On May 7, 2:28*pm, Papa3 wrote:
On May 7, 11:56*am, jeplane wrote:

OK, talk to me like I am a 4 year old:

From A to Z, what do I need to buy to be able to send my flight to
OLC? And how much am I looking at?
Thanks

Richard
Phoenix, AZ

First, stop hitting your sister and sit up straight.

Good line!

snip

I'm going to put in a plug for acapable and cheap solution.

You could buy almost any cheap, newer dedicated car navigator
(commonly called a Personal Navigation Assistant,or PNA). It must be
based on Windows CE, or Windows Mobile. If it says Windows CE Core,
or some such, that's OK. TomTom and some other units are Linux based
and will not work. I have a Nokia 500 that I got off eBay for $110.
At first this seems useless for flying, but there are many sites which
tell you how to "unlock" this device, which turns it into a fairly
complete PDA. The newer ones with 4.3 inch screens seem to me to be
brighter and work in sunlight better than the older units. (And,
after unlocking it, you can still use the car navigation functions.)

On this unlocked PNA, you will install the free open source program
XCSoar (xcsoar.org), which provides pretty complete glide computer
functionality. It will generate a .igc file which will have the
security stamp (G-record) required by the OLC. This is also
acceptable in regional contests. Many say that it's better than
SeeYou Mobile and the others, to me it's certainly as good as
PocketStrePla, which I own. Since the PNA has a built-in GPS, that
isn't a problem.

You will need something to supply power to this unit, unless you plan
flights of about 2 hours or less, and to use it in the cockpit, you'll
need some kind of holder for it. Paul sells everything you'll need
here (cumulus-soaring.com). I already had the RAM-HOL-PD2 to hold the
PNA (current price 30.95), connected to the Suction Cup Mount Kit,
"B" Size, Plastic 3" Arm and Metal Diamond Base (current price 45.85)
and this setup works quite well for me. The car windshield suction
cup mount that comes with the PNA might also work, but I'm not sure
how well, because the suction cup is smaller. For power, I use the
Socket Mobile Power Pack that he sells, but you could also use his
PS-5a power converter that he sells with the appropriate cable, or
something similar.

Now, this costs just a bit more than the eTrex example above, but you
get quite a lot of functionality for that extra money. And it's way
less than the SeeYou Mobile and other commercial options. First, this
whole system will be cheaper than the commercial glide computer
software alone, and that would still require you to buy an expensive
PDA (which probably won't have as good a display).

This is not intended to be a commercial for Cumulus, as all this or
similar stuff can be bought from Richard, Tim or others at about the
same price. I probably left out something, but you get the idea.

Just my $0.02,
Ed