On Aug 21, 7:32*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:21:42 -0700, ryanglover1969 wrote:
I have a few suggestions for the way my vario, an LX1600 should work,
ideally.

I would like it to switch between "STF mode" and "Climbing mode" when I
hit lift or sink. Ideally it should switch to climbing mode when I hit
lift that equals or exceeds my MC setting. Of course there would still
be a manual override switch when you are low and/or scratching.

Do other vario manufactures set up their varios to work the way I
describe? If so, which ones?

Currently it switches between modes using three methods all of which I
think are inferior. It will switch to Climbing mode when I start
turning, when the speed drops below a set value, or when I manually
switch modes.

How do other manufactures do it?

I have an SDI C4 that offers three modes:

- a manual switch - I've not fitted it so can't comment on how well
* it works for me.

- by GPS. I tried this and didn't like it. The idea is that the C4
* switches to climb mode after a 90 or 270 degree turn and back
* to cruise when you straighten out. One thing that I didn't like
* is that it stays in cruise mode when running a cloud street.
* This means that it makes faster/slower noises rather than climb rate
* noises even when the lift is weak and you're flying slowly. Also,
* I like the vario to be in climb mode when I start to turn.

- on IAS. There are separate speed settings for climb-cruise and
* cruise- climb. Typically the first of these is the faster setting.
* It takes a bit of trial and error to get the switching speeds
* set for your glider and flying style, but when its set correctly the
* vario is automatically in the appropriate mode more than 90% of the
* time.

IME speed switching is by far the best choice. The only improvement
I can suggest is that an override switch would be nice if it had three
positions:

* * * * climb
* * * * auto (use speed switching)
* * * * cruise

The older C3 had this facility but it was omitted from the C4 for some
reason.

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

I believe the LX160 works like that. It has a 3 position switch with
vario, speed command, and auto mode. In auto mode the switch
is done based on airspeed.

I haven't flown with the LX160 yet (I'll let you know in a month or
two maybe).
I did fly with an LX5000 for a few years, but it didn't have a switch
like that.
I found it so annoying as a matter of fact that I would turn the sound
all the
way down and just use the B40 audio at all times.

For that matter, I generally don't switch speed that much. When I'm
cruising
between thermals, I'll just set my airspeed to whatever the PDA tells
me is a
good speed to fly, and I'll only slow up when I get to the next
cloud. I'll drop
to min sink speed and fly some S-turns to pick up energy, and then
speed up
back to the interthermal speed unless I'm low or have hit a corker. I
don't
change the trim while I'm doing that either. Final glide is another
issue.
When doing that my PDA shows a table of airspeeds and glideslopes,
so I adjust my airspeed to whatever the fastest speed to get me home
is.
Then again, maybe that's just the style I developed based on what I
had
to work with. Perhaps I'll change once I only have the LX160 for
audio.

-- Matt