SSA sailplane tracker - too complex

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 5:08:59 PM UTC-6, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jul 2016 16:02:18 -0600, Dan Marotta wrote:

Tell me how it will work with my Android smart phone which has no data
plan. I might be interested in trying it then.

Maybe the only way would be something like we have in the UK, but your
population density may be too low to give good coverage.

There is a really cheap FLARM software receiver, that runs on a
RaspberryPi with a small collection of additional hardware that, with a
decent antenna, can pick up FLARM transmissions from up to 50km or so
away. These receivers belong to glider pilots, plane spotters and
(probably) some hams. All feed into a server that publishes maps showing
where the gliders are. For instance, planefinder.net and flightradar24.com
use FLARM to track gliders. I use OGN (glidernet.org) to track gliders
here in the UK. This technology is in use in a lot of countries including
Canada, but not, I note, in USA.



On 7/24/2016 11:09 AM, wrote:
It does work with "all smart phones".

Apple = Glide Track - free Droid = IGCDroid - $10 one time purchase
(free trial)

Lane



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

NOTE: It sure is in the USA with some folks having current ground stations with antennas sticking way up in the air! They currently have 60++ miles range.............

Best #711.

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 6:21:02 AM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
On Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 7:14:50 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Chris

Sorry the SSA Sailplane tracker is giving you trouble. You are correct in that registering with GlidePort.aero will open up additional features.

The app you compare us to is a different animal entirely. That app track aircraft that are active in the national airspace system (talking to ATC).. Our app does not interact with the national ATC system.

To use our app you will need SPOT, InReach or the free smartphone app (glide track or IGC Droid).

Regarding your crew locating you in an emergency I trust that they will at least know the state you departed from and can find your track via a simple look down the list of sites reporting tracks that particular day. What tracking device are you using? For additional assistance you may refer to the two articles in Soaring magazine or the Sailplane Tracking Committee web page on the SSA web. There are several PDF manuals.

Hopefully the Tracker will become easier as you explore its features. We can't automate every flight at once because it would slow the animation down severely. Notice the site you referred to does not provide 3D imaging, track history, altitudes or instrument panel view.

Lane

Hi Lane,

I'm with Chris.

A simple, intuitive tracker that works reliably with all smart phones would be of significantly greater value (no registration or agree-to-terms pages, please).

I don't care about simulated 3D, instrument panel views, weather or any other "enhancements", thank you. I want Joe club member to be able to go to the SSA site and very quickly account for the local fleet and see at a glance if someone is on the ground and requires assistance.

best,
Evan Ludeman / T8

In a large part of the US West, cell phone trackers are effectively useless, because cell phone coverage does not exist there. Some of the cell phone tracking apps save up track points and upload when they can later connect, for finding a down pilot this is obviously useless.

I don't find GlidePort to be all that difficult to use, certainly if you can master something as obscure as SeeYou it is quite accessible.

I have found the SSA map tracker too non-intuitive and generally too clunky to be useful. The 3D display does not seem useful at all. I go to the SSA website and look up one SSA member's tracker URL, and that individual site has always been useful for monitoring progress of a particular pilot.

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 1:09:04 PM UTC-4, wrote:
It does work with "all smart phones".

Not on mine, it doesn't (iphone 5). I'm accessing through Safari and I get "Oops, cannot run embedded" with a link to GlidePort, which gives me a map of North America with links I can't get past.

I realize this is all volunteer labor and I applaud the guys who are trying their best. But it would be my preference to see that best effort applied to simpler, more reliable, more useful stuff.

Locating a glider in a field with spot or inreach, but no cell service is the height of useful...

best,
Evan

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 8:15:25 PM UTC-4, jfitch wrote:
On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 6:21:02 AM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
On Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 7:14:50 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Chris

Sorry the SSA Sailplane tracker is giving you trouble. You are correct in that registering with GlidePort.aero will open up additional features.

The app you compare us to is a different animal entirely. That app track aircraft that are active in the national airspace system (talking to ATC). Our app does not interact with the national ATC system.

To use our app you will need SPOT, InReach or the free smartphone app (glide track or IGC Droid).

