oudie/s80 question

[Del Jensen]

I just got these two instruments and have been bench testing at home. The baud rates are properly set, and the s80 gets gps from the oudie, but about every ten seconds the s80 drops the signal and flashes no data very briefly, then picks it back up. Very consistent timing. Is this normal? It is kind of distracting.

[glidergreg]

The GPS in an Oudie is not that great. It is more like one you would find in a car. I do the opposite, I feed my Oudie GPS from a better aviation device, in my case a Butterfly Vario.

[Del Jensen]

On Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 12:29:41 PM UTC-7, glidergreg wrote:
> The GPS in an Oudie is not that great. It is more like one you would find in a car. I do the opposite, I feed my Oudie GPS from a better aviation device, in my case a Butterfly Vario.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's an Oudie IGC, which supposedly has better gps.

[[email protected]]

I have an S80 and an Oudie IGC, but use a PowerFlarm brick for GPS data. It has been rock solid for 3 seasons. I have also used the Oudie IGC as a stand alone and the internal GPS has worked without any issues. There might be an issue with a connector or the cable, although the regular nature of the problem probably indicates that it is something else.
Sandy

[Tim Newport-Peace[_4_]]

At 21:34 14 September 2017, Del Jensen wrote:
>On Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 12:29:41 PM UTC-7, glidergreg wrote:
>> The GPS in an Oudie is not that great. It is more like one you would
find
>in a car. I do the opposite, I feed my Oudie GPS from a better aviation
>device, in my case a Butterfly Vario.
>
>Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's an Oudie IGC, which
>supposedly has better gps.
>
In the Oudie-IGC The GPS receiver is the FGP MMO PA6 by Global Top
Technology Inc (www.gtop-tech.com) at the last count, and cannot take GPS
data from an external source.

Are there any other devices apart from the S80 connected to the Oudie GPS
output?

[rudolph stutzmann]

On Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 12:16:48 AM UTC-4, Del Jensen wrote:
> I just got these two instruments and have been bench testing at home. The baud rates are properly set, and the s80 gets gps from the oudie, but about every ten seconds the s80 drops the signal and flashes no data very briefly, then picks it back up. Very consistent timing. Is this normal? It is kind of distracting.

Probably not the issue, but just a thought... Are you bench testing indoors which may interfere/degrade the GPS accuracy/data???

[Del Jensen]

Thanks for the suggestions. The s80 is the only instrument taking gps from the oudie igc. I did try taking the bench test outdoors to eliminate poor signal considerations. I've been advised by Paul Remde that I need to update the s80 firmaware. The rev. date is pre 5.5 and definitely should be updated.

One other thing I noticed is that the oudie draws down a lot of power recharging. It blew the 3 amp inline fuse between the s80 and the +battery. The oudie battery was at about 40% charge. The voltage as read by the s80 was 12.5 to 12.2 over the test runs.

[Dave Springford]

In my experience, a partially charged Oudie should never be connected to the S80 (S7,S8,S10,S100)and allowed to charge through the vario. It does draw too much power to charge it. You are better off to charge it at home and install it fully charged.

The other option is to install the Oudie power and data cable to take power from the 12V system directly to the (through the 5V converter)Oudie and the NMEA signal from the vario.

[Del Jensen]

Thanks Dave, that is a good idea.

On the intermittent GPS front, I've updated the s80 firmware (oudie is current) and now get intermittent UNK status reports rather than NODATA. What's weird is that with the new firmware UNK status even flashes over the NODATA when I disconnect the oudie. That didn't happen with the old firmware - it remained steady NODATA.

[Tim Newport-Peace[_4_]]

At 05:00 16 September 2017, Del Jensen wrote:
>Thanks Dave, that is a good idea.
>
>On the intermittent GPS front, I've updated the s80 firmware (oudie is
>curr=
>ent) and now get intermittent UNK status reports rather than NODATA.
>What'=
>s weird is that with the new firmware UNK status even flashes over the
>NODA=
>TA when I disconnect the oudie. That didn't happen with the old firmware
>-=
> it remained steady NODATA.
>
Wondering if the interval between sending GPS data is too long. Is this
tied into the recording interval of the Oudie perhaps?

[Del Jensen]

An update. I needed to update through two revisions of the firmware. Now everything ticks over like a Swiss watch.

I'll write up mini review when I get the S80 into the cockpit. Bench testing, I couldn't be more pleased with what I'm seeing. Very easy to manage different modes of data display and presentation. Not that I have a wide range of experience to make comparisons - my only other electric was a Cambridge. But I like what I'm seeing.

[[email protected]]

Del- I highly recommend the remote stick controller. At first, I tried using my hand to control the S80 functions and didn't like it much because if you use your right hand on the knobs and buttons, you have to fly with your left hand on the joystick. If you use your left hand on the S80, it blocks your view of the display. I spent the bucks for the stick controller and couldn't be more pleased with the functionality. YMMV