AnywhereMap Travel Companion

Just thought I'd give a little feedback on the new ATP from Anywheremap.
I was very excited to try this unit as it seemed to do everything and more than the much more expensive Garmin 496. I purchased my unit at oskosh this year from one of the vendors at the show other than the company direct because the booth for Anwheremap was closed for the day. (Strange way to do business at the most attended airshow in the country). I found one of the vendors and made my purchase. No one had the weather upgrade in stock so I ordered that from the internet. In Wisconsin I booted up the auto maps and had a lot of fun driving to various destinations. Worked fine in this application. When I returned home to Florida, I waited anxiously for the weather components. When the XM weather arrived I installed the Bluetooth reciever into the plane and hooked up the ATP.
The real test came when my wife and I flew to a flyin last Saturday. The first disappointment was that the unit is NOT SUNLIGHT READABLE. I even handheld the GPS under the bottom of the radio stack and had trouble seeing any of the screen. I am calling Anwheremap Monday to see if there is a fix for this problem. If not, the unit will be returned. The second issue is that the touch screen is so sensitive that you end up changing settings on the screen in flight without meaning to. I have rather large hands and it is very difficult to hit the proper icon while in flight. Thirdly, the unit ws supposed to have a CD with the operator manual in the package. Mine was missing along with the stylus that is supposed to be in the box. I downloaded the 30 page manual off of the website. The directions are very well laid out and operation is a breeze once you sort out all of the different information under each icon.
Overall, the product is very appealing, especially the price, but if you cannot see it in the airplane it is useless. Tech help has been very responsive to my last 2 phone calls. I hope there is a resolution to the viewing problem.
Roger Hirschbein
Turtle Wood Designs

ATC

My ATC is mounted directly to the panel on a small angled mount, not one of the included ATC mounts. It is tucked under the glareshield on my -9A. I haven't had any trouble reading the screen yet. The Koger sunshade is in constant use this time of year anyway here in the sunny mountain west.
There is NO disk included. Tech help said it was a misprint and will be corrected.
The stylus is in a hole along the top edge od the ATC. Use a finger nail to pull it up and out.
Kudos to ATC tech help for quick answers on the issue I had with setting local time on my ATC.

Steve

Rodger,
You also need to go into the Ipaq -settings-system-backlight-brightness and adjust it.
They also sell a handy stylus which hangs around your neck ... http://www.anywheremap.com/detail.aspx?ID=6 .
I've had AWM for an extremely long time.Once you are familiar with it you will find you can 't do without it.
Lots of features that all the rest are trying to catch up with.

Steve, would you recommend the ATC to another pilot? Would you purchase it again knowing what you know?

I am looking at the ATC and the new AV8TOR, hear good and bad about both. The one thing I really like about the ATC is the traffic interface. As I understand it AV8TOR will have traffic someday but not in recent times.

I'm intrigued with both these units, don't fly enough hours to justify spending $1,000.00+ on some of the other units and like the feature list of these units. Just don't want to spend $800.00+ and regret it.

Does anyone know Anywheremap's return policy? I can get the AV8TOR at Sporty's and not have to worry about return if I am not happy.

Thanks

return policy

Here is a link to their return policy...

http://www.anywheremap.com/pages/Returns.aspx

It will cost you a minimum of 10 %

I was considering this unit but decided not to purchase it...

Yes

Check your pm, Hooz.
Steve

Steve, I left you a PM.

I am still weighing all the options for this price range, if I could get both at Sporty's I would make a move today. I am leaning to the ATC, another feature they have is lifetime subscriptions http://www.anywheremap.com/detail.aspx?ID=221

Thanks for the input, I'll post my decision once I made the purchase for others.

let us know.

woodmanrog said:

