connectivity for foreflight on an ipad

DKirkpatrick

DKirkpatrick

Pre-takeoff checklist
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DKirkpatrick
Hello,
will be putting an iPad in my airplane. will get its signal from a stratus ads-b portable receiver. is wi=fi AND cellular required to make this work, or just wi-fi.
coaching appreciated.
dan
 
DKirkpatrick said:
Hello,
will be putting an iPad in my airplane. will get its signal from a stratus ads-b portable receiver. is wi=fi AND cellular required to make this work, or just wi-fi.
coaching appreciated.
dan
Click to expand...
If Stratus 3 then just Wi-Fi
 
WiFi for Stratus 3. BT for Garmin items including panel mounted products.

If this question is leaning toward if you should get the ipad with cell connectivity, I say yes to that even if you don’t activate the cell service for it.
 
AggieMike88 said:
WiFi for Stratus 3. BT for Garmin items including panel mounted products.

If this question is leaning toward if you should get the ipad with cell connectivity, I say yes to that even if you don’t activate the cell service for it.
Click to expand...
OTOH, my 5th (or is it 6th?) non-cellular iPad should be arriving in a week or so. So I guess that's a choice too. ;)

(Although he didn't ask.)
 
I manage fine without cell service. Not sure how it happens since everyone says the gps doesn't work without cellular, but I get an accurate gps position sometimes.

as long as you’re keeping up, it works just fine as a chart too
 
The iPad has to be equipped for cell service. That determines whether the iPad has the GPS chip set. You don't need to actually sign up for cell service to get GPS signals.
 
bflynn said:
I manage fine without cell service. Not sure how it happens since everyone says the gps doesn't work without cellular, but I get an accurate gps position sometimes.

as long as you’re keeping up, it works just fine as a chart too
Click to expand...

If your phone or ipad has cellular capability, it has a built-in gps whether or not you subscribe to a cellular service.

I think the gps was mandated as a way to locate someone.
 
bflynn said:
I manage fine without cell service. Not sure how it happens since everyone says the gps doesn't work without cellular, but I get an accurate gps position sometimes.

as long as you’re keeping up, it works just fine as a chart too
Click to expand...
I think "everyone" is saying that the internal iPad GPS is only available in iPads that have the hardware for cellular data. You don't need to use cellular, or even have a plan for the internal GPS to work. On a non-cellular iPad, you can get location information from an external GPS source (Bad Elf, Stratus 3, Stratux with GPS). You can also get location from nearby WiFi and fixed bluetooth devices. When you open Apple maps, it also loads a list of WiFi hotspots and uses those to help determine your location. I've used this to advantage on my non-cellular iPad. When I have a WiFi connection, I open Apple maps for an area, and leave the app open. As I move around on that map, even when I'm not connected to WiFi, I can still see my location. Apple saves the information about WiFi SSID, and uses it to find your location.
"iOS and iPadOS devices might use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to determine your location. GPS and cellular location are available on iPhone and iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) models."
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207092

Google does it too:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-google-and-everyone-else-gets-wi-fi-location-data/
 
Now you’re getting all techie.
 
I may go to wifi only for my next iPad. If my GDL loses the signal I always have my iPhone in my pocket as a backup.

Can you tether an iPad to a phone and get signal that way?
 
Stewartb said:
I may go to wifi only for my next iPad. If my GDL loses the signal I always have my iPhone in my pocket as a backup.

Can you tether an iPad to a phone and get signal that way?
Click to expand...
I can't vouch for this app, but supposedly you can:
https://www.wired.com/2011/04/airlocation-sends-gps-data-from-iphone-to-ipad/
Supposedly, an Android will work, too:
https://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-share-gps-from-an-android-phone-to-an-ipad-guide/

Here's another one:
https://apps.apple.com/app/gps-2-ip/id408625926

As I use a BadElf, I haven't tried any of those.
 
midlifeflyer said:
I love definitive statements. Guess I've been wrong for almost eleven years!
Click to expand...
His statement is accurate. An iPad without the cellular equipment WILL NOT get GPS position without an external GPS of some sort (Stratus, Stratux, Panel mount, etc). It's just a fact, Wi-fi only iPad's do NOT have a GPS antenna/chip.

