Flight apps, devices, connectivity, Stratus

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
Want to help a young friend 'navigate' this topic.

Foreflight will work with idevices, how about non-Apple tablets?

I flew with a guy who claimed his ipad app was free and had all current charts, also free. Fltplan.com? Flightaware? Bogus? I saw the charts, just can't verify they were free, or if they georef'd or not, or if they were actually current.

Stratus. I still have one but don't need it anymore thanks to the proliferation of ads-b connections to the a/c I fly now.
The plane he is flying doesn't have ads-b in and he might get a tablet lacking gps.
Is it right to say the Stratus will most likely allow his device to get traffic/weather/georeffing?
 
I don't know if foreflight will work on andriod. It didn't used to.
For Android, I use Avare. It is open source, so no charge, and you can download current charts for no charge. Works great on Android, no idea about ipad.
I believe Stratus is one brand of ads-b in, plus GPS and maybe AHRS. I don't know what software or hardware works with it.
An open source, less expensive hardware ads-b in plus GPS is Stratux. That works with Android and Avare. But if the Android or Ipad has a decent GPS he might not need it. I initially used a Duo 160 which worked great. GPS only, but it was WAAS, and connected via bluetooth.

So to actually answer your question, you need to find and lookup whatever software he has, and see if it supports Stratus on his device.
 
WingX can be free if one qualifies, then it would be current as updated.

I mostly use Garmin Pilot, pay the fee.
 
Foreflight does not work in Android.

The two free apps which do are FltPlan Go! (Owned by Garmin) and Avare (open source and crowdsourced). if we are talking VFR, both are acceptable. Avare probably has a less steep learning curve. WingX for Android is useless.

Early Stratus (through version 2 or 3, I forget which) only worked with Foreflight. Not sure if it includes Android, but the current model is more open-sourced.
 
Foreflight works on Apple devices only. With ten years of FF under my belt, that’s good enough for me.

That said, for the Apple haters there are several free apps that will run on the off brand gadgets. I fully expect that they aren’t as all encompassing as FF, but I also expect that they are at least a thousand percent better than the flight tools and material that I was using before I found Foreflight.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Foreflight does not work in Android.

The two free apps which do are FltPlan Go! (Owned by Garmin) and Avare (open source and crowdsourced). if we are talking VFR, both are acceptable. Avare probably has a less steep learning curve. WingX for Android is useless.

Early Stratus (through version 2 or 3, I forget which) only worked with Foreflight. Not sure if it includes Android, but the current model is more open-sourced.
Click to expand...

Why do you say VFR only for Avare? I've been using Avare for IFR for several years with no problems. I am sure it is lacking features that FF has, but Avare has all the basics one needs for IFR.
 
sarangan said:
Why do you say VFR only for Avare? I've been using Avare for IFR for several years with no problems. I am sure it is lacking features that FF has, but Avare has all the basics one needs for IFR.
Click to expand...
I did not use the word "only." Not saying unacceptable for IFR (it is for me but YMMV).
 
Apple hater? Nah. I just don't want to spend 4x for something that's, at best, of equal quality. To me it's a consumer IQ/vanity check. Reminds me of my childhood, when some kids wanted the shirts with the little alligators on them. But if you make your living flying, and it's fractionally better to spend x hundred more to make your career better, absolutely. Along those lines, I do use istuff for work, because they pay for it.
 
I've never quite figured out why some people need to translate preferring one thing into hating alternatives. Something inside them, I guess.

When I started using an EFB more than 10 years ago, there was only one choice for platform, iOS, and only two app choices, ForeFlight and WingX. So bought an iPad, and made my choice. Used my Android phone to tell my friends.

I still prefer that combination. Primary EFB, FF, on my iPad (I currently have 3 others loaded too and have had as many as 6). Backup EFB on my Android phone and tablet (mostly iFly, which I think is the single best Android choice out there, but I play well with others).
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
WI flew with a guy who claimed his ipad app was free and had all current charts, also free. Fltplan.com? Flightaware? Bogus? I saw the charts, just can't verify they were free, or if they georef'd or not, or if they were actually current.
Click to expand...
FltPlan Go is free on both iOS and Android, and has current charts and plates for the U.S. and Canada. So nothing bogus there.

Stratus. I still have one but don't need it anymore thanks to the proliferation of ads-b connections to the a/c I fly now.
The plane he is flying doesn't have ads-b in and he might get a tablet lacking gps.
Is it right to say the Stratus will most likely allow his device to get traffic/weather/georeffing?
Click to expand...
As others mentioned, Stratus support will depend on what he's running. And don't buy a tablet that doesn't have built-in GPS, because you introduce a weak link by relying exclusively on an external device (e.g. if you lose Bluetooth, you'll also lose all your location information in your EFB). Android tablets (nearly?) all have built-in GPS; for an iPad, you need to pay extra for the cellular version, but I think it would be worth it.
 
