Switching out for the iFly720 from Lowrance

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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly General Di...iFly General Di...Switching out for the iFly720 from LowranceSwitching out for the iFly720 from Lowrance
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7/23/2013 8:13 PM
 
In my Grumman AA-1B I get WAAS lock 50% of the time without the external antenna. With the C-182 I now use the external antenna and have WAAS lock almost 100% of the time.
I was flying my Yankee on a trip from the SF Bay area to Arlington, WA over the last week and a half, and on occasion was still seeing the altitude alert while at well above local terrain. Then I noticed I had not shut off my Verizon Blackberry. I shut it off, and did not notice the problem again.
Maybe.....
I will need to make a few more flights to confirm. I need to add shutting off cell phones to my checklist.
 
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7/23/2013 10:11 PM
 

Rich,

I would look at ensuring the Bluetooth is off first, then see if your signal improves. It very well could be the Bluetooth and not the cell signal as Bluetooth has a frequency range very close to GPS. If you can replicate a test, I'd be interested to see the change in GPS signal as you turn off the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Cell individually, noting any change in GPS signal.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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7/24/2013 6:04 PM
 
Just to let everyone know the Lowrance power cord and the antenna do NOT work with the iFly. So back to the shop.
Dennis
 
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7/24/2013 10:45 PM
 
Checking the frequencies, GPS might be impacted by the 1st harmonic of Bluetooth, so I will check for that the next time I get a chance. The BB on my hip is only a couple of feet from the iFly on the yoke.
Being the transmissions from a Blackberry or other smart phones for data is in burst packets, this makes sense for the intermittent and momentary errors on the iFly. The altitude alerts last only a few seconds. The displayed signal strength is showing strong, but I see that is an average over a period of time. A momentary loss of signal or distortion may not show up on the signal strength display.
I try to remember to turn off my Verizon cell when flying, since in most areas it does not work at all above 2,000 AGL, and the battery runs dead fast as it try's to find a network. But I often forget. As I said, time to add it to my checklist.
 
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7/25/2013 7:58 AM
 

Rich,

Very good post, nice detail. We will watch results in additional testing here as well. Thanks again for your tests and please keep up the great posts. Have a great weekend.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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