On Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 12:23:17 AM UTC-4, Ben Hirashima wrote:
I'd like to remind everyone that GliderLink is not a substitute for Flarm.. It is a different tool for a different purpose. Flarm is good for collision avoidance. GliderLink is good for team soaring. The goTenna Mesh offers significantly longer range than Flarm, which makes it much better than Flarm for sharing your location with pilots who are BVR (beyond visual range).

GliderLink has the potential to transform our sport from a mostly solitary pursuit to a very collaborative one. Until we have thermal detectors, the next best thing is buddies with GliderLink.

Thanks Ben, that would be nice. I've tried rendezvousing with buddies with only comm radio and GPS and it's been difficult. "I'm 6 miles NW of Pleasantville" isn't good enough.

The problem is the proliferation of gizmos and displays in the cockpit. It's bad enough that we have to push ourselves to look out the cockpit sometimes rather than the nav computer. Add Gliderlink and FLARM and who knows what else and our poor brains' multitasking capabilities are overwhelmed even without peeking outside. Plus the never-ending battery charging dance. That is why integration of the gizmos is the most requested feature above.

Another issue is the poor visibility, in sunlight, of smartphone screens. It seems that some people don't mind the low contrast, others can't stand it. As my eyes get older I seem to crave contrast. Perhaps I can discern what's on a good smartphone screen with enough squinting, but it takes too long. I use Tophat on a slow obsolete Nook e-reader with black-and-white e-ink display and external GPS, just for the contrast.