New Butterfly Display Software 3.2

[Marc - Butterfly Avionics]

Hi,

we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.

• Better readability, larger fonts
• Shows installed PowerFLARM® licenses
• Support for latest FLARM® error codes
• Shows next XPDR target in list view
• minor improvements and bugfixes

We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding readability.. Although we can not change issues that come from screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to read.

Please read this manual if you wish to install the update:
http://www.butterfly.aero/support/CL32_EN.pdf

Please find the update files here:
http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english

Thanks a lot for your feedback and always happy landings
Marc
The Butterfly Team

[kirk.stant]

On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 8:19:05 AM UTC+2, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:
> Hi,
we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.

> We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding readability. Although we can not change issues that come from screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to read.

> Thanks a lot for your feedback and always happy landings
>
> Marc
>

Marc, that is great! Your team's fast response to a customer comment is greatly appreciated - us older gliderguiders have a tough time reading the "small print" on many digital displays, something young designers may not appreciate - yet!

Cheers,

Kirk
66

[Dave Nadler]

Thanks Marc !

I flew with v3.2 at the 18-meter nationals last week,
and it does help readability - do install it !

Best Regards, Dave

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote, On 5/21/2013 11:19 PM:
> Hi,
>
> we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM
> displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is
> a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.
>
> • Better readability, larger fonts • Shows installed PowerFLARM®
> licenses • Support for latest FLARM® error codes • Shows next XPDR
> target in list view • minor improvements and bugfixes
>
> We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding
> readability. Although we can not change issues that come from
> screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with
> font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to
> read.
>
> Please read this manual if you wish to install the update:
> http://www.butterfly.aero/support/CL32_EN.pdf
>
> Please find the update files here:
> http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english
>
> Thanks a lot for your feedback and always happy landings Marc The
> Butterfly Team

The bigger, bolder font in the previous 3.1 update seems very easy to
read. Does this bigger font in 3.2 reduce the "radar" display size? I
don't want that any smaller.

I'd like the alarm sound made at least twice as loud on the display for
the core. It's not just the vision that degrades as one becomes an older
gliderguider.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

[Marc - Butterfly Avionics]

> The bigger, bolder font in the previous 3.1 update seems very easy to
>
> read. Does this bigger font in 3.2 reduce the "radar" display size? I
>
> don't want that any smaller.
Hi Eric,

the radar stays identical, only the fonts are increased in size. To be honest, we use a modification of our old fonts (sw version 2.2 and lower) that may only be familiar to our european users.

best,
Marc

[John Carlyle]

Marc,

I do intend to load v3.2, but out of curiosity, is it possible to reload an older version of firmware if you don't like the newer version?

-John, Q3

On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 11:34:51 AM UTC-4, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:
>
> the radar stays identical, only the fonts are increased in size. To be honest, we use a modification of our old fonts (sw version 2.2 and lower) that may only be familiar to our european users.
>
> best,
>
> Marc

[Marc - Butterfly Avionics]

> I do intend to load v3.2, but out of curiosity, is it possible to reload an older version of firmware if you >don't like the newer version?

Yes john, this is nor problem. You can always upgrade-downgrade to any desired version.

Because of this reason please make sure than only one .bfn file is on your USB-Stick/microSD-Card when updating through PowerFLARM.

[Evan Ludeman[_4_]]

On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 2:19:05 AM UTC-4, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
>
> we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.
>
>
>
> • Better readability, larger fonts
>
> • Shows installed PowerFLARM® licenses
>
> • Support for latest FLARM® error codes
>
> • Shows next XPDR target in list view
>
> • minor improvements and bugfixes
>
>
>
> We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding readability. Although we can not change issues that come from screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to read.
>
>
>
> Please read this manual if you wish to install the update:
>
> http://www.butterfly.aero/support/CL32_EN.pdf
>
>
>
> Please find the update files here:
>
> http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english
>
>
>
> Thanks a lot for your feedback and always happy landings
>
> Marc
>
> The Butterfly Team

Thanks, this will help.

Is there a backlight in this display? If there is, an additional, enormously helpful tweak would be to crank up the illumination during alerts.

T8

[[email protected]]

Hi, having issues with the download from here: http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english

when I download it, it comes as a .zip file when I then extract the files I get a .exe file then if I try and run it, I get a error reading com ports. Is ther a place just to get the .BFW and .BFN update files? They are fairly small files and don't really need to be compressed. This happens with both the flarmnet and display updates. Or am I or Freaking windoze 7 doing something wrong?

Thanks CH

[bumper[_4_]]

On Thursday, May 23, 2013 9:40:21 AM UTC-7, wrote:
> Hi, having issues with the download from here: http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english
>
>
>
> when I download it, it comes as a .zip file when I then extract the files I get a .exe file then if I try and run it, I get a error reading com ports. Is ther a place just to get the .BFW and .BFN update files? They are fairly small files and don't really need to be compressed. This happens with both the flarmnet and display updates. Or am I or Freaking windoze 7 doing something wrong?


