Darrel Starr
Registered User
Plymouth, MN
I have about 15 hours on this installation now and have learned a few things. I really like this setup. It replaces a Garmin 496 which now is in the back seat to send a GPS signal to the ACK 406 ELT.
1. The iPad is a Mini 3, 128GB with an Armorglas anti glare shield. Audio alerts (runway & traffic) are wired into the PS Engineering Intercom. It is wired into the panel through a circuit breaker using a DROK 3 amp 12v/5v box. The iPad cost $630. With power from the DROK, the iPad easily stays charged to 100% all the time. The screen is bright enough but I wish it were brighter. I have found that flying with a dark shirt on is a big help to keep reflection down. The audio alerts are loud enough with the iPad volume turned all the way up but I would like to have it just a tad louder. It is important to have the iPad angled to be 90 degrees to the pilot's gaze.
2. Foreflight is the Pro Synthetic version -- costs $175/yr. It works great but I did have it lock up once in Northern MN and had to reboot it -- only took a minute but not good.
3. The Stratus 2S ($900) provides a WIFI signal to the iPad and "sees" both satellites and ADS-B ground stations -- 600 ground stations exist, 5 of them near the Minneapolis-St Paul Metro area. It is mounted under the skylight and usually picks up all or nearly all satellites -- usually 12 to 16 so the GPS accuracy often is around 1 meter. It usually sees 5 ground stations but that falls off to 1 station (@1500 ft AGL) north of St Cloud and sometimes none over around Eau Claire. It has a lithium battery advertised to last 8 hrs and my experience is that that works out about right. Don't leave it running while on the ground because it has a fan built into it and with no air moving the fan will run and shorten battery life. The Stratus is the key to seeing traffic and weather. Since I don't have ADS-B Out (yet) I get most traffic through a rebroadcast from one of the ground stations. In the Twin Cities Metro area under the Mode C Veil around MSP this works great so that coming into KANE 10 miles or so out, I get most of the traffic shown on the screen that the tower is talking to. We have been alerted already several times to traffic and then seen the plane a moment or two later -- very comforting to get the heads up. It will be a more complete picture once ADS-B Out is installed. One disconcerting thing is that because I don't have ADS-B out, our plane sometimes shows up as traffic. However the few times this has happened, the traffic(us) has been shown way below us as though it were just skimming along 100 or 200 feet off the ground.
So my early experience is very good, worth the money (one time $1500 plus $175/yr)
1. The iPad is a Mini 3, 128GB with an Armorglas anti glare shield. Audio alerts (runway & traffic) are wired into the PS Engineering Intercom. It is wired into the panel through a circuit breaker using a DROK 3 amp 12v/5v box. The iPad cost $630. With power from the DROK, the iPad easily stays charged to 100% all the time. The screen is bright enough but I wish it were brighter. I have found that flying with a dark shirt on is a big help to keep reflection down. The audio alerts are loud enough with the iPad volume turned all the way up but I would like to have it just a tad louder. It is important to have the iPad angled to be 90 degrees to the pilot's gaze.
2. Foreflight is the Pro Synthetic version -- costs $175/yr. It works great but I did have it lock up once in Northern MN and had to reboot it -- only took a minute but not good.
3. The Stratus 2S ($900) provides a WIFI signal to the iPad and "sees" both satellites and ADS-B ground stations -- 600 ground stations exist, 5 of them near the Minneapolis-St Paul Metro area. It is mounted under the skylight and usually picks up all or nearly all satellites -- usually 12 to 16 so the GPS accuracy often is around 1 meter. It usually sees 5 ground stations but that falls off to 1 station (@1500 ft AGL) north of St Cloud and sometimes none over around Eau Claire. It has a lithium battery advertised to last 8 hrs and my experience is that that works out about right. Don't leave it running while on the ground because it has a fan built into it and with no air moving the fan will run and shorten battery life. The Stratus is the key to seeing traffic and weather. Since I don't have ADS-B Out (yet) I get most traffic through a rebroadcast from one of the ground stations. In the Twin Cities Metro area under the Mode C Veil around MSP this works great so that coming into KANE 10 miles or so out, I get most of the traffic shown on the screen that the tower is talking to. We have been alerted already several times to traffic and then seen the plane a moment or two later -- very comforting to get the heads up. It will be a more complete picture once ADS-B Out is installed. One disconcerting thing is that because I don't have ADS-B out, our plane sometimes shows up as traffic. However the few times this has happened, the traffic(us) has been shown way below us as though it were just skimming along 100 or 200 feet off the ground.
So my early experience is very good, worth the money (one time $1500 plus $175/yr)