Which PDA ?

On May 7, 6:53*pm, Udo wrote:
I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

Udo,

I use a 3950 running SeeYouMobile. I address the contrast problem by
turning off the terrain so the background is white, then adjusting the
color and size of all symbols, lines, and fonts for maximum contrast.
I have no problem seeing what I need in sunlight.

I have both the anti-glare screen protector and a shiny, very clear
protector (I have a couple of the 3950s, set up identically, so I have
a backup). Both work well. I actually somewhat prefer the shiny
screen - the display is brighter, but you do have to adjust the angle
occasionally when you get reflections. The anti-glare screen is a
little dimmer (as expected).

See you at Ionia!

Kirk
66

Hi,

I just did some testing with my iPAQ hx4705 and iPAQ 210 in bright morning
sunlight. With the sun on the face of the PDA the backlight made no
difference. The sun overpowers it and the display is pretty easy to read.
Turning the backlight on and off made zero difference in the contrast or
brightness.

With the sun behind the PDA (me looking into the sun with the PDA screen in
shadow) there was a big difference. With the backlight off I could hardly
see either screen. With the backlight on I could see them both much
better - but not great.

So I recommend leaving the backlight on at full power while flying in
gliders. The current draw is much higher but the readability is much, much
better.

For some reason the iPAQ 210 was a little easier to read than the hx4700.
Probably because the hx4700's backlight is about 3 years old. Lights
decrease in brightness with age/use. Another potential explanation is that
I have a Boxwave screen glare reducer on my hx4700 and not on my iPAQ 210.
I was very happy to see that HP made the screen of the 210 slightly textured
so a glare reducer is not required. The iPAQ hx4700's screen is glassy so a
glare reducer is needed. The glare reducer does slightly reduce the screen
brightness. But the difference in brightness in sunlight was negligible.

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Paul Remde" wrote in message
news:7iCUj.100851$TT4.42547@attbi_s22...
Hi Noel,

I'm very surprised to hear that. My experience is that even if that works
with the sun shining directly on the screen, it won't work when the sun is
in front of the glider (not shining on the screen). I always have my
backlight on full power. But I'll try turning it off today. I'm very
curious.

Paul Remde

"noel.wade" wrote in message
...
On May 7, 7:31 pm, Todd wrote:
I have (2) PDA's (fault tolerance / redundancy)

An hx4700 running WinPilot I hate because I cannot see it in bright
light.


Todd - Just a tip: I was surprised to find that if I disabled the
backlight my hx4700 suddenly became easier to read in bright sunlight
(but almost impossible to read in the shade or indoors). Not "easy",
but easier. You might give it a try...

Take care,

--Noel

Hi Bill,

Below is the reply from Richard Kellerman at NK.

The ClearNav uses a cold cathode florescent (CCFL) backlight.

The current draw for the ClearNav is 600 mA at full brightness, 300 mA at
min brightness.

It is worth adding that we plan to allow the user to set the default
brightness level, and higher level to which the display will be driven for
about 30 seconds any time a button is pressed.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote in message
. ..
Paul, does the ClearNav have an LED backlight screen?

From my research, a screen brightness of 1000 Nits is required for a fully
"sunlight readable" screen. Most PDA's and laptops have about 200 nits.
To get 1000 Nits with a CCL backlight, requires more current that can
reasonably be provided in a battery operated device.

LED backlights seem to be much brighter and use less power than CCL
backlights.

Bill D


"Paul Remde" wrote in message
news:NLtUj.100280$TT4.58952@attbi_s22...
Hi Udo,

The best PDA available is the 1550. You can probably still find a good
one if you keep checking ebay every day for a week or 2.

I fly with an iPAQ hx4700 but I'm moving to an iPAQ 210. It doesn't have
a built in serial port so I have worked out a good solution with a CF
card serial port and a customer Nimbus cradle. The 210 seems a bit
brighter than my hx4700 indoors, but that may be due to the backlight in
the hx4700 getting dimmer over the 2 to 3 years I've had it. It is
similar to the hx4700 (maybe a little better) in sunlight.

Of course, the ClearNav is the best option. It is very readable in
sunlight. I have about 20 customers lined up to buy them - mainly for
that reason. I'm excited because I have been contracted to write the
manual for it. It is a great product that will be very popular. Let me
know if you want to get onto my waiting list.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Udo" wrote in message
...
I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

On May 7, 4:53*pm, Udo wrote:
I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

Udo,

I have found the Ipaq 47xx is the best without the screen protector
for viewability and full backlight. I also updated the 4700 ROM to
Windows CE 6.0

ROM updates: http://wm6.flyingarizona.net/

Craggy Aero is also developing an instrument. Craggy Ultimate - Screen
Size 6.5 diagonal, sunlight viewable screen, with a backlight
controlled by potentiometer or photo sensor, VGA 680X420 twice the
screen resolution as the ClearNav.

http://www.craggyaero.com/ultimate.htm

Initial flight test were very favorable, no viewability problems with
direct sunlight.