Active service, however, has zero impact.
 
asicer said:
Yeesh, that's almost as much as upgrading your iPad purchase to the cellular version ($130 vs $150).
View attachment 100611
Click to expand...
Not when the external GPS is 10 years old. Plus I almost never have to use it since so many of the aircraft I fly have something installed which feeds location (and other information) to my tablet.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Not when the external GPS is 10 years old.
Click to expand...
If you bought a Bad-Elf 10 years ago then it would have been the version with the old 30pin dock connector and would have been obsolete the very next year when the Lightning connector was introduced. ;)
 
@Stewartb … yes, you can tether a “non-cellular” iPad to a phone and get internet signal that way.

If you were asking about feeding a GPS signal via tether, I don’t think so. But have never tried.
 
asicer said:
If you bought a Bad-Elf 10 years ago then it would have been the version with the old 30pin dock connector and would have been obsolete the very next year when the Lightning connector was introduced. ;)
Click to expand...
In my case it wasn't a Bad Elf, but a Bluetooth unit. I couldn't figure out why I wanted to plug something in when I could toss it in the glareshield, it still works great.
 
AggieMike88 said:
@Stewartb … yes, you can tether a “non-cellular” iPad to a phone and get internet signal that way.

If you were asking about feeding a GPS signal via tether, I don’t think so. But have never tried.
Click to expand...

I tested this out. At least on the ground I’m getting a GPS location in a maps application as well as in ForeFlight. No idea what happens at altitude other than your phone battery dies quickly.
 
bflynn said:
I tested this out. At least on the ground I’m getting a GPS location in a maps application as well as in ForeFlight. No idea what happens at altitude other than your phone battery dies quickly.
Click to expand...
Are you sure that you're getting location via GPS on your non-cellular iPad? I think you are getting location information from the known locations of WiFi SSIDs. See post #9.
 
bflynn said:
I tested this out. At least on the ground I’m getting a GPS location in a maps application as well as in ForeFlight. No idea what happens at altitude other than your phone battery dies quickly.
Click to expand...
As @Cap'n Jack suggested, you are probably getting WiFi-based location. That's not GPS. I get it all the time, even without tethering. Definitely not reliable or accurate enough for navigation or airborne situational awareness.

Tethering to a phone gives you cellular data from the phone, not GPS.
 
Kind of related-when iPad is linked to iPhone the data rate is limited-what settings allow for regular throughput? TIA
 
To get internal GPS position on the iPad you need the cellular version, because the GPS is included in the cellular chip. However, for use in the plane, you can use any Stratus (not just the Stratus 3) to get GPS position and ADS-B data on the iPad. Many other ADS-B devices will also give a wifi-only iPad Gps position. I always get the cellular version in case I am in a plane without a GPS receiver that feeds the iPad, but I also have a cellular data service for use when traveling.
 
I grudgingly got an iPad to run Foreflight (and the IFD100 app), but otherwise am Apple-free. I got the wifi only version. It lives in my flight bag, and I only use it in the air. There it will get a GPS position from my IFD or the Stratus in the back on the wifi in the plane. Works just fine and saved some bucks.

At home, when flight planning, it will still give a position to within 63m, by utilizing a wifi-map.

It depends on your application.

* Orest
 
asicer said:
If you bought a Bad-Elf 10 years ago then it would have been the version with the old 30pin dock connector and would have been obsolete the very next year when the Lightning connector was introduced. ;)
Click to expand...
I am still using mine as a backup but it has the 30-pin to lightning adapter. Had to use it a few months ago when my ADS-B receiver went out.
 
I think my Stratus is a V2... will that work w wi-fi only? I just about completely just use it w Foreflight. Thanks for the input
 
DKirkpatrick said:
I think my Stratus is a V2... will that work w wi-fi only? I just about completely just use it w Foreflight. Thanks for the input
Click to expand...
Yes. Stratus will work just fine with a wi-fi only ipad.
 
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