ADS-B receivers and Apps

hkyplr18

hkyplr18

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Joe
I'm sure this subject has been brought up a million times but I couldn't really find exactly what I was looking for in the forum search.

Which setup would you rather have and why?

iPad+Stratus2+ Foreflight

iPad+Clarity SV+ WingX Pro 7+ Zaon XRX


WingX pro seems to do more than foreflight. Neither WingX pro or the foreflight website seem to really elaborate on every feature each product delivers so I want to hear some real world pros/cons. I am familiar with ADS-B and its shortcomings, but more concerned with the capabilities of the 2 Apps. How well does the Zaon XRX work on the ipad?

Thanks
 
I'd rather have a Nexus 7+SkyGuard Dual-Band Transceiver+iFly software.

Rationale: I like Android, I like the iFly software and the folks who create it, and I like the ADSB-out of the SkyGuard to get ADSB traffic consistently.
 
I can't help you any with the Zaon XRX since I've never used one. I am currently using WingX with the iLevil ADS-B/AHRS/GPS receiver. When I first started using an iPad, I got both ForeFlight and WingX. Back then they didn't have the 30 day trial periods. When my ForeFlight subscription ran out I did not renew it and stuck with WingX. While ForeFlight is a great program that looks and works great flying the La-Z-Boy in the den, I found it more difficult to read and use in a bouncing airplane. The WingX screens may not look as slick and polished as Foreflight, but they were easier for me to navigate in a bouncing airplane, plus at that time WingX had a terrain data base and other neat features like split screen that ForeFlight simply didn't have. They both are great programs and I highly suggest you do the 30 day free trial download for both. Spend time learning them on the ground, but make sure you put them through the paces while actually flying to see which works best for you.

The iLevil has made a nice addition to WingX with the added ADS-B weather and AHRS driven synthetic vision. I haven't looked at prices lately but when the Stratus 2 came out it was cheaper than either the iLevil or Clarity. I have not read any head-to-head comparisons between these three units but it would be interesting to see how they really compare.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to go with. It is hard to see how you could go wrong with any of it. All this competition between the software and hardware developers is a great thing and we are the beneficiaries.
 
hkyplr18 said:
I'm sure this subject has been brought up a million times but I couldn't really find exactly what I was looking for in the forum search.

Which setup would you rather have and why?

iPad+Stratus2+ Foreflight This...like it alot.

iPad+Clarity SV+ WingX Pro 7+ Zaon XRX


WingX pro seems to do more than foreflight. Neither WingX pro or the foreflight website seem to really elaborate on every feature each product delivers so I want to hear some real world pros/cons. I am familiar with ADS-B and its shortcomings, but more concerned with the capabilities of the 2 Apps. How well does the Zaon XRX work on the ipad?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Since getting ADSB traffic, all of my flying has been in the sticks. All I see is heavies at 30K+. No more xm wx subscription or antenna on my glare shield, so I really like that.
 
MickYoumans said:
I can't help you any with the Zaon XRX since I've never used one. I am currently using WingX with the iLevil ADS-B/AHRS/GPS receiver. When I first started using an iPad, I got both ForeFlight and WingX. Back then they didn't have the 30 day trial periods. When my ForeFlight subscription ran out I did not renew it and stuck with WingX. While ForeFlight is a great program that looks and works great flying the La-Z-Boy in the den, I found it more difficult to read and use in a bouncing airplane. The WingX screens may not look as slick and polished as Foreflight, but they were easier for me to navigate in a bouncing airplane, plus at that time WingX had a terrain data base and other neat features like split screen that ForeFlight simply didn't have. They both are great programs and I highly suggest you do the 30 day free trial download for both. Spend time learning them on the ground, but make sure you put them through the paces while actually flying to see which works best for you.

The iLevil has made a nice addition to WingX with the added ADS-B weather and AHRS driven synthetic vision. I haven't looked at prices lately but when the Stratus 2 came out it was cheaper than either the iLevil or Clarity. I have not read any head-to-head comparisons between these three units but it would be interesting to see how they really compare.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to go with. It is hard to see how you could go wrong with any of it. All this competition between the software and hardware developers is a great thing and we are the beneficiaries.
Click to expand...

Wish I had the split screen, but we do have...