We have a Stratus ADSB-in in our club plane. If you connect with Foreflight, it will force Stratus to switch to a proprietary protocol and make it inaccessible for everyone else who does not use Foreflight. Power cycling will not reset this. You will be screwed. You need the Stratus software (which also only runs on iOS) to switch it back to the GDL-90 open source format. This is a dirty business practice, in my opinion. I had to do some wifi snooping and write a separate app on Android to get around this. I do have an issue with dominant companies that use their gatekeeper power in coercive ways to block competition. Microsoft has done this, Apple has done it, and I am sure Foreflight is no exception either.
 
sarangan said:
We have a Stratus ADSB-in in our club plane. If you connect with Foreflight, it will force Stratus to switch to a proprietary protocol and make it inaccessible for everyone else who does not use Foreflight. Power cycling will not reset this. You will be screwed. You need the Stratus software (which also only runs on iOS) to switch it back to the GDL-90 open source format. This is a dirty business practice, in my opinion. I had to do some wifi snooping and write a separate app on Android to get around this. I do have an issue with dominant companies that use their gatekeeper power in coercive ways to block competition. Microsoft has done this, Apple has done it, and I am sure Foreflight is no exception either.
Click to expand...

You figured out how to make a Stratus 2s talk to something besides F Flight?
 
Inquiring minds want to know.
I use I Fly on my Android tablet. It can’t talk to the Stratus 2s, although it supposedly can talk with a Status 3 which uses the open format.

Of course, the club planes all have a 2s hardwired to the Stratus transponders.

Will the App then somehow jail break the Stratus 2s so that it broadcasts out using the universal format?

Does it take the Stratus 2 signal and re broadcast it back out using the open format ?
 
Portable ADSB-in receivers are cheap and well worth it. Here’s one for $299 at Sportys and they also have one for $499 with a built in carbon monoxide alarm. Foreflight is probably the most well know and either $99/year or $199/year with geo-locating. Foreflight has promos of 1, 2, or 3 months free every now and then, well worth it for the peace of mind it provides.

https://www.sportys.com/foreflight-sentry-mini-ads-b-receiver.html
 
Unfortunately
  • Sentry and Sentry mini only works with ForeFlight.
  • ForeFlight won’t run on Android tablet, only I Pad
  • I use my Android tablet because it is sunlight readable and I Pad not so much.
  • Which is why I use IFly - which will run on the Android.
Unless I can find a way to get it to “talk” to a Stratus 2s, my only other option is a $800 Stratus 3 portable ADSB. Yikes….
 
Albany Tom said:
Why not get a stratux for about half that?
Click to expand...
Some love it. I’m warming up to it but pop up timer not there yet.

I have a mental image of endless tweaks and firmware what not to keep it working, antanae the size of an Admiral TV rabbit ear set, zip ties, etc.
 
WDD said:
Some love it. I’m warming up to it but pop up timer not there yet.

I have a mental image of endless tweaks and firmware what not to keep it working, antanae the size of an Admiral TV rabbit ear set, zip ties, etc.
Click to expand...
I have a backup Stratux I haven't used in a few years. Mostly because every airplane I fly already has something compatible with my EFB.

You are right about the bulk. But the firmware has been relatively stable with surprisingly few tweaks in the past few years (although there was a major release thus past November). One of our flight schools did Tailbeacons for ADS-B compliance and hardwired Stratux for ADS-B in for the older fleet. It has worked well.

I think there are commercial options which are universal. I think there's still a an XGPS model out there. But I think the combination of folks having installed ADS-B In and the popularity of Foreflight has resulted in a very small market for alternatives. Stratux might actually be the "big player" as strange as that sounds.
 
WDD said:
You figured out how to make a Stratus 2s talk to something besides F Flight?
Click to expand...
I doubt it, but maybe.
WDD said:
Does it take the Stratus 2 signal and re broadcast it back out using the open format ?
Click to expand...
Which is the only way to make it happen. The 3 is the only stratus box with GDL90 protocol.

I had a 2S for a few weeks this past fall, trying to get it to work w/ifly. The best I could get was a heartbeat only on either iOS or android.
 
TCABM said:
I doubt it, but maybe.

Which is the only way to make it happen. The 3 is the only stratus box with GDL90 protocol.

