iPhone GPS

beaverbob · Post by **beaverbob** » Tue May 12, 2009 4:30 pm

Does anybody use the ihPone GPS?
Is it good enough to use in a VFR plane?

I just cancelled my Telus cell plans. Now I am thinking of new phones

BB

sky_flyer · Post by **sky_flyer** » Tue May 12, 2009 4:45 pm

I have one but I dont think its a good idea for VFR

when Im just bombing around on the weekends i have a really sweet Airmap 600C I think its the best thing since sliced bread LoL

SkyWolfe · Post by **SkyWolfe** » Tue May 12, 2009 4:49 pm

I haven't used it for vfr, but I think I will give it a try and report back...

And yes, the Airmap 600 is

Nark · Post by **Nark** » Tue May 12, 2009 4:54 pm

I don't use mine for GPS. Great for ipod though. I really have to watch Class B around here, I mainly use the actual GPS (garmin) for that. There is a slice that is never on the GPS updates but is on the terminal (VTA to you canucks). I've heard SoCal chew some ass for that

However,
There is an application that you can download that has aerial/terminal charts. I'm not sure if they have them for you neck of the woods Bob, but I've seen them for SEA area so it's just a matter of searching. Not to mention you have to pay for it, which goes against my iphone application policy.

Iphone, definitely worth getting, but not for the flying/GPS use.

sky_flyer · Post by **sky_flyer** » Tue May 12, 2009 6:32 pm

I havent heard of this application would anyone have a name for it and has anyone used it for the area around YYZ

I have to admit I do use the iphone GPS when im in a new city, I find its better then have to strap the other up to the rental car and at least the maps are upto date but the down side is that you have to put up with roaming fees.

The Mole · Post by **The Mole** » Tue May 12, 2009 6:37 pm

The GPS in an iphone is assisted by cell towers. It may work in the air but not well.

I have a blackberry storm, its hopeless as a gps unit. It just not designed for use outside of the city.

FL410 · Post by **FL410** » Tue May 12, 2009 6:46 pm

Are you sure? I have the Storm as well, and using the Google Maps app it's dead accurate even out in the countryside. It does take a second for it to switch from the cell triangulation to the GPS. Haven't used BB Maps much.

Blue Yonder · Post by **Blue Yonder** » Tue May 12, 2009 7:09 pm

FL410 wrote:Are you sure? I have the Storm as well, and using the Google Maps app it's dead accurate even out in the countryside. It does take a second for it to switch from the cell triangulation to the GPS. Haven't used BB Maps much.

How are you getting the information from Google Maps, if not from cell phone towers?

Blue

FL410 · Post by **FL410** » Tue May 12, 2009 7:10 pm

Well, you do need the cell network to download the map content, but the position is provided by the internal GPS.

square · Post by **square** » Tue May 12, 2009 7:17 pm

I thought all phone GPSs are controlled by the cell tower but apparantly the iPhone is much better.. from their website.

How it works.

GPS (Global Positioning System) technology uses information from earth-orbiting satellites to find locations. A receiver estimates the distance to GPS satellites based on the time it takes for signals to reach it, then uses that information to identify its location. But the A-GPS (Assisted GPS) solution on iPhone 3G goes a step further, using a unique approach to find the closest satellites and more quickly identify your position. That gives you a faster fix on your location than with regular GPS.
Get the signal.

In addition to A-GPS, iPhone 3G uses signals from GPS satellites, Wi-Fi hot spots, and cellular towers to get the most accurate location fast. If GPS is available, iPhone displays a blue GPS indicator. But if you’re inside — without a clear line of sight to a GPS satellite — iPhone finds you via Wi-Fi. If you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, iPhone finds you using cellular towers. And the size of a location circle tells you how accurately iPhone is able to calculate that location: The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location.

FL410 · Post by **FL410** » Tue May 12, 2009 8:01 pm

Your Blackberry will do the same. Even if you don't have GPS on your phone you can still use cell tower etc triangulation to get a fairly close position.

Nark · Post by **Nark** » Tue May 12, 2009 8:13 pm

sky_flyer wrote:I havent heard of this application would anyone have a name for it and has anyone used it for the area around YYZ

aerocharts by navimatics

just curious · Post by **just curious** » Tue May 12, 2009 9:09 pm

My co-pilot was using the IPhone GPS 286 MN north of the nearest, pretty low power cell tower. It worked.

5x5 · Post by **5x5** » Wed May 13, 2009 11:14 am

AFAIK, there are no on-line VNCs for Canada. In the US there are a number of really good sites as Americans are much, much better at sharing information and making this kind of data available for general consumption. Kudos to them for that.

And curses to TC/NavCan for treating this info likes it's a state secret or something.

The best aviation app I've found so far is Co-Pilot. You do have to pay for it, but it allows for trip planning with W&B, a rudimentary "moving map" (lines and dots) or a heading indicator "instrument" showing desired heading and actual heading, flight plan and a few calculators. Also if you enter the actual weather for each leg, it adjusts headings, fuel consumption, speed, elapsed time, etc. It's very useful and in my mind, well worth the cost.

The Mole · Post by **The Mole** » Wed May 13, 2009 11:44 am

The blackberry storm gps works outside of cell coverage. YOu just get no maps, no way of retrieving your actual Lat Long. Or any other usfull information. NO way to save waypoints or enter way points........ Its a consumer level product, hopefully soon someone will make stand alone software for it thats functional.....NOt holding my breath.

If your contimplating getting a blackberry storm............................DONT Blackberry software/hardware is 2yrs behind apple.

ScudRunner · Post by **ScudRunner** » Wed May 13, 2009 12:54 pm

Works great I shot an Approach with it down to minimums and beyond the other day.

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Wed May 13, 2009 11:16 pm

The iphone does not have a real GPS, it's a agps, it gets it coords from the cell network.

Get windows mobile phone with a standalone GPS, HTC make some

ScurvyDog · Post by **ScurvyDog** » Thu May 14, 2009 3:58 am

I've tried my Iphone while up flying. In southern Ontario, I can't get the GPS to work above 3000ft. I think Rodgers has somehow blocked the 3G network upwards. Below 3000 it works like a charm.

just curious · Post by **just curious** » Thu May 14, 2009 7:58 am

The iphone does not have a real GPS, it's a agps, it gets it coords from the cell network.

Then Inuvik must have the best cell tower ever!

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=75.8 ... 63&t=h&z=4

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Thu May 14, 2009 10:50 am

I guess they do, remember this is LOS so maybe you climbed highenough to get something else???

Read

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=1656

"GPS / Location Type: A-GPS supports LBS, photo geo-tagging"

"Most phones with "GPS" in fact use A-GPS technology. The "A" stands for assisted, and means that the phone relies on the network for help in determining location. Although the phone does receive GPS signals directly from the satellites, it can't determine actual location without help from the cell network."

looproll · Post by **looproll** » Thu May 14, 2009 11:17 pm

my iPhone certainly does NOT give any position outside of cell coverage

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