New Hazard Advisor, Terrain Map
A highlight of ForeFlight 5 is Hazard Advisor, a terrain and obstacle awareness system for iPad. When you activate Hazard Advisor, it highlights hazardous terrain and obstacles within 1,000′ of your aircraft’s GPS altitude. Terrain and obstacles (“hazards”) within 100′ are colored red, and hazards within 1,000′ of your aircraft’s altitude are colored yellow. Obstacles are dynamically added to the screen as they become threats. The terrain colors change smoothly and look stunning.
 
Great replies fellas. I think the ilevil and the Clarity are pretty similar, correct?


MickYoumans said:
I can't help you any with the Zaon XRX since I've never used one. I am currently using WingX with the iLevil ADS-B/AHRS/GPS receiver. When I first started using an iPad, I got both ForeFlight and WingX. Back then they didn't have the 30 day trial periods. When my ForeFlight subscription ran out I did not renew it and stuck with WingX. While ForeFlight is a great program that looks and works great flying the La-Z-Boy in the den, I found it more difficult to read and use in a bouncing airplane. The WingX screens may not look as slick and polished as Foreflight, but they were easier for me to navigate in a bouncing airplane, plus at that time WingX had a terrain data base and other neat features like split screen that ForeFlight simply didn't have. They both are great programs and I highly suggest you do the 30 day free trial download for both. Spend time learning them on the ground, but make sure you put them through the paces while actually flying to see which works best for you.

Great replies fellas. I think the ilevil and the Clarity are pretty similar, correct?

The iLevil has made a nice addition to WingX with the added ADS-B weather and AHRS driven synthetic vision. I haven't looked at prices lately but when the Stratus 2 came out it was cheaper than either the iLevil or Clarity. I have not read any head-to-head comparisons between these three units but it would be interesting to see how they really compare.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to go with. It is hard to see how you could go wrong with any of it. All this competition between the software and hardware developers is a great thing and we are the beneficiaries.
Click to expand...
 
Like others, the best way to find out which one works for you is to download the 30 day free version for each and fly with them for a bit. The real commitment comes when you decide which app works for you and you make the ADS-B antenna but. With the exception of WingX, both Garmin Pilot and ForeFlight use a proprietary antenna. Short of selling it, you are locked into the app.

WingX allows different antenna to be used, so the flexibility is there. Don't forget to checkout the other apps as well. The AOPA Fly-Q and Bendix King Wingman are couple more.

I really wish I liked WingX because of the antenna flexibility. But there were some basic things that didn't work for me. I ended up with Garmin Pilot with a GDL-39 but still run a copy of ForeFlight because I like the flight planning feature.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Also, keep in mind Zaon is out of business...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
hkyplr18 said:
WingX pro seems to do more than foreflight. Neither WingX pro or the foreflight website seem to really elaborate on every feature each product delivers so I want to hear some real world pros/cons. I am familiar with ADS-B and its shortcomings, but more concerned with the capabilities of the 2 Apps. How well does the Zaon XRX work on the ipad?
Click to expand...

WingX does more, but ForeFlight does what it does better than WingX, and ForeFlight provides better support. Garmin Pilot was also very nice when I looked at it a while back, though (like WingX) it had some small but annoying bugs that never seemed to get fixed.

When I evaluated all three of them about a year ago, none of them had basic feature parity with Garmin's aviation handhelds, but they all did things which the handhelds did not do. My solution at present is to keep the Garmin 396 on the yoke for supplemental navigation, and use ForeFlight + Stratus for planning and inflight weather. ForeFlight is slowly improving for use as a supplemental navigation device and may someday displace the 396.


JKG
 
Forget the Zaon, the company's gone out of business.
 
We have the clarity SV running on a panel mounted iPad mini running wx pro. Tell you the truth, I love the capabilities but I still bring my other gps receiver and iPad with garmin pilot. Only because I started with the pad in my lap and the Garmin pilot app and this is what I'm familiar with (I don't like it more than anything else really).
 
I have been impressed with FlyQEFB. It does not seem to get much traction in the marketplace, but I am impressed with it's capabilities. I also did not want to get shackled to a particular receiver, e.g stratus. So I bought the dual xgps 170 and have been happy with the performance...though I really do not have much time using it.
 
