Mechanical vs electrical vario needles

On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 7:02:58 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi all,

I'm considering buying a new vario, but am stuck deciding between the new generation of LXNAV/Airglide varios with entirely electronic displays, or a Cambridge/Borgelt type with a mechanical needle.

On one hand, with a pure display vario, there are so many more features available. AHRS, multiple needles displayed, wind readouts.

But, I can imagine they're difficult to read in direct sunlight, and a mechanical needle vario is much more readable from a quick glance. After all, most other instruments in the cockpit are all mechanical needles.

I'm curious to your experiences. Do you prefer the new style with all the bells and whistles, or a more traditional vario?

I think you are referring to a digital vs an analog vario. Analog signal processing has severe limitations, but if you are familiar with how they respond, you mentally interpret the presentation. Having flown one season with the LX system, and a couple of seasons with the Butterfly, I can't say that digital vs analog is clearly superior. You get more information with the digital, but does it really help you? The most helpful data I get is the relative lift as you circle, which can help you center a thermal.

I am also flying with a digital altimeter, a Garmin G5. This can be MORE useful than a vario when entering a thermal, as its altitude strip accurately shows your climb rate, and is unaffected by gusts, as far as I can see.

The future is in digital instrumentation, so we need to become accustomed to it. Plus, digital varios can be upgraded easily with software - this is not the case with analog circuitry.

Tom