SeeYou Mobile: How Steep the Learning Curve?

Chip,

I've been using GPS_Log for 2 or 3 years (great stuff!), and I eventually
switched to SeeYou Mobile for the simple reason to have the data files in
the same format as PC SeeYou. That was about 3 years/400h ago.

The changeover took me significantly less than an afternoon, and the fine
tuning another flight or two. Since then, it just runs and does what I want.
Just wondering - where exactly do I get the 747 rating ? :-)

If you don't want a function on a button (like scrolling through the WP
list), just disable it in the setting menue.
The whole benefit of SeeYou Mobile is that you configure it to exactly what
you need on the ground, and then inflight you just use it. I haven't done
any configuration inflight so far - that would mean using the stylus, and
having the eyes in the cockpit too long.

The only input from me during most of the flights are
- zoom in/out
- change page
- change target WP or retrieve info on target WP

The nav boxes I have set are
- bearing to target
- distance to target
- ground speed
- required L/D
- actual L/D

When climbing to the glidepath for final, required L/D tells me when I can
leave that thermal alone.

Although I have the terrain data, I very rarely use the terrain on display
(I actually can see it quite nicely just outside the canopy :-). I only
display airfields/outlanding fields, mountain passes and airspace.

Speed tasks and AAT's are no problem at all, and even a change of the task
inflight wouldn't be a big hassle (although in France it's done on the grid,
sometimes sitting in the glider just before takeoff). I have no experience
with MAT's (is that those stupid cats craddles?).

But at the end, either you'll like it or not. I don't see a big performance
advantage of SeeYou Mobile over GPS_Log, but as I said, it's an advantage in
convenience.

Bert

"Chip Bearden" wrote in message
oups.com...
My iPAQ is dedicated to whatever soaring app I end up using; there's
nothing else in memory (I've checked). And the IR port is turned off
although I've only used it indoors so far.

With all the encouragement to "stick with it, it's worth it," I'm
beginning to get the sense that learning to use SeeYou Mobile (or,
from what I understand, WinPilot) may take as long as learning to fly
did originally. Seriously, that's not what I had in mind. I'm
willing to invest time to learn a new technology or application if I
have confidence that it's worth the investment. Much of what has been
touted for SeeYou Mobile so far, however, I've already got in GNII,
which took about one flight to learn to use. Nor am I interested in
using something that requires so much attention in the cockpit that I
have less time to focus on the flying itself.

Here's another example: I'm on the bus this morning into New York
playing with SeeYou Mobile and I push the rocker button to the left to
change map screens. Fine. After a few minutes, though, I notice my
target waypoint has changed. Turns out I'd mis-hit the button and
pushed it up at the same time I pushed left. On the one hand, being
able to change waypoints at any time by scrolling up or down is
whizzy, although I'm not sure how useful it is given the 235 waypoints
I have in my file. On the other hand, I don't want to have to check
the "next waypoint" message every time my hand goes near the iPAQ when
flying in rough air. I also grasp my Compaq 1550 with a couple of
fingers while tapping the screen but I still occasionally hit the
wrong spot. The worst thing that happens with GNII, however, is that
info on a waypoint pops up, then disappears in a few seconds if I
don't tap "Go To". It's self correcting, in another words. My
impression so far is that any of a dozen different small tapping
errors can alter settings in SeeYou Mobile. I know some can be
disabled during configuration, but shouldn't the default set up favor
new users?

I'm still concerned about being able to easily and very quickly enter
tasks without using the stylus, and play the "what if" games required
in a U.S. MAT task where you experiment with different next turnpoints
to time your arrival home. Apparently U.S. contest rules and tasking
are different enough in that respect as to render useless or
inconvenient what would be perfectly acceptable in other countries
(e.g., entering the task before launch).

I've been playing with this package for nearly two weeks now and am
increasingly disquieted by the thought that although it does
everything I want, I won't be able to use it in the real world. I've
actually had several contest pilots say that offline in the past 24
hours. The term that comes to mind, perhaps unfairly, is "a solution
looking for a problem." Is SeeYou Mobile overkill? Will savvy soaring
pilots soon be able to brag that they're "certified power users of
SeeYou Mobile" along with having their 1000 km diplome?

Keep those comments and suggestions coming.

Chip Bearden