NK ClearNav Update

[Paul Remde]

Hi,

I received my demo NK ClearNav a few days ago. It is awesome! You can see
the latest reviews here:
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/nk.htm

Let me know if you want to be a beta tester.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

[kirk.stant]

On Feb 3, 12:23*am, "Paul Remde" > wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I received my demo NK ClearNav a few days ago. *It is awesome! *You can see
> the latest reviews here:http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/nk.htm
>
> Let me know if you want to be a beta tester.
>
> Good Soaring,
>
> Paul Remde
> Cumulus Soaring, Inc.http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

Neat system - It's great to see a bright display finally available.
And no touch screen! Those are an abomination in a cockpit!

One feature I think would be really nice to have: An integrated
"TCAS"-like display of nearby transponder equipped traffic. Even if
just an audio warning along with a range and altitude warning display
on the map (from an MRX-type transponder detector, for example).

And for Europe, of course, integrated FLARM.

Kirk
66

[Martin Gregorie[_1_]]

Paul Remde wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I received my demo NK ClearNav a few days ago. It is awesome! You can see
> the latest reviews here:
> http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/nk.htm
>
That's a most interesting device. It does pretty much what I'd want from
a navigation tool.

There's one fairly important point that's not mentioned by your site or
NK's given that it contains a GPS: What data is available OUT of the
ClearNav during a flight?

I use an SDI C4, which needs the following NMEA sentences: GPRMB, GPRMC,
GPROO and GPWPL. It uses GPRMC to calculate wind speed and direction.
The other three, together with its wind calculation, are used to handle
final glide. I imagine that most other GPS-enabled varios will use the
same information: the LX 160 / 1600 certainly does. This class of vario
will loose a lot of its capability without a GPS data feed.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Paul Remde]

Hi Martin,

That is an interesting point. At this time I don't think there are any
plans to provide GPS data out.

However, I recommend simply using the ClearNav for navigation and glide
computations and using the other unit as only a speed-to-fly variometer.

A similar situation happened to me years ago with my Cambridge L-NAV and
GPS-NAV and Pocket PC with Glide Navigator II. I found that I used GN II
for navigation and glide computations and used the L-NAV as a speed-to-fly
variometer only. It was pretty big and bulky for those functions. That is
why I later upgraded to a Cambridge 302. I think the same is true in this
situation. Until NK comes out with their own variometers I think the best
units to use with it are the Cambridge 302 and the LX1600. A Borgelt B500
would also work, but it would have extra features that would not be needed
such as an extra GPS and navigation display.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Martin Gregorie" > wrote in message
...
> Paul Remde wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I received my demo NK ClearNav a few days ago. It is awesome! You can
>> see the latest reviews here:
>> http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/nk.htm
>>
> That's a most interesting device. It does pretty much what I'd want from a
> navigation tool.
>
> There's one fairly important point that's not mentioned by your site or
> NK's given that it contains a GPS: What data is available OUT of the
> ClearNav during a flight?
>
> I use an SDI C4, which needs the following NMEA sentences: GPRMB, GPRMC,
> GPROO and GPWPL. It uses GPRMC to calculate wind speed and direction. The
> other three, together with its wind calculation, are used to handle final
> glide. I imagine that most other GPS-enabled varios will use the same
> information: the LX 160 / 1600 certainly does. This class of vario will
> loose a lot of its capability without a GPS data feed.
>
>
> --
> martin@ | Martin Gregorie
> gregorie. | Essex, UK
> org |

[Martin Gregorie[_1_]]

Paul Remde wrote:
> However, I recommend simply using the ClearNav for navigation and glide
> computations and using the other unit as only a speed-to-fly variometer.
>
Is the top right of the display, where it shows "Distance" and "Alt.
diff" the final glide read-out?

If so I was confused by the "Alt. diff" label, thinking that it was
waypoint surface height difference and that I'd still need the C4's FG
calculations. However, if those are the FG display, then I agree that
the C4's FG functions can be ignored.

Regardless of feeding the vario, I still think that a GPS output would
be a useful option, at least in the interim. I'm certain I'm not the
only pilot using a logger without a built-in GPS receiver (EW series D).


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |