ian5708 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Hi all, I'm a long time lurker and PG pilot who has done a lot of commercial PG flying and PG instructing in New Zealand. I'm returning to the UK in May and I have an Ozone Spyder on order and I will be placing my order for an AC Nitro very soon. I will want to get into the air ASAP and will certainly want to avoid controlled airspace. I already have an airspace map for my area Coventry/Warwickshire and there is quite a big area I can fly if I stay under 4500'. At some point in the future I will want to get a flight deck with some kind of moving map setup like one of the modified kobos with airspace maps and a barometric altimeter and GPS installed, that's if these are still the units regarded as decent. However, in the mean time I was something small, maybe wrist mounted unit that will give me an accurate altitude. I have a couple of android phones, one is a Samsung S7 which has a built in pressure sensor which I might try but I'm aware of the difficulty with reading the display in direct sunlight and the need to have it connected to a battery bank to maintain charge on longer flights. I have installed the android app 'ppgps' which looks pretty neat and also the 'accurate altimeter' app. Would this phone set up be OK and practical or can anyone suggest some kind of inexpensive altimeter that I could use in the early days and then utilise as a back up later on? I don't want to buy a vario/Altimeter unit which I once had for pg. I'd welcome some advice. Blue skies, Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantheman Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Suunto X-Lander watches are cheap and accurate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian5708 Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 33 minutes ago, dantheman said: Suunto X-Lander watches are cheap and accurate It looks like these have been discontinued now Dan and the Suunto Core had taken its place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allrightscud Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I use the PPGPS app and an old Sunto X lander. Perfect combination. I would say though, that 4500 feet is high and unless your an altitude junkie most of the fun had in a PPG is had no where near as high. I'm very rarely above 2000 feet, unless I'm flying over higher ground. I don't see the need to fly at the allowable ceiling. I have a flight deck with a battery pack in it to re charge my phone, but since I've upgraded my phone the battery lasts for at least 2 hours whilst running PPGPS. its Velcroed to the deck and the only time I've had problems reading my display is just before dusk and I've forgotten to take my sun glasses off. You can super impose air charts I believe onto PPGPS as well, but I've not tried that yet. I have a HTC u11 without a barmometor pressure sensor, my PPGPS only works off GPS signal but found it to be perfectly adequate comparing it to my sunto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allrightscud Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I also used my old skydiving alti for a bit, you used to be able to buy them for around £80. A quick search should find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian5708 Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 2 minutes ago, allrightscud said: I use the PPGPS app and an old Sunto X lander. Perfect combination. I would say though, that 4500 feet is high and unless your an altitude junkie most of the fun had in a PPG is had no where near as high. I'm very rarely above 2000 feet, unless I'm flying over higher ground. I don't see the need to fly at the allowable ceiling. I have a flight deck with a battery pack in it to re charge my phone, but since I've upgraded my phone the battery lasts for at least 2 hours whilst running PPGPS. its Velcroed to the deck and the only time I've had problems reading my display is just before dusk and I've forgotten to take my sun glasses off. You can super impose air charts I believe onto PPGPS as well, but I've not tried that yet. I have a HTC u11 without a barmometor pressure sensor, my PPGPS only works off GPS signal but found it to be perfectly adequate comparing it to my sunto. Thanks for your post allright. Yeah I have no real desire to fly anywhere close to that ceiling and I think I will be doing alot of my flying at or below 2000'. The altimeter will be crucial to ensure I'm above 1000' over congested areas, towns and villages and over 500' when flying over buildings vehicles and people. Good to get your feedback on the ppgps. I'm currently looking at the Suunto Core which I think has superseded the X-Lander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allrightscud Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 x-landers come up from time to time on ebay and other second hand selling sights. Its worth keeping an eye out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 RunwayHD app on my phone (full airspace maps and gps/alti) and a Garmin Fortrex wrist alti/gps/etc on wrist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulg18 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I've had one of these for a few years now, great little bit of kit. Skywatch Xplorer 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian5708 Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 4 hours ago, paulg18 said: I've had one of these for a few years now, great little bit of kit. Skywatch Xplorer 4 Hi Paul, I had the skywatch 2 for wind speed and temp. I thought it was a quality piece of kit. It can be useful for establishing air speed also. Do you calibrate it regularly for altitude? If so, where do you source the local airport QNH/QFE measurements from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolhand Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 (edited) I am using my Suunto Ambit Peak 3 for quite some time, easy to use, great battery life and good readability. When compared to secondary GPS units the Ambit is spot on. Unfortunately the AP3 is discontinued, however can still be found online. Second Pro is that it can also be used for navigation with scrolling displays showing exactly what you want (speed, height, trackback etc.). One thing it cannot is show your groundspeed versus direction, meaning are you flying backwards or not Edited March 31, 2018 by coolhand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulg18 Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 I use it essentially for QFE and just zero it prior to launch, then use a GPS based altimeter for everything else. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian5708 Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 4 hours ago, coolhand said: I am using my Suunto Ambit Peak 3 for quite some time, easy to use, great battery life and good readability. When compared to secondary GPS units the Ambit is spot on. Unfortunately the AP3 is discontinued, however can still be found online. Second Pro is that it can also be used for navigation with scrolling displays showing exactly what you want (speed, height, trackback etc.). One thing it cannot is show your groundspeed versus direction, meaning are you flying backwards or not Yeah, I've seen these cool hand. They also have a hrm which would be useful when at the gym. This might be a good open for me. I've seen no sign of them being obsolete. As you have said they are readily available online, on amazon UK and eBay UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian5708 Posted April 16, 2018 Author Share Posted April 16, 2018 On 31/03/2018 at 02:58, paulg18 said: I've had one of these for a few years now, great little bit of kit. Skywatch Xplorer 4 Thanks for your suggestion Paul. I've just won one on ebay for £35. ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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