Kindle DX, charts

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
20,345
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Display name:
Dave Taylor
I stumbled across a Kindle DX, did someone say there are charts you can put on them?
Tks
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
how about vfr charts?
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very doubtful and here's why:

I don't believe the Kindle DX Shows color.

but more importantly, it can't zoom into a pdf and move the screen and pan around it. that's the feature that is missing and would make the kindle a complete replacement to paper in the cockpit. It would replace enroute, vfr and tacs as well as what it already replaces.
 
Dave, just ante up for an iPAD and Foreflight. I am certainly not a computer guy, but I got mine a couple of weeks ago, and it is wonderful.

Wells
 
W. Stewart said:
Dave, just ante up for an iPAD and Foreflight. I am certainly not a computer guy, but I got mine a couple of weeks ago, and it is wonderful.
Wells
Click to expand...

You are a good salesman, Wells - I might well do that, and shortly.
Thanks.
It will do moving map, no?
 
From the ForeFlight FAQ page:
Is ForeFlight Mobile 3 a moving map?
Yes, it supports moving map functions (such as viewing your current location on a IFR enroute or VFR sectional chart) as well as data readouts on the iPad (speed, track, and GPS altitude). It does not provide geo-located approach plates or airport diagrams. FFM is being actively extended to further utilize the onboard GPS in Apple hardware, so please stay tuned!
http://www.foreflight.com/support-faq.php?product=mobile#Is+ForeFlight+Mobile+3+a+moving+map?



You need the 3G iPad and you have to remember to disable something in settings while still on the ground to get it to work.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Huh? No you don't. :dunno:
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OK, but Airplane Mode must be off otherwise GPS is disabled. I think that you might need to turn wifi off or something else as well when you are still on the ground. One time I turned my iPad on at altitude and could not get moving map to work no matter what I tried.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
You are a good salesman, Wells - I might well do that, and shortly.
Thanks.
It will do moving map, no?
Click to expand...

If you buy the one with a GPS chip in it (means the 3G models), or buy an external GPS unit for it. I bought the 32G 3G model.

The moving map will display your position on the VFR or IFR charts. There is not geo-referencing on taxiway diagrams (I have that on my 496, anyway), nor on approach plates (who would trust that, anyway, and it would be a distraction).

Watch the two video clips that SCCutler posted. The brief second one shows the plane position on the IFR chart. The first clip is a bit misleading, as one might think that the radar map was accessible in flight (guess that might be, if one were receiving 3G data network, but I am not sure how reliable that is. I don't subscribe to any data network). For me, the weather maps are useful in preflight planning if I am in a wireless network location. The maps I use in flight are solely VFR and low altitude IFR charts.

I just received a notice to update my FAA chart subscription (eastern US low alt and approach plates for east coast states from GA to MA), on which I was spending $532. I am not renewing, and figure that I will recoup my expense on the iPAD/Foreflight in 1 1/2 year. A friend who owns a Cheyenne will let me have his recently-outdated paper each cycle, for backup in my plane. I intend to carry that paper for diversions, and print out plates for my intended destination.

Wells
 
Gary F said:
OK, but Airplane Mode must be off otherwise GPS is disabled. I think that you might need to turn wifi off or something else as well when you are still on the ground. One time I turned my iPad on at altitude and could not get moving map to work no matter what I tried.
Click to expand...

Yes, Airplane Mode disables the GPS - It's part of the 3G chip. Unfortunate.

It doesn't matter if WiFi is on or off, really - But it's a good idea to turn off the "auto-seek" function of WiFi unless you really use it anyway. It uses a lot of power. But, I don't make a special trip to Settings to turn it off entirely.

It *IS* a good idea to launch ForeFlight when you're on the ground, as the quick-start feature of the GPS relies on being able to ping a cell tower for the initial rough position information so that it knows exactly which satellites to look for. If you forget to do this and launch in the air, the only thing to try is patience - It will eventually find you, but like any GPS that has been off for any significant length of time and/or moved any significant distance, it can take several minutes to figure out which satellites to listen to.

I've never had it not be able to find me *at all* but it can take some time. Even Garmins will do this - And the Garmins will sometimes give up and ask you to tell it your rough position to help it out.
 
OBTW - ForeFlight does support two external GPS units now as well - One Bluetooth (needs its own battery, and the iPad has to have its bluetooth on and operating which will affect its battery as well), and one direct plug-in model (uses the iPad's battery, but airplane mode can be turned on which will save a lot of power).

It's kind of a wash as far as cost - You can save the extra money it costs to get a 3G iPad, but you'll spend most of it on the purchase of the external GPS anyway. But, if you end up in possession of a WiFi-only iPad, you can now use ForeFlight's moving map functionality via one of these external GPS units.
 
On iPad 3G you don't have to enable "Airplane Mode".
Use:
"Settings"->"Cellular Data"->"Off" to disable 3G
"Settings"->"Wi-Fi"->"Off" to disable WiFi
"Settings"->"General"->"Bluetooth"->"Off to disable Bluetooth
That leaves GPS enabled and suppress other radios.
Looks complicated but most people keep 3G and Bluetooth turned off all the time so the only thing you have to do is turn on/off WiFi.
And it is always a good idea to get GPS fix while on the ground just before starting the engine.
 
