Richard:

I just got a bluetooth GPS off eBay that feeds my Treo 650 (Palm OS PDA)
with the GPS signal. Cost of GPS, $22.00, including freight.

Almost any cheap GPS that will provide GPRMB, GPRMC, GPGGA & PGRMZ
sentences, NMEA version 2.0+ and which uses with Serial Port Profile
(SPP) should work. Make sure your unit comes with enough internal
battery power to last for a long flight or can otherwise be charged in
flight.

You don't need a separate screen or any other GPS software other than
SP. My unit is an ABG108 amod Bluetooth GPS Receiver. I still see them
on EBay for less than $24.00. Holux makes some similar units that are a
bit more pricey. I am too cheap to pay up.

I run Soaring Pilot, the soaring computer program, on my Treo. See
http://www.soaringpilot.org/index.html

Soaring Pilot (SP) is shareware. Total Cost $ -0-. We are up to $22.00
for the GPS and the software.


I already had a Treo 650 PDA so, for me, there was no more incremental
cost. You need a Palm OS device with bluetooth and preferably an SD
card although that is not absolutely necessary. See the Soaring Pilot
manual for suitable units or check out the Soaring Pilot Yahoo group.
Think Ebay again for a suitable older Palm OS PDA. You don't need
anything fancy if you don't already own a pda.

You now have a unit that acts as a logger, GPS, and full function
soaring computer. You can save the flight log on the SD card and use a
card reader to transfer the flight log file from the PDA to your pc at
which point you can upload to OLC.

You can try this out for a few bucks and if you like the system, you can
spend more and upgrade later. Mine works just fine.

Pete Brown
Anchorage


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