>
>
>
> Thanks CH



Right click on the center part of the links (Update file for PowerFlarm).
Choose "save link as".
Select your usb or sd location.
Save

Note: don't click on the link to open it or your computer may save it as a txt file.

Works for me! (and I hate computers)

bumper

[[email protected]]

>
> Right click on the center part of the links (Update file for PowerFlarm).
>
> Choose "save link as".
>
> Select your usb or sd location.
>
> Save
>
>
>
> Note: don't click on the link to open it or your computer may save it as a txt file.
>
>
>
> Works for me! (and I hate computers)
>
>
>
> bumper

Thanks Bumper that worked! But does it really have to be that cryptic?

CH

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

wrote, On 5/23/2013 12:56 PM:
>
>>
>> Right click on the center part of the links (Update file for PowerFlarm).
>>
>> Choose "save link as".
>>
>> Select your usb or sd location.
>>
>> Save
>>
>>
>>
>> Note: don't click on the link to open it or your computer may save it as a txt file.
>>
>>
>>
>> Works for me! (and I hate computers)
>>
>>
>>
>> bumper
>
> Thanks Bumper that worked! But does it really have to be that cryptic?

No, and it confused even me, who is supposed to know what's what! The
options should be on separate lines with a brief description, or a much
better name, and clicking on it should download it, not display the text.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

[Marc - Butterfly Avionics]

> No, and it confused even me, who is supposed to know what's what! The
>
> options should be on separate lines with a brief description
Done. Hope its better now..

Thanks
Marc

[kirk.stant]

Mark, what is the zipped "FlarmNet Update Software" that is shown next to the link for the Flarmnet .bfn and .fln data files?

These links are below the Butterfly Display software in the Support Downloads page.

Anything we need for a PowerFLARM core?

Kirk
66

[[email protected]]

On Friday, May 24, 2013 5:56:07 AM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
> Mark, what is the zipped "FlarmNet Update Software" that is shown next to the link for the Flarmnet .bfn and .fln data files?
>
>
>
> These links are below the Butterfly Display software in the Support Downloads page.
>
>
>
> Anything we need for a PowerFLARM core?
>
>
>
> Kirk
>
> 66

I downloaded it too. It's the direct update software that you use when you
have connected the display to your PC with the special cable. Now that the
core unit can update the display there should be little need for it, but at
least they still have it available.

Matt

[Ramy]

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:19:05 PM UTC-7, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
>
> we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.
>
>
>
> • Better readability, larger fonts
>
> • Shows installed PowerFLARM® licenses
>
> • Support for latest FLARM® error codes
>
> • Shows next XPDR target in list view
>
> • minor improvements and bugfixes
>
>
>
> We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding readability. Although we can not change issues that come from screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to read.
>
>
>
> Please read this manual if you wish to install the update:
>
> http://www.butterfly.aero/support/CL32_EN.pdf
>
>
>
> Please find the update files here:
>
> http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/index.php/en/support-english
>
>
>
> Thanks a lot for your feedback and always happy landings
>
> Marc
>
> The Butterfly Team

Thanks Marc, the fonts are bigger now, but... the +/- sign needs a magnifying glasses to read them. I need to remove my sunglasses to be able to tell if the altitude difference is above or below my altitude, which is the most important piece of information. So I am surprised why the fonts were increased while the +/- indicator was decreased, or so it seems near the larger fonts.

Another issue, which I also brought up earlier and was disappointing to find out it was not fixed yet is one which causes a lot of confusion mainly with new users:
Whenever only PCAS signal is received, the call sign of the last flarm target received will show up, although the only signal received now is PCAS so it has no idea what the call sign is, so instead it shows the last one, even if that particular aircraft has landed long ago. Even knowing about this flaw I occasional get confused and believe I get a signal from the wrong glider. This is especially noticeable for those registered with Flarmnet, as the actual contest ID is showing making it even more confusing. This is a silly bug which should have been fixed by now. The fix is simple, to not show the last call sign when PCAS signal is received.

When can we expect those issues to be fixed?

Thanks,

Ramy

[Marc - Butterfly Avionics]

Thanks Ramy.

Actually as discussed before this was not intended to be changed. When you select an aircraft and it gets out of range it remains selected until you select another one. This way when flying team you don't have to use the selector knob at all during flight. The selected ID remains visible.
I understand your concerns. This is something that clearly most of the time only occurs in the US where PCAS targets are way more present than here. So, finally, we will change that as well.

We are going to make a new release with all suggestions that come up here. At the moment:

- not show the ID when selected aircraft gets out of range
- increase the font-size/readability of the "+" signs (actually its the same size but now looks small compared to the new larger fonts).

