27 November 2024

Avionics: Mounted tablet for free charts via AvareX

I mounted a tablet in the aircraft to avoid paying for charts and plates.  You can see it on the left in the image below.  Read on.

I had been using Seattle Avionics' charts on my GRT HXr EFISes.  I was disappointed to learn (during a checkride!) that some of Seattle Avionics' were not geo-referenced even though Garmin Pilot and AvareX have those same charts with geo-referencing.  I was further disappointed in how difficult it was to engage Seattle Avionics about this observation.  So I sought to find an alternative to Seattle Avionics.

With Seattle Avionics' charts on my EFIS, on the left below shows me running the KGLD VOR approach with the associated plate.  No purple plane, so not geo-referenced (and the yellow warning band on the bottom left of the chart).  On the right shows the RNAV RWY 30 approach plate during that same approach (a few button presses to switch between the plates), which is clearly geo-referenced.

Here's the KGLD VOR plate in AvareX showing aircraft position.  I believe they're able to geo-ref this plate because of the presence of known obstacles.  

Seattle Avionics eventually stated the following to me when I queried them on this concern:

This chart [KGLD VOR] is not geo-referenced because it cannot be.  To verify the geo-ref, we need at least 2 aviation points as cross-check or lat/lon lines or a line or ring with known distance.  That plate, like many VOR approaches, has just one point, so it cannot be verified, and therefore is not geo-referenced, as per DO-200B (SA is certified as such). 

Perhaps Seattle Avionics is limited in what it can do by some regulation in a way that AvareX would not be.  I don't claim to understand the details.

I had been using Avare and more recently, AvareX, on my phone when flying commercial, when on other GA flights or when flying on my couch.  So why not just use that in my own plane too? It doesn't require a subscription (though a donation to the software's authors is appreciated) and I have yet to see a chart that isn't geo-ref'd.

I bought a small-ish tablet, some mounts and snaked a USB cable over to the setup.  The further bonus is that this tablet can connect to my onboard Stratux and Virtual Radar Server to get live traffic plus access to aircraft registration data in flight.

I spec'd out some RAM mounts to use for the tablet and after going through a few different models, found what worked.  And it turns out that spacing between the screws on the RAM diamond base is very close to the spacing of the screws along the rail at the base of the canopy frame.  So I just drilled out one of the holes on the diamond base (to 1/4", IIRC) and mounted the base to the canopy frame.

In dutiful accommodating service to any passengers, I also snagged a phone mount for the passenger side.  I am open to later providing mixed nuts and a moist towelette.

Parts:

at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)