bsacks05

bsacks05

Well Known Member
I am using a Nexus 7 tablet with current update, Garmin Pilot with latest update (2.3.3), and a GDL 39. I can pair the 39 with the tablet but have trouble with the 39 connection - blue light - not staying on and connecting with the pilot app. It seems like a very fragile connection and not at all dependable. I flew with it once and had weather briefly. Not much luck after that.

It is all new to me and I would like to connect with someone who is having success with this combination.
 
Hope you do! I've been following that thread and another on the same forum you might look at that spawned this one. Just search for it. Some have had issues with hardware and Jay has had a problem now and then but they seem to get worked out. There are a lot of experiences logged on the two threads.

Some Apple fans break in with their stuff but the thread is for the Android platform. It does seems to be getting second fiddle from the developers at Garmin but only by a week or so and the updates come quickly.

Am waiting to see the pricing on the new Samsung 8" tablet. If too high then I'll join you with a Nexus 7.
Good luck.
 
I spent a lot of time reading the POA posts today. I'm led to believe that I don't have the right combination of settings yet and need to spend more time working it out. Apparently, with all the updates there should be no more bluetooth issues. I'm not throwing up my hands yet and will go to the hangar tomorrow to try some new approaches to getting solid connectivity. Then I will take it up to see how the ADS-B weather is working.
 
A follow up report

Today I sat in the -9 to try the '39 to N7 to gPilot bluetooth connection. Things went well with pairing with a solid BT connection indicated by the steady blue light on the '39 and gPilot settings. I powered down the '39 and N7 then powered up again and quickly established the BT connection. Unfortunately, I couldn't go flying due to winds and plan to get out early tomorrow before the winds pick up again. I'm hoping to see some good weather and traffic data while I'm up.

For the record I am running the most current N7 and gPilot versions, turned airplane mode off, made N7 visible to the BT devices, downloaded a free GDL 39 app, and deleted a GPS BT app I was trying. I'm not sure if any of these made a difference but things are looking good so far.
 
After Saturday morning's flight I can say that I am dialed in and everything is working as advertised. I noticed that TIS-B weather is not available until about 2000 AGL which is expected. Same for METARs, TAFs, etc. I have not seen traffic show up yet but targets have been acquired according to the GDL 39 screen.

The radar graphics are not as nice as XM but that is normal for this system apparently.

I am looking forward to a couple trips to FLA in the coming month (SNF is one) and am very interested to see how this setup works out. G396 is in the flight bag as backup. :)
I'm interested to hear from others using or considering this setup.
 
Glad to hear it's working for ya. Don't forget you are only getting partial traffic. It's not that clear in the documentation but pretty important. Have fun!
 
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