Just thought I'd give a little feedback on the new ATP from Anywheremap.
I was very excited to try this unit as it seemed to do everything and more than the much more expensive Garmin 496. I purchased my unit at oskosh this year from one of the vendors at the show other than the company direct because the booth for Anwheremap was closed for the day. (Strange way to do business at the most attended airshow in the country). I found one of the vendors and made my purchase. No one had the weather upgrade in stock so I ordered that from the internet. In Wisconsin I booted up the auto maps and had a lot of fun driving to various destinations. Worked fine in this application. When I returned home to Florida, I waited anxiously for the weather components. When the XM weather arrived I installed the Bluetooth reciever into the plane and hooked up the ATP.
The real test came when my wife and I flew to a flyin last Saturday. The first disappointment was that the unit is NOT SUNLIGHT READABLE. I even handheld the GPS under the bottom of the radio stack and had trouble seeing any of the screen. I am calling Anwheremap Monday to see if there is a fix for this problem. If not, the unit will be returned. The second issue is that the touch screen is so sensitive that you end up changing settings on the screen in flight without meaning to. I have rather large hands and it is very difficult to hit the proper icon while in flight. Thirdly, the unit ws supposed to have a CD with the operator manual in the package. Mine was missing along with the stylus that is supposed to be in the box. I downloaded the 30 page manual off of the website. The directions are very well laid out and operation is a breeze once you sort out all of the different information under each icon.
Overall, the product is very appealing, especially the price, but if you cannot see it in the airplane it is useless. Tech help has been very responsive to my last 2 phone calls. I hope there is a resolution to the viewing problem.
Roger Hirschbein
Turtle Wood Designs

Click to expand...

Did you try out the back lighting settings before sending it back? I am curious as to this issue. If you get it figured out and turns out that it works, I'll buy one. Please let me/us know.
Thx, DM

I've flown with mine in the morning and afternoon now and found no issues being able to read it in sunlight. For me the best combination is to turn the brightness all the way up and set the terrain color on the topo setting to "light". The terrain contrast takes a hit but the text and symbols standout quite clearly.

My only beef so far is the battery life is only a little over 2.5 hours with the backlight all the up (about 3.25 with it turned down). You can buy an additional battery from HP, but that involves shutting the unit down, removing the ATC from its cradle and swapping the batteries out. My plan is to build my own battery pack and feed the ATC via the mini-usb port when whatever plane I'm flying doesn't have a 12v outlet (ran into this the other day with a 1998 C-172).

Otherwise I'm happy with the ATC and would recommend it. I played with the AV8TOR at OSH and it seems like a quality unit, but in the end I got a deal on my ATC that I simply could not pass up.

The AV8OR is still pretty much a half-baked potato. With NO customer service.

Anyone interested in the ATC & AV8OR check out the threads on the AOPA forum "Flight Bag" website. Lots of user reviews & other comments.

Mike

This post and the one which follows it are from the AOPA forum on the Anywhere Map Travel Companion. They cover my recent experiences as an owner and user of the ATC.

Mike

******************

September 24, 2008

I just flew with the ATC for 3500+ miles and pretty much have the same things to say about it as I did before I left. I re-mounted my Lowrance 600C and flew with both of them side by side.

The screen is still difficult, sometimes extremely difficult, to see in my bright cockpit. With haze or under a cloud layer it is more usable. The Lowrance, in stark contrast, was always very sharp in bright sunshine. I?m wondering now how I ever thought it was marginal. Turning the topo off made all the difference with the 600C, and of course I?ve done the same with the ATC.

Because the ATC is so slow to respond, the touchscreen function gives the unit a feel of vagueness. It responds so lethargically that I often found myself tapping things repeatedly. Sometimes that was necessary, sometimes it wasn?t. It?s randomly vague in it?s response. With the Lowrance you use buttons and the response is solid and immediate. The software logic is better with the Lowrance in most tasks. The ATC seems to want you to go through three or four screens to do things the 600C does directly. There are quite a few really stupid and totally unnecessary ?confirm? screens with the ATC. The ATC processor is working at the limit of its capability to push around the 800 x 480 pixels so you?d think Control Vision would make an effort to eliminate as many unnecessary steps as possible. It?s very ?Windows?- like . . . without the shortcut keys.

The ATC has many features and functions and when flying over Flyover Country there is plenty of time to explore all the different settings. Doing this, I discovered that if you make changes in one thing, when you return to the navigation screen, you find you?ve lost a setting with something else. If you do these changes several times in a row, you can get a ?Fatal Application? error which necessitates rebooting (?re-setting? in PDA parlance). This happened twice as I was playing with the settings. In normal use it never locked up or required re-setting.

