Aviation Hand Held GPS Reciever Consumer Testing

[kontiki99]

Has anyone seen any independent consumer testing of aviation hand held GPS receivers units that compares reception sensitivity or the speed at which they locate present position (given standard assumptions on health of constellation, noise, etc) for different units.

I see a lot of marketing mumbo jumbo on functions and features, but I don't believe all of the receivers are equally as good.

Where they aren't installed in an airplane they aren't defined by any specifications I'm aware of.

Thanks,

 

[IRstuff]

The simple bottom line is that no GPS receiver is likely meet its specification without a roof antenna.

That said, you should be looking at automotive GPS, since they ostensibly have at least a minimal requirement to work within a metal-frame automobile.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[kontiki99]

IRstuff,

I appreciate your reply, but I don't see how my automotive GPS would really very useful for flying, except maybe in an emergency.

There are product lines dedicated to both markets. None of the advertising seem to really claim anything about the quality of the basic reciever though.

I have one of both and carry a portable aviation GPS unit on rental airplanes when I fly. It has an antenna that suction mounts in a suitable window.

I picked up the the aviation unit on e-bay to get a little heands on experience with them. I didn't want to spend much and knew I'd really learn more about them if I just bought one and evaluated it's pros and cons first hand.

At this point, I usually rely on traditional navigation aids (for practice) and leave the GPS on in the dim mode, just in case.

With the $35 Jeppeson data base update, it's really great for spotting airports and navigating under and around class be. I still wonder how good the portable receivers are though.

 

[IRstuff]

My bad, I wasn't thinking the problem through. That said, I could imagine running the GPS position data from an automotive GPS into a laptop with the appropriate aviation nav software, or even a conventional GPS map software.

I can say that my older automotive GPS did have problems with getting enough satellites if it wasn't sufficiently close to the windshield.

Your description of the portable GPS antenna mounting would suggest that its performance will be dominated by that antenna's location. No matter which window you place it on, it will have an obstructed view of sky, and its performance will be degraded by the lack of visibility of the satellites that are blocked by the body of the plane. Nonetheless, if you can get 3-4 satellites in view, your location error should be at least good enough to place your position within 30 m, assuming acceptable satellite geometry. Your worst errors will most likely be if your plane's body is between your receiver and the equator.

TTFN

FAQ731-376