Dynon EFB

[PhantomPholly]

Ok, I read the previous posts first - current hardware doesn't have enough ponies to display moving map.

So, how about just the ability to display STATIC approach and departure plates? That would be a HUGE space and headache saver!

Like many people here, one of my key limitations is space. My Garmin GNS 480 gives me the airways and other essential info to comply with an ATC Clearance, but once I get there I need approach plates - it would be sweet to be able to display them on the 2/3 of my D180. I could even download them in PDF format for free from AOPA...

Cheers,

Bill

 

[PhantomPholly]

Dynon?

Bueller?

Anybody?

 

[dynonsupport]

We do read every suggestion but don't always comment.

 

[PhantomPholly]

We do read every suggestion but don't always comment.

All right, but now that you have...



... would that not be within the capabilities of your hardware? Space is the principal enemy of these tiny homebuilts, and it sure would make life easier!

 

[dynonsupport]

Our current hardware and software platform is great at what it does, but it's not ideally suited for use as an endlessly extensible "MFD".

First, there's the issue of getting data in and out of our products. Serial ports work fine for occasional firmware updates and data log downloads, but not as well for regularly updated (and fiarly large) documents such as approach plates and the like. Some future generation of product would likely incorporate mass storage capability of some kind, but that's down the road some.

This is also a feature that is really hard for us to prioritize highly, given what's available in the market. EFB functionality would take us a while to develop on our current platform, but is so easily do-able on a PDA or PC that there are a ton of software programs that already do it. I think you can even get something for the iPhone now. If you're looking for an EFB, some kind of portable computer is hard to beat. Given that, it's hard to justify work on this sort of feature when we have other stuff we're hard at work on, such as our upcoming autopilot (and even more stuff we're not even starting to talk about yet). Though we've grown tremendously in the last couple of years, we're still a fairly small development team.

 

[PhantomPholly]

Fair enough - was just hopeful and hated to simply accept that that screen couldn't just display PDF files...

Looking forward to my first flight behind the D180 soon!