Foreflight ....No Fix?

Unit74

Unit74

Final Approach
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Unit74
I spent half of today's 300 mile flight with my foreflight sayin NO FIX on the bottom. This is not the first time, but it is getting common.

I have an iPad 2 Verizon and no other source of gps ( yet). It's yoke mounted in an Archer.

I toggled out of foreflight to look at a notes page, then back in to Foreflight and got the message. About 20 miles outside Dallas, it came back in, then lost it again about a minute later.


What am I doing wrong?:dunno: not very reliable at all.
 
The IPAD2 is a bit long in the tooth. But that's what I use with no problems.

Has it worked for you before and is suddenly causing problems, or are you just starting to use it this way? My suspicion it is a hardware issue or possibly a software setting rather than a FF problem. But I have no advice for you.
 
Make sure cellular is on. I know, it doesn't work in flight. But for some reason the GPS receiver is tied to the cellular. Once you get your pointer back you can turn off the cellular again.
 
Cell was off, but for half the route it was working fine. Seems like if I move away from the map page or out of the app, then back in is where I have an issue. I even rebooted the iPad inflight to see if that wold clear it out. I ended up flying the gns430 and only pulled up the airport info on foreflight when I got inside DFW.
 
Right. When you lose it turn the cell back on. After a few minutes it'll find itself. When it does turn the cell back off.
 
Also, when I took off, I was connected to my hotspot. At FL, it didn't work of course.
 
Captain said:
Right. When you lose it turn the cell back on. After a few minutes it'll find itself. When it does turn the cell back off.
Click to expand...

I'll give it a go next time I'm up. Thanks.
 
JOhnH said:
The IPAD2 is a bit long in the tooth. But that's what I use with no problems.

Has it worked for you before and is suddenly causing problems, or are you just starting to use it this way? My suspicion it is a hardware issue or possibly a software setting rather than a FF problem. But I have no advice for you.
Click to expand...


I have only flown with it about 4 times so far. It has "lost" itself every time. I just down loaded it when I bought my plane last month.
 
It just might be the internal GPS chip that is the problem. I am on my third IPAD because the GPS went intermittent like yours is doing. So far they have been covered under warranty. If my current one quits too then it will be out of my pocket expense. I do have a Stratus II, so for Foreflight it will not be a problem.

Foreflight is great, you might consider a Stratus II so you can have the onboard weather display and a reliable GPS.
 
Get a Bluetooth GPS, if you have a few hundred extra get it with the AHRS and ADS-B In, then get WingX.
 
I did not realize the gps reciever was tied to the cell reciever.
I always turn off both cell and wifi for gos only to save battery life. I have an iPad Gen 1.

I have lost gps reception at times. Normally the iPad is in my lap or on the empty seat next to me. If I set it down between the seats or prop it on the floor against the fuel selector it might lose gps. When that happens I just get it near a window for a while.

I do have a Gen 1 plug in Bad Elf that I have used when GPS reception was marginal. I fly high wing Cessnas.

I'm still debating, next iPad, mini? With or without cell(GPS)? But with Stratus? I do use ForeFlight.
 
BillTIZ said:
I did not realize the gps reciever was tied to the cell reciever.
Click to expand...

That's complicated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

The GPS subsystem can use cell data for startup speed improvement, especially in situations where ephemeris data is not downloaded or is out of date.

GPS receivers in mobile devices do not require mobile phone service. Non-GPS based location services belong to the broader class of "Location Based Services":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_service

FWIW, I also have a non-serviced iPad 3 that works fine in the aircraft unless I'm under a wing. I am not sure if having service on the iPad would cause assisted GPS to enable and mess with me.
 
Unit74 said:
I spent half of today's 300 mile flight with my foreflight sayin NO FIX on the bottom. This is not the first time, but it is getting common.

I have an iPad 2 Verizon and no other source of gps ( yet). It's yoke mounted in an Archer.

I toggled out of foreflight to look at a notes page, then back in to Foreflight and got the message. About 20 miles outside Dallas, it came back in, then lost it again about a minute later.


What am I doing wrong?:dunno: not very reliable at all.
Click to expand...

1) Reboot the iPad
2) Consider the Bad Elf Bluetooth GPS. It has a lot of benefits even for iPads with 4G and GPS. For example, without the Bad Elf I lose GPS position if I blank the screen to save battery. The Bad Elf will hold your GPS position and Bluetooth it to the iPad in about 2 seconds when you power up the screen again. The Bad Elf is also WAAS and the iPad GPS is not.

I have an iPad mini with ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot and have never lost signal in my Cardinal or in an Archer with yoke mount.

I hope this helps.

Gene
 
My ipad 2's gps with FF is over 99% rock-solid and I do not even have a data plan. So cell data is always 'off'.
So I am not believing his problem is the 'aged' ipad2 or the cell data suggestion.
 
I believe the suggestion to turn cellular data on was to help the GPS get a fix, which is why he then suggested to turn it back off at which point the GPS would be fine on its own. Regardless, this does not sound typical of most iPad/FF users' experience. It's possible the GPS antenna inside this particular iPad is damaged slightly. I have literally only lost GPS on the iPad once -- and certainly not for a sustained period of time.

You probably won't get much support from Apple on this since they won't be able to replicate the problem and the iPad 2 is quite old at this point. I would suggest either selling it and buying a new one, or buying one of the $90 external bluetooth GPS antennas.
 
