On Saturday, May 23, 2015 at 9:55:08 PM UTC-5, BMOC wrote:
New to soaring and I am a bit overwhelmed by all the different tracking options out there. ADS-B, Spot, etc.

Which ones are recreational and which (if any) live tracking devices are used for OLC contests etc? Are people using loggers and then uploading the info for the contests or are they using live trackers? Or both?

I know there is a minefield of information out there and I've been reading as much as I can but it's still not clear. So any information would be helpful. If I would like to have something to just trace my flights giving me distance, altitude and speed what are my options? What about for future badge flying?

I'm aware of the added benefits of SPOT for emergency use.

Thanks!

SPOT, DeLorme In-Reach are at or near real time trackers. Used to let those on the ground now where you are now or where you were a little bit ago. They cannot be used for OLC, badges, records, or just about anything else.

To record your flights, you should get some form of logger. The above are not loggers. I will leave it to someone else to narrow down the 10,000 or so possibilites, but I will start by suggesting you get a real, IGC approved logger. People will tell you all about apps they have on their phone, this feature on that thing, etc, and you will see they don't get the flight recorded because the forgot to turn it on. If you are flying club or rental ships, get something as self contained as possible. I would recommend against using anything related to your phone, because that should be turned off to conserve its battery for when you land. If you are flying your own plane, get something that gets its power through the master switch and is coupled to a glide computer.

Even with this "narrowing of the field" there are still literally hundreds of options, and the best thing you can do is narrow to a few, look at features, and make your purchase. There may likely be things you aren't happy with, but overall, you will be happy with whatever you get. It adds enormously to the ease of figuring "can I get there from here?" and makes flying more pleasurable.

Enjoy whatever you get!

Steve Leonard