As with the Lowrance, I find the terrain function useless. Using terrain depiction to keep from hitting something is asking to die. With a proper chart you have Maximum Elevation Figures to guarantee you won?t hit anything if you are, for example, over the Rocky Mountains in the dark (as I was). I knew what was around me and where I was in relation to it, but I sure didn?t get that information from the muddy, vague colors of a small GPS screen. On a G1000 this may work, but on these little screens it?s terrifying to think about.

Upon arriving home I?m reading in the CV forums about the new software release that is available for the ATC as of a few days ago. I?ve not downloaded it yet but I have read the comments of those who have. CV seems to take one step back and two steps forward in the evolution of their software. Overall that means that progress gets made, however you wonder if the people making the software design decisions actually try and use the unit in the air before bestowing their ?improvements? upon their customers. I?ll do the update and see what I?ve got. From the forums, I?m reading that they?ve ruined a good feature or two while improving it in other areas. One step back and two forward.

There are enough good things about the ATC that I?m going to keep it, along with the 600C. In certain situations on this trip I needed to see the information on the screen and act upon it quickly. Combining the slow response of the ATC with a difficult, at times impossible to see screen, had me turning on the 600C to get done what I needed to do. You can boot up the Lowrance and get what you want from the screen faster than futzing with the ATC in many instances, and that?s a good thing to be able to do in those situations. I?m going to continue to keep both of them in the cockpit for now - not because I?m trying to decide between one or the other, but because it?s simply convenient to have two GPS?s.

I did use some construction paper as an overhead glare shield and that helped with the Sun directly overhead. I definitely need to shield the sides as well since it seemed on this trip the Sun was often low and to either side of me. I?ll be playing with this project and either make my own or try one of the commercial products designed to de-glare GPS screens.

The ATC is really loaded with features - nearest ATC frequencies, nearest FSS frequencies, nearest AWOS, ATIS, cheap fuel, Fixes, NDB's, VOR's, and of course Airports and all attendent info. I like the daily free updates. For those who fly every day that?s a handy feature. For those who only fly occasionally, being able to update it just before departure can help with pop-up TFR?s & other intermediate airspace changes. And using the ground-based database of businesses such as car rental agencies & motels was very useful on this trip.

The ATC weather function might be nice, but after the experience I just had in flying along with someone with a 496 with weather, the Garmin was showing clear skies ahead while out the windscreens it was anything but. There were two cloud layers, isolated showers & occasional build-ups, yet the 496 was telling the pilot in the other plane that there was nothing there. Maybe my friend just doesn?t know how to use Nexrad? Based on this experience I?m thinking Nexrad weather may only be really useful for staying away from cells - which of course is valuable information but since you can see this same info on the FBO?s weather screens before you take off, for typical GA use it may just be an expensive illusion.

So . . . the trend is positive with the ATC. People who bought the unit at Sun & Fun where it was introduced say it is much improved over the original release. I expect this improvement to continue. If I had it to do over again however, knowing what I know, I would have kept the money I gave to CV and continued to enjoy my 600C. The Lowrance does just about everything the ATC does and it does it a lot quicker. The Lowrance also has the AWOS and FSS and ATC frequencies. The on-screen keyboard of the ATC is certainly an improvement over the letter-select on the 600C when punching in an identifyer, but I?m very quick with the Lowrance system. It?s not a $700 improvement.

The Virtual ILS approaches, detailed airport/runway diagrams (separate from Pocket Plates), fuel prices & some other neato things are all really excellent features. I?ll keep working on improving my ability to see the screen details since all the neat features in the world are useless if you?re always struggling to see them. And for me it still is a struggle. Having the 600C sitting next to it was a constant reminder of just how much of a struggle it is. Again . . . in a more shaded cockpit this would not be the same issue as it is with me.

This legibility issue is just frustrating enough to make me want to break down and buy a TBM or PC-12 or something with a shaded cockpit. The ATC would have been very visible in Lindberg?s Ryan, and useful too . . . but he got to Paris without it somehow.

Mike

Two days later:

September 26, 2008

***************

Looks like the AWM people don't take criticism well. I've been "banned" from their CV forums for raising the issues I've mentioned in recent posts.

