Saville

Saville

Well Known Member
GPS antenna for Garmin Pilot on an Android Smartphone?

So the other day I downloaded the 30 day trial of Garmin Pilot onto my Android smartphone. I thought this would be a nice triple backup system to have handy. The screen is 2" x 3.5" so it's a little too small for primary nav.

Anyhow after downloading the 30 day free test trial I tried it out while driving home from work. Seemed to work pretty well. Couple days later, I went on a short XC and turned it on -

it never acquired the GPS satellites.

Well that's fairly useless.

And when I tried it under different conditions (e.g. in buildings, outside etc), sometimes it acquires the satellites and - all too often - it did not.

Right now, seated in my office in my house, I get quick satellite acquisition.

So then I was thinking it needs a better antenna. I see this combination GPS and GLONASS antenna on Amazon for $129. Not sure I want the Russkies guiding me ;)

Anyhow can someone suggest a blutetooth GPS antenna that would help satellite acquisition on my Android Smartphone? I might buy a tablet later on and if it worked for that too that would be good.

Or is there a better solution?

thanks
 
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Dean Pichon said:
I have an Android (tablet) with which I used a Dual Bluetooth GPS receiver. It requires (as most do, it seems) a Bluetooth GPS app that can be downloaded for free. I use Bluetooth GPS. The system locks on quickly, and is very stable. I don't use Garmin Pilot, but plan to switch soon and expect this set up to work well with it.

Regards,

http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-lifestyle/aviation/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=googoo.android.btgps&hl=en
Click to expand...

Hi Dean,

Looks like a good choice. Thanks for the recomendation.
 
tablet

Forget using that phone. Get yourself a Nexus 7 or Samsung tab. I've been using Garmin PIlot on Samsung for over a year and never a glitch. Works perfect. I don't even take paper out of the bag anymore, including IFR charts. Garmin Pilot has it all.
 
sglynn said:
Forget using that phone. Get yourself a Nexus 7 or Samsung tab. I've been using Garmin PIlot on Samsung for over a year and never a glitch. Works perfect. I don't even take paper out of the bag anymore, including IFR charts. Garmin Pilot has it all.
Click to expand...

Well as I said in my original post, I would see this as a backup only - the screen is too small for general use.

I wouldn't buy a smartphone for this purpose, but since I have it anyway, why not have the backup there? So I want to find a solution to the lock-on problem.

As for going with a tablet....I've wrestled with that notion a little bit:

Tablet? or dedicated device like a Garmin 696?

If I wanted a tablet for other reasons, I'd certainly load up Garmin Pilot on it. Yes I can use it for other things besides navigation and weather - but I really have no desire to own a tablet. And there are screen/sun glare issues as have been reported. On the other hand a G696 is much more expensive, and is useful only for Nav/WX.

But that's a different thread.
 
Dedicated vs Tablet?

Tablets are computers that fall into the same development cycle that traditional microcomputers did 10 years ago.

Tablets have MILLIONS of R&D dollars behind them. Software vendors are battling to leap frog each other, and prices are driven down at a geometric rate.

Tablets had fair screens, single processors and a little memory a few years ago.

Then tablets had good screens, dual core processors and more storage with improved software.

Now tablets have excellent screens, quad core processors, built in GPS, more memory and software vendors fighting to improve my experience. They also talk with smaller dedicated devices for ADAHRS and ADS-B

Dedicated devices have changed a bit, but not that much. Prices require I get some additional service life out of the box to make the cost effective, well behind the tablet development curve.

By the time my plane flies next year, The Tablet screen with be GREAT, FAST processors, plenty of memory and storage, and unsurpassed software.

I'm designing my panel to support the tablet as the primary backup for Flight, navigation and traffic.

Finally, Tablet Prices are low enough to follow Moore's law and upgrade every 18 months.

CC


Saville said:
Well as I said in my original post, I would see this as a backup only - the screen is too small for general use.

I wouldn't buy a smartphone for this purpose, but since I have it anyway, why not have the backup there? So I want to find a solution to the lock-on problem.

As for going with a tablet....I've wrestled with that notion a little bit:

Tablet? or dedicated device like a Garmin 696?

If I wanted a tablet for other reasons, I'd certainly load up Garmin Pilot on it. Yes I can use it for other things besides navigation and weather - but I really have no desire to own a tablet. And there are screen/sun glare issues as have been reported. On the other hand a G696 is much more expensive, and is useful only for Nav/WX.

But that's a different thread.
Click to expand...
 
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Get a tablet

Well said David.

Phones are good for calling but a tablet in the cockpit is everything.
 
comfortcat said:
Tablets are computers that fall into the same development cycle that traditional microcomputers did 10 years ago.

Tablets have MILLIONS of R&D dollars behind them. Software vendors are battling to leap frog each other, and prices are driven down at a geometric rate.

Tables had fair screens, single processors and a little memory a few years ago.

Then tables had good screens, dual core processors and more storage with improves software.

Now they have excellent screens, quad core processors, built in GPS, more memory and software vendors fighting to improve my experience. They also talk with smaller dedicated devices for ADAHRS and ADS-B

Dedicated devices have changed a bit, but not that much. Prices require I get some additional service life out of the box to make the cost effective, well behind the development curve.

By the time my plane flies next year, The Tablet screen with be GREAT, FAST processors, plenty of memory and storage, and unsurpassed software.

I'm designing my panel to support the tablet as the primary backup for Flight, navigation and traffic.

Finally, Tablet Prices are low enough to follow Moore's law and upgrade every 18 months.

CC
Click to expand...


No matter how good a tablet is, hand held aviation-dedicated GPS units will be better when it comes to aviation-only uses. That's because they, too, follow Moore's Law. Just look at a 696 vs a 296.

Again, if I wanted a tablet for non-aviation reasons, I'd get one. And I would certainly load up Garmin Pilot on it. And use it as a backup.

Right now, I don't want to buy a tablet. But I do want to see if I can rig my smartphone as a 3rd level backup. And for that, I need an antenna for a good satellite lock-on. My Dual should arrive today.

Thanks
 
Took the Dual GPS antenna up with the Smartphone and flew an XC. Worked to perfection. Got locked and stayed locked to the satellites.

I now have a 3rd level backup in case of power failure.

I'm still considering the Garmin 696 vs iPad issue. At least I know the Dual will work with the iPad.

Thanks for the recomendations
 
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