A aviation & planes forum. AviationBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » AviationBanter forum » rec.aviation newsgroups » Soaring
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Powerflarm Brick feedback



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #1  
Old August 8th 12, 06:08 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Ramy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 746
Default Powerflarm Brick feedback

Other than antenna discussions, I haven't seen much recent feedback or discussions re powerflarm performance and issues. Since there is still lots of confusion and the official web site powerflarm.us still lack much info and it's forum is not active yet, I figured I start with some feedback and issues here.
1- Installation: So far I did just a quick (couple of hours) temporary installation using industrial velcro. The antennas installation are not optimum: The PCAS antenna is under the glareshield and the flarm antenna is velcroed to the tip of my glareshield so only half of it is sticking above, yet the flarm reception is quiet good and I am seeing traffic few miles away and even below.
2- Configuration and firmware upgrade: I had an issue which apparently is common, yet I did not see anything posted about it. After the upgrade my powerflarm was stuck in configuration mode. Disconnecting it and recycling the power did not help. The only solution which worked was disconnecting and reconnecting the external display!
3 - Bugs: The only issue I had was an error message complaining about the pressure sensor, this was indeed fixed in the latest firmware.
4 - Display: The display is very easy to read but if you use polarized sunglasses (which I highly recommend for better traffic visibility to the contrary to what some claim) then the external display polarization may not match your preferred installation. In my case I can only read the display in portrait orientation, but I would much prefer landscape. Anyone knows if the display come in different polarizations?
5 - Audio alert: Although the sound is very distinct, I would prefer if it could be much louder. Not sure I will hear it at higher wind noise.
6 - Flarm traffic detection and alerts: Seem to work very well so far. I haven't flown in a gaggle with multiple flarms so far, but with single flarm it worked very well and up to few miles away, with no unnecessary collision alerts.
7 - ADSB alerts - Not sure if I saw any and it is not clear from the manuals how to distinguish them from flarm alerts? Any suggestions?
8 - PCAS alerts - This is where I am somewhat dissapointed, and am hoping that better positioning of the antenna will help. I compared with my Zaon MRX and noticed that the MRX was alerting me to much more traffic than the Powerflarm, especially when the traffic was lower than me. Flying near other gliders I would normally get alert only from those at my altitude or above, almost nothing from lower even when very close nearby. I would like to hear if others had similar experience. I hope this can be improved since I was not planning to continue using my MRX in addition to Powerflarm but don't want to miss GA traffic alerts!
9 - I understand there is an option to display gliders call sign, but this is currently an obscured process and not documented well. Someone should write a good step by step how to guide. In a nutshell, you first need to enter your ICAO ID (available online in the FAA database) after converting it to Hex into your config file. Then you need to register on flarmnet with your ICAO ID, then download the latest file, which can be uploaded to your flight computer such as XCSoar, but it is not clear how you upload the file to the butterfly display? Any ideas?

Comments?

Ramy
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Measured current draw, PowerFlarm Brick Evan Ludeman[_4_] Soaring 4 July 16th 12 12:03 AM
PowerFlarm Brick - Can it send GPS sentences to SN10B? WaltWX[_2_] Soaring 11 June 17th 12 05:33 PM
PowerFLARM Brick and PowerFLARM Remote Display Manuals Available Paul Remde Soaring 30 May 25th 12 11:58 PM
PowerFLARM 'brick' progress? Frank Paynter[_2_] Soaring 5 November 13th 11 07:28 PM
Display for PowerFLARM brick Andy[_1_] Soaring 4 May 10th 11 02:32 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:54 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2025 AviationBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.