The companiy's defensiveness has converted me from just an annoyed customer into an outright critic - actually it is their product that has done that.

As Ray mentioned above, AWM is directing customer attention to their pie-in-the-sky features which mostly do not work very well instead of focusing on usability issues such as a readable screen, responsive and intuitive software, and reliability.

They respond to criticism by "banning". This kind of defensiveness says it all.

My conclusion is that the AWM Travel Companion is a cute toy with too many compromises and glitches to be considered a serious competitor to Lowrance or Garmin. Even in a shaded cabin environment where you can see the screen, it is not something for use in a serious airplane or with passengers on board - certainly not without backup navigational capability.

I have really tried to like the thing, as anyone reading my posts can attest. But in use there has been one issue after another and the company, as Ray has noted, is not paying attention to the basics.

Their upgrades seem to be focused on fixing problems with features which do not relate to the important deficiencies it has in its operational logic. Numerous irritating "nanny" or "confirm" screens, easy to remove, are constantly popping up and slowing down the flow which is already molasses-like. With my recent trip, if I needed some info in a hurry I turned on the 600C to get it. That was faster and more reliable than futzing with the ATC. It is not a piece of equipment you can rely on if you need information quickly.

Other users have reported major geographical and navigational features either missing or in the wrong place. I have experienced when zooming in on an airport, the airport will just disappear! The AWM President blames these problems on the FAA data. The President, instead of admitting the latest upgrade is a screw up, tries to defend it although clearly the unit is worse off now than it was before. There must be a lot of energy-wasting blaming and finger-pointing going on in the halls of AWM since the deficiencies that need correcting are really obvious. I've suggested they buy a Garmin and a Lowrance and copy some of the advanced features of both - but that suggestion apparently has not gone over well.

The ATC Experience

You turn the unit on and hit the unlock tab - a screen interrupts things and asks "Do you really want to unlock AWM?"

No. Of course not. I just turned it on because I was bored.

Stabbing at the "yes" button several times, you are then confronted with a screen that informs you that your airspace data is over 24 hours old and do you want to remove it? This is after you've just downloaded the latest airspace data. So you stab and that button several times - this time the "no" button.

This kind of software behavior, easy to improve, is found throughout the operational regime of the ATC. These unnecessary interruptions not only quickly become irritating, but their effect is compounded by the cumbersome responsiveness of the unit. Also compounding this problem is the fact the software has no built-in intuitiveness. It does not hold your latest search or keep a list of your most recent "finds." If you want to check Destination info it is a new search from scratch each time.

The software has none of the anticipatory logic you'll find with the Lowrance or Garmin. The ATC requires that you go through every tedious step to accomplish whatever task you are attempting. With the latest upgrade they have screwed up even the little bit of time-saving you could get from the Direct-to function - the one where you center up your course from wherever you are to your destination. It was cumbersome before, requiring two or three stabs at the screen. Their improvement now requires 5 or 6 stabs at the various screens that, oh so slowly, come up in response to your stabbing. I say "stabs" since there is no such thing as a quick touch with your finger, pen or stylus. One stab may or may not work, you won't know until several seconds have gone by, so you end up making several more stabs. Then you often end up trying it some other way, as with the useless "zoom" wheel.

Regarding screen legibility, much improvement could be made with more creative programming of screen attributes. Both Lowrance and Garmin have much more readable screens even though their screens are smaller and with lower resolution than the ATC. Screen attributes - lines, numbers, etc. could all be easily improved simply by copying what Garmin & Lowrance have done, yet with this latest "upgrade" the programmers have spent their time placing a completely useless "alarm" button on the screen. Who needs that? It may just be a placeholder for a more practical use of the space down the road, but why even waste time on this when such fundamental problems as screen legibility need attention?

The company asks that you put up with all of this in the hope that they will improve it later.

This latest "upgrade" has improved nothing - certainly none of the things which I've found need improvement. The brainless and totally unnecessary nanny screens are all still in place, as are all the glitches that I'm aware of.