<------- This guy is a professional pilot who lives on an iPad 2 and FF. Been through a few iPads too so it's not unit specific. We're not talking once in awhile here or every weekend. We're talking 4 to 6 legs a day, 5 days a week. I'm pretty certain I'm right here.
 
It's ironic that FF doesn't work in "Airplane mode"!!:rofl:
Seriously I never turn the cellular data off when flying, I do on my phone, but not my iPad. Now to be clear, I don't sit with my iPad open the entire flight, I use it to look at something, similar to the way I use a chart or approach book.

Captain said:
<------- This guy is a professional pilot who lives on an iPad 2 and FF. Been through a few iPads too so it's not unit specific. We're not talking once in awhile here or every weekend. We're talking 4 to 6 legs a day, 5 days a week. I'm pretty certain I'm right here.
Click to expand...
 
Just sounds like you are on the short end of the ubiquitous "Do I need an external GPS for my iPad?" question. Some report they have never had a problem with the internal GPS; others report that have. YRMV.
 
I plan on buying a Stratus, but am a little short on funds after paying the AR sales tax bill on the plane this week. Not to mention they are back ordered right now.
 
Henning said:
Get a Bluetooth GPS, if you have a few hundred extra get it with the AHRS and ADS-B In, then get WingX.
Click to expand...

Wat? You're talking a minimum of $750 more than a Bluetooth-only GPS to get a wireless AHRS + ADS-B In for ForeFlight. And $950 more than a Bluetooth-only GPS to get that for Wing X.

Bad Elf Pro: Bluetooth GPS, works with all apps: $149
Stratus 2: Dual-band ADS-B + AHRS, ForeFlight only: $899
iLevil SW: Single-band ADS-B + AHRS, for WingX etc: $1095
Clarity SV: Dual-band ADS-B + AHRS, for WingX etc: $1400
(retail prices as of 6/15/14)

And if you're going straight to a wireless ADS-B + AHRS receiver for an app, it's a $200-$500 premium over Stratus 2 + ForeFlight to get a wireless ADS-B + AHRS that works with WingX etc. Ouch...
 
You can also just buy the Bad Elf GPS for Lightning connector that plugs into the iPad. That one is $100, instead of the $150 for the bluetooth one.
 
Tried different ways to get it on the gps yesterday. For the 3 hour flight from Dallas to little rock, foreflight was of little use, again. It would pop in for a few seconds, first show a blue dot, then the aircraft icon. Shortly thereafter, it would disappear.

Wifi on, cell on, BT on, reboot, toggle them on/off..... No dice. When I'm wifi to my hot spot, I have full functionality on the ground. In the air, it's nothing more than a sectional map and AFD.
 
Unit74 said:
Tried different ways to get it on the gps yesterday. For the 3 hour flight from Dallas to little rock, foreflight was of little use, again. It would pop in for a few seconds, first show a blue dot, then the aircraft icon. Shortly thereafter, it would disappear.

Wifi on, cell on, BT on, reboot, toggle them on/off..... No dice. When I'm wifi to my hot spot, I have full functionality on the ground. In the air, it's nothing more than a sectional map and AFD.
Click to expand...

Have you checked Apple Settings ->> Privacy ->> Location Services to see if the ForeFlight entry is ON?

And that in ForeFlight, More ->> Settings ->> Enable Ownship is set to Always?

Also worth checking your Download Settings in More ->> Downloads ->> United States to make sure your states are still selected.

- Josh
 
happypilot876 said:
Wat? You're talking a minimum of $750 more than a Bluetooth-only GPS to get a wireless AHRS + ADS-B In for ForeFlight. And $950 more than a Bluetooth-only GPS to get that for Wing X.

Bad Elf Pro: Bluetooth GPS, works with all apps: $149
Stratus 2: Dual-band ADS-B + AHRS, ForeFlight only: $899
iLevil SW: Single-band ADS-B + AHRS, for WingX etc: $1095
Clarity SV: Dual-band ADS-B + AHRS, for WingX etc: $1400
(retail prices as of 6/15/14)

And if you're going straight to a wireless ADS-B + AHRS receiver for an app, it's a $200-$500 premium over Stratus 2 + ForeFlight to get a wireless ADS-B + AHRS that works with WingX etc. Ouch...
Click to expand...


You can be cheap, or you can have all the information, your choice. If you're gonna whine about even $1500 for all the information, you should likely stick to Pt 103 flying, because Pt 91 costs are just going to give you a kaniption.
 
Next, I would borrow a remote gps, plug it in and see if the problem goes away.
 
I have an iPad Mini - version 3 or 4 I think...with Foreflight Pro 6.1 or whatever the latest version is. I've been flying with it WITHOUT ONE HITCH for more than a year.

About 6 months ago I picked up a Stratus I and Bluetoothed (or WiFi'd, can't remember which) it to iPad but didn't see enough difference to keep it, so the Stratus I is for sale (along with the window suction cup mount, which is great, athough it worked fine on the backseat floor - but got in the way of rear-seat pax occasionally).

I always leave my Cell Data on in flight - the iPad's battery lasts at least 4 hours for me, and I've got an external USB cable to the cigarette lighter if I need it (I never have), plus I carry a little external 'power booster' battery that you can connect the iPad to if necessary (only used it once).

SO...if anyone wants my Stratus I, make me an offer over $300. It's great, but the iPad has never quit on me, so... (don't say it)

Ben - in LA.
 
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