I thought that I should share my learnings regarding the Dual XGPS170 with other fellow iFly users.
The GPS come with a charger for the cigarette lighter, an USB cable and an anti-skid rubber sleve. Setup is super easy – screw in the antenna, select whether you have an Apple or some other device, turn it on and connect it via Bluetooth. That's it.
So far I used it only on on a flight from 1D2 Canton-Plymouth-Mettetal (close to Detroit) to KOZW Livingston and back. On the way to Livingston the GPS reception was rock solid and the ADS-B data started to come in as soon as I was a few hundred feet above the ground. We received ADS-B data all the way to Livingston. On the way back, the XGPS170's GPS reception was again stable, the ADS-B light flickered (this means that it receives ADS-B data), the iFly app on my Android table however warned me that no ADS-B tower is within range.
I figured, that before I take any other steps to figure out what is going on, I should update the firmware. Well, easier said than done: According to Dual’s technical support, the Dual XGPS170 can currently only be updated through an iPad app (no, iPhone will not work)! As I only have an iPhone, besides of my Android product, I was therefore not immediately able to update the device. With a borrowed iPad, I finally managed to update the GPS, I hope that this solved the instability issue.
The other thing is that it only indicates that the battery is fully charged (light turns from red to green) when an full size (according to the tech support) iPad charger is used. With all of my Android or generic USB chargers, including two different tablet chargers, the GPS gets charged, but the LED never turns green.
When I connected it to the iDevice charger, after it was connected to a generic charger for multiple hours, the LED turned immediately green. Going back to the generic charger it turned and stayed red again. Obviously, the GPS gets fully charged with a non-iDevice charger, but fails to recognize its own status.
On one hand, this is not a too big of a deal, on the other hand it makes one wonder about the quality of engineering and testing that went into it. When I am on longer trips, I also usually take only a universal 4-socket USB charger with me, even though I have more than 4 devices which need to be charged by USB. To be able to see when a device is full and can be removed, so that the socket can be used for something else, makes life on such trips a lot easier.
Now, I am not saying that one should stay away from this device, because it seems to be well built and because there are not too many alternatives in this price range, which also come with other restrictions (e. g. Garmin only works with Garmin). I believe however, that one should be aware of the XGPS170’s limitations, particularly if somebody does not have access to an iPad.
Regards,
Oliver