Hi,

I sell both the Tasman V1000 and the LX 16 (and the Borgelt B400). The
Tasman V1000 is much more popular (at least in my experience, here in the
USA), but I'm not sure why. They are all very nice variometers.

Both the LX16 and Tasman V1000 feature an averager display on the face of
the unit. The LX16 also features a flight timer on the main display. They
are both easy to configure. You can change the response setting on the LX16
and the Tasman V1000. The only feature that I feel is missing on the LX16
is the ability to adjust the sink tone type. On the Tasman V1000 you can set
the sink tone to be on for all sink values, or no sink values, or off from 0
to 2 knots (or something like that) and on beyond that. The "deadband" from
0 to 2 knots is nice because they vario isn't always beeping when you don't
need it to. It starts beeping when you are in lift or moderate sink. The
LX16 doesn't have that option. The LX16's audio is on at all times.

However, some pilots feel that the LX16 looks "classier" because the
Tasman's face is quite colorful.

Another popular variometer in this range is the Borgelt B400. It is quite
popular. It looks great in the panel and the LED indicators are nice. Some
pilots prefer an analog needle indicator and the B400 has a nice one that is
driven by a stepper motor. It doesn't seem quite as popular as the Tasman
V1000 - perhaps because it doesn't have a built-in averager display. You
can see the average by pressing a button on the face of the unit - the
needle moves to the average while you hold the button. Otherwise you can
add an external digital averager display. Some pilots don't like that the
B400 doesn't have a built-in speaker. Others like that because they want
the speaker close to their ears (behind their head). Both the LX16 and
Tasman V1000 have optional external speakers that can be used in addition to
the built-in speaker.

Another feature to consider is the backup battery options. The B400 comes
with a backup battery pack that holds AA batteries and a switch that can be
used to switch over to the backup batteries. The Tasman V1000 and LX16 can
run on any 9 V battery so pilots sometimes use a panel mounted switch to
switch between the glider battery and a 9V backup battery. The Tasman V1000
also has an optional backup battery system that automatically switches over
to the backup 9V battery when the main battery gets low. It also knows to
shut off the vario when the glider is on the ground - saving the backup
battery (the LX16 and B400 can't do that).

The soaring club I fly with uses a lot of Tasman V1000 units. The
reliability has been perfect. The ease of use is great. Both the B400 and
the LX16 are also very easy to use.

Good Soaring,

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


"S6" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 6:30 am, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

Hi,
How does it compare to a LX 16 if anyone has an experience with it?
S6