I wish for a 10" or 12" IFly GPS & NMEA out on IPa

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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListI wish for a 10" or 12" IFly GPS & NMEA out on IPadI wish for a 10" or 12" IFly GPS & NMEA out on IPad
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1/14/2020 8:12 AM
 

I loved my 740, but for my panel display it was too small.  For the last almost 3 years I have been using a 12.5" IPad. At the time i bought it, it was the only way I could use my Stratus and use Foreflight - I had to buy Forflight (which I loathe) for a year in order to be able to access Canadian charts for a trip to Alaska. Now, back exclusively on IFly.  Although the 12.5" IPad is better than nothing, in any kind of bright light it is only BARELY better than nothing.  And it is an IPad with all the cranky, obtuse features to torture users that only Apple can devise. And at well over $1k its not cheap either.  Although I would gladly pay twice that or more for an 12" version of an IFly 740 super bright. 

I wish that IFly woud build a large format version of the Ifly740 with a high visibility screen.  That would be the utlimate answer as there are so many great things about the basic 740 that I like such as the ability to (wire) output NMEA GPS nav data into my Dynon HSI (and music into my audio panel).

Or lacking the ability to produce a 12 inch Ifly,  find an Android device in the same size range that has superior viewing in bright light.  So far I have had no luck with that. 

Also if neither of the above were possible it would be great to have an interface device so that IFLy on my IPad had these 2 features:

The ability to use a trackball as the interface, to avoid playing touch scream when trying to work a panel mounted touch screen in turbulence. 

The ability to output wired NMEA output from IFly running on an Ipad so that I can connect it into my Dynon.  I could again then let the output from the IFly go into my HSI on the Dynon and use it for direct nav &  Autopilot input. 

 

 
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1/14/2020 8:33 AM
 

Remember that iFly doesn't "build" the 740...they purchase a unit from someplace like this (https://www.bsicomputer.com/products/...l-panel-pc-9699) and put their software on it.  So they're constrained to what's available in that marketplace (though there are a jillion such units to choose from).

You may be able to achieve what you want by looking at Windows-based options.  The NMEA output from an iPad is currently an inherent device limitation and something iFly can't overcome, whereas Windows devices do support USB outputs like you want.  You may be able to find more mouse/trackball/other input device support in the Windows world, as well.

You may still be somewhat disappointed in the sunlight-performance of their displays, though.  The vast majority of tablet and laptop usage is indoors, and displays are typicaly designed to perform best in indoor environments.

Here's a link to get you started if you might want to think about that option:  https://www.cnet.com/news/best-2-in-1...-tablet-in-one/

 
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1/14/2020 7:43 PM
 

In a similar vein, perhaps you could find a monitor of the desired size and, just as important, brightness, then any of the platforms that iFly currently supports could be used and transferred via an HDMI cable.  That would give you the advantage of being able to take the base computer home to update the software without having to uninstall it from the panel.  Of course, I don't know if such monitors exist.

 

 

 
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1/15/2020 5:32 AM
 
Mike D. wrote:

In a similar vein, perhaps you could find a monitor of the desired size and, just as important, brightness, then any of the platforms that iFly currently supports could be used and transferred via an HDMI cable.  That would give you the advantage of being able to take the base computer home to update the software without having to uninstall it from the panel.  Of course, I don't know if such monitors exist.

I'm not aware of any capability for iPads or Android tablets to drive an external monitor via an HDMI cable.  You would also lose all touchscreen capability this way.  I do not think this is a practical solution

 
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1/15/2020 5:05 PM
 

Wouldn't a Win10 laptop do the job?  And, while I don't really know, the early complaints I heard about Win10 was that it was designed too much for touch screens.  That implied to me that there was a way to get information from a desktop touch screen back to the processor.  Of course I could be mistaken. 

Last night, after posting I roamed around the internet a bit, and found a few screens that seemed to be designed for outdoor, touch screen use, and having a nit value around (I think) 1500.

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListI wish for a 10" or 12" IFly GPS & NMEA out on IPadI wish for a 10" or 12" IFly GPS & NMEA out on IPad