Re: GPS Question
- From: Richard Herring <news00@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 19:44:18 +0000
In article <tmm2p195fqurifgcsr9s8ismnkf91517ls@xxxxxxx>, Peter <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
graham@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote
Unfortunately, it does not appear that anyone publishes aviation maps that can be loaded onto tomtom.
One can't really do this because TT is a program specialised for road use. It "intelligently" tries to work out which road you are on, even if the GPS shows you are 5 yards off it (typical GPS error is of that order). Also, it's moving map display is no good; it shows just the piece of road you are on, and the "map" mode is useless.
For aviation, you want a GPS which shows a moving map and in reasonable detail.
.... and will display it at any reasonable scale and orientation.
My view is that a typical PDA with its 320x240 display is no good. That rules out a typical aviation GPS too (a lot of them have very poor maps) but there you are!
If you want something that will do both, perhaps the nearest is a decent VGA-capable (640x480) PDA like the HP 4700, run TT on it for road use (in 320x240; it won't work usefully in 640x480) and when using it in a plane then consider one of the following
1) Memory Map (copies of UK CAA charts, no foreign airspace supported yet) - a very good product
2) Oziexplorer (have to scan your own charts, or obtain scans somehow; they are often shared) - will of course work anywhere
3) Other products that run under the pocket/pc O/S; there are several. I am not aware of any which come with "official" aviation charts for UK (except MM above) or anywhere in Europe.
But note that mostly these use *raster* image of the charts. That's fine for north-up display at the scale they intend you to use, but very limiting if your intentions are different. And scanned maps have no intelligence or knowledge of airspace - it's just lines on the raster map. You can't point at a feature and get more data, the way you can with a vector-based aviation database.
Obviously it depends on your budget. Arguably the best portable aviation GPS, for Europe, is the Avmap EKP-IV.
http://www.avmap.it/index.php?sec=1&sub=185&lang=en
This gives you decent charts, not the cluttered modified-Jeppesen data which every aviation GPS (Garmin, Skyforce, etc) uses. But it isn't as cheap as some. You can get it from a couple of Euro pilot shops e.g.
http://www.skywaysdirect.com
One can buy it a bit cheaper in the USA but then there is a charge for putting the Euro database on it.
I have an IFR GPS in the panel but always use a 2nd backup GPS anyway and I am considering flogging my Skymap 2 and getting the Avmap.
There are other solutions which do road+air but I haven't investigated them. I know some Garmins will run both.
Almost all, though it's not obvious from their small print (maritime charts likewise.)
But this won't be TT for the road; it will be the Garmin road product.
Garmin's City Select Europe and N. America are pretty good, with mapping down to house-number level and full details of intersections etc. For the rest of the world (except IIRC S. Africa?) you're not going to find that level of detail.
Personally I don't like the Garmin form factor; I prefer a leg-strapped GPS if flying somebody else's plane.
You can screw the cradle part of a 196/296 style yoke mount to a board and strap that to your leg, but it's a bit heavy and tends to wander.
-- Richard Herring <mailto:richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> .
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