Please tell me what else you don't like, we will do our best to change this.. Little caveat: We will not be able to include every single wish some of you have, sorry for that.

Thanks
Marc

[Steve Koerner]

It is my wish that on the radar screen, the symbol used for ADS-B targets and Flarm targets be distinguishable. I realize that you don't have many pixels to work with but you could consider something like making the glider arrowhead distinctive by making the two sides of the arrowhead concave while leaving the ADS-B target arrowheads with straight sides.

[bumper[_4_]]

On Monday, May 27, 2013 3:33:33 AM UTC-7, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:


Marc,

I would like the lower end of the display brightness range on the portable adjusted.

When flying at night (powered aircraft), the 10% or lowest LCD brightness setting is still so bright that it interferes with night vision.

Since it is unlikely the lower brightness settings are useful for daytime flying, perhaps make the lowest setting 5% instead of 10%?

thanks,

bumper

[Ramy]

On Monday, May 27, 2013 9:18:22 AM UTC-7, bumper wrote:
> On Monday, May 27, 2013 3:33:33 AM UTC-7, Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> Marc,
>
>
>
> I would like the lower end of the display brightness range on the portable adjusted.
>
>
>
> When flying at night (powered aircraft), the 10% or lowest LCD brightness setting is still so bright that it interferes with night vision.
>
>
>
> Since it is unlikely the lower brightness settings are useful for daytime flying, perhaps make the lowest setting 5% instead of 10%?
>
>
>
> thanks,
>
>
>
> bumper

Marc, thanks for listening to your customers and for the quick followup.
I think you can keep the team flying feature and just hide the call sign when no flarm signal is received to prevent confusion. As for the font size, will be nice if you could also increase the PCAS font size (and + indicator) a little.
I also second Steve's suggestion to differentiate between flarm and ADS-B targets. This will be very helpful.
Other than that I have the following requests:
1 - Add PCAS distance. It is not possible to tell the distance when in a higher zoom mode just by looking at the radar circles.
2 - Add short beep to alert whenever a target was detected and the display switches from the red butterfly to the flarm radar. This will be very helpful in areas where there is no much traffic and one may not pay close attention to the butterfly display and may miss traffic as a result.

Thanks,

Ramy

[Andy[_1_]]

I missed this update until this evening and have just loaded it and found what appears to be a bug.

When selected target altitude and altitude rate are negative they are shown with a large black minus sign. However, when either is positive it is displayed with a much smaller blue plus sign. Surprised no one has mentioned this yet.

Unrelated, but can the clock display that appears when there is no target be made fixed pitch instead of proportional. If fixed pitch is not available can you please fix the position of the hours, minutes, and seconds display fields. Having the display keep jumping in position is irritating and potentially distracting.

thanks,

Andy

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

Steve Koerner wrote, On 5/27/2013 7:39 AM:
> It is my wish that on the radar screen, the symbol used for ADS-B
> targets and Flarm targets be distinguishable. I realize that you
> don't have many pixels to work with but you could consider something
> like making the glider arrowhead distinctive by making the two sides
> of the arrowhead concave while leaving the ADS-B target arrowheads
> with straight sides.
>
I agree - make it easy to distinguish ADS-B and Flarm targets.

Have the "beep" when the butterfly is replaced by a target.

I'd like the "beep!" to be louder.

The menu (long push on the button) only shows Volume in flight. Make it
show the full menu in flight. I'd especially like to change between
select and nearest modes, and the way is now, I can not change between
Stealth and No Stealth.

I'm using the Core with the rectangular display that comes with it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

[Mike the Strike]

What beep? I suspect it is at a frequency above my audible range!

Mike

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

Marc - Butterfly Avionics wrote, On 5/21/2013 11:19 PM:
> Hi,
>
> we have released a new software version 3.2 for the PowerFLARM
> displays/Butterfly displays that increases font-size by 40% (which is
> a lot). Some other minor changes are included as well.
>
> • Better readability, larger fonts • Shows installed PowerFLARM®
> licenses • Support for latest FLARM® error codes • Shows next XPDR
> target in list view • minor improvements and bugfixes
>
> We have received (negative) feedback from some of you regarding
> readability. Although we can not change issues that come from
> screen/sunglass polarization we tried to improve the situation with
> font-readability and now have way larger fonts that are easier to
> read.

One more comment: the blue dot and blue "circling" arrow don't show up
very often, even when a glider has been circling in a thermal for
several turns. That's on a Core with the latest updates.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

[[email protected]]

Since the update to 3.2, I can no longer tell which way a arrow is pointing,( direction of flight).

It did make the fonts bigger which I appreciate, but it made the small box the arrow is in too dark to see which way the target is pointing.

Please help. At a contest now and would like to know the direction of the other traffic.

