On Wednesday, 13 May 2020 17:57:23 UTC+3, Kenz Dale wrote:
On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 10:39:04 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
On Wednesday, 13 May 2020 17:16:20 UTC+3, wrote:
On Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 8:08:18 AM UTC-4, waremark wrote:
On Wednesday, 13 May 2020 09:02:28 UTC+1, Kenz Dale wrote:
On Friday, October 4, 2019 at 9:17:12 AM UTC-4, Turkey Vulture wrote:
I have actually used the s100 in my DG 100 for 1 season. I popped for the AHRS as well. 80mm is the way to go.

This is a huge difference between the two brands. LX Nav does not let you revoke the AHRS key, which translated into normal human speak means that you can't take your AHRS with you. So if you sell your unit to someone else because you want LX Nav's latest and greatest, or just your unit conks out, you're SOL for the $$$ you spent. Every time you get a new model you have to spend $800.

LX Navigation has a separate AHRS module which is portable to new installations.

Frankly, and this is speaking as an embedded guy who's been doing drone autopilot firmware since 2010, LX Nav has destroyed a lot of the value of their product for peeps who want an AHRS. Unless their internal software is a dumpster fire, which is its own problem, fixing this lack of portability is a perfect first task for an intern/junior engineer.

This is a commercial issue not an engineering issue. I believe all these devices have the necessary sensors to provide an AHRS - the payment is for the license to switch it on.

I have just upgraded my LX 9000 - I traded in the previous one to LX and paid an upgrade price. Who knows how the cost to upgrade would have compared if I had had an LX Navigation device instead?

I know two people who bought LX Navigation LX 10k's. Neither could be got to work and they eventually had to change to something different. This makes me dubious about the product development quality at LX Navigation, whereas I have not heard of problems like that with LX Nav equipment in the last few years.

You are right that all units have an AHRS built in, but it can only be unlocked with a $800 software unlock code which you punch into your LX Nav. This key code cannot be revoked or transferred, so you cannot take your AHRS with you.

I don't intend to comment as to LX Nav's general reliability or usefulness. AFAICT they have an excellent reputation. And we honestly don't know enough about the problem to state where it's coming from. But from the optic of my experience I only see three possibilities, all of which require a boneheaded situation:

1.) Their internal software is so horrible and made with such copy-pasta spaghetti code that the cost of a fix, no matter how small, is unacceptable
2.) It's a boneheaded product decision that customers don't care about upgradability
3.) It's a boneheaded commercial decision to try to milk customers for every last euro

None of those speak to good management decisions on this part of the product. In fact, they'd be better off to reissue a code to a client for free rather than make them upset that they lost $800 in value because they upgraded to a bigger screen or a better vario. At least that buys them time to fix it, without eating away at the admittedly small market of glider pilots who want an AHRS.

So why not move the vario (with unlocked AHRS) to new glider? AHRS transferred.

That's an option, but here are my thoughts:

1) I guess I'm not impressed by a company which thinks that I should have to rip out my instrument panel in order to transfer a secret password. There's a lot of risk involved in tearing down a known-working system.
2) My glider's new owner might not appreciate having a hole in the instrument panel rendering the plane inoperable. In fact, I'm guessing that impacts resale value more than the money I save.
3) I might not be changing gliders, but instead am doing a panel upgrade. A $4k upgrade which has the sole purpose of having a larger screen has a lot less appeal when you tell me I need to spend another $800.

I agree there are AHRS workarounds. But the questions are "why should I have to?", "what's the real risk and cost?" and "am I better with another brand?"

The conclusion is that by not being so stingy with a software code LX Nav could treat AHRS customers a little better, avoiding this self-inflicted wound.

I pretty sure that you are the only pilot in the world that has a problem with this.