Cambridge 302/303 users - feedback please

Colin MacAlpine wrote:
The new glider is ordered and we consider what vario
to instal. Having had a 302/303 for 6 years; 4 repairs
and some doubts could you please let me have your experiences
of the instrument re the following to assist in our
decision - Borgelt or Cambridge.

1. Reliability
2. Wind calculation ( Intermittantly final glides are
mad numbers and the wind is at that point very wrong
)
3. On thermal entry it overreads then calms down after
a half turn ( Maybe our plumbing)
4. We have never been convinced that netto relative
works.

Many thanks , Colin

Hallo:
Have owned 2 S-NAVs, 1 L-NAV, 1 SN-10b (all with CAI GPS-NAV), 2 302s
each with both 303 and WP. The one glider that I used all three types
in ended up with the 302/303/WP. That panel was fantastic.
Worst thing about the S-and L-NAVs was that the audio tops out at 10
knots. Got used to the wacky wind screens, only 250 navpoints in ye
olde GPS. The 123.5MHz noise problem is a pain.
Even though Dave Ellis thinks we're crazy, the 302 thermal entry
overread is fixed with a Scheuemann restrictor in the TE line. See
Ray's post.
I liked the SN-10b, could add/change turnpoints to a task (then with
only 250 points in the database, their turnpoint abbreviations are too
short so a larger database would be messy). When the Ilec went quiet
switching from cruise to climb I absolutely hated it. It was even worse
with auto cruise/climb switching. Had thought the "No Bad News" option
was "no sink in climb", but it provided "no push in cruise". Would
prefer the other way around. The newer software's moving map is
primitive, but useful for turn sectors and SUAs.
Have had a couple of problems with the 302s but very quickly repaired
by CAI.
No experience with any contemporary Borgelt but the trusty B40. Heard
service turnaround wasn't great.
Jim

In fairness to Cambridge there was a quality control prob when 302s etc were
manufactured by intermediate "Cambridge" at Martinville back about 4 years
(?) ago. There were problems for sure but the Horn Lake Cambridge people
fixed up the old problems and the last 3 years has been trouble
free...................Ian M

"JS" wrote in message
ups.com...

Colin MacAlpine wrote:
The new glider is ordered and we consider what vario
to instal. Having had a 302/303 for 6 years; 4 repairs
and some doubts could you please let me have your experiences
of the instrument re the following to assist in our
decision - Borgelt or Cambridge.

1. Reliability
2. Wind calculation ( Intermittantly final glides are
mad numbers and the wind is at that point very wrong
)
3. On thermal entry it overreads then calms down after
a half turn ( Maybe our plumbing)
4. We have never been convinced that netto relative
works.

Many thanks , Colin

Hallo:
Have owned 2 S-NAVs, 1 L-NAV, 1 SN-10b (all with CAI GPS-NAV), 2 302s
each with both 303 and WP. The one glider that I used all three types
in ended up with the 302/303/WP. That panel was fantastic.
Worst thing about the S-and L-NAVs was that the audio tops out at 10
knots. Got used to the wacky wind screens, only 250 navpoints in ye
olde GPS. The 123.5MHz noise problem is a pain.
Even though Dave Ellis thinks we're crazy, the 302 thermal entry
overread is fixed with a Scheuemann restrictor in the TE line. See
Ray's post.
I liked the SN-10b, could add/change turnpoints to a task (then with
only 250 points in the database, their turnpoint abbreviations are too
short so a larger database would be messy). When the Ilec went quiet
switching from cruise to climb I absolutely hated it. It was even worse
with auto cruise/climb switching. Had thought the "No Bad News" option
was "no sink in climb", but it provided "no push in cruise". Would
prefer the other way around. The newer software's moving map is
primitive, but useful for turn sectors and SUAs.
Have had a couple of problems with the 302s but very quickly repaired
by CAI.
No experience with any contemporary Borgelt but the trusty B40. Heard
service turnaround wasn't great.
Jim

I use a 302 with WinPilot PRO and I think it does a great job. The
vario readings match my B40 exactly.

My primary glide/task computer is an LX7007 and while they disagree
slightly on the winds, the glide calculations are nearly identical.

The SN10 is the most popular vario/glide-computer among the peelots I
fly with, however it does have its limitations, such as 10 max
turnpoints (in one flight) and it's not an IGC approved logger. But it
is a better value for the dollar, imho.

~ted/2NO

Marc Ramsey wrote:
Andy wrote:
2. Wind calculation - not done in 302

The 302 does calculate wind, and it is used by the 303 and several third
party software packages. I've found it to be fairly accurate, but I'd
be a bit skeptical about what it's reporting after long periods of cruise...

Ok I suppose I should have said - not displayed by 302. In my setup
the wind is displayed by GNII on a PDA . Those winds estimates seem
reasonable but I don't know if GNII uses the wind data directly from
the 302 or computes its own wind estimate. According to the interace
spec the 302 sends the following wind info:

1 Vector wind direction in degrees
2 Vector wind speed in 10ths of meters per second
3 Vector wind age in seconds
4 Component wind in 10ths of Meters per second + 500 (500 = 0, 495 =
0.5 m/s
tailwind)

So it advises user systems how stale the wind estimate is. GNII does
not pass that info on to the pilot. Does the 303?

Andy

Marc Ramsey wrote:
Andy wrote:
2. Wind calculation - not done in 302

The 302 does calculate wind, and it is used by the 303 and several third
party software packages. I've found it to be fairly accurate, but I'd
be a bit skeptical about what it's reporting after long periods of
cruise...

I'm read, and it seemed to be the case while I was using GN II, the wind
will update when you change course by about 20-30 degrees for at least
10 seconds. I believe this is true for most glide computers that don't
have heading information available to them.

--
Note: email address new as of 9/4/2006
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

I own a 302. I have had zero problems with it.

No 303. Instead of the 303 I use a PDA to give me moving map,
navigation, other soaring task information, thermal analysis, etc.

Some pilots use a PDA plus a flight computer's navigation display (like
the 303) so that they can be analyze two possible turn points at the
same time. They do this to help make real time decisions during
contests. That is an advantage of the SN10 as it also provides an
additional navigation display. Personally I have enough on my hands
watching one display.

The other thing to think about is cost. The Cambridge system is less
expensive.

- John