Udo -
This is not the answer you're looking for, but in my experience
people's opinion/reaction to various PDA displays is a HIGHLY
subjective thing.
If you can, try to find a few different PDAs being used by local
pilots and check them out (in the sunlight or under a glider canopy).
Check them with the backlight turned on and turned off. Different
PDAs do better with different brightness and backlight settings (and
backlighting can severely impact the battery life or run-time).
Also note the viewing angles that work with a given PDA. Gooseneck-
type mounts make this far easier to deal with than a knee-strap or
hard-mounting to the instrument panel.
Good luck!
--Noel
(Who uses an HP iPAQ hx4700 hooked up to an ewMicroRecorder, with the
backlight turned off in sunlight and running XCSoar)
"readable in sun light" pretty much eliminates all PDAs. If you've got
the coin you should look at the NK Clear Nav, but you probably already
knew that.
GNII ran nicely, and more visibly than other products, on my hx4705.
~ted/2NO
An hx4700 running WinPilot I hate because I cannot see it in bright
light.
The other is an older color ipaq 3635 running GNII that is pretty
readable (acceptable but not great) in bright light.
I did some evaluation of some PDA based units by Symbol Technologies
several years ago for a customer who uses them for on street parking
enforcement (parking tickets for expired meters). They were
ruggedized and very readable. I was trying to "borrow" one to
reprogram to try in the glider but the vendor was not very cooperative.
The best PDA available is the 1550. You can probably still find a good one
if you keep checking ebay every day for a week or 2.
I fly with an iPAQ hx4700 but I'm moving to an iPAQ 210. It doesn't have a
built in serial port so I have worked out a good solution with a CF card
serial port and a customer Nimbus cradle. The 210 seems a bit brighter than
my hx4700 indoors, but that may be due to the backlight in the hx4700
getting dimmer over the 2 to 3 years I've had it. It is similar to the
hx4700 (maybe a little better) in sunlight.
Of course, the ClearNav is the best option. It is very readable in
sunlight. I have about 20 customers lined up to buy them - mainly for that
reason. I'm excited because I have been contracted to write the manual for
it. It is a great product that will be very popular. Let me know if you
want to get onto my waiting list.
Good Soaring,
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
"Udo" <uru...@reach.net> wrote in message
news:f2edeca3-b7e1-4a7f...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
From my research, a screen brightness of 1000 Nits is required for a fully
"sunlight readable" screen. Most PDA's and laptops have about 200 nits. To
get 1000 Nits with a CCL backlight, requires more current that can
reasonably be provided in a battery operated device.
LED backlights seem to be much brighter and use less power than CCL
backlights.
Bill D
"Paul Remde" <pa...@remde.us> wrote in message
news:NLtUj.100280$TT4.58952@attbi_s22...
Todd - Just a tip: I was surprised to find that if I disabled the
backlight my hx4700 suddenly became easier to read in bright sunlight
(but almost impossible to read in the shade or indoors). Not "easy",
but easier. You might give it a try...
Take care,
--Noel
I concur with Noel. It is subjective. The PDA's I like are Aero1550
(like yours) and iPaq 3850. The latter is somewhat more "modern" than
3660, but still has a reflective display. I find it quite visible in
sunlight (better than any other color PDA I've seen). I have not seen
ClearNav, but all other LED based TRANSMISSIVE displays I've looked
at, were pretty much invisible in full sunlight.
What I'd like to know is what is current draw of ClearNav at full
brightness (I'll assume visibility)?
Cheers,
Henryk Birecki
I'm not sure what type of backlight is used but I've sent an e-mail to NK to
ask. I also asked what the current draw of the ClearNav is.
Of course the current draw is going to be somewhat high, but that is to be
expected. It is the price you pay for a sunlight readable display. If I
remember correctly, at the SSA Convention someone (Chip Garner I believe)
said it will draw about 400 mA at minimum brightness (still quite bright)
and 700 mA at full brightness. I believe my iPAQ hx4700 and iPAQ 210 draw
about 400 mA when full charged, with the backlight on full power. I imagine
that pilots with transponders, radios and ClearNavs will need to go to a
larger battery then they have used in the past. But everyone that has seen
a ClearNav in bright sunlight says it is very, very nice - worth the price
and the current draw.
Good Soaring,
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
"Bill Daniels" <bildan@comcast-dot-net> wrote in message
news:1LKdnfC956Ip77_V...@comcast.com...
I'm very surprised to hear that. My experience is that even if that works
with the sun shining directly on the screen, it won't work when the sun is
in front of the glider (not shining on the screen). I always have my
backlight on full power. But I'll try turning it off today. I'm very
curious.