I had a 2S for a few weeks this past fall, trying to get it to work w/ifly. The best I could get was a heartbeat only on either iOS or android.
Click to expand...
For a short while iFly worked with either the Stratus 1 or 2. There was a hack going around. FlyQ used it too. Problem was, as soon as you updated the Stratus firmware, the hack went away. So they probably figured "don't bother."

BTW, just for jollies, I tried to install the latest Stratux build and I couldn't even load it onto the SD card (I don't know if it's me or them or something about Etcher (the program used to flash the card with the OS). It's big deal is some Euro-specific additions so I really don't care. But the almost 4 year old v1.5R5 (released April 2018) has been pretty solid.
 
I don't mind paying more of a premium so that I can use foreflight on an iPad. I use both stratus and connectx with Garmin. Two gps sources and the stratus and iPad save flight recorder data. If I lose aircraft power I still know exactly where I'm at and fly a georef'd moving map approach if I need too. 800$ stratus plus 900$ iPad to basically never be lost is worth it.
 
Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge FFlight fan. Have had it for years. Just renewed the Pro version to get the IFR plate map overlay.

I use IFly in the plane because FFlight will not run on the Android Triplex tablet - which I use because it is sunlight readable vs I pad, won’t overheat, has a beast of a battery life, etc.

Do I want it all? Yes I do

First world problem? Yes it is
 
WDD said:
Some love it. I’m warming up to it but pop up timer not there yet.

I have a mental image of endless tweaks and firmware what not to keep it working, antanae the size of an Admiral TV rabbit ear set, zip ties, etc.
Click to expand...

I get that. I ran the Dual 160, I think the model was, to get me WAAS GPS (plus the Russian one!) for my tablet for the longest time. Then I wanted traffic because of a couple of flights where the pilot passenger saw traffic on their ipad that I absolutely didn't visually. I do IT for a living, but didn't want hassle, either. So I bought a turn-key unit, I think from a veteran owned company on Amazon. Link to what I bought, not sure if it's still valid: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071HMQY19

It just works. The only hassle is that the battery and the unit are separate, and that it's bulky. I want to 3-d print something to hold them together, with the point being to let it sit in the back seat of the different PA-28's I rent. I think the AHRS is a bit of a toy, but I blame the platform rather than the reseller for that one.

To me ADSB traffic is a bit of safety luxury. I did my sport and PPL without it. I believe the highest collision risk is in or near the pattern and that the best avoidance in that area is visual and monitoring radio. So if I have a passenger I'll let them monitor traffic on a spare tablet. Inside a 5 mile radius my scan is 95% outside.
 
So…. Why does the Stratux need 6 inch antennae while the Stratus has internal antennae ?
 
Good question... Maybe the Stratus has a lower noise floor so is more sensitive, or maybe it's because the Stratus marketing team didn't want an external antenna and the Stratux performs a bit better. I honestly don't know. My Stratux works fine from the middle of the back seat in a Cherokee. So the receive is pretty good. But it's back there because it's too bulky for me to want to put it up front behind the windscreen.
 
I guess I could just jam it into the rear seat back pocket. But I’d need a second flight bag just to carry it LOL.

I keep thinking of this;
 

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Yeah. If I weren't so cheap I would have gone with something different. I think Dual makes on with adsb traffic that works with Android and is maybe $100 less than the Stratus.
 
WDD said:
I guess I could just jam it into the rear seat back pocket. But I’d need a second flight bag just to carry it LOL.

I keep thinking of this;
Click to expand...
You pretty much do need an extra bag for it. For in the airplane the school uses a suction mount on the rear side window.
 
I just can’t believe a pre-built stratux is pushing $400 now.
 
Hello everyone,

I’m looking for any app to share flight information for passengers. I was using ForeFlight passenger but for King Air B250 usually lost information. Anyone use app to share information about ETA, speed, moving map?

Thanks.
 
I used Foreflight passenger last week and worked pretty good for my passenger (I also have a Stratus 3)
 
Also, I took my first flight with iflygps yesterday and I really liked it. Going to fly some approaches to try it out. I had my ipad with flyQ and my Android phone with fly and I didn't need to reach for the iPad. That's a good sign. The only I don't like about iflygps is zooming in the maps seems blurry compared to other software but was no factor in flight.
 
Feh said:
I used Foreflight passenger last week and worked pretty good for my passenger (I also have a Stratus 3)
Click to expand...
What kind aircraft? I think the iPad on the King Air B250 is too far f on the passenger, often loses connection.
 
Guttobh said:
What kind aircraft? I think the iPad on the King Air B250 is too far f on the passenger, often loses connection.
Click to expand...

Piper Warrior II, I put it on the passenger side glareshield. iPad on the yoke.
 
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