Anywhere Map's New Quadra GPS Portable

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by Bill Palmer

A good friend just purchased the Adventure Pilot iFly 700 ($499), and it?s an impressive unit. The brightness is good; I would compare it with the AV8OR in terms of brightness/contrast. The large 7-inch diagonal screen really makes the North-Up Sectional presentation work. If I can figure out a way to squeeze its overall 7.25-inch width into my panel, I might go for it. Unlimited updates, via USB flash drive, are a very reasonable $69 per year (VFR Sectionals) or $89 per year (Sectionals plus IFR Low-Enroute Charts).

Well, anyway, the GPS portable market is getting interesting. Now, if someone would just come up with a 6-inch-diagonal, super-bright, portable GPS with an overall width no greater than 6.25 inches (avionics stack compatible) and a price less than $1K, I think they?d have a winner. Monthly database updates no greater than $100 a year would make it unbeatable.

See Y'All at Van?s Homecoming this weekend?

Bill

My Airmap 1000 is an orphan and will need replacing at some point so am starting to poke around the portable GPS market. I was unaware of the Adventure Pilot iFly 700 and it does indeed look impressive for the price.

One thing I'm finding is that some of the new GPS's do not provide a NHMEA data output for driving an autopilot. I hope this is not a trend that will eventually cover most of the portable GPS market. I can understand why vendors would eliminate this feature for liability purposes but some of us will never have a panel-mount GPS in our VFR planes.

But, at the rate EFIS feature sets are advancing, needing to drive the autopilot via a standalone GPS may become moot.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Bill Palmer

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the brightest, I would personally judge the relative maximum brightness/contrast levels as follows: Aera: 10, AV8OR: 9, Quadra: 7. The Aera was clearer and easier-to-read than the Quadra despite the Quadra?s higher resolution. The AV8OR was nearly as bright as the Aera and, in my opinion, was the easiest to use of the three.

That's interesting, as it is in direct contrast to my own comparison of my Aera to a fellow pilot's AV8OR. Were the three units you were looking at powered by their internal batteries, or from an external power cable? I notice that my Aera doesn't quite get as bright if it's running batteries only (even when set manually to maximum brightness), and that may account for my earlier assessment of it not being as bright as the AV8OR. But even running on ship's power, i'm sorry to say that it's not bright enough to use on a bright day if you've got it mounted high on the panel. I've got it right in front of me, right under the glareshield, and my passengers can't read it *at all* if there's any sun. Cloudy days, no problem.

I don't think this problem is unique to the Aera though... They'd all be bad in direct sunlight. My iCOM A210 also becomes a barren, featureless landscape when the sun shines on the display.

Maybe I need to only go flying on cloudy days? :P I guess i'll get that opportunity this weekend enroute to the homecoming... They're forecasting rain up here on Friday when I wanted to fly down...

[Bill Palmer]

Hi Rob,

All three units were on external power and set to maximum brightness.

The environmental conditions were inside a relatively bright, fluorescent-lit room with some sunlight coming in through the glass doors (ACS West's Will Call).

I thought about asking the ACS tech to drag the display outside, but I wanted to maintain good relations with ACS West!

I would agree that the comparison, and particularly the absolute brightness, would probably change somewhat in bright sunlight, but I think I got a pretty good idea of the relative brightness and contrast of the displays. I think all three would wash-out more in bright sunlight. A shade of some sort might be a good idea for all three.

It would be nice if aviation portables could be designed to have a super-bright setting when connected to external power, but I assume the portable displays are mainly designed with battery power in mind.

Take Care!

Bill

[MikeS]

I just came across this thread and thought to post a picture of an ATC turned up full blast in sun. There is debate in the AWM forums about whether the Quadra is as bright as the ATC. At best it is equal.

http://www.screenshots.cc/original/14834/15s15

Aviation Consumer a couple issues ago did a review of the Quadra. Screen brightness was the primary complaint and indeed, in their feature photo in the article the unit is shown being put into a shirt pocket. In the ambient light of that photo you can only tell the unit is turned on. No info on the screen is usable.

For a canopied cockpit the Quadra should be at the bottom of anyone's list. I bought a screenshade for the ATC which allows me to see it in most conditions - although not that easily. With the sun directly behind, it's still impossible.

[Kyle Boatright]

Originally Posted by MikeS

I just came across this thread and thought to post a picture of an ATC turned up full blast in sun. There is debate in the AWM forums about whether the Quadra is as bright as the ATC. At best it is equal.

http://www.screenshots.cc/original/14834/15s15

Aviation Consumer a couple issues ago did a review of the Quadra. Screen brightness was the primary complaint and indeed, in their feature photo in the article the unit is shown being put into a shirt pocket. In the ambient light of that photo you can only tell the unit is turned on. No info on the screen is usable.

For a canopied cockpit the Quadra should be at the bottom of anyone's list. I bought a screenshade for the ATC which allows me to see it in most conditions - although not that easily. With the sun directly behind, it's still impossible.

Unfortunately, none of the color LCD GPS's are great in direct sunlight. I've owned a couple of different units (Lowrance and Bendix) and have taken a hard look at most everything else (AnywhereMap and Garmin).

The old greyscale screens were much more readable in our cockpits, only they simply couldn't convey the information a color screen could (if you could see it).

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright

Unfortunately, none of the color LCD GPS's are great in direct sunlight. I've owned a couple of different units (Lowrance and Bendix) and have taken a hard look at most everything else (AnywhereMap and Garmin).

The old greyscale screens were much more readable in our cockpits, only they simply couldn't convey the information a color screen could (if you could see it).

My observations are quite different, since I do use the Garmin 696 (nearly two years). The 696 has never been hard to see, in all sunlight conditions. It's been great, while my Lowrance 600c & Icom 210 are nearly washed out at certain sun angles. I also owned the grey-scale Garmin 195, but it's been too long ago to remember.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[Kyle Boatright]

Originally Posted by L.Adamson

My observations are quite different, since I do use the Garmin 696 (nearly two years). The 696 has never been hard to see, in all sunlight conditions. It's been great, while my Lowrance 600c & Icom 210 are nearly washed out at certain sun angles. I also owned the grey-scale Garmin 195, but it's been too long ago to remember.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

I should qualify my statement. I've never looked at a 696 - I don't want something that big. But I have looked at the Aera products, which were disappointing from a screen brightness and contrast perspective.

[MikeS]

I've heard the 696 is really the only portable that is sunlight readable. The others make their claims with varying degrees of truth. The Quadra is at the bottom I think when it comes to this question.

I've also heard the 696 has a propensity to dim itself down when it gets warm. How common is that?