The company, with their in-house forums, tries to bring their customers (for $695 or more) into the beta testing family of ATC users. I finally became an unhappy family member. I finally decided I wanted something that works and is not in a constant state of deficiency requiring fixes which may or may not come. This thing has wasted a lot of my time and if you buy one you will find it wasting yours. For some, this time-wasting is fun and part of the ATC Experience. If you've nothing else to do, putzing around with the deficiencies of the AWM Travel Companion can fill the void.

My impression of the software, and I've told them so (so now I'm banned) is that despite the AWM's years of development which should find it sophisticated and mature, it is instead a glitch-riddled product that appears to have been hacked together about six months ago - just in time for Sun & Fun. Users who bought their ATC's then say it is much better now than it was then - it surely must have been awful then.

It's awful now.


Mike

MikeS said:

This As with the Lowrance, I find the terrain function useless. Using terrain depiction to keep from hitting something is asking to die. With a proper chart you have Maximum Elevation Figures to guarantee you won?t hit anything if you are, for example, over the Rocky Mountains in the dark (as I was). I knew what was around me and where I was in relation to it, but I sure didn?t get that information from the muddy, vague colors of a small GPS screen. On a G1000 this may work, but on these little screens it?s terrifying to think about.

Click to expand...

The "little screen" Garmins such as my 296 & 496 will toss a terrain overlay screen upon which ever page you're using..............if approaching rising terrain. In essense, it says you're going to "die" soon, if you don't do something quickly!

I'm a fan of these terrain devices, as well as charts. Why? Because a lot of pilots are still clobbering mountains for one reason or another.

As to the Lowrance 600, I know nothing about it.
I do have some experience with the Lowrance2000, and it's color terrain features seem to work just fine; and are plenty legible.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

ATC-GARMIN-AV8OR Comparison

Got the following of the web, YMMV:

From the Aviation Consumer Oct 2008 Edition.........

Comparing Them

Straight across the board, how do these units compare? First, let?s consider price with and without the XM WX option. Sans XM, the AV8OR is selling discounted for $639, while the ATC is $695. Both have broadly comparable features but not the same capabilities, as we?ll note in a moment. Garmin?s closest comparable option is the new GPSmap495?$1595 discounted. But it doesn?t include ground navigation, which is a $239 add-on and weather isn?t an option at all. At $1845 when the ground nav is added, it?s a distant third in price/value for just the basics. If you add XM WX, the ATC totals $1495, the AV8OR is $1135 discounted, both with Bluetooth. The closest Garmin option is the GPSmap396 at $1795 discounted, plus $239 for the ground nav package. The $2395 GPSmap 496 has XM and ground nav as standard.

Hardware/Display: We give Garmin top marks for the most robust hardware and brightest, sunlight readable display, although its form factor is large compared to the other two. We?ve never seen the 396/496 lockup, but both the ATC and AV8OR did.

Operating logic ease: Because of their menu-driven, touchscreen displays, the ATC and Bendix/King are easier to operate and faster to command than the Garmin navigators, which retain the key-and-rocker logic they?ve had since the dawn of time. In our view, the AV8OR and ATC are about equal in this regard, even though they?re different. Each has some quirks, but each is learnable.

Aviation functionality: Garmin wins this one by a nose, for several reasons. The display is one, but another is the unique flight panel gyro page, which we have proven can actually back up failed vacuum instruments. Further, Garmin?s 495/496 sports the SafeTaxi and AOPA Airport Directory data, two other plusses we like. It also loads and flies approaches nearly as well as panel mounts do and its terrain display and warning features are the best, in our view.

The ATC is right behind it, however. Its aviation function is rich with features?too many to list here?and these are flexible and easy to use, especially given the Pocket Plates and fuel finder features, which no one else has. We also like the cones of safety idea and what Control Vision calls the Personal Digital Co-Pilot, a kind of super-smart tank timer with safety checklist, obstacle and upset warnings. Here, the AV8OR finishes a distant third. It?s more of a light-duty VFR-only box, lacking the Garmin?s flight page and approaches and the ATC?s approach plates. In

fact, the AV8OR is no help at all on the airport surface. If the ATC didn?t exist, this wouldn?t be an issue, but it does, so we have to note the AV8OR?s warts. We?re told that Bendix/King has some upgrades coming and that?s good news?we think buyers are going to want these features.