Artiom said:
On iPad 3G you don't have to enable "Airplane Mode".
Use:
"Settings"->"Cellular Data"->"Off" to disable 3G
"Settings"->"Wi-Fi"->"Off" to disable WiFi
"Settings"->"General"->"Bluetooth"->"Off to disable Bluetooth
That leaves GPS enabled and suppress other radios.
Looks complicated but most people keep 3G and Bluetooth turned off all the time so the only thing you have to do is turn on/off WiFi.
And it is always a good idea to get GPS fix while on the ground just before starting the engine.
Click to expand...
You know, one of the things I love about Android, Palm OS, and jailbroken iPhones is the fact that you can make a SINGLE click to disable each of these things.

Why can this not be done on the unjailbroken iOS? What is apple waiting for?? It's such a useful feature, especially the wifi one.
 
Artiom said:
On iPad 3G you don't have to enable "Airplane Mode".
Use:
"Settings"->"Cellular Data"->"Off" to disable 3G
"Settings"->"Wi-Fi"->"Off" to disable WiFi
"Settings"->"General"->"Bluetooth"->"Off to disable Bluetooth
That leaves GPS enabled and suppress other radios.
Looks complicated but most people keep 3G and Bluetooth turned off all the time so the only thing you have to do is turn on/off WiFi.
And it is always a good idea to get GPS fix while on the ground just before starting the engine.
Click to expand...

Well I'll be... I didn't think it was possible to turn off 3G without disabling the GPS as well. But, it appears to work. That's awesome - It means that I can make the iPad's battery last MUCH longer in flight! :goofy:

BTW, I wouldn't say that "most people" keep 3G turned off all the time - Otherwise, what would be the point of having a 3G iPad? Sure, us aviators want the GPS, but most people buy a 3G iPad so they can have data anywhere.
 
elmetal said:
You know, one of the things I love about Android, Palm OS, and jailbroken iPhones is the fact that you can make a SINGLE click to disable each of these things.

Why can this not be done on the unjailbroken iOS? What is apple waiting for?? It's such a useful feature, especially the wifi one.
Click to expand...

Ummm... It's called "airplane mode." But that disables the GPS too.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Ummm... It's called "airplane mode." But that disables the GPS too.
Click to expand...
That's not what I mean.

I mean on android/palm/jailbroken os I can literally press 1 single button (Not settings, airplane mode) and disable EACH thing separately.

For the iphone, I have to go: Settings, Wifi, off, back, connections, bluetooth, off, back data off, home

it's stupid.

Jailbroken iphone (since the first iphone), swipe the top to bring up SBSettings, 1 click for wifi, 1 click for bluetooth ad 1 click for data.

The advantage like we have found ion this thread is the GPS remains on.

But really I just like being able to turn off my wifi without having to quit what I'm doing, settings, wifi, off, and try to get back to what I was doing.

The iPhone can do it as I explained, but apple just doesn't want it to happen when it's not on their terms.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
BTW, I wouldn't say that "most people" keep 3G turned off all the time - Otherwise, what would be the point of having a 3G iPad? Sure, us aviators want the GPS, but most people buy a 3G iPad so they can have data anywhere.
Click to expand...
I cannot find recent data on number of active AT&T accounts of iPads but that was the case back in June. The reason is many people "request option" when buy iPad and activate 3G only when need it.
 
Artiom said:
Elemetal, did you fill out this form?
If you didn't Apple wouldn't know about your complains.
Click to expand...
many times

many many times

At least 5

They know the need is there, hence why I do not know a SINGLE person with a jailbroken iphone that does NOT make use of SBSettings in that manner.

They'll release it with iPhone 6 (not this upcomingyear, it's too early) and put a spin on it saying they are somehow innovators and no one's ever done it before
 
flyingcheesehead said:
<SNIP>Even Garmins will do this - And the Garmins will sometimes give up and ask you to tell it your rough position to help it out.
Click to expand...
IME, that happens if the GPS loses ephemeris data. My old GV goes from NE to India (and back) and finds its location without help although it is faster if I tell it where it is. Never had a problem on business travel either as the GPS, despite being moved ~1000 miles, has its location by the time I check out the rental car.
 
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Let'sgoflying! said:
what would it take to get inflight nexrad on the ipad?
Click to expand...

One of these:
receiver_iphone.jpg

http://skyradar.net/

Pros:
You get weather in-cockpit on your iPad for no monthly fee.

Cons:
It requires ADS-B service, which is not yet available everywhere
It costs $1200
It doesn't work directly with ForeFlight, and their own app kinda sucks


I expect ForeFlight will have a different solution available in the next year or two. Until then, it might be better to have an Aera or something like that on board to handle weather duty anyway, since ADS-B coverage is sparse to nonexistent in most of the country right now.
 
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