Regarding your crew locating you in an emergency I trust that they will at least know the state you departed from and can find your track via a simple look down the list of sites reporting tracks that particular day. What tracking device are you using? For additional assistance you may refer to the two articles in Soaring magazine or the Sailplane Tracking Committee web page on the SSA web. There are several PDF manuals.

Hopefully the Tracker will become easier as you explore its features. We can't automate every flight at once because it would slow the animation down severely. Notice the site you referred to does not provide 3D imaging, track history, altitudes or instrument panel view.

Lane

Hi Lane,

I'm with Chris.

A simple, intuitive tracker that works reliably with all smart phones would be of significantly greater value (no registration or agree-to-terms pages, please).

I don't care about simulated 3D, instrument panel views, weather or any other "enhancements", thank you. I want Joe club member to be able to go to the SSA site and very quickly account for the local fleet and see at a glance if someone is on the ground and requires assistance.

best,
Evan Ludeman / T8

In a large part of the US West, cell phone trackers are effectively useless, because cell phone coverage does not exist there. Some of the cell phone tracking apps save up track points and upload when they can later connect, for finding a down pilot this is obviously useless.

....and that's why we use things like spot & inreach, of course.


I don't find GlidePort to be all that difficult to use, certainly if you can master something as obscure as SeeYou it is quite accessible.

It's not surprising that you personally don't find it difficult, but you're not the guy I have in mind. I'm suggesting that the target for ease of use ought to be closer to facebook than SeeYou.

best,
Evan

I get the same message on a gen-2 Ipad via the Internet through SSA. I do have the option to run "unembedded" via the site though.

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 5:54:04 PM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
Not on mine, it doesn't (iphone 5). I'm accessing through Safari and I get "Oops, cannot run embedded" with a link to GlidePort, which gives me a map of North America with links I can't get past.

And if you follow the further instructions, you set it up to run un-embedded. It means creating a home page shortcut icon to the URL.

Used to work just fine on my iPhone 4S and really nice on my iPhone 6S+

5Z

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 9:57:02 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 5:54:04 PM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
Not on mine, it doesn't (iphone 5). I'm accessing through Safari and I get "Oops, cannot run embedded" with a link to GlidePort, which gives me a map of North America with links I can't get past.

And if you follow the further instructions, you set it up to run un-embedded. It means creating a home page shortcut icon to the URL.

Used to work just fine on my iPhone 4S and really nice on my iPhone 6S+

5Z

WHAT INSTRUCTIONS? No instructions are evident on my phone. None should be necessary.


best,
Evan

I don't find GlidePort to be all that difficult to use, certainly if you can master something as obscure as SeeYou it is quite accessible.

I can run SeeYou, that's not the point. I want someone else, such as a non-flying non-technical spouse to be able to go to the SSA website and look for me by name or contest number and find what farm field or dry lake in the desert i am in without cell phone service.
Nothing fancy, this is supposed to be a SAFETY system, not some 3D animated entertainment system!
Make the basic safety part work, make the fancy other stuff optional.

Chris

Well, I just opened it in Safari, got the message and clicked on "run un-embedded" and it runs "OK".

At this point, what you need to do is tap the "share" icon (square box with arrow pointing up) an choose "Add to home screen" (scroll to the right in the list of icons that begin with "copy". Then when you open the link from the home screen, the safari browser stuff doesn't take up screen real estate.

The iPhone experience is just like on a regular computer. Problem is that the left hand menu takes up most of the screen, so you need to hide and unhide it to see the map. If all you see is the map, then tap the red "" at the upper left of the screen to get a list of countries. Then tap on the grey triangle to the right of the country of interest, then again on the grey triangle of the region or airport of interest.

At this point, hide the left menu and tap on carious pushpin icons to see the track. Hold your finger on the pin to see a popup of the pilot name.

I'm quite sure I learned about adding it to the home screen somewhere on GlidePort, but it's been a long time.

-Tom

On Sunday, July 24, 2016 at 7:45:50 PM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
WHAT INSTRUCTIONS? No instructions are evident on my phone. None should be necessary.