Thanks
Kevin Anderson

[Andy[_1_]]

On Jun 3, 7:29*pm, wrote:

> Please help. *At a contest now and would like to know the direction of the other traffic.

It's easy to go back a version you like better. Just make sure only
one version is in the root directory of the the media.

Andy

[[email protected]]

Saw this post http://glidersource.com/cgi-bin/post.cgi?id=662 on Glider Source. Every time I see the Butterfly sold as if it looks like this in real life I think , "man was I ripped off". I dislike getting ripped off by false advertising :)

so BUYER BEWARE!!

WH1

[Ramy[_2_]]

I am using the exact same butterfly display as in the pic and am happy with it. One of the best investment I made for my panel for an extra $150. Certainly not filling like I was ripped off! What exactly is your issue?

Ramy

[[email protected]]

The picture shows a back lit display with good colors. It is really a dull gray display - if you Google Flarm Display - and then images - you will see several bright pictures and one dull gray display in a panel - the dull one is what you get.

Not a big deal just - it is not like the picture - the pictured one is more like the I believe the LX display which is back lit, bright and much easier to see.

WH1

[Ramy[_2_]]

The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue.
There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.

Ramy

[Tango Eight]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 12:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
> The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
> I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue.
> There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.
>
> Ramy

You must have your butterfly display at the top of your panel. I don't have space there. Mine goes at far left (schleicher panel) and it is quite difficult to read there. The audio is more useful than anything else.

Evan

[Andrzej Kobus]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 12:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
> The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
> I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue..
> There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.
>
> Ramy

I have my Butterfly display in the middle of the panel on the right side. It is wonderful. I never had any problem reading it and it consumes very little power. I also like the clear presentation of data. The UI is simple and not crowded with unnecessary information. Precisely what I need.

[Tango Eight]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 5:15:06 PM UTC-5, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 12:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
> > The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
> > I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue.
> > There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.
> >
> > Ramy
>
> I have my Butterfly display in the middle of the panel on the right side. It is wonderful. I never had any problem reading it and it consumes very little power. I also like the clear presentation of data. The UI is simple and not crowded with unnecessary information. Precisely what I need.

Here's mine, at far left of panel. It's more visible in the cockpit than in the video, but really it's pretty poor. Needs a good strong led backlight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMTBfz6XZ0

Evan Ludeman / T8

[Andrzej Kobus]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 5:47:55 PM UTC-5, Tango Eight wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 5:15:06 PM UTC-5, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
> > On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 12:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
> > > The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
> > > I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue.
> > > There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.
> > >
> > > Ramy
> >
> > I have my Butterfly display in the middle of the panel on the right side. It is wonderful. I never had any problem reading it and it consumes very little power. I also like the clear presentation of data. The UI is simple and not crowded with unnecessary information. Precisely what I need.
>
> Here's mine, at far left of panel. It's more visible in the cockpit than in the video, but really it's pretty poor. Needs a good strong led backlight.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMTBfz6XZ0
>
> Evan Ludeman / T8

Are you sure it is on? I can't see a thing.

[Tango Eight]

On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 6:12:49 PM UTC-5, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 5:47:55 PM UTC-5, Tango Eight wrote:
> > On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 5:15:06 PM UTC-5, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at 12:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ramy wrote:
> > > > The display may not be backlighted but it is as bright as needed and as easy to read as any other display in my cockpit.
> > > > I have many hours of flying with the butterfly in panel display under any lighting conditions and never had an issue reading the display. I had issues early on with the external rectangular display due to polarization issue.
> > > > There is definitely room for some improvement in the butterfly display in my wishlist, making it brighter is not one of them.
> > > >
> > > > Ramy
> > >
> > > I have my Butterfly display in the middle of the panel on the right side. It is wonderful. I never had any problem reading it and it consumes very little power. I also like the clear presentation of data. The UI is simple and not crowded with unnecessary information. Precisely what I need.
> >
> > Here's mine, at far left of panel. It's more visible in the cockpit than in the video, but really it's pretty poor. Needs a good strong led backlight.
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APMTBfz6XZ0
> >
> > Evan Ludeman / T8
>
> Are you sure it is on? I can't see a thing.

Oh it's on, the beeping you hear with the flarm warning is from the butterfly. If you look really close you can see the warning display come up. Glad I have that ClearNav.

-Evan

[Tim Taylor]

I have no problem seeing mine except the polarization is off 90 degrees from my Serengeti's. It is bright and I would not want to race without it even with SeeYou Mobile as my computer display.

If I did not have one the price from Paul would be a good investment.

[[email protected]]

Your wife has read the book she will probably see the film-- we can fly it
50 SHADES OF GREY The butterfly 57mm display.
Gentlemen, other firms can do it so why can't you
Regards Robert Simpson