Has anyone used FLARM data to log tows?

Hello:
I realise there is no data in N. America yet, (put on a Jamaican
accent: "soon come, man!") but has anyone developed a logger which
uses FLARM data to generate a tow sheet for club or commercial glider
operations? One tech I knew was working on this a few years ago before
family considerations pulled him away from flying. The club operation
where this idea was proposed operates FLARM mandatory.
The idea was based on a PDA connected to the FLARM in the towplane,
which logs the proximity of another FLARM and it's ID. When the
proximity is greater than the length of the rope, the glider is off
tow. GPS altitude will be recorded, along with the time from the start
of the tow, like many flight computers log glider flight time using
GPS. At the end of the day, the PDA can be placed in a cradle, the SD
card removed, or use bluetooth or Wifi to upload data to the office
computer.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

On Mar 15, 11:56*am, JS wrote:
Hello:
* I realise there is no data in N. America yet, (put on a Jamaican
accent: "soon come, man!") but has anyone developed a logger which
uses FLARM data to generate a tow sheet for club or commercial glider
operations? One tech I knew was working on this a few years ago before
family considerations pulled him away from flying. The club operation
where this idea was proposed operates FLARM mandatory.
* The idea was based on a PDA connected to the FLARM in the towplane,
which logs the proximity of another FLARM and it's ID. When the
proximity is greater than the length of the rope, the glider is off
tow. GPS altitude will be recorded, along with the time from the start
of the tow, like many flight computers log glider flight time using
GPS. At the end of the day, the PDA can be placed in a cradle, the SD
card removed, or use bluetooth or Wifi to upload data to the office
computer.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

Actually, FLARM isn't necessary. You could use APRS (Automatic
Position Reporting System)
http://www.abri.com/sq2000/GPStrack.html
http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt8000.php

The reported points would be frequent enough and altitude data could
be added.

This has nothing to do with the idea of using FLARM reporting , which is in
fact actually easy to do.
APRS requires hardware not on the market, and ground stations to receive the
data, making it just an idea and far more expensive than
what a flarm unit can offer for free, if your club has flarms of course.



"bildan" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
On Mar 15, 11:56 am, JS wrote:
Hello:
I realise there is no data in N. America yet, (put on a Jamaican
accent: "soon come, man!") but has anyone developed a logger which
uses FLARM data to generate a tow sheet for club or commercial glider
operations? One tech I knew was working on this a few years ago before
family considerations pulled him away from flying. The club operation
where this idea was proposed operates FLARM mandatory.
The idea was based on a PDA connected to the FLARM in the towplane,
which logs the proximity of another FLARM and it's ID. When the
proximity is greater than the length of the rope, the glider is off
tow. GPS altitude will be recorded, along with the time from the start
of the tow, like many flight computers log glider flight time using
GPS. At the end of the day, the PDA can be placed in a cradle, the SD
card removed, or use bluetooth or Wifi to upload data to the office
computer.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

Actually, FLARM isn't necessary. You could use APRS (Automatic
Position Reporting System)
http://www.abri.com/sq2000/GPStrack.html
http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt8000.php

The reported points would be frequent enough and altitude data could
be added.