More SeeYou Mobile questions...

[[email protected]]

I've been replaying some flights (recorded by my 302) on my PDA to get
to know SeeYou Mobile. I plan on flying with it next season and want
to be already familiar come spring. I decided to see what the thermal
assistant is all about. It doesn't seem to make much sense to me. I
know that the larger red bubbles indicate stronger lift, etc., but
when I view it while replaying a flight, it constantly switches 180
degrees back and forth. I'm assuming that when the glider symbol is on
the right, it indicates a left turning circle, and when the glider
symbol is on the left, a right turning circle. However, when I replay
my flight, during thermalling this thing keeps switching the glider
symbol back and forth from right/left side about once every two
seconds. I can find nothing in the manual regarding the glider symbol
and how it's actually suppose to work.

Anyone care to comment on what it's like to fly with? When you're
thermalling, will the ring of bubbles rotate as you go around with the
glider symbol on one side depending on the direction of turn? I assume
that's the way it's supposed to work. Is it useful at all, or just an
extra gadget? I feel that I'd rather be flying with my eyes outside,
but if it's useful "at a glance", then maybe it'll come in handy.

Thanks,
Dave

[[email protected]]

On Dec 24, 1:58*pm, wrote:
> I've been replaying some flights (recorded by my 302) on my PDA to get
> to know SeeYou Mobile. I plan on flying with it next season and want
> to be already familiar come spring. I decided to see what the thermal
> assistant is all about. It doesn't seem to make much sense to me. I
> know that the larger red bubbles indicate stronger lift, etc., but
> when I view it while replaying a flight, it constantly switches 180
> degrees back and forth. I'm assuming that when the glider symbol is on
> the right, it indicates a left turning circle, and when the glider
> symbol is on the left, a right turning circle. However, when I replay
> my flight, during thermalling this thing keeps switching the glider
> symbol back and forth from right/left side about once every two
> seconds. I can find nothing in the manual regarding the glider symbol
> and how it's actually suppose to work.
>
> Anyone care to comment on what it's like to fly with? When you're
> thermalling, will the ring of bubbles rotate as you go around with the
> glider symbol on one side depending on the direction of turn? I assume
> that's the way it's supposed to work. Is it useful at all, or just an
> extra gadget? I feel that I'd rather be flying with my eyes outside,
> but if it's useful "at a glance", then maybe it'll come in handy.
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

By the way, Merry Christmas everyone!

[[email protected]]

I believe there are issues with the Assistant only in replay mode if
the fixes are not close enough, if you have a period longer than 2
seconds you may see erratic behaviour .... in real flight it gets data
each 1 second for smooth action.

See: http://www.naviter.si/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,154/topic,2941.0

You can search that forum for more discussion.

That said, it works very well in flight. I was quite skeptical when it
was announced, and I ignored it for a few months. I figured I did not
need any help centering. When I did turn it on I was amazed how
accurate it was. It only comes on if you are not thermalling evenly.
If you do a quick centering turn when the best lift bubbles are
showing ahead of you you will almost always get better lift. I have
assigned a hardware button to force it on when I want it. Keep your
head out of the cockpit!!

Merry Christmas!
Bob






On Dec 24, 2:58*pm, wrote:
> I've been replaying some flights (recorded by my 302) on my PDA to get
> to know SeeYou Mobile...snip
>
> Anyone care to comment on what it's like to fly with?

[Eric Greenwell]

wrote:

> That said, it works very well in flight. I was quite skeptical when it
> was announced, and I ignored it for a few months. I figured I did not
> need any help centering. When I did turn it on I was amazed how
> accurate it was. It only comes on if you are not thermalling evenly.
> If you do a quick centering turn when the best lift bubbles are
> showing ahead of you you will almost always get better lift. I have
> assigned a hardware button to force it on when I want it. Keep your
> head out of the cockpit!!

