On Monday, July 27, 2015 at 12:16:43 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Would anyone care to comment on their experience with the LXNAV S80 vario? Pro's, con's, likes, dislikes, does it perform per manual specs, etc? On paper it looks like a very nice instrument. Thanks for any feedback.

-Mark

I have the S80 with about 20 flights or so since installing it. My last glider I had the V7 now S7. The S80 is has many more abilities than the already good S7. My S80 is connected to a Power Flarm Core for GPS position and traffic and to an Oudie on the PDA side. I've been switching between XCSoar, Top Hat, and SeeYou Mobile to figure out which software plays best with all the functions.

The display is awesome. There are virtually no sunlight conditions you can't see the display in unless the sun is directly reflected off of the glass into your eyes. (rare if ever) It performs very well as a vario using GPS to auto switch between vario and STF modes. Most of the functions discussed in the manual work well even when interfacing between the Oudie and the various software. The Flarm interface is great with a display that is easier to see than the dedicated Butterfly rectangle display I also use. The alert volumes are also much louder if desired. I like the ability to set a way point to fly to, like the home airport or task finish on the way point page and keep the full task on the task page. Give you a quick reference to see if you can make it back home. There are tons of options some of which I still am not using yet. I just bought all the hardware to utilize the spoiler and gear warning system in the S80. Once I get that installed I will report back. I also plan to add the remote stick.

Some minor nits. I've done two firmware upgrades and both times there were multiple settings that changed after completing the updates. There are so many options available it is easy to miss a setting that may have changed. This last time the auto switch mode from Vario to STF changed from the GPS method I had previously selected. After figuring out what was going on it was an easy fix but flying and fiddling with the menus at the same time is a pain and too much heads down time. I also had some display glitches with Flarm traffic that is displayed having weird lines associated with them. I sent in a copy of the files and they may have fixed it in this last update but I haven't flown with a bunch of Flarm traffic since then. There are many items that the S80 and Oudie will communicate back and forth like MC settings, bugs, etc. It will not however xfill the active way point or task info between the two which would make this an almost perfect "low cost" system. I have been told this capability is on the works however it may be a while.

Overall I'm very happy with it.