Ground navigation: We?ll give the AV8OR the edge here, although it?s comparable to the ATC. However, the AV8OR initializes faster and we found its display a bit more readable, especially in sunlight. Both seem equally adept at route calcs and either will get you where you?re going complete with turn-by-turn voice callouts.

The Garmins aren?t as strong at ground navigation, by contrast. They?ll get you there all right, but they lack the nice 3D view of the other two and the key-and-rocker input is just too tedious for us. Newer Garmin dedicated ground navigators?the Nuvi line?blow away the ATC and AV8OR?but those operating features aren?t integrated into the 396/495/496 and aren?t likely to be until the next generation arrives.

Weather: Both the AV8OR and ATC use the remote XM WX receiver. The AV8OR can be hardwired or Bluetoothed, but the ATC is Bluetooth only. The Garmin?s weather receiver is integrated into the XM antenna and, in our view, it?s the most elegant solution of the three. It also seems to be the most reliable?we?ve heard few complaints about lockups or lack of performance. One reader told us he had trouble getting the Bendix/King system to process weather correctly and reader Bruce Buchanan of Naples, Florida, phoned to say he returned his ATC because of poor XM performance and dissatisfaction with Control Vision?s customer service.
Recommendations

Because buyers are usually clear about what they?ll pay for something and manufacturers figure that out, prices on like products in a market are rarely more than a dozen percentage points apart. But because Garmin so dominates the GPS market, that?s not the case here. At $2395, the top-level GPSmap496 costs more than twice as much as the Bendix/King AV8OR, yet it doesn?t do twice as much. But it does do more. Its aviation navigation is second to none, the weather display is rock solid and it has that impressive flight instrument page, all of which run free of lockups and quirks.

Functionally, the AV8OR does the navigation and weather, it just doesn?t do it as well, ground navigation excepted. The ATC bests the AV8OR in aviation mode by a wide margin, but we liked the AV8OR better for ground nav. It?s also the best value for just weather, if that?s your wont.

Which to buy? If top-dog aviation navigation is your goal and you?re not budget limited, buy the GPSmap496 and leave it in the airplane. Get a separate ground navigator and carry it in your briefcase or flightbag, saving the hassle of moving these gadgets around and fussing with wiring and mounts. The AV8OR is not a bad choice for this, but Garmin?s mid-priced Nuvis are also good choices.

The best overall budget choice is definitely the ATC, in our view. It?s good in the air and on the ground and Control Vision has done yeoman?s work in reducing the wiring hassle, plus the device is easy to use. But there are some give ups. The unit is relatively new so its service history and durability are a toss-up and largely dependent on HP. We have concerns about consumer-grade electronics in the cockpit. The real pot sweetener for the ATC, however, is the fuel finder. That alone will make it worth it for some buyers. As for the AV8OR, we think its aviation functions need to be beefed up to run more strongly against the ATC. We?ll be watching for that to happen.

Thanks for posting that, Ted.

I knew they'd done a review recently, but my subscription just expired and I didn't renew - just being a cheapskate. AC is a valuable resource.

I'm sure the reviewer just sat in his office with the three units and played with them. If he had taken the ATC into the air he surely would have encountered the same issues I describe in my accounts of actual use of the ATC.

RV owners must be especially aware of the difficulty of reading the ATC screen in a bright cockpit. All the fancy features in the world (even if they all worked well) are fairly useless if you're constantly struggling to see the screen.

Mike

Mike, no problem. I'm sorry you've had so many problems. I have an ATC, andwhile not perfect, my experience with it has been just fine. If money were no object, I'd get a 496, but I had a budget to spend at OSH and it was either the AV8OR or ATC. After playing around with both I thought the ATC seemed a little better (and still do).

How have you managed to deal with this?



That screen is full bright and not directly in the glare. It's a typical screenshot in sunlight.

The RV-10 is a little more shaded than mine, but still . . . you've bought or devised a hood or shade? If so, please pass on the delightful details

I'm finding the legibility issue makes the ATC basically unusable.

Mike

Here is a larger image.