Paul Remde
"noel.wade" <noel...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:58658d3a-240a-4b28...@w1g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
Udo,
I use a 3950 running SeeYouMobile. I address the contrast problem by
turning off the terrain so the background is white, then adjusting the
color and size of all symbols, lines, and fonts for maximum contrast.
I have no problem seeing what I need in sunlight.
I have both the anti-glare screen protector and a shiny, very clear
protector (I have a couple of the 3950s, set up identically, so I have
a backup). Both work well. I actually somewhat prefer the shiny
screen - the display is brighter, but you do have to adjust the angle
occasionally when you get reflections. The anti-glare screen is a
little dimmer (as expected).
See you at Ionia!
Kirk
66
I just did some testing with my iPAQ hx4705 and iPAQ 210 in bright morning
sunlight. With the sun on the face of the PDA the backlight made no
difference. The sun overpowers it and the display is pretty easy to read.
Turning the backlight on and off made zero difference in the contrast or
brightness.
With the sun behind the PDA (me looking into the sun with the PDA screen in
shadow) there was a big difference. With the backlight off I could hardly
see either screen. With the backlight on I could see them both much
better - but not great.
So I recommend leaving the backlight on at full power while flying in
gliders. The current draw is much higher but the readability is much, much
better.
For some reason the iPAQ 210 was a little easier to read than the hx4700.
Probably because the hx4700's backlight is about 3 years old. Lights
decrease in brightness with age/use. Another potential explanation is that
I have a Boxwave screen glare reducer on my hx4700 and not on my iPAQ 210.
I was very happy to see that HP made the screen of the 210 slightly textured
so a glare reducer is not required. The iPAQ hx4700's screen is glassy so a
glare reducer is needed. The glare reducer does slightly reduce the screen
brightness. But the difference in brightness in sunlight was negligible.
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
"Paul Remde" <pa...@remde.us> wrote in message
news:7iCUj.100851$TT4.42547@attbi_s22...
Below is the reply from Richard Kellerman at NK.
The ClearNav uses a cold cathode florescent (CCFL) backlight.
The current draw for the ClearNav is 600 mA at full brightness, 300 mA at
min brightness.
It is worth adding that we plan to allow the user to set the default
brightness level, and higher level to which the display will be driven for
about 30 seconds any time a button is pressed.
Good Soaring,
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
"Bill Daniels" <bildan@comcast-dot-net> wrote in message
news:1LKdnfC956Ip77_V...@comcast.com...
Udo,
I have found the Ipaq 47xx is the best without the screen protector
for viewability and full backlight. I also updated the 4700 ROM to
Windows CE 6.0
ROM updates: http://wm6.flyingarizona.net/
Craggy Aero is also developing an instrument. Craggy Ultimate - Screen
Size 6.5 diagonal, sunlight viewable screen, with a backlight
controlled by potentiometer or photo sensor, VGA 680X420 twice the
screen resolution as the ClearNav.
http://www.craggyaero.com/ultimate.htm
Initial flight test were very favorable, no viewability problems with
direct sunlight.
Richard
www.craggyaero.com
Paul Remde wrote:
>Hi Udo,
>
>The best PDA available is the 1550. You can probably still find a good one
>if you keep checking ebay every day for a week or 2.
>Paul Remde
>Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
>http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
>
>>I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
>> The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
>> primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
>> should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA. Which one? Please make
>> recomendations.
>> Udo
--
Message posted via AviationKB.com
http://www.aviationkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/soaring/200805/1
None of those fancy panels will fit in my DG303 panel. So, the cost is
the screen, the bigger battery, a new panel, and perhaps a smaller
instrument or two. The alternative is to fly with a PDA, with map and
terrain turned off and 4 large NAV boxes. That is easy to see and use.
I'm not clear on what the new screens will add to my flying other than
the very sexy screen itself.
Something I've noticed is that the screens can be hard to read in
bright sunlight with dark gray sunglasses and much easier with those
amber sunglasses.
> > I am thinking of upgrading my PDA for my GNII.
> > The display should be readable in sun light. Presently I use a1550 as
> > primary with a 302 and the 39xx as a back up with a 302A. Maybe I
> > should get a CAI Nav display and one good PDA.
