GPS use in the air

[wayoutwest2]

So has anyone used their GPS parachuting or hang gliding? My father-in-law hang glides, he was showing me where they go on Google Earth, I said maybe he should take my GPS (60csx) sometime.

 

SO would I be able to import the tracks like normal into Garmin TOPO or Google Earth and be able to see elevation changes or anything, OR would it look like a regualr .gpx or similar track.

 

Hope this made some sense.

 

thanks

[tttedzeins]

I took mine up in the glider once with tracking on whe I looked at it on GE there was a whole lot of circles from chasing thermals. It amused me for a while but then got bored with it.

[+bengtb]

Yes, absolutely. Though the altitude given by a GPS is not very accurate unless they have a pressure sensor.

[gratefulHIKE]

yea I agree with the other two.........you would get some good data if your barometric sensor was properly calibrated, just better make sure its strapped on tight.....dont want to make someone elses day if you drop it in their lap......the GPS altitude relies entirely upon the barometric sensor, unless you do a one time update with the satelite for the current altitude, it wont show you trends in the logs though unless you reallly know how to push those buttons quick

[RenHoek]

WOW2:

In addition to recording tracks to play with AFTER the flight, have you seen the various glider/hang-glider functions like "glide ratio to destination" you can use on your 60CSx DURING the flight?

 

Here is an article I came across awhile ago that talks about practical issues and recommended improvements with them:

 

http://www.aeroexperiments.org/GPSglide

 

Enjoy-

RenHoek

[TomOfTarsus]

Thanks for the link, RenHoek. I'm jumping in to ask if these baromeric pressure equipped units like the 60CSx are the ones that you can take on an airliner, get the preesure altitude of the cabin, and the actual altitude from the satellites? Provided, of course, you hva enough satellites, you calibrated your barometer on take-off, etc?

 

I'm still figuring out which unit to buy. Really wondering what's on the horizon for these, if there will be any major updates, esp. accuracy-wise, before L2C comes along. Not to derail the thread, we can go elsewhere...

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

"what's on the horizon..." oh, that was ba-a-a-d...

[+admo1972]

Whether you can use a GPS varies from airline to airline, and even plane to plane. There's a website that lists what airlines specifically allow or deny GPS usage during flights, but this is ever changing and is often out of date. For exampel, the site (which I don't recall right now) said Continental does not allow GPS usage, but the in-flight booklet says they are specifically allowed during cruising (same as any other electronic device). If your device had a barometer on it, it isn't useful on an airliner, as the cabin is pressurized. Not sure how good ones w/o the barometer are with calculating elevation.

 

I went on a hot air balloon ride, and am kicking myself to this day that it didn't occur to me to bring my GPSr with me until up in the balloon!

[TomOfTarsus]

Whether you can use a GPS varies from airline to airline, and even plane to plane. <snip>

If your device had a barometer on it, it isn't useful on an airliner, as the cabin is pressurized. Not sure how good ones w/o the barometer are with calculating elevation.

 

I went on a hot air balloon ride, and am kicking myself to this day that it didn't occur to me to bring my GPSr with me until up in the balloon!

 

Well, I knew the cabin was pressurized. I was curious if one could find the "pressure altitude" using the GPSr's barometer, as I saw a post that said you could. Most cabins are pressurized to an effective altitude of 8,000 ft MSL, so I was curious if something like the 60 CSx could display both the "pressure altitude" and the actual altitude as calculated by the satellites. Just something to wow your seatmate with on a long flight...

 

& yeah, i'd kick myself if I forgot it, too! But I'll bet that beauty would be tied to me six ways from Sunday! Gravity can be quite unforgiving...

 

Later,

 

Tom

[oxothuk]

Whether you can use a GPS varies from airline to airline, and even plane to plane. <snip>

If your device had a barometer on it, it isn't useful on an airliner, as the cabin is pressurized. Not sure how good ones w/o the barometer are with calculating elevation.

 

I went on a hot air balloon ride, and am kicking myself to this day that it didn't occur to me to bring my GPSr with me until up in the balloon!

 

Well, I knew the cabin was pressurized. I was curious if one could find the "pressure altitude" using the GPSr's barometer, as I saw a post that said you could. Most cabins are pressurized to an effective altitude of 8,000 ft MSL, so I was curious if something like the 60 CSx could display both the "pressure altitude" and the actual altitude as calculated by the satellites. Just something to wow your seatmate with on a long flight...

 

& yeah, i'd kick myself if I forgot it, too! But I'll bet that beauty would be tied to me six ways from Sunday! Gravity can be quite unforgiving...

 

Later,

 

Tom

With the 60csx you can get a continuous readout of the barometric elevation. I haven't tried it on an airplane, but I expect it would just show 8000 feet plus or minus variations in the cabin pressure.

You can get an instantaneous reading of the GPS elevation (from the satellite page), but not a continuous readout.

