Want to talk with Butterfly vario + PowerFlarm people

On Friday, July 5, 2013 12:00:14 PM UTC-4, jfitch wrote:
On Thursday, July 4, 2013 10:53:04 PM UTC-7, wrote:

I read the pilot manual that is on the website and found it to be a bit thin. It says that traffic is represented by triangles that point in the direction that the traffic is traveling in with a bar above or below the triangle to indicate the relative altitude. The audio (bitching Betty) is supposed to come on only if you are on a collision course. That is not working for you?



Thanks for pointing out the new manual (published July 2013 so a day or two ago?). It has CONSIDERABLY more detail than the original which was very light weight. Including what the line next to the triangle on the traffic display indicates. Yes, I am seeing the trangles and lines, at least for ADS-B traffic. I assume I will see glider traffic that way as well. But that and the audio warning is all you get - no FlarmNet info, no climb/descent info. I don't think it changes to that screen automatically in the event of a collision warning.



In another recent post, Marc says that Butterfly is not intending to implement all of that function, as they do not want to replace the need for a dedicated Flarm display. I hope they change their mind on this: I can see no drawbacks at all of using the vario display for this function. It is beautifully brilliant, auto brightening/dimming, already connected to the Flarm, presumable placed in a very viewable area of the panel, already connected to a large speaker. What it should do IMO is implement the functionality of the Flarm display, and automatically switch to that page when a collision alert occurs. The vario bar would still be shown on the left, if centering the circle was deemed more important than avoiding a collision!



The installation is more involved than a traditional vario like the CAI302 I had before. However there is nothing magic about it. The main complication is mounting the ISU, which requires alignment with the airframe and also distance isolation from magnetic disturbances including power wires. I found room for it under the glare shield of my ASH26, but did spend some time cleaning up the power wiring. Power and grounds for everything should be run close together (twisted together insures this) to minimize the stray magnetic fields. That is good practice regardless. If you have to mount the ISU elsewhere, its going to be some work - a large cable and three pneumatic tubes would have to be run.

I also hope that Butterfly will implement the FLARM display functionality that is already in the Butterfly displays (or LX Flarmview). I sold my 57 mm Butterfly display thinking that when I got my Butterfly Vario it would have the equivalent functionality. In today's crowded panels, it doesn't make sense to be duplicating functionality. If Butterfly think that incorporating a FLARM display in the vario is a good idea, why don't they do it properly? Adding another FLARM display also adds the problem of connecting two devices to the PowerFLARM Core. It is probably possible--BUT WHY HAVE TO DO IT??

Regarding installation, I concur with all of the above comments. I mounted the ISU under the glare shield of my Ventus 2cxt but I may have to move it since I am seeing occasional strange wind indications that MAY be a function of unwanted magnetic fields. If I have to move it, that will be a major hassle.

I am still experimenting with time constants, etc. (there are many optional settings and it is not very clear--from the manual--what effects will be produced when these are changed).

The basic vario functions work fairly well (comparing to my V5); the FLARM display needs a lot of improvement; the navigation functions are awkward and rudimentary at present; the AHI is very good. I am sure that Butterfly will improve all of the glitches eventually, but it is disappointing that the pace of improvement is so slow. I got my BV last August and after installing the latest firmware there are still menu items in German in some screens (and even in the latest version of the manual). I would have thought that these simple things would have been corrected by now.

When the kinks are worked out I expect that the BV will be great. The hardware is beautifully built, the screen is outstanding, the organization of screen display elements is very good, the ability to customize is extensive.

In my opinion, Butterfly should immediately implement a decent FLARM display and provide much more detail and advice in the manual(s) regarding installation and setup. Procedures for testing the adequacy of the installation are badly needed. Advice on how best to to shield electrically induced magnetic fields (like twisting power and ground wires) would be helpful. We are not all engineers.