The StyleTap® Platform is a PalmOS emulator that allows you to run applications (including SoarPilot) originally written for Palm OS® handhelds on your Windows Mobile™ or PocketPC™ handheld. It may also run on WindowsCE devices as well if they have 320×240 or better screen resolution. The above graphics show SoarPilot running on the Microsoft Device Emulator running PocketPC 2003 SE. The download at the webpage allows for a 14 day evaluation period. After that you must purchase the product to obtain a registration/unlock code. Currently the product is priced at $49.00.

SP required very few modifications to run properly on StyleTap. In fact, unless you are running SP within StyleTap, you will not see the differences. However, to be fully functional, you need to be using StyleTap version 0.9.103 or higher. Previous version did not have support for the left & right actions of the 5-way hardware button. With the addition of this support, a pilot can fully utilize all of the in-flight related screens without having to access them through the menu.

1. Download the StyleTap Installer from the StyleTap® webpage to your the PC where ActiveSync is installed.
2. Connect your PDA to your PC with a hotsync cradle or cable and allow it to complete connection and synchronization with ActiveSync.
3. Run the installer. It will install the StyleTap Application Installer to your PC. It will also initiate the transfer and installation of the StyleTap application onto your PDA.
4. Once the StyleTap installation is complete, run the StyleTap Application Installer. This can be done by double-clicking on the StyleTap icon your desktop or from the Start/All Programs/StyleTap menu. This will open a window that looks like the following:
   
   
   
5. Use either the Add button or drag-and-drop programs to be installed to the installer window. They will appear in the “Files ready to be installed” area. You can refer to the Installing page for further details about what files need to be installed.
6. Once you have all required files to be installed listed in the StyleTap Application Installer, select the “Install all to device” button. This will transfer the files to the PDA and place them properly into the StyleTap application.
7. On the PDA, there should now be a “StyleTap Launcher” icon on the “Start/Programs” screen. If you have installed SP as well, you will also see the standard SP icon or .
8. Double-click on the SoarPilot icon and the StyleTap application will be launched immediately followed by the SoarPilot application.
9. At that point, the interaction with SoarPilot is as described by this manual with the following exceptions & differences listed below.

There are minor differences with how you interact with SoarPilot when running under StyleTap. They are listed below:

• NMEA Port Selection
  1. This is the biggest difference between a normal PalmOS installation and running under StyleTap. It is required due to the way interfaces are assigned on Windows-based PDA‘s as well as how those interfaces then get passed into the StyleTap application for PalmOS programs to access.
  2. When running under StyleTap, you will find a new STap option on the NMEA Port Type drop-down list on the NMEA/Port Settings screen.
  3. Once this option is selected, a new drop-down list will be displayed to the right of the “NMEA Port Type:” label. This new drop-down contains the full-text description of the serial-type ports available on the PDA. An example of this new drop-down is shown below:
  4. Simply select the port that you wish to use to access your GPS/NMEA data.
  5. Typically this will be serial cradle port for using a serial cradle/cable.
  6. If the device is Bluetooth capable, it could be the COM port assigned to the bluetooth serial profile. In this case you may find two COM ports assigned to bluetooth device. You will have to try both ports. The correct one will bring up the Bluetooth device search/selection screen allowing you to find and connect to your bluetooth gps.
  7. Compact Flash and PDA‘s with built-in GPS’ should find corresponding COM ports for these devices in the drop-down list enabling their use as well.
  8. If COM mapping fails, the StyleTap Knowledge Base offers a utility for download called SerialUtility.prc that can be used to change COM port mapping.
  9. StyleTap button mapping:
     • “Home” Silkscreen Button - In StyleTap, this function is mapped to the little “S” icon at the bottom of the screen.
     • “Menu” Silkscreen Button - In StyleTap, this function is mapped to the small drop-down menu icon at the bottom of the screen.
     • “Find” Silkscreen Button - In StyleTap, this function is mapped to the small magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen.
     • 5-Way Hardware Button Usage - The center/5-Way navigation hardware button functions much the same as on a PalmOS device with a similar hardware button. This is described in 5-Way Navigator Button Usage page. There is one exception though. Pressing the center of the button does not open the menu. Instead, acts like the “Calc” silkscreen button which is described on the Selecting a Waypoint page.
  10. PocketPC With Square Screen - The below graphic shows a PocketPC device with a square screen. This kind of display lends itself very well to using SoarPilot through StyleTap. With this display orientation, both the PocketPC top window bar and the StyleTab bar at the bottom get hidden leaving only SoarPilot’s screen. Note that when using this kind of screen, the only way to access the SoarPilot menu is by tapping the title bar of the screen. This will open the programs menu.