My experience exactly matches Bob's. I can do as well or better than the
Assistant when I'm paying attention, but often I'm not, because I'm
watching the other gliders near me, putting away the engine, trying to
figure out where to go next, looking at the map, using the radio, trying
to retrieve the sandwich that fell behind the seat, etc. There were a
lot more distractions from attentive thermalling than I realized,
because there wasn't anything keeping track of what I should be doing.

I also assigned it to a hardware button.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

[[email protected]]

On Dec 24, 3:06 pm, Eric Greenwell > wrote:
> wrote:
> > That said, it works very well in flight. I was quite skeptical when it
> > was announced, and I ignored it for a few months. I figured I did not
> > need any help centering. When I did turn it on I was amazed how
> > accurate it was. It only comes on if you are not thermalling evenly.
> > If you do a quick centering turn when the best lift bubbles are
> > showing ahead of you you will almost always get better lift. I have
> > assigned a hardware button to force it on when I want it. Keep your
> > head out of the cockpit!!
>
> My experience exactly matches Bob's. I can do as well or better than the
> Assistant when I'm paying attention, but often I'm not, because I'm
> watching the other gliders near me, putting away the engine, trying to
> figure out where to go next, looking at the map, using the radio, trying
> to retrieve the sandwich that fell behind the seat, etc. There were a
> lot more distractions from attentive thermalling than I realized,
> because there wasn't anything keeping track of what I should be doing.
>
> I also assigned it to a hardware button.
>
> --
> Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
> * Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
> * "Transponders in Sailplanes"http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
> * "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" atwww.motorglider.org

My only encounters nowdays with the thermal assistant is if things get
reset and I forget to turn it off. Sorry but this is one feature that
I think is beyond useless -- yes I've tried it and yes I hear from
others they like it. I suspect it only really exists as a "me too"
feature because WinPilot had something similar. So much for beating up
SeeYou Mobile... I really think SeeYou Mobile and SeeYou are both
great software packages.

Darryl

[[email protected]]

Sorry but this is one feature that
> I think is beyond useless --
>
> Darryl

Darryl,

This is one of those times when I *almost* feel guilty replying.... if
you don't use at least for a while it how do you know it is useless?
But if you meant you tried it and it never showed you a better path,
then I understand.

I also left it unused for a long time, but when I did choose to look
at it and respond, it worked, and I fly a lot. When under a bit more
pressure, or under a lot more sky than I would like, it is nice to
have another opinion. Or a radio distraction occurs, or anything else
which distracts you happens and you just fall off the sweet spot a
bit.

It is not a replacement for experience and practice, but it does its
work mechanically under stress... unlike a pilot like me who sometimes
'wishes' the thermal in not quite the right place sometimes.

So it works, but whether you NEED or WANT it is up to the pilot.

[[email protected]]

Ah I did not say I never used it, just I never use now. Of course I've
tried it, and the corresponding feature on Winpilot which I used to
fly with before switching to SeeYou Mobile. In both cases I think your
body and a good electronic vario give an all round better picture of
what is going on. As I said I know others will disagree.

Darryl

On Dec 26, 7:14 pm, wrote:
> Sorry but this is one feature that
>
> > I think is beyond useless --
>
> > Darryl
>
> Darryl,
>
> This is one of those times when I *almost* feel guilty replying.... if
> you don't use at least for a while it how do you know it is useless?
> But if you meant you tried it and it never showed you a better path,
> then I understand.
>
> I also left it unused for a long time, but when I did choose to look
> at it and respond, it worked, and I fly a lot. When under a bit more
> pressure, or under a lot more sky than I would like, it is nice to
> have another opinion. Or a radio distraction occurs, or anything else
> which distracts you happens and you just fall off the sweet spot a
> bit.
>
> It is not a replacement for experience and practice, but it does its
> work mechanically under stress... unlike a pilot like me who sometimes
> 'wishes' the thermal in not quite the right place sometimes.
>
> So it works, but whether you NEED or WANT it is up to the pilot.

[[email protected]]

Thanks, yes, we do agree!
Bob

>
> > So it works, but whether you NEED or WANT it is up to the pilot.