Android tablet to replace Garmin 396??

[Mike Switzer]

For road navigation I found something called Sygic, I have been trying it on my phone while driving. Once I got the lady with the British accent to tell me miles & yards instead of meters & kilometers it is fairly good. You can download maps for off line use, and if you have a data connection it will tell you about accidents, traffic, speed cameras, etc. For tablet use I would have to link my phone to the tablet for the data connection to work.

Do most of the tablets these days have GPS built in? I have a older USB GPS but internal would be more convenient.

[Dana]

Yes, most tablets have GPS nowadays, at least Android. I believe iPads don't have GPS unless they also have cellular (no technical reason, just Apple marketing).

Even though my tablet has GPS, I just ordered a bluetooth GPS receiver for a better signal when the tablet is down inside the cockpit on my lap.

[belgianbuzzer]

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

Dear Mike,
How is your experience with the Talos Aeolus? I'm just thinking about getting that little AHRS box. $600 plus my tablet Nexus 7" and I'm done for my homebuilt. Thanks, Bob

[Mike M]

Belgian Bob, the Aeolus works like the Talos folks say it does. The developers are (so far) happily communicative and email-available. No, it's not my primary, they didn't say it should be. If you're looking for a backup you'll probably like it once you learn it. I do.

[Mike Switzer]

I tried using Sygic on a longer trip over the weekend, while it has some nice features it is buggy. Voice instructions wont stay turned on & when they did work she was telling us to take a ramp at 50 miles per hour (50 kph might have worked, but definitely not 50mph)

[Jim Heffelfinger]

I have been using Naviator, it has 100,000+ downloads, works well with Android, it is a subscription for updates - which automatically by default update every time it is in a wifi environment, does all the usual stuff, airport diagrams, full moving map , choice of charts from VFR, IFR, low and high altitude, all the weather bits, rubber band tracks, layers, interfaces with ADS-B in data and with the new AHRS module it displays as PFD, and naturally full 3D, Vnav, slpit screen data, file and brief, export GPX, and import route infor from a desktop, TFRs, and IR satellite overlays, etc. Has spoken up a number of times " Obstacle ahead - pull up " when you forget to close the app while driving. ForeFlight is the go to app for iOS devices. IMHO

Need to mention that internal GPS in many tablets and phones may be AGPS. An external GPS (WAAS) input is needed for flight operations using a tablet. .
One solution: https://www.openflightsolutions.com/flightbox/

[2ndsegment]

I have a Garmin 35. (a Watch) My experience with computer connections goes back to a TRS-80 Basic 2 interface box with ribbon connections that had solder mating and even a RS-232C that sat on rubber feet and had sharp point connections on a flat plane. In Florida with the humidity I was constantly scraping the connections with an X-acto knife after taking it in until service ended.

Then with a Polar watch and a chest band I found I could also nick off the little corrosion pimples after using it in a pool of sweating a lot in a 5K or 15K. Those connections were rhodium. The TRS-80 RS-232-C had gold plated connections other than to the interface box. Through the decades now I have found, wash the not truly waterproof connection to a rechargeable battery with clear water and rub vigorously with a Kleenex every time you take it off.

If it quit working for any other reason it is probably some memory got full. You will have to delete all your history, all your records and go on.

My FIRE tablet worked fine for a strap down so my grandkids could learn how to fly through frames. I'll back off on spin up gyros and strap downs if you can answer this question. Is Hellfire wire guided like TOW? Please untangle me.

[CHICAGORANDY]

There have been times when newcomers who like to necropost have turned out to be those silly little people who live under bridges. Not saying that this is an example of course, but 'just sayin'.