I use a 7" Android tablet running Naviator ($34/year) or AviationMaps ($54/year). Both apps talk via bluetooth to my Zaon XRX (for PCAS traffic) and Dual XGPS170 (for ADS-B traffic and FIS-B).

If you haven't bought the iPad yet, consider an Android. If you have an iPad, consider an app that doesn't lock you into just one ADS-B receiver.
 
Marauder said:
Also, keep in mind Zaon is out of business...
Click to expand...

Definately worth considering. I've had mine for four years and love it, but I did send it back for repairs at the six-month mark. If buying one today and it fails two days later, you'll be out of $500 or whatever it costs.
 
Total rip off and just a toy if you don't have ADS-B out.
 
Very happy with Foreflight/Stratus combo. The ADS-B weather integrates directly into Foreflight airport pages as well as the chart. And it really helps spotting traffic, but only if you have ADS-B out in your plane. I had the Zaon in my last plane and it was always telling me there was a target, but I could rarely find the actual plane.

I’m trying Foreflight Pro for the first time, but as a VFR pilot the only “pro” feature I use are the geo reference taxi diagrams. I find the “Hazard Advisor” clutters up the map too much and this info is displayed better on the EFIS. I’ll likely not pay double for the one feature I use when I renew next year.
 
Unless you have ADS-B out, then a ADS B receiver will only be providing limited traffic.

I like my Zaon unit. I wish they had finished their 1090 ADS-B unit that would have merged the PCAS and ADS-B data into one data stream. Both the GDL-39 and Stratus units have unused serial ports that could be used for "data in" from a Zaon unit, but I doubt there will be much interest in that now.

As it is, I use my Zaon with a cheapo BT module and displays on the little B/K AV8OR, which I also bought when they were discontinued ($150 from Spruce).

Richman
 
The iLevil is capable of channeling the Zaon data through the serial port and display EVERYTHING on WingX Pro7. Having a wired connection reduces the number of wireless devices in the cockpit and provides a more stable connection. It even powers and recharges the battery on the iLevil when the Zaon is connected, eliminating the hassle of charging your instrument after flight.

Having both TCAS and ADS-B data is quite useful today where ADS-B-out equipped aircraft are not commonly found or out of range from an ADS-B tower. The nice thing is that WingX distinguishes ADS-B traffic from Zaon traffic with different symbols and is easier to read than in most Apps.

ForeFlight Traffic:
foreflight-traffic.png


WingX Traffic:
wingx-traffic.png


Regardless of your platform of choice, the iLevil is compatible with most Apps and provides excellent ADS-B sensitivity, AHRS stability, reliability and when it comes down to it.. safety.

Like others mentioned, I recommend the 30-day trial for the software. We also offer a 30-day trial of the iLevil.. if you don't like it.. you can return it no questions asked...

Ananda Leon
Engineer at Levil technology.
Fly Straight and Levil
 
Thanks Ananda for your help today. Excellent customer service and we will be choosing the iLevil for our portable ADS-B unit!


anandaleon said:
The iLevil is capable of channeling the Zaon data through the serial port and display EVERYTHING on WingX Pro7. Having a wired connection reduces the number of wireless devices in the cockpit and provides a more stable connection. It even powers and recharges the battery on the iLevil when the Zaon is connected, eliminating the hassle of charging your instrument after flight.

Having both TCAS and ADS-B data is quite useful today where ADS-B-out equipped aircraft are not commonly found or out of range from an ADS-B tower. The nice thing is that WingX distinguishes ADS-B traffic from Zaon traffic with different symbols and is easier to read than in most Apps.

ForeFlight Traffic:
foreflight-traffic.png


WingX Traffic:
wingx-traffic.png


Regardless of your platform of choice, the iLevil is compatible with most Apps and provides excellent ADS-B sensitivity, AHRS stability, reliability and when it comes down to it.. safety.

Like others mentioned, I recommend the 30-day trial for the software. We also offer a 30-day trial of the iLevil.. if you don't like it.. you can return it no questions asked...

Ananda Leon
Engineer at Levil technology.
Fly Straight and Levil
Click to expand...
 
I have foreflight but I do not use it when I want weather and traffic. I just can not get over the requirement to use just the stratus hardware.

I use WingX pro with my dual 170 on both my iPad3 and mini. Since I got ADS_B out, I can not deal with not having traffic and the Wing X app with the Dual 170 provides the best display for my apps. The skyradar reports the traffic position but does not display the altitude or speed which makes it almost useless on both their app and the wing X app.

