On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 10:11:57 PM UTC-7, Tim Taylor wrote:
I will third that! SeeYou Mobile has really missed out on making a better climb maximizer. WinPilot has the best by 10x. I fly the same with a 302 and the Sage mechanical. The 302 with WinPilot is one of the best in weak conditions for finding and centering scrappy lift or very weak lift.



I hope that the SYM guys will look seriously at improving the thermal maximizer and the controls of how it starts and allowing toggling in flight easily.

To elaborate a little: even the SYM developers know it is crap, and suggest not using it. I quote from their manual:

"We will be happy if you continue to enjoy soaring and if you never find the need to use the Thermal Assistant at all :-)"

As Eric has said in another thread, on a motor glider the vario TE is messed up by the prop wash. I find this true on my 26E: there is reported a more or less constant 37 knot headwind, the vario oscillates rapidly and unevenly +/- 6 knots, and centering a thermal requires extreme concentration if you can do it at all. But it can be done, and pretty accurately and quickly, using the Winpilot thermal assistant, even with the crap data! Not a chance with SYM....

The data they collect is identical, but the presentation on SYM is lacking, also the algorithm for starting it and stopping it is bad. On Winpilot, it comes on at about 1/4 circle, and is providing valuable information by 1/2 or 3/4 circle. It dismisses itself within a few seconds of leaving the circle. During the circle you have a graph of climb/time and an indication of MC and average for the day. Very easy to see your trends at a glance. The 3D graph of climb rate is again easy to interpret at a glance, and allows you to judge the quality of the data and make adjustments accordingly. All these are absent on SYM....

Too bad Winpilot is no longer supported. I wish he would make it work on Oudie....