iFly GPS Forum

That term was mentioned in the wishlists discussion about possible comparision table for the Ipad/Android vs dedicated iFly.

Pardon my ignorance, but can someone tell me, preferably in 100 words or less ;-) , what that is, and exactly why/when as an iFly 720 user I might want to know about or use it? Is NMEA Output via USB a feature of the 720?

I see some discussions here that seem to be about getting it to work.
Those discussions involved serial port pinouts.
Coming from the early days of PC support when I/O on PCs heavily used serial ports and multi-hour nightmares of getting that non-standard RS-232 "standard" to work.... when I hear anything involves serial ports or discussions of "what pin" I'm inclined to run the other way ... fast. ;-)

Alex

I have my TRIO autopilot in my RV-6A hooked up to the 720 by the USB/NMEA interface ---- works good.

" ... preferably in 100 words or less ;-) , what that is ..."

National Marine Electronics Association specification 0183 defines a protocol for communications between boxes on a ship. GPS, anemometers, autopilots, etc. NMEA plain-text "sentences" mostly contain status information, like lat/long, speed, and cross-track error. Here are details: http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/ (NMEA will sell you the spec for $340!)

The inexpensive GPSs you buy on eBay produce only a few of the sentences, related to position. Apparently the 720 provides more than just position. It can output sentences that provide cross track error --- hence, henrysamson's EFIS can display the error on its HSI and an autopilot could be driven with this information.

99 words. Do I win the stuffed teddy bear?