I'm surprised an interested to see that you recommend Windows CE 6.0 for the
iPAQ hx4700. My iPAQ 4700 is still running Mobile 2003. Most iPAQ hx4700
units shipped with that operating system. I upgraded it to Mobile 5 and it
was much, much slower. So I "downgraded" it back to Mobile 2003. Since
then I have purchased an iPAQ 210 with Mobile 6. It has a processor of the
same speed and seems to be about the same speed or slightly slower than my
iPAQ 4700. That leads me to believe that Mobile 6 is not an upgrade I want
to do on my hx4700. But that is a subjective speed estimation. Have you
compared 2 hx4700 units (one with Mobile 2003 and one with Mobile 6) running
side by side? I may upgrade to Mobile 6 is you say it is significantly
faster. I'm curious.
Do you recommend Windows Mobile 6 or 6.1?
Thanks,
Paul Remde
"Richard" <rh...@snowcrest.net> wrote in message
news:8703546a-b7eb-4aec...@x19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> Something I've noticed is that the screens can be hard to read in
> bright sunlight with dark gray sunglasses and much easier with those
> amber sunglasses.
I use "aviation" sunglasses that have an untinted bottom quarter, which
improves the visibility of the PDA a lot. While they aren't prescription
glasses, they do have a "bifocal" portion at the bottom that lets me
focus perfectly on the PDA.
--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org
Paul,
I have tried all the ROMS and tested. I have found that I got no
improvement until I went to 6.0 and or 6.1. Mobile 5 was slower than
PC2003 and 6.0 and/or 6.1 appreared the best.
Richard
I upgraded my hx4705 to WM 6.1 and it works great.
~ted/2NO
I have 2 X 4700s running SeeYou Mobile and GN11. One is running WM6
and the other Mobile 2003. I experimented with running them side by
side with simultaneous inputs etc and can find no difference at all in
speed.
A very negative feature of WM6 for me is that it has no Backup/Restore
facility which took me by surprise but I avoid flat battery data loss
by running as much as possible off the cards.
Some 4700 owners report hang ups on See You Mobile and WM6 seems to
fix that.
John Galloway
Eric,
What brand and model are your sunglasses?
The is a very inexpensive program called Sprite Backup Lite that is the
program that was provided for free with older iPAQs. I use it on newer
iPAQs that don't come with the "iPAQ Backup" utility. It sells for $19.95
and is available here:
http://www.spritesoftware.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=192
I always backup the PDA to the memory card after I install the soaring
program and setup the buttons, etc. I often setup PDAs for customers and I
do that for them as well.
Good Soaring,
Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com
<jpg...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:15b0ebfe-c75e-4628...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
Thanks.
It is unclear to me in your statement whether or not 6.1 is faster than
2003. If it is about the same then I think I'll stay with 2003.
Thanks,
Paul Remde
"Richard" <rh...@snowcrest.net> wrote in message
news:1ad84794-7113-4822...@k10g2000prm.googlegroups.com...
Paul,
I think 6.1 is faster.
Richard
www.craggyaero.com
>brianDG303 wrote:
>
... text deleted
>
>I use "aviation" sunglasses that have an untinted bottom quarter, which
>improves the visibility of the PDA a lot. While they aren't prescription
>glasses, they do have a "bifocal" portion at the bottom that lets me
>focus perfectly on the PDA.
I'll second Eric's comment. The key to the use of my IPAQ 3600 series
(running WinPilot) was lightening the tinting in the lower half of the
lenses. These are prescription bifocals and, like most of the plastic
tinted lenses, they are dip tinted. The optomtrist was able to
selectively lighten or darken portions of the lens until we got the
right balance. Not completly clear on the bottom half, but
significantly less tinted than the top half.
Bob
> I have 2 X 4700s running SeeYou Mobile and GN11. One is running WM6
> and the other Mobile 2003. I experimented with running them side by
> side with simultaneous inputs etc and can find no difference at all in
> speed.
>
> A very negative feature of WM6 for me is that it has no Backup/Restore
> facility which took me by surprise but I avoid flat battery data loss
> by running as much as possible off the cards.
With SeeYou Mobile (don't confuse it with Windows Mobile!), you can run
entirely off the card. If you battery goes flat, reconnect to power,
stick the card in, and you're up and running.
> What brand and model are your sunglasses?
I believe this is where I've ordered a couple pairs (search for R424 at
the site):
http://www.eyesave.com/_pgid_1__index.aspx
I've bought a couple elsewhere to use in my car and motorhome, so I can
see the TomTom gps better, and they all seem the same. Search for
"sunreaders" and you'll find more options. Amazon.com has a lot of
listings, too.
They also make "no-line" sunreaders, but I haven't tried them.
I just got a BlackJack II phone and noticed this as well, so I
installed this backup software: http://www.dotfred.net/default.htm
It's free, but there are a lot of options out there if you prefer to
buy something :-)