Just a simple GPS

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Just a simple GPS

Are any of you guys using Avare? It is a free system that runs on Android.

http://apps4av.com/avare-overview/

Hank

[astjp2]

Re: Just a simple GPS

The 196 is good up until you start getting around restricted and warning areas, hard to tell them apart by a quick visual. They did an update and changed the borders but its still not a simple glance. Tim

[Stumpy]

Re: Just a simple GPS

Hank,

I have nothin' but good things to say about AVARE! Half a dozen of us at W16 are using it and have been for a year or so. Just loaded it on another fella's Samsung tablet and gave him a ten minute basic tutorial...he's a low-tech guy but picked it up instantly, he's using it for back up and leaving Tuesday for Kentucky from Washington State in a straight tail 172.

Avare was purposely designed for android...seems like a lot of apps were designed for I-pad platforms and "tweaked" for android use and at times it shows. Avare is simple to use, intuitive, and it isn't top-heavy with a lot of features that aren't of much practical use as an aid to VFR flying....and that's likely the reason it doesn't seem to be prone to crapping-out when you need it. I have it on my Motorola phone and my Nexus 7 (7" tablet). The tablet works great in the T...a ten-inch would be kinda big. I've been going with it and leaving the Garmin off most of the time...just so much easier to read and the three or four functions you might need to access in a hurry take about half a sec with Avare, compared to scrolling and hitting little buttons on the garmin 96c.

I don't want to sound like a sales rep for Avare, ha ha. Frankly I avoid the techie stuff and just use paper and compass most of the time, by preference. That being said when I've needed to get somewhere without swanning around the tablet and avare have saved me considerable time and fuel. Best part is, as you mentioned...FREE! I think you'll like it if you try it.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Just a simple GPS

Robert, are you using the built in GPS or an external one with the Nexus 7? Any suggestions on which version of the Nexus to use or set-up advice?

Hank

[Stumpy]

Re: Just a simple GPS

Hank,

I was using a first-gen Nexus with 32gb memory. Worked just dandy. Some idgit broke into the rig last fall and stole it and a bunch of other stuff. I replaced it with a second gen Nexus 7, 32gb. It's a little faster and has a nicer screen. Wish I hadn't though...the little micro-usb ports loosen up and go bad on them...with the first gen it's mounted on a $14 (ebay) plug and play ribbon, with the second gen it's mounted on a $95 circuit board. That being said mine is bad, I found just the port piece for $3, and gonna try to do the solder job on the circuit board today.

Why is this important? Well, with the screen on all the time, the Avare app going, and the internal gps active, the internal battery doesn't last all that long. For flights of any duration, ya gotta have the power cable plugged in. Another little relevant tidbit I discovered---the usual run-of-the-mill 12v cig to usb plugs are only +/- 1 amp, and your tablet battery will still run down. I found a nice dual-port 2.1 amp usb socket, mounted it on the glare shield, and plumbed it into the little 10 amp sealed battery I use for the HH radio and intercom...voila! no more tablet power issues, and I can use it to charge a phone, etc. as well.

My Nexus is the basic version that has wifi but no phone/wireless capability or whatever it's called. The internal gps works just dandy. I have it on the glare shield with a little mini-bungee attached to the lower windshield support wire loops. I have an old elk hide on the glare shield, and combined with the light silicon case cover I put on the tablet it's kinda sticky and stays put perfectly, but you can flip the bungee and drop it flat in an instant...redneck retractable heads-up display of sorts. It works, it cost nothing, and it keeps your eyes out where they need to be instead of buried in the cockpit. Having it on the glare shield gives the gps a fairly unobstructed view of the sat constellation...so far in the T-craft the internal gps has worked fine. I've compared readings side by side with my Garmin 96c several times with no complaints.

Download Avare from the Google Play store...once the app is in it'll tell you to download whatever charts you need....easy menu, easy to download or delete later, just check or uncheck boxes on the get-charts menu. They take up quite a bit of memory so I only have a couple sectionals, TAC's and one WAC, but whatever you need is right there and adding or removing is quick and painless anywhere there's a wifi connection. The program's simple and setting up the screen preferences and other items only takes a couple minutes.

[astjp2]

Re: Just a simple GPS

I just picked up a Garmin 196 for an affordable price, now to get a data card to upload the topos for the area. Tim