[/URL][/IMG]

In the C-172 that I fly now it's fine. I just tilt it a little and I can see it with no issues. I ran that same test outside as well--same results. However, to be fair, I've got 2 GARMINs (an eTrex and a Steert Pilot) that have the same problem if you try to read them with sun directly hitting the screen at or near 90 degrees. I don't see this as an ATC unique issue.

What is that on your screen -- a no-scratch cover?

Yes, the ATC is usable (you & others have said) in a cabin environment such as a 172.

The film on the screen is a screen protector. AWM sells them under the name Screen Armor, $20 for 2.

[/URL][/IMG]

They are not cut to the correct size of the screen, as you can see. For that price, they should at least be the right size.

The picture shows all sorts of sophisticated technology involved with them - anti-fingerprint layer? My screen attracts fingerprints like crazy - I cleaned it for the photo. I should have just used eBay screen protectors instead of wasting more money with CV.

Yes, not many screens do well in direct sunshine, but some do better than others. My Lowrance is very readable in the same situation. I'll get the two of them together and take a picture in the sun. Also, what Garmin & Lowrance have done with their screen depiction of objects makes a huge difference . . . because of this "intelligent design", their screens are more sunlight readable even though they are smaller and have lower resolution than the ATC. AWM has made no attempt to try and compensate for the poor readability by making the lines bolder, the numbers larger or with a background that gives them contrast.

There is a lot the company could focus on to make some fundamental things better . . . instead of putting a stupid "alarm" button on the screen with this latest update. Their priorities are screwy.

Complain about it though and you get "banned"

Mike

In my RV-9A I have no issues with seeing my ATC screen its mounted on the panel in the center. I also have no button monster issues--flip on the master the ATC is near instant on--gps is ready very soon after and Im good to go, and havent even touched it yet! .The gps will even acquire inside my metal hanger with no ex antenna!
Yup it has a few minor bugs but they will be fixed. I like a company that will customize their product to what the majoity of their customers want.
I have been with Anywhere for a while- PDA now ATC. and I like them
And I only have 12 other gps units to compare with.

I have a hunch that MikeS has a axe that needs sharpening or works for the other GPS guys. and btw your photo is overexposed a few f stops.

PS. did you know that you can turn a Garmin Nivi (750 mine)into a poor mans aviation GPS? write up later.

Sounds like you invested in the AnywhereMap lifetime update subscription Frank and you're gonna get your money's worth no matter what.

I agree with you that the ATC has got glitches and bugs which may get fixed over time. That's what they say, although with the most recent software upgrade they seem to be going backward instead of forward.

If I could see the **** thing I might be more tolerant.

I've only got one other GPS to compare it to. Backlights both full on.

[/URL][/IMG]

AnywhereMap actually advertises this thing as sunlight readable.

I invite you to post a picture of yours in direct sunlight such as in the attached picture. A picture says more than any number of words.

The Lowrance has a reflective screen like the monochrome/grayscale screens, although it's color. It doesn't depend solely on backlights to make it readable in sunlight. The backlights on the ATC are brighter than the 600C, something apparent if compared at night. So it's not weak backlights that makes the ATC sunlight unreadable. It's the design of the screen, and I see no way of that ever getting fixed until they go to the ATC Model II with a reflective screen like it should have had in the first place.

AWM took an inexpensive car GPS from HP and installed their software. BK did the same thing with the MIO, another car GPS. Both of them are unresponsive, glitch-riddled toys.

I agree the 22 channel GPS receiver that comes in the Ipaq 310 is excellent. Anything you buy these days is going to be excellent. The 2? year old 16 channel receiver in the 600C is excellent. It too will lock on in the hanger. The chipset in the HP is more sensitive, but receiver sensitivity is not a very important issue these days. People who rave about their 496's are using an ancient 12 channel receiver.

I just received a shade today for my ATC, bought off of eBay. I'm hoping this will make it useable. I do like some things about it, such as the daily airspace & fuel price updates. I'm going to Scottsdale in a couple days and found a number for an FBO there on the ATC that was not on Airnav. So I really want to like it, as anyone who has followed my posts on the AOPA threads can attest. My change of heart is strictly due to my experiences in trying to use it.

It's got some good things about it, which is why I've not tried to send it back or sell it. If I can somehow get it so the screen info is readable, I'll report that too.

