iPaq screen reflections - anyone really happy with their solution?

Hi,

The cradle in the photo is a Mertins mount. I sell them for Enrique
Mertins.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/mertins.htm

Even better is the TEKK cradle:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tekk.htm

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring Supplies

"Jim Kelly" wrote in message
u...
| See http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING/cockpit_3.jpg
| Tony V. LS6-b "6N"

Tony, that iPaq mount seems to handle the wiring nicely. Which
brand/model is it??

Cheers,

Jim Kelly

An awfully nice day to be flying with a zero Macready setting...

You actually use that?

Tony

The cradle in the photo is a Mertins mount. I sell them for Enrique
Mertins.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/mertins.htm

Even better is the TEKK cradle:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tekk.htm

Seriously? I think the Mertins mount is pretty good and have a hard time
imagining a significant improvement. Can you be specific?

Tony V

Tony Verhulst wrote:

An awfully nice day to be flying with a zero Macready setting...


You actually use that?

Absolutely. The glider computer (I use Glide Navigator also) is usually
set to 4 to give me a safety margin to potential landout sites. The 302
is usually set to at least one, and on a good looking day in the
picture, at least 2 or 3, to encourage me to fly somewhere in the
proximity of the correct speed. I don't follow it slavishly.

--
-----
Replace "SPAM" with "charter" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

I have an old Palm PDA with a black and white screen. I have loaded
Soaring Pilot on it and played with it but I never bothered to put it in
the glider.

However on the ground the display seems perfectly legible in bright light.

For those who have tried old PDA's, how do black and white screens shape
up against the latest colour ones?

Maybe it is worth trading some CPU power for a clearly readible display
and a decent battery life.


Ian

had an old Palm Vx running Soaringpilot for flying. I then cooked its
battery and found it was too expensive to replace. I then started
shopping for a new PDA specifically to run Soaringpilot or the Pocket
PC equivalent. I looked at the various Ipaq's, Palm's etc and ended up
buying the IBM equivalent of the old Palm Vx for 100 pounds (new unit
but old technology) mainly as it had the monochrome screen.
Soaringpilot is a fantastic product (if you can call something that is
free a product) and flying with it is a joy. I use it in conjunction
with a LX 5000 as the navigation and task setting is so much easier to
use. Final glide is very similar in the two units but the speed-to-fly
is far better from the LX. I do not need a colour-moving map as I look
out the cockpit to see where I am - all I need to know is the airspace
and the various waypoints. You do not need colour and a powerful CPU
to show that. I have now bought a Colibri logger as my LX is so old -
it is not an IGC approved logger. Soaringpilot supports the data that
comes from the Colibri and will use the pressure altitude for
increased precision in the calculations.

Clinton
LAK 12

Hi,

I think the Mertins mount is a good product. Enrique does a very nice job
making them in molds, etc. But some customers that purchased them in the
past said they were not impressed with them because they look a little "home
made". I think the web site mentions that they are home made, but... I've
had to take one unit back for a refund. The unit worked fine but didn't
meet the customer's expectations for the price.

The TEKK cradle is mass produced and it looks it. It also has a latching
mechanism that is much easier to use (and just as secure) as the Mertins
solution.

The only possible downside to the TEKK cradle is that the cable doesn't run
through the gooseneck. There is actually a way to do that with a minor
modification, but it requires removing and re-attaching the connector. I've
never had any customer complain about the TEKK cradle. I actually get
e-mails from customers saying how much they love it and it's worth the
price. They sometimes include photos of the installation.

Please don't get the impression that I don't like the Mertins mount.
Enrique is very nice to work with and his cradles are nice if you want a
cradle that will hold an iPAQ in an expansion pack.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring Supplies

"Tony Verhulst" wrote in message
...

The cradle in the photo is a Mertins mount. I sell them for Enrique
Mertins.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/mertins.htm

Even better is the TEKK cradle:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tekk.htm

Seriously? I think the Mertins mount is pretty good and have a hard time
imagining a significant improvement. Can you be specific?

Tony V

| The cradle in the photo is a Mertins mount. I sell them for
Enrique
| Mertins.
| http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/mertins.htm
|
| Even better is the TEKK cradle:
| http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tekk.htm
|
| Paul Remde
| Cumulus Soaring Supplies


Paul, I do not mean to be rude at all . . . but it is such a pity
that these cradles cost so much! If they were *substantially*
cheaper folks could easily justify getting one for each of their
cars (for navigation using their iPaqs with TravRoute, etc) as well
as for each seat in their gliders. Seriously, this product could be
made in big volume if you tapped into the car navigation market!
Another model could include an amplifier with volume control to
boost the often inadequate volume of the iPaq. Add an efficient
power supply to the circuit and we could use it in the gliders. We
have seen the cost of parts to do this . . they are trivial . .

Meanwhile, any chance of a reduced price soon for the TEKK cradles?

Again Paul, I do not mean to be rude . . I prefaced this thread with
comments regarding prices for cradles as they seem absurd in our
currency.

Best regards,

Jim Kelly.

Hi Jim,

I certainly don't take any offense at your comments on the pricing of the
TEKK cradles. I'd love to be able to sell them for less money. Neither I,
nor Klaus Keim who does most of the work on them in Germany is making enough
money to justify the amount of time we put into them as it is. The cradle
itself is mass produced for use in automobiles, but modifications are
required for use in gliders. The conversion rate from Euro to US$ isn't
helping the price either. I sell a lot of the cradles to glider pilots even
at the high price. Those customers seem to be able to justify the price.
Once you play with one and see how nice it is, and consider the safety
issues of using a home-made cradle, the price seems a little more palatable.
But I completely understand your wish that they could be less expensive.

Thanks,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring Supplies


"Jim Kelly" wrote in message
u...
| The cradle in the photo is a Mertins mount. I sell them for
Enrique
| Mertins.
| http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/mertins.htm
|
| Even better is the TEKK cradle:
| http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tekk.htm
|
| Paul Remde
| Cumulus Soaring Supplies


Paul, I do not mean to be rude at all . . . but it is such a pity
that these cradles cost so much! If they were *substantially*
cheaper folks could easily justify getting one for each of their
cars (for navigation using their iPaqs with TravRoute, etc) as well
as for each seat in their gliders. Seriously, this product could be
made in big volume if you tapped into the car navigation market!
Another model could include an amplifier with volume control to
boost the often inadequate volume of the iPaq. Add an efficient
power supply to the circuit and we could use it in the gliders. We
have seen the cost of parts to do this . . they are trivial . .

Meanwhile, any chance of a reduced price soon for the TEKK cradles?

Again Paul, I do not mean to be rude . . I prefaced this thread with
comments regarding prices for cradles as they seem absurd in our
currency.

Best regards,

Jim Kelly.

| The cradle
| itself is mass produced for use in automobiles, but modifications
are
| required for use in gliders.
| But I completely understand your wish that they could be less
expensive.
| Paul Remde

Maybe the mass produced model for automobiles will do the job?? Is
it much cheaper??

Cheers,

Jim.

Craggy Aero

Same cradle lower price.

Richard
www.craggyaero.com



"Jim Kelly" wrote in message
u...
| The cradle
| itself is mass produced for use in automobiles, but modifications
are
| required for use in gliders.
| But I completely understand your wish that they could be less
expensive.
| Paul Remde

Maybe the mass produced model for automobiles will do the job?? Is
it much cheaper??

Cheers,

Jim.