Introduction to GPS receivers

A GPS receiver is what allows you to determine your position using FlightMaster. The market is literally full of so many different makes of GPS receivers. Virtually any of these will work with FlightMaster, so it's not difficult to choose one.

The important consideration is NMEA-0183 compliance - as we said, virtually every GPS receiver on the market today supports this standard.

Bluetooth GPS Receivers

We recommend you get a Bluetooth receiver (e.g. a Holux M-1000, pictured right). It is about the best value we have been able to locate.

There are other options available. I have had very good luck with the both Garmin bluetooth GPS devices that are available. The Garmin BT 10 while more expensive than the Mobile 10 is a very rugged unit. They are a bit more expensive but come with the trust and reputation that garmin has earned over the years.

Bluetooth is a wireless technology which allows you to connect your PDA to other devices (all the PDAs mentioned on the previous page are equipped with Bluetooth).

In the cockpit, this translates to less cabling. The downside is that your PDA will use slightly more power, but you should still get 2-4 hours usage.

Most Bluetooth GPS receivers are capable of 15-20 hours of continuous operation from a single charge, so for most flights you wouldn't need to have the GPS receiver plugged into a power source - saving one more cable.

SD Cards

You will also need an SD card, with at least 80MB free space on it. The SD card holds the terrain databases, which are too large to fit comfortably in most PDAs.