I picked up an IPAD and opted for the WiFi version. I'm going to purchase a remote GPS unit and since my IPAD has a lightning connector it will have to be the Dual or BadElf Pro. Anyone have any experience with the BadElf Pro that could speak to whether it's worth the additional $50 or so? I read that the new Fore Flight version has fixed the connectability problems with the Dual unit. Is the Dual pretty much bullet proof after the new Fore Flight software update?

Thanks.

Frank

You have already dismissed the utility of ADS-B, right?

I have a Dual 150 that I used with my iPad. Now I have a mini with 3G so no longer use the 150. The Dual 150 worked well for me. The issue I saw with the Elf was that it was plugged into the iPad's only connection port. I found that the battery life was not sufficient when running Foreflight for a full day of flying. The need to charge while in flight made the Elf a bad choice.

I don't know anything about the current iteration of the Elf, maybe it's now blue tooth.

I just got a Bad Elf a month or so ago. Works good, you can still charge with it plugged in. You plug the power into the Bad Elf and it charges the iPad.

For what its worth, I have never lost GPS signal on my iPad mini 3G in flight while my brothers Garmin Aera loses reception all the time. I didn't want another piece of equipment to plug in or loose so I opted for the 3G iPad over the wifi only version with external GPS options.

I don't know about accuracy between the internal iPad GPS reciever vs. the Bad Elf or others but I assume the external options may have a slightly more accurate GPS. Having said that, 10m accuracy is close enough for me.

I'm not very interested in ADS-B in due to cost vs benefit (for me). I'm looking to get an external GPS for use with Fore Flight for cross countries. The ADS-B out requirement will drain my ADS-B dollars.

Frank

fshaw wrote:I'm not very interested in ADS-B in due to cost vs benefit (for me). I'm looking to get an external GPS for use with Fore Flight for cross countries. The ADS-B out requirement will drain my ADS-B dollars.

Yeah, I find it to be mostly useful for IFR flights. There haven't been many VFR flights were I would find myself wishing I had ADS-B.

For GPS only, that stuff is commodity at this point. Buy the cheapest one and get a few additional ounces of avgas.

I have had the regular Bad Elf and the dual 150, both work well. Having said that it seemed like after letting my ipad sleep for a while I had to turn the 150 and the ipad on and off several times to get some sort of sequence going the right way. I could see the bluetooth signal with position data was working using the dual150 app on the ipad but for some reason foreflght was not picking up the data. It's a known bug, Dual says just to delete the bluetooth pairing then re-do it. For me that didn't work but as I said when it is working it does just fine. You can even move the antennae from a window in the sun, put it in your lap then move it to the shade without losing the GPS signal.


John

I have used my ipad and mini in a bunch of different planes and never had it loose signal, Why spend the money??

I have the Bad Elf GPS Pro and it's solid.
Bumbling along at 60kts or 500kts it performs as advertized.
IMO, it's worth the extra $50 plus some!
I use it mainly on an Ipad II with Foreflight.

M6RV6 wrote:I have used my ipad and mini in a bunch of different planes and never had it loose signal, Why spend the money??

Because he bought an ipad without GPS.

rw2 wrote:

M6RV6 wrote:I have used my ipad and mini in a bunch of different planes and never had it loose signal, Why spend the money??

Because he bought an ipad without GPS.

If he got the wifi version as I thought it had gps, I was under the impession that they all had wifi, just the ones without the data did not?

But I'm easily confused!!

M6RV6 wrote:

rw2 wrote:

M6RV6 wrote:I have used my ipad and mini in a bunch of different planes and never had it loose signal, Why spend the money??

Because he bought an ipad without GPS.

If he got the wifi version as I thought it had gps, I was under the impession that they all had wifi, just the ones without the data did not?

But I'm easily confused!!

Huh?.... Shit, now I'm confused.

M6RV6 wrote:

rw2 wrote:

M6RV6 wrote:I have used my ipad and mini in a bunch of different planes and never had it loose signal, Why spend the money??

Because he bought an ipad without GPS.

If he got the wifi version as I thought it had gps, I was under the impession that they all had wifi, just the ones without the data did not?

But I'm easily confused!!

There are two models. One with WIFI only. One with a cellular modem and WIFI.

The one without a cellular modem doesn't have GPS. So, the wifi only model that he bought doesn't have one. It's lacking the chips necessary to receive the GPS signal.

I stand by my endorsement for the Bad Elf GPS Pro… Worth every penny!

Have Bad Elf Pro. Battery life is really fantastic. Works great.

I've been using a Garmin Glo with great results for my iPad Mini with the Garmin Pilot ap.

There haven't been many VFR flights were I would find myself wishing I had ADS-B.

I'm having trouble understanding this. Except for the purchase of the ADS-B receiver (Stratus or Stratus II for Foreflight, which both provide an external GPS), which isn't cheap, ADS-B "in" is free--and it provides pretty good radar weather which is really handy whether VFR or IFR, graphic TFRs, some traffic. Yes, it may be a few minutes behind (the most delay I've experienced is 18 minutes), but to have cockpit weather after 40 years of not having it is a real treat for me.

I opted for the full boat coverage with my Mini, 32 gb with wi-fi and cellular (64 gb was available, but even 32 is lots more than I'd likely ever need). Since I knew I would be getting the Stratus II, I wasn't concerned about the GPS, but I did want coverage on the ground when I couldn't get a wi-fi signal. For instance, the week I'm at OSH, the wi-fi there is problematic at best, but with cellular, I could use my Mini for emails, web searches, etc. The access to my data plan adds $10/month to my cellular bill, and it's secure compared to public wi-fi.

Cary

Cary wrote:

There haven't been many VFR flights were I would find myself wishing I had ADS-B.

I'm having trouble understanding this. Except for the purchase of the ADS-B receiver (Stratus or Stratus II for Foreflight, which both provide an external GPS), which isn't cheap, ADS-B "in" is free--and it provides pretty good radar weather which is really handy whether VFR or IFR, graphic TFRs, some traffic. Yes, it may be a few minutes behind (the most delay I've experienced is 18 minutes), but to have cockpit weather after 40 years of not having it is a real treat for me.

Yeah, I'm with you. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I'm a full size ipad (I like the additional screen size and am willing to trade that for bulk), cellular (on verizon, the only carrier with broad enough coverage to be worth the trouble for aviation in my experience), 32GB (will be 64 on my next one as I do cross country flying in multiple countries so being able to hold complete maps for FF (US/Canada) and Air Nav Pro (Mexico) is an upgrade I desire) and Stratus.

I don't have 40 years of experience like you, but I'm really glad that I learned to fly pre-ipad and now do the bulk of my flying with an ipad.

I have the Dual XGPS150, and for simply putting the airplane on the sectional, it works great. I think it was $99 and the battery lasts all day and then some. I like having the antenna up on the glare shield and not sticking out of the iPad, as I have a tendency to break things that are in a vulnerable position like that.