Richard
www.craggyaero.com

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

I happen to know Williams Soaring has some. 1520s and 1550s Check 'em out.

Paul Remde wrote:
Hi Udo,

The best PDA available is the 1550. You can probably still find a good one
if you keep checking ebay every day for a week or 2.
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums...aring/200805/1

One report on the SeeYou forum indicates the 3950 to be brighter than
the 4700. I'll compare my 3950 to Noels 4700 sometime.

None of those fancy panels will fit in my DG303 panel. So, the cost is
the screen, the bigger battery, a new panel, and perhaps a smaller
instrument or two. The alternative is to fly with a PDA, with map and
terrain turned off and 4 large NAV boxes. That is easy to see and use.
I'm not clear on what the new screens will add to my flying other than
the very sexy screen itself.

Something I've noticed is that the screens can be hard to read in
bright sunlight with dark gray sunglasses and much easier with those
amber sunglasses.


I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA.
Craggy Aero is also developing an instrument. Craggy Ultimate - Screen
Size 6.5 diagonal, sunlight viewable screen, with a backlight
controlled by potentiometer or photo sensor, VGA 680X420 twice the
screen resolution as the ClearNav.

Hi Richard,

I'm surprised an interested to see that you recommend Windows CE 6.0 for the
iPAQ hx4700. My iPAQ 4700 is still running Mobile 2003. Most iPAQ hx4700
units shipped with that operating system. I upgraded it to Mobile 5 and it
was much, much slower. So I "downgraded" it back to Mobile 2003. Since
then I have purchased an iPAQ 210 with Mobile 6. It has a processor of the
same speed and seems to be about the same speed or slightly slower than my
iPAQ 4700. That leads me to believe that Mobile 6 is not an upgrade I want
to do on my hx4700. But that is a subjective speed estimation. Have you
compared 2 hx4700 units (one with Mobile 2003 and one with Mobile 6) running
side by side? I may upgrade to Mobile 6 is you say it is significantly
faster. I'm curious.

Do you recommend Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1?

Thanks,

Paul Remde

"Richard" wrote in message
...
On May 7, 4:53 pm, Udo wrote:
I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

Udo,

I have found the Ipaq 47xx is the best without the screen protector
for viewability and full backlight. I also updated the 4700 ROM to
Windows CE 6.0

ROM updates: http://wm6.flyingarizona.net/

Craggy Aero is also developing an instrument. Craggy Ultimate - Screen
Size 6.5 diagonal, sunlight viewable screen, with a backlight
controlled by potentiometer or photo sensor, VGA 680X420 twice the
screen resolution as the ClearNav.

http://www.craggyaero.com/ultimate.htm

Initial flight test were very favorable, no viewability problems with
direct sunlight.

Richard
www.craggyaero.com

brianDG303 wrote:

Something I've noticed is that the screens can be hard to read in
bright sunlight with dark gray sunglasses and much easier with those
amber sunglasses.

I use "aviation" sunglasses that have an untinted bottom quarter, which
improves the visibility of the PDA a lot. While they aren't prescription
glasses, they do have a "bifocal" portion at the bottom that lets me
focus perfectly on the PDA.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

On May 8, 9:50*am, "Paul Remde" wrote:
Hi Richard,

I'm surprised an interested to see that you recommend Windows CE 6.0 for the
iPAQ hx4700. *My iPAQ 4700 is still running Mobile 2003. *Most iPAQ hx4700
units shipped with that operating system. *I upgraded it to Mobile 5 and it
was much, much slower. *So I "downgraded" it back to Mobile 2003. *Since
then I have purchased an iPAQ 210 with Mobile 6. *It has a processor of the
same speed and seems to be about the same speed or slightly slower than my
iPAQ 4700. That leads me to believe that Mobile 6 is not an upgrade I want
to do on my hx4700. *But that is a subjective speed estimation. *Have you
compared 2 hx4700 units (one with Mobile 2003 and one with Mobile 6) running
side by side? *I may upgrade to Mobile 6 is you say it is significantly
faster. *I'm curious.

Do you recommend Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1?

Thanks,

Paul Remde

"Richard" wrote in message

...
On May 7, 4:53 pm, Udo wrote:

I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
recomendations.
Udo

Udo,

I have found the Ipaq 47xx is the best without the screen protector
for viewability and full backlight. *I also updated the 4700 *ROM to
Windows CE 6.0

ROM updates: * *http://wm6.flyingarizona.net/

Craggy Aero is also developing an instrument. Craggy Ultimate - Screen
Size 6.5 diagonal, sunlight viewable screen, with a backlight
controlled *by potentiometer or photo sensor, VGA 680X420 twice the
screen resolution as the ClearNav.

http://www.craggyaero.com/ultimate.htm

Initial flight test were very favorable, no viewability problems with
direct sunlight.

Richardwww.craggyaero.com

Paul,

I have tried all the ROMS and tested. I have found that I got no
improvement until I went to 6.0 and or 6.1. Mobile 5 was slower than
PC2003 and 6.0 and/or 6.1 appreared the best.


Richard