iPod at altitude solved?

[gmcjetpilot]

The hard drive iPods are known to having some limitation of how high you can go, before there's an issue with lost air cushion between head and disk. That altitude is subject to debate but lets say some say as low as 10,000 feet, others higher, say FL180.

Regardless what if you could keep your G4 iPod in a pressurized container? Great they have these water proof "otter" cases but getting to the controls was an issue. Well I came across this device for the G4 iPod.

http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/3723.htm

In the link above, in the text towards the bottom is a video
that is very interesting. "For a demonstrational video ..........."

Right now they don't have a case for the Video iPods or older 3G iPods, however it is cool. Go swimming with your iPod. With a sealed case it should keep the pressure in the case at altitude. Obviously it is designed for positive pressure. I am not sure how it would handle negative pressure.

Of course the mini and nano iPods do not use a hard drive so they are better suited for the lower atmo and vibration in a little plane.
George

[N941WR]

George,

I do a lot of hiking and this issue comes up a lot in the hiking mags. You are correct about the new iPods using chips and not hard drives.

What I found out was that the older iPods, like my Mini, usually work fine up to around 15-17K feet, so for most flying, they should work fine.

The thing that got the hikers was that there was no way to tell which ones will work and which ones will die at altitude. Some worked up to 22K feet and others died at lower levels.

The highest I?ve climbed is 14.5+ and I wasn?t dumb enough to lug even a light iPod up those mountains, so I don?t have first hand experience, only what I have read and heard from friends who have gone higher.

[aadamson]

Originally Posted by N941WR

George,

I do a lot of hiking and this issue comes up a lot in the hiking mags. You are correct about the new iPods using chips and not hard drives.

What I found out was that the older iPods, like my Mini, usually work fine up to around 15-17K feet, so for most flying, they should work fine.

The thing that got the hikers was that there was no way to tell which ones will work and which ones will die at altitude. Some worked up to 22K feet and others died at lower levels.

The highest I?ve climbed is 14.5+ and I wasn?t dumb enough to lug even a light iPod up those mountains, so I don?t have first hand experience, only what I have read and heard from friends who have gone higher.

This is actually easier than you think.

There are 2 types of memory in ipods.

- The Ipods that are called "Ipod", not Mini, not Nano, not Shuffle all have hard drives in them, actually whirring drives, with heads that float on a cushion of air. Get the air to thin and the head crashes onto the platters, these are the ones that won't do to well above about 10K

- Then there are the Ipods like the Mini, Nano, Shuffle. These all have solid state re-writable memory - chips in them. These chips don't care how high you go (ok, if you go too high, they will probably crash due to solar radiation, but none of us will be going that high). These will most likely work reliably up to 17K+, but it's not due to the memory, it's due to the user interface.

- All the Ipods will suffer from one additional problem if you get them too high. You won't be able to change the tracks, volume, etc. This is because the "keypad" uses "chicklet" keys that ride on a cushion or air... Get the air too thin and the keypads won't work. The Unit will happily play away, but you won't be able to change anything on it.

Beside the keypad issue and maybe perhaps the battery, I know of no reason that an Ipod Mini, Shuffle, Nano would not work in the 20's and higher. I've heard that the display may get strange. This is due to it using air pressure to keep the zebra strips (edge contacts) making contact.

So, as you see, there is no perfect world, but some better than others

Hope this helps.

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by aadamson

This is actually easier than you think.

There are 2 types of memory in ipods.

- The Ipods that are called "Ipod", not Mini, not Nano, not Shuffle all have hard drives in them, actually whirring drives, with heads that float on a cushion of air. Get the air to thin and the head crashes onto the platters, these are the ones that won't do to well above about 10K

Thanks yea I know but I already own a G3, 20 gig Ipod. I got it before the mini or nano, so I am stickig with it. Since I use it all the time a hard case will do the trick. I agree the solid state ones are better and will eventually break down and get one. I just bought my girlfriend a Mini. I do like having all my music loaded, but than again I don't need 10 days (24 hours a day) worth of music. As long as you don't fly to high the 3G works fine. I fly commercial dead heading all the time and use it at cabin altitudes of 8,000 ft with no problem.
G

[rv8ch]

George, sell your current mp3 player on eBay, and buy one that doesn't have a disk on eBay. Problem solved. Next!

[Deuskid]

Originally Posted by rv8ch

George, sell your current mp3 player on eBay, and buy one that doesn't have a disk on eBay. Problem solved. Next!

ebay IS the problem.

J

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by rv8ch

George, sell your current mp3 player on eBay, and buy one that doesn't have a disk on eBay. Problem solved. Next!

Thanks I appreciate the suggestion. I like my 20 gig'er. If I get a "nano" or "mini" I'll just buy one and keep the 20 gigs.

Like any electronics, it's obsolete the day you buy it. I am waiting. The small one (nano) hold 2 to 4 gig's, Mini holds 4 gigs or 6 gigs, both are good. There's nothing like having ALL your songs on one device, and these are too small. 4-gigs is too small and 6 gigs is getting there. When they get 10 gig mini or nano than I am in. Right now I am rocking 11-12 gigs of music. I am sure Apple Steve will come up with a wrist watch iPod with a GPS receiver and satellite internet service all-in-one, any day now.

G

[parashak]

I've had really good luck with batteries from our 5 GB original, Oct. 2001, M8513 iPod. Obsolete is a relative term - this one still does what it was intended for.