Mike

The hood/shade bought on eBay for $10 (including shipping), seller vistacalifornia has made the difference between being able to use the ATC and not use the ATC in my bright cockpit. It doesn't make it sun-proof, but it helps a lot and is now a permanent part of the unit as far as I'm concerned.

The latest software upgrade (10/29) has turned many ATC's into useless bricks which have to now be sent back to Kansas for re-installation of the software. This is so typical of the on-going software changes with AWM. They do an extremely poor job of testing their changes before releasing them. This latest fiasco is an exagerrated example of what goes on all the time with their "upgrades." It would be so simple to sit down with the unit after making changes and run through all the functions to see if the changes have inadvertently affected something else. Do they do that? Apparently not, as it seems with every software release users suddenly find problems with something that worked fine before the "upgrade."

I really would like to be more positive about the ATC but everytime I think I've come to terms with it I discover they've screwed something else up that worked before, or they pull a major blunder as with the recent software release. Plus they seem to give no attention to correcting basic deficiencies, such as the fact that all major and minor rivers and most lakes are missing from the database! Mississippi, Colorado, Hudson, Missouri Rivers . . . all missing.

And why can't they provide a name search function for navigational aids? To search for a VOR or Intersection in order to "Go To" or include in a Flight Plan, you have to know the name of the navaid before you can search for it! If you know the name already, you don't have to search . . . so why can't they fix this simple thing? My old 600C lets me search for anything by name whether it's an airport or obscure intersection. This is a really basic, fundamental and valuable function, yet after software upgrades you still can't do a name search for navaids with the ATC.

The ATC is still a half-baked potato with great potential.

The story continues.

Mike

No beta stuff for me

I learned a long time ago to avoid any/all beta release software and I'm really dissapointed that CV would even advertise it is available for download. Those gotta-have-it-NOW users now own expensive bricks.
I waited 2 weeks after its final release before downloading the prior (1176) version, which went seamlessly and works well.

Steve

It wasn't the "beta" release that bricked the ATC's. It was the "ready for prime time" version. Those that downloaded just the beta were okay - aside from the usual glitches.

Mine still works since I haven't downloaded anything in a week or more. They say the newest software upgrade is now safely downloadable, however I'm in no hurry and will just wait and see.

Their "quality control" with upgrades absolutely sucks.

Mike

First, i dont have a dog in the race so i dont really care, but....

You have only ever posted 12 times total on VAF and everysingle one of them is slamming the atc. Whats your story? Get over it and move on.
Some folks like it,some love it. Good review, some great reviews.

Since there has been so much negative said about the ATC on this forum, I thought I'd chime in with my limited experience. I purchased a refurbished ATC unit about 2 weeks ago on sale. So far it works great, both in automotive mode and in AWM. Updates are working just fine too. I didn't purchase WxWorks or Pocket Plates, choosing first to see how the basic unit was going to perform. I concur with some on the issue of sunlight readability, but in most aircraft there are many displays and lights that can't be seen in direct sunlight. I don't think it makes sense to use a small/inexpensive PDA as a primary navigation instrument, so in my opinion, direct sunlight readability is somewhat superfluous. But related to screen brightness, I am also a bit disappointed that it's a bit bright at night. There are only 5 dimmer steps and the lowest level is still rather bright in a very dark cockpit. I'm still experimenting with the various map displays and options, but so far I'm very impressed with how much has been stuffed into a rather small package. Yes, it doesn't respond immediately to some inputs, like panning the map, but it's not unacceptable. I'd say the max time waiting for the screen to refresh is less than 5 seconds in the worst case. As far as customer support, I've sent a couple of emails to CV and had them answered in a short time. A friend a mine did have a problem with his first update which caused his ATC to freeze. Once again the CV staff were very helpful on the phone, but were unable to resolve the problem. They put a new unit in the mail to him that day. Bottom line: I don't know whether my experience is unique or not, but I'm quite satisfied with the product and support. I think the basic AWM ATC is a very good value for the money. If I had invested as much as Garmin asks for a similar product, my expectations would have been much higher.
Mark Swaney
Test Pilot Instructor & Rocket Builder