Septa Pirep
PIREP on the Anywhere Map Septa:
I've had one since mid July 2011, and gave it a shake-down cruise flying to/from Oshkosh from the west coast. Brightness & visibility is very good (best I've seen) and it works well in my tilt-up RV6. Size is ideal (I used to run AWM-Pro in our Cessna on a Motion LS-800 tablet, but the LS-800 was too big to fit in the RV, so I've been using a Dell Axim pocket PC with AWM software in the RV.. The Pocket PC is too small and not really bright enough IMO. Mounted the Septa on the left side rail of the -6 using the provided yoke mounting plate (which includes a miniature cooling fan) and a mount plate made from angle stock , supplimented with lower support rod to damp vibration). Runs a version of AWM's Quandra software... still a few bugs with this implementation, but far fewer than my experiences with AWM in the past (I've been using various versions of their software since 1990). The AWM people are planning a new release of the software soon to address the bugs listed below.
The Septa linked up by blue tooth with my WX-Worx receiver immediately without problems. Built-in GPS receiver is sensitive- no problems in finding satellites. Updates via wireless link, USB cable using the Ulink software from AWM (same as for Quandra) software, or just pull the SD card and update on your PC (I use the latter as is is fastest and simplest). Only requries a power connection and you are up and running (no extra wires for GPS).
Only 2 bugs I have encountered:
1. Sectional maps load in panels, & in during some wide-area zoom settings this results in an area (up to about 1/8 screen height) at the top of the screen without sectional underlay. Reported to AWM and they are working on a fix.
2. Sync issue with respect to updating XM weather: Happens occasionally and related to sequence of power up of Septa vs XM box. Symptom is lack of display of the square weather "flags" at airports. Reported to AWM; CEO Jay Hubbard replied that they are aware of the bug - it results from situations in which file time stamps get out of sync when the XM-weather box starts downloading files before the Septa finds the first satellite and gets a sat time update. There is a work-around until the next software release fixes the problem.
The Septa does not have an autopilot feed, although AWM may be working on this (?) contact them to see. When I talked with Jay at Oshkosh, he mentioned that they are working on several new features.
Summary: I am very happy with the Septa in my RV. The bright (1000 nit) display is the best I've seen with respect to visibility in a canopy airplane.
I have no commercial relationship with AWM, just a customer. Incidentally, I met the AWM group at Oshkosh and they photographed my RV with the Septa for their webpage... so you can see where I installed it there.
