talked about
above...............?
Dave
Dave