 

Other models without a barometric sensor WILL give you a continuous readout of GPS elevation, since that's all they have. I've done that with an old yellow eTrex; it's cool to see it show 12 KM elevation and 900 km/sec speed.

[+admo1972]

Hmmm. As far as I know the GPS uses one or the other, but not both at once (calculating from sats or from pressure). I haven't paid much attention to elevation with my Vista (which has a barometric pressure thingy), but I always like to play with new stuff. Tried to calibrate it once, but did not know the current pressure nor elevation (one of which is required), and never looked back. I am flying soon, so may have th opportunity to calibrate it at the airport, as the elevation is accurate and published for airports.

 

I mostly wanted it for the baloon ride to see our maximum elevation, but more importantly our track. We spent the last 30 minutes criss crossing a cul-de-sac that out pilot was determined to land it. Our track at that part of the trip would have looked like a bowl of spagetti!

[TomOfTarsus]

With the 60csx you can get a continuous readout of the barometric elevation. I haven't tried it on an airplane, but I expect it would just show 8000 feet plus or minus variations in the cabin pressure.

You can get an instantaneous reading of the GPS elevation (from the satellite page), but not a continuous readout.

 

Other models without a barometric sensor WILL give you a continuous readout of GPS elevation, since that's all they have. I've done that with an old yellow eTrex; it's cool to see it show 12 KM elevation and 900 km/sec speed.

 

That's what I kinda thought, makes sense. Yeah, the speed and altitude numbers would be a riot.

 

Thank you both. Still deciding.

 

Tom

[+Miragee]

So has anyone used their GPS parachuting or hang gliding? My father-in-law hang glides, he was showing me where they go on Google Earth, I said maybe he should take my GPS (60csx) sometime.

 

SO would I be able to import the tracks like normal into Garmin TOPO or Google Earth and be able to see elevation changes or anything, OR would it look like a regualr .gpx or similar track.

 

Hope this made some sense.

 

thanks

There are others who have used their GPS units while hang gliding and have posted their adventures on the Magnalog site. I used my GPSr in a small plane. That short loop over the rugged terrain of my Topo maps looked very interesting . . .

[oxothuk]

Whether you can use a GPS varies from airline to airline, and even plane to plane. <snip>

If your device had a barometer on it, it isn't useful on an airliner, as the cabin is pressurized. Not sure how good ones w/o the barometer are with calculating elevation.

 

I went on a hot air balloon ride, and am kicking myself to this day that it didn't occur to me to bring my GPSr with me until up in the balloon!

 

Well, I knew the cabin was pressurized. I was curious if one could find the "pressure altitude" using the GPSr's barometer, as I saw a post that said you could. Most cabins are pressurized to an effective altitude of 8,000 ft MSL, so I was curious if something like the 60 CSx could display both the "pressure altitude" and the actual altitude as calculated by the satellites. Just something to wow your seatmate with on a long flight...

 

& yeah, i'd kick myself if I forgot it, too! But I'll bet that beauty would be tied to me six ways from Sunday! Gravity can be quite unforgiving...

 

Later,

 

Tom

With the 60csx you can get a continuous readout of the barometric elevation. I haven't tried it on an airplane, but I expect it would just show 8000 feet plus or minus variations in the cabin pressure.

You can get an instantaneous reading of the GPS elevation (from the satellite page), but not a continuous readout.

 

Other models without a barometric sensor WILL give you a continuous readout of GPS elevation, since that's all they have. I've done that with an old yellow eTrex; it's cool to see it show 12 KM elevation and 900 km/sec speed.

 

Oops, I meant 900 km/hour. 900 km/sec would be the express flight to Mars.

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

A geocaching friend posted this image on the local forums - his hang-gliding tracklog superimposed over a 3-D landscape. A most impressive (and LARGE) image especially as it was pre-Google Earth.

[+geowizerd]

 

 

Other models without a barometric sensor WILL give you a continuous readout of GPS elevation, since that's all they have. I've done that with an old yellow eTrex; it's cool to see it show 12 KM elevation and 900 km/sec speed.

 

900 KM/SEC?!?!? Wow, that's fast! 1,944,000 MPH!!! Maybe 900 KM/HOUR (540 MPH) Even that seems awful fast for an airliner.

[wayoutwest2]

A geocaching friend posted this image on the local forums - his hang-gliding tracklog superimposed over a 3-D landscape. A most impressive (and LARGE) image especially as it was pre-Google Earth.

 

This is exactly what I was hoping to be able to get from the tracks for my father-in-law.

 

Thanks

[Neo_Geo]

Maybe 900 KM/HOUR (540 MPH) Even that seems awful fast for an airliner.

Not really. I clocked 641 MPH on a flight from Salt Lake City to Atlanta, and 671 MPH from Las Vegas to Cleveland. Good tailwinds

[+Sputnik 57]

Many Garmin handheld units have a "jumpmaster" mode. It is designed for people willing to abandon a perfectly functional aircraft. Not for me, but if that is your deal, it might be worth looking at.