Varios

Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Have flown a Tasman for 2 years. Very good unit. Sturdy, simple,
works well, small, self-contained package with independent power
source, if desired, audio is plenty loud and there is no need for
external speaker in my installation (AS-W20). Audio sound is not my
favorite but is tolerable. Too bad it does not have electronic TE
compensation and/or the ability to electronically adjust the
compensation but the signal is both accurate and reliable.

I flew 2 flights over 750 km last year using it as my only vario after
my Cambridge 302 lost its little mind (again). Tasman is very
responsive to questions and needs and is very knowledgeable about the
product (unlike some brands...). They also have a sense of humor. I
highly recommend it!

Hi,

I have a demo/instruction video on the Tasman V1000 on my web site he
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/tasman.htm

It is a very popular variometer. The soaring club I belong to uses them in
most every glider. They are simple and reliable. Customers seem to like
that they have an averager on the face of the unit and a built-in speaker.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

On Jan 3, 6:30*am, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
* For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

Hi,
How does it compare to a LX 16 if anyone has an experience with it?
S6

Hi,

I sell both the Tasman V1000 and the LX 16 (and the Borgelt B400). The
Tasman V1000 is much more popular (at least in my experience, here in the
USA), but I'm not sure why. They are all very nice variometers.

Both the LX16 and Tasman V1000 feature an averager display on the face of
the unit. The LX16 also features a flight timer on the main display. They
are both easy to configure. You can change the response setting on the LX16
and the Tasman V1000. The only feature that I feel is missing on the LX16
is the ability to adjust the sink tone type. On the Tasman V1000 you can set
the sink tone to be on for all sink values, or no sink values, or off from 0
to 2 knots (or something like that) and on beyond that. The "deadband" from
0 to 2 knots is nice because they vario isn't always beeping when you don't
need it to. It starts beeping when you are in lift or moderate sink. The
LX16 doesn't have that option. The LX16's audio is on at all times.

However, some pilots feel that the LX16 looks "classier" because the
Tasman's face is quite colorful.

Another popular variometer in this range is the Borgelt B400. It is quite
popular. It looks great in the panel and the LED indicators are nice. Some
pilots prefer an analog needle indicator and the B400 has a nice one that is
driven by a stepper motor. It doesn't seem quite as popular as the Tasman
V1000 - perhaps because it doesn't have a built-in averager display. You
can see the average by pressing a button on the face of the unit - the
needle moves to the average while you hold the button. Otherwise you can
add an external digital averager display. Some pilots don't like that the
B400 doesn't have a built-in speaker. Others like that because they want
the speaker close to their ears (behind their head). Both the LX16 and
Tasman V1000 have optional external speakers that can be used in addition to
the built-in speaker.

Another feature to consider is the backup battery options. The B400 comes
with a backup battery pack that holds AA batteries and a switch that can be
used to switch over to the backup batteries. The Tasman V1000 and LX16 can
run on any 9 V battery so pilots sometimes use a panel mounted switch to
switch between the glider battery and a 9V backup battery. The Tasman V1000
also has an optional backup battery system that automatically switches over
to the backup 9V battery when the main battery gets low. It also knows to
shut off the vario when the glider is on the ground - saving the backup
battery (the LX16 and B400 can't do that).

The soaring club I fly with uses a lot of Tasman V1000 units. The
reliability has been perfect. The ease of use is great. Both the B400 and
the LX16 are also very easy to use.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com


"S6" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 6:30 am, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

Hi,
How does it compare to a LX 16 if anyone has an experience with it?
S6

I am considering installing a new Tasman in my Standard Cirrus. I
noticed that the description says for "sport aircraft only". Is the
Tasman not TSO'd? If not are you guys having any trouble getting 337
forms approved for installation in certified gliders? Let me know
what route you are taking with the paperwork. I think this vario will
be just the ticket for me if it can be installed in a certified
glider.

Lane

no electric variometers are TSO'd.! nor do any need TSO...they are simply
not required flight instruments on any TCDS...this is not to say that
anyone, owner or operator can install an electric variometer or for that
matter anything that is bolted down or in any way attached to any aircraft
without at least doing the minimum paperwork since every change requires
Wt/Bal and minimal log book entry is not a 337 depending on what category
the airworthiness is...the only variometer with any approval type is Winter
(mechanical) since it is approved EASA Form one as are nearly all Winter
instruments.
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com

wrote in message
...
I am considering installing a new Tasman in my Standard Cirrus. I
noticed that the description says for "sport aircraft only". Is the
Tasman not TSO'd? If not are you guys having any trouble getting 337
forms approved for installation in certified gliders? Let me know
what route you are taking with the paperwork. I think this vario will
be just the ticket for me if it can be installed in a certified
glider.

Lane

I've used the LX16 and it is really an excellent variometer...easy to
install, accurate and very nicely built....good (essential IMHO) features
like continous averager, pressure transducer, excellent audio.
Tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com


"S6" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 6:30 am, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?

Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

Hi,
How does it compare to a LX 16 if anyone has an experience with it?
S6

Tim Mara wrote:
I've used the LX16 and it is really an excellent variometer...easy to
install, accurate and very nicely built....good (essential IMHO) features
like continous averager, pressure transducer, excellent audio.
Tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com


"S6" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 6:30 am, Bruce wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the Tasman V1000 vario?
Very positive experience.

We have two of them, one in a two seater with a repeater -a vintage
Bergfalke, Other in my std Cirrus.

Both have proven to be 100% reliable over 4 years. They get flown on a
very rough field. Vibrations have killed other electronics - so far the
Tasmans just work. The repeater system is useful - it's so nice to KNOW
what the student is seeing on the vario. Unfortunately it is a remote
display, not a remote head - so you can't change settings from the back
seat.

Support is excellent - have a problem, it gets solved over email. We
even ended up installing new firmware because it was cheaper to ship the
chips one way than instruments two ways to Australia. The internal
construction is neat and the upgrade worked as advertised. Original
units had somewhat counterintuitive sink tones - new firmware makes
depressed pacman sounds as you head for the ground.

The built in averager is really useful, and accurate - it agrees with
the logger. In a contest situation I would like more integration with
PDA / flight computer, and Malcolm is apparently making that available.
For a club, or club class single seater it is a decent vario at a good
price.

Hi,
How does it compare to a LX 16 if anyone has an experience with it?
S6



I have a LX160 and a Tasman V1000m in two different gliders. Reason I
preferred the Tasman was the ability to set a deadband so it is silent
in light sink, and the easy user interface. I really like the ability to
check my battery voltage at any time.
The LX160 is a "better" vario as it has additional features, but it is
not so easy to use. Lots of little switches that my big fingers battle
with. Personally i'm a big LX fan - but at this end of the market I
think the Tasman is best value for money.

Our assessment ranked them as
1 - Tasman - one hole, all in one. Cheap and all the functions required
of a club vario.
2 - LX16 - ditto except you can't make it shut up - ever...
3 - Borgelt B400 - mainly because of the cost, but also because of the
requirement for complexity with an external averager and a separate
speaker.

Depending on what you want exactly any of the three is a good choice.

Bruce