On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 3:52:05 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 1:52:08 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 8:51:39 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I liked the subtle ticking noise of ye olde RICO VACS vario I had in the HP-14. And it was very good at pointing out weak lift. Alas that relic from the 1970s stopped working some time circa 2000. I sent it to its maker and he fixed it, but it later failed again, as has another unit I scrounged somewhere. So I have two of those sitting on the shelf. I'd love to get the schematic and try and revive it. Or build an equivalent audio-only unit. Is it possible to get the schematic diagram somewhere?

Yes, I flew many many XC miles with my RICO in my '20, loved it, and the ticking vario sound is my all time favorite. I actually have my old RICO somewhere in my spare parts shelf, worked great last time it was in a glider....

I now fly with an OpenVario I built, fully equipped with a sensorboard so it has a variometer with TE (electronic or probe) and audio. "Depressing" sound, though. It is my backup vario, I keep it muted in favor of my 302 (also an inferior sound to the RICO).

The OpenVario vario software is open source, so it is possible to modify the sound (with some knowledge and work). I would guess it would be easy to figure out what a tick sound is, and code it, if someone knew what they were doing (which I don't - yet). Also. all the sensors are there on the OpenVario sensorboard for speed-to-fly and advanced vario compensation algorithms (pressure transducers and 3-axis accelerometers), so that is hopefully in the future if someone takes on the task. Anyway, a lot of fun for an engineer-type like me to mess with, maybe some day...

Cheers,
Jim

The RICO VACS ticks were not simply ticks. They were, I believe, very short bursts of a tone. And when the lift got stronger, these "ticks" not only happened more often (more per second) but also increased in the tone frequency, so each tick sounded different than with weak lift. It was a cool algorithm, and yes was unobtrusive - and at the same time very clearly audible even over a lot of background noise. (I tried it in a powered plane once, was easy to hear over the engine noise.)

If the algorithm (or schematics) were available, then yes one way to re-create that sound would be to incorporate it into an open-source project.

Flight computer/vario manufacturers are you listening??