Bad Elf

Ventucky Red

Ventucky Red

Pattern Altitude
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Jan 9, 2013
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Display name:
Jon
Anyone here using one of these.... are they worth it? My iPad has the location services, but from what I understand they operate off of cell towers and is not a true GPS..

Thanks
 
Which kind of Bad Elf are you talking about? I have the one that looks like a stop watch and connects to multiple devices though bluetooth. I've had it for over a year now. It works great and the battery lasts a long time. (24 hours plus last week when I forgot to get it out of the plane. It was still going strong over 24 hours after I turned it on.)
 
I have the original that goes into the port. I keep it in my bag as a backup since I now use the stratus. anyway, if I had to get another bad elf, I'd get the one that connects via BT since you can do more than one ipad. I didn't like having the bad elf sticking out of the ipad. I was always worried I was going to hit it and damage the port.
 
Like Jim, I also have the one that connects via bt. Works great with FF, never a problem. I just leave it in a small camera case on the floor. If I ever get a Stratus, I will continue to carry it as a backup.
 
Thanks Gents.... I ordered the blue tooth, that way if I upgrade my iPad, I am good to go..
 
Ventucky Red said:
Anyone here using one of these.... are they worth it? My iPad has the location services, but from what I understand they operate off of cell towers and is not a true GPS..

Thanks
Click to expand...

No sir, if it is data enabled (equipped with a 3G chip, whether the plan is activated or not), it uses GPS. The cell network, if available, helps to speed the initial location acquisition. If you do not have a 3G chip, it can't use GPS, but neither can it use the cell phone network. In that case location services will use WIFI.
 
Sac Arrow said:
No sir, if it is data enabled (equipped with a 3G chip, whether the plan is activated or not), it uses GPS. The cell network, if available, helps to speed the initial location acquisition. If you do not have a 3G chip, it can't use GPS, but neither can it use the cell phone network. In that case location services will use WIFI.
Click to expand...

OK, I have the iPad 3rd Generation WiFi/Verizon.. When doing a commercial from LAX to DCA a few weeks back the iPad could not function as a GPS, that is it didn't work tracking my flight in Foreflight... On the other hand, the Garmin Nuvi I brought along for auto navigation for that trip worked well... I had a window seat!!

When I started asking around I was told that the GPS system in the iPad worked from triangulating the cell towers and will work cell/data plan or not... and is not very reliable sometimes...

So, what am I missing here?
 
I have the bad elf pro+ with barometric pressure. It's great and the customer service is really good as well. I find that my ipad mini and my iphone both use the battery much less with the bad elf sending data via blue tooth. It's also fun for skiing and hiking.
 
Note, if you just upgraded your iPad to software version 8.3 (latest update) your Bluetooth GPS may not work. It's a bug with Apple and it affects all older BT GPS devices. If you have not upgraded to iOS 8.3, DONT.
 
Ventucky Red said:
OK, I have the iPad 3rd Generation WiFi/Verizon.. When doing a commercial from LAX to DCA a few weeks back the iPad could not function as a GPS, that is it didn't work tracking my flight in Foreflight... On the other hand, the Garmin Nuvi I brought along for auto navigation for that trip worked well... I had a window seat!!

When I started asking around I was told that the GPS system in the iPad worked from triangulating the cell towers and will work cell/data plan or not... and is not very reliable sometimes...

So, what am I missing here?
Click to expand...

With cell data plan, you have an internal GPS. The cell data can be turned off in "settings" and leave the GPS fully functional. If you selected "Airplane Mode" you turned everything off, including the GPS receiver.

As a previous post stated, the iPad will use cell tower position to assist in GPS lock on. But it works best without the cell data. Leaving cell data on while flying will run down the battery faster as it keeps searching for a tower to connect.

I had problems with iPad Gen1 not getting a good GPS on a commercial flight. I even lost GPS a few times in light high wing aircraft. I had the plug in bad elf which never dropped a GPS signal.

My newest Air2 is wifi only, I have the bad elf pro+ for Bluetooth GPS data.
 
Ventucky Red said:
OK, I have the iPad 3rd Generation WiFi/Verizon.. When doing a commercial from LAX to DCA a few weeks back the iPad could not function as a GPS, that is it didn't work tracking my flight in Foreflight... On the other hand, the Garmin Nuvi I brought along for auto navigation for that trip worked well... I had a window seat!!

When I started asking around I was told that the GPS system in the iPad worked from triangulating the cell towers and will work cell/data plan or not... and is not very reliable sometimes...

So, what am I missing here?
Click to expand...

Aside from the above comment, has it worked other times? Depending on what you fly, reception may or may not be an issue for you with the internal GPS. I've used the Ipad with the internal GPS with no issues in both the Arrow and in 172's. I also have cell data turned off to save battery plus I don't have an active data plan.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Aside from the above comment, has it worked other times? Depending on what you fly, reception may or may not be an issue for you with the internal GPS. I've used the Ipad with the internal GPS with no issues in both the Arrow and in 172's. I also have cell data turned off to save battery plus I don't have an active data plan.
Click to expand...

Much of my flying is C172/PA28.... When flying local, yes it works fine, and I have all the settings as you mentioned above...
 
My Ipad GPS usually fails at the wrong time. I sync my elf pro with the ipad bluetooth on beginning my decent in ifr or whenever I need extra situational awareness. Also the ipad gps fails more often the higher you go.

Works great.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Much of my flying is C172/PA28.... When flying local, yes it works fine, and I have all the settings as you mentioned above...
Click to expand...

When you say "commercial" in your original post, do you mean a window seat in a passenger jet? My GPS reception on the Ipad is spotty at best in jetliners. The Bad Elf might work better in that environment if that's the case, I don't know.
 
Sac Arrow said:
When you say "commercial" in your original post, do you mean a window seat in a passenger jet? My GPS reception on the Ipad is spotty at best in jetliners. The Bad Elf might work better in that environment if that's the case, I don't know.
Click to expand...

Don't think bluetooth is permitted in the passenger cabin?
 
oilburner said:
Don't think bluetooth is permitted in the passenger cabin?
Click to expand...

BillTIZ said:
Never heard that one spelled out on any airline I've flown.
Click to expand...

Bluetooth is a transmitting device, and transmitting devices are normally prohibited. That said, people use them, as well as phones, cameras, Ipads, etc....
 
Sac Arrow said:
Bluetooth is a transmitting device, and transmitting devices are normally prohibited. That said, people use them, as well as phones, cameras, Ipads, etc....
Click to expand...

Some flights now have WiFi on board, a transmitting device.
 
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