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Thread: Android tablet to replace Garmin 396??

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    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    Android tablet to replace Garmin 396??

    I really like my Garmin 396. Even though I haven't flown in a while I still use it for road trips. Due to aging eyes I am considering replacing it with some sort of Android tablet with a larger screen. Does anyone have any experience with the apps available for android tablets, both for road & aviation use? I would need something that had the maps in an on board database as many of the road trips I take go thru areas with no data coverage. I thought Garmin had some software that would do this but I can't find anything on their website.

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    Dana's Avatar
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    Navigation apps for smartphones and tablets are so good nowadays I can't see ever buying a dedicated GPS again, unless you needed a certified IFR GPS. For driving, google maps or Waze, if you have a data connection you even get realtime traffic, if not you have to preload the maps, which is easy to do in google maps, not sure about Waze.

    For flying, I've been using Avare, which is completely free (there's also Garmin Pilot, though I've never used it). Up until now I've just used Avare on my phone, but for the 1000 mile flight home in my new plane I'm going to use my 7" tablet instead as primary with the plane's existing Garmin 196 as backup.

    Avare displays the actual sectional chart as the moving map, instead of the simplified version in the older Garmins. You preload the charts and A/FD, it can also get weather and (with an external receiver) ADS-in data.

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    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    How do you go about pre loading the Google maps? I can't find any way to do it on my phone. I don't have the newest version, I reverted to what came with the phone because the new version covers virtually the entire map with text boxes full of local attraction info that I couldn't find any way to shut off & they covered the map making it useless.

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    Dana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Switzer View Post
    How do you go about pre loading the Google maps? I can't find any way to do it on my phone. I don't have the newest version, I reverted to what came with the phone because the new version covers virtually the entire map with text boxes full of local attraction info that I couldn't find any way to shut off & they covered the map making it useless.
    https://www.androidpit.com/use-your-google-maps-offline

    I've never seen any "text boxes full of local attraction info" in maps... you sure you're talking about maps and not Google Earth? Two different programs...

  5. #5
    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dana View Post
    you sure you're talking about maps and not Google Earth? Two different programs...
    Yes, it is definitely google maps. The same stuff comes up on the desktop version but with a 27" monitor it isn't as big of a deal & there you can shut it off.
    Last edited by Mike Switzer; 02-28-2017 at 11:35 AM.

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    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    Oh, and it doesn't happen everywhere. Here at home it doesn't show up, try zooming in on the Assembly Hall area in Champaign IL & it is terrible.

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    Mike Switzer's Avatar
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    The menu on my phone doesn't have the offline option they show there (or a couple of the other options). I am either going to try to load the newest version on my old phone to see how it works or borrow a tablet. Thanks for the link

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    dewi8095's Avatar
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    I really like my Garmin 396. Even though I haven't flown in a while I still use it for road trips. Due to aging eyes I am considering replacing it with some sort of Android tablet with a larger screen. Does anyone have any experience with the apps available for android tablets, both for road & aviation use?
    Mike:

    I second Dana's recommendation of Avare. It has worked well for me on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet with a 7" screen. Clear, bright screen at low cost. I bought mine for less than $100 on a holiday special from Best Buy. Only downside of this tablet that I can see is that it comes with only 8GB of ROM, but I off set that by using it exclusively for navigation. If more memory need, an additional memory chip is cheap.

    Don

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Switzer View Post
    I really like my Garmin 396. Even though I haven't flown in a while I still use it for road trips. Due to aging eyes I am considering replacing it with some sort of Android tablet with a larger screen. Does anyone have any experience with the apps available for android tablets, both for road & aviation use? I would need something that had the maps in an on board database as many of the road trips I take go thru areas with no data coverage. I thought Garmin had some software that would do this but I can't find anything on their website.
    My $600 Garmin Aera 510 became intermittent and would cost $250 to (maybe) have fixed. Instead...I bought a 7 inch Samsung tablet and run AVARE. Also bought the parts for a Sratux ADSB in receiver which wirelessly interfaces with AVARE and the Samsung. All the above for less than the $250 I would have spent having the AERA fixed and I get free software, free chart updates, real time weather, weather radar, traffic, etc.. What's not to like. I do believe the writing is on the wall for the portable GPS market. Anybody want a not so reliable Garmin AERA 510?

    Here is the link to the Garmin aviation APP. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/115856
    And the ground based APP. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/98479

    There look to be a number of ground navigation APPs that have onboard databases available. A quick look through the Play Store found several.

  10. #10

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    I too use an Android device, a Samsung Galaxy GT-P5113 (tab2, 10 inch screen) running Avare. Gave up on my G196 because some of the buttons have stopped working. Garmin said they don't repair them anymore. It was nice because it did bunches and bunches of stuff but i never really figured out how to do most of it

    Also built the Stratux as discussed in one of the EAA pubs. Get Avare and don't do Stratux? No. Do it!

    Then got a Talos Aeolus to drive an old Android phone as a backup to the panel mounted flight instruments.

    Total price tag, less than a thousand dollars. For nav, ADSB-in, and AHRS - including updates. Would I ever consider this a primary IFR set? Of course not. But it's great for what it does.

    (GPS Copilot for Android is free on the Google Play store and runs ground maps off line)
    Last edited by Mike M; 03-01-2017 at 07:14 PM.

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