I use FlyQ EFB when on an IFR flight plan. I prefer that application for ease of use; however, it does not display traffic with my Dual 170. That said, on my trip to Melbourne FL last week I used Wing X on both of my iPads. Because I was teaching IFR on that trip, I kept both apps the same so that I had the same display as my student. I am leaning towards the purchase of the iLevil SW to use as my 2nd source for traffic data display.
 
Jim_R said:
I'd rather have a Nexus 7+SkyGuard Dual-Band Transceiver+iFly software.

Rationale: I like Android, I like the iFly software and the folks who create it, and I like the ADSB-out of the SkyGuard to get ADSB traffic consistently.
Click to expand...

Anyone know if a portable ADS-B out unit can be used to comply with the 2020 mandate?
 
HelloWorld said:
Anyone know if a portable ADS-B out unit can be used to comply with the 2020 mandate?
Click to expand...

A portable ADS-B Out unit may not be used to comply with the 2020 Mandate and is never likely to as 91.225 specifically states the equipment is installed and meets the TSO requirements. The TSO also states it is for installed equipment, which IMHO rules out portables.
 
" the creator of the SkyGuard, is progressing with the FAA on certifying his unit. He is pretty confident it will happen. Some of the components may need to be replaced - IE the external GPS puck and the transmit antenna, so his plan is to sell a Certification Kit at some point to owners who have purchased the currently non-certified version."
http://ifly.adventurepilot.com/SUPP...4/postid/14029/scope/posts/Default.aspx#14029
 
Challenged said:
" the creator of the SkyGuard, is progressing with the FAA on certifying his unit. He is pretty confident it will happen. Some of the components may need to be replaced - IE the external GPS puck and the transmit antenna, so his plan is to sell a Certification Kit at some point to owners who have purchased the currently non-certified version."
http://ifly.adventurepilot.com/SUPP...4/postid/14029/scope/posts/Default.aspx#14029
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm aware of that. We'll see what eventually happens. It will not be a trivial task for him to achieve certification and get STCs for certificated aircraft. His is a small company, and while I don't doubt that success is possible for him, it is also far from guaranteed. And if he does succeed, what the final solution will look like, and how backwards-compatible it is with SkyGuard units currently in the field today, is also unclear.

tl;dr: Initial plans and final outcomes are often not identical.
 
I just found out about the SkyGuard out unit. For less than 1K, it might be a good temporary (if they do not get certified) solution that will permit my wallet to recover from some significant repair costs that make the 1K cost a rounding error. Since I have started flying with ADS_B Out, I really feel the need to have it in my trainer as well. The estimate I got for the TSO installation of ADS_B Out in the trainer was 8.1K which I do not have at this moment. Regarding wires, I purchased a battery with a cigarrette lighter adapter that I can charge up overnight and use it to connect to the unit on the hat rack (on flying days) in back of the baggage compartment so the wires would be in the back of the plane.
 
I have flown with both Clarity and iLevil.
Clarity gets very hot but has 1090 traffic.
iLevil solarcells help keep it going for a long time and stays cooler. HAs RS232 port for external deives. I used Zaon XRX.

Both did great with WingX. I also tried Garmin, Flyq, iFly, Foreflight. WingX is the only one that supports all the ADS-B and Zaon.

Sold off everything to get the SkyguardTWX for ADS-B In/Out. Although I passed on the AHRS, since both Clarity and iLevil weren't that accurate.
Going to grab a Dynon D1 or D2 for AHRS.
 
JGoodish said:
WingX does more, but ForeFlight does what it does better than WingX, and ForeFlight provides better support. Garmin Pilot was also very nice when I looked at it a while back, though (like WingX) it had some small but annoying bugs that never seemed to get fixed.

When I evaluated all three of them about a year ago, none of them had basic feature parity with Garmin's aviation handhelds, but they all did things which the handhelds did not do. My solution at present is to keep the Garmin 396 on the yoke for supplemental navigation, and use ForeFlight + Stratus for planning and inflight weather. ForeFlight is slowly improving for use as a supplemental navigation device and may someday displace the 396.


JKG
Click to expand...

I have never had anything but good Support from Hilton/WingX on the few occasions I needed any.:dunno:
 
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