LX Era 80 vs S80/S100

On Friday, 4 October 2019 17:25:28 UTC+3, Senna Van den Bosch wrote:
Op vrijdag 4 oktober 2019 15:17:12 UTC+2 schreef Turkey Vultu
I have actually used the s100 in my DG 100 for 1 season. I popped for the AHRS as well. 80mm is the way to go.

I ordered the lx navigation Eros first and then returned it. I preferred the simplicity of the S100. I found the era to be slightly less user friendly but it’s basically the same unit.

You will be happy with the S100. It has all the bells and whistles and is easy to use. I have it on electronic compensation though and it creates an overly sensitive and optimistic vario. Adjusting internal settings has minimal effect on this. On the DG 100 I would use the traditional TE compensation. I think you need the combo probe to get good performance with electronic compensation on the S100. I find myself waiting on the winter to confirm a thermal before turning. The S100 is usually right about the thermal and quick to identify it, but screams like it’s going to be a 5 kt climb until you exuberantly turn and find it to only be 1.5 kts. Yes, I have tuned it for stick thermals Properly. The winter stays honest throughout. I think this is due to the location of the static holes...

The $800 AHRS option sure is cool eye candy and could come in useful on that wave day where it closes in below you but Otherwise, you won’t use it.

My last comment is that you have one option for tone. Yea you can adjust it slightly but it’s doesn’t change much. For $2,000 you should have 10 options for types of sounds for the vario. It blows my mind that nobody seems to care and it’s not even discussed in reviews. The tone should be highly adjustable just like the face of the vario. Instead you get a standard beep. Cambridge and Tasman had some nice option. The industry needs to pamper attention to this as we all have to listen to it for hours on end

Right now I find myself in the following situation before EVERY thermal in the C4:
Speed to fly mode is active, try to keep it at 0. When flying through a thermal before turning, it shows me I have to slow down a lot, pointing towards the +3-4 m/s (while going straight), turning in thinking I have a great thermal, followed by switching mode to thermal mode, only to see I net +1 or +2 m/s.

In the C4, I have absolutely no way of telling before turning in and switching the mode, how strong it will be. That is one of the main reasons to switch to a new vario, as it is possible to show those multiple needles and digits, even in speed to fly mode (I think it can?)

This does not sound like variometer hardware issue or C4 feature. My guess is either pitot-static problem or configuration problem. You will probably have some problems with every new vario (except GlideS that can be configured to ignore pitot-static data for inertial vario). I would start with leak test, plumbing, new probe etc.

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 06:31:17 -0700, krasw wrote:

On Friday, 4 October 2019 17:25:28 UTC+3, Senna Van den Bosch wrote:
Op vrijdag 4 oktober 2019 15:17:12 UTC+2 schreef Turkey Vultu
I have actually used the s100 in my DG 100 for 1 season. I popped for
the AHRS as well. 80mm is the way to go.

I ordered the lx navigation Eros first and then returned it. I
preferred the simplicity of the S100. I found the era to be slightly
less user friendly but it’s basically the same unit.

You will be happy with the S100. It has all the bells and whistles
and is easy to use. I have it on electronic compensation though and
it creates an overly sensitive and optimistic vario. Adjusting
internal settings has minimal effect on this. On the DG 100 I would
use the traditional TE compensation. I think you need the combo probe
to get good performance with electronic compensation on the S100. I
find myself waiting on the winter to confirm a thermal before
turning. The S100 is usually right about the thermal and quick to
identify it, but screams like it’s going to be a 5 kt climb until you
exuberantly turn and find it to only be 1.5 kts. Yes, I have tuned it
for stick thermals Properly. The winter stays honest throughout. I
think this is due to the location of the static holes...

The $800 AHRS option sure is cool eye candy and could come in useful
on that wave day where it closes in below you but Otherwise, you
won’t use it.

My last comment is that you have one option for tone. Yea you can
adjust it slightly but it’s doesn’t change much. For $2,000 you
should have 10 options for types of sounds for the vario. It blows my
mind that nobody seems to care and it’s not even discussed in
reviews. The tone should be highly adjustable just like the face of
the vario. Instead you get a standard beep. Cambridge and Tasman had
some nice option. The industry needs to pamper attention to this as
we all have to listen to it for hours on end

Right now I find myself in the following situation before EVERY thermal
in the C4:
Speed to fly mode is active, try to keep it at 0. When flying through a
thermal before turning, it shows me I have to slow down a lot, pointing
towards the +3-4 m/s (while going straight), turning in thinking I have
a great thermal, followed by switching mode to thermal mode, only to
see I net +1 or +2 m/s.

In the C4, I have absolutely no way of telling before turning in and
switching the mode, how strong it will be. That is one of the main
reasons to switch to a new vario, as it is possible to show those
multiple needles and digits, even in speed to fly mode (I think it
can?)

This does not sound like variometer hardware issue or C4 feature. My
guess is either pitot-static problem or configuration problem. You will
probably have some problems with every new vario (except GlideS that can
be configured to ignore pitot-static data for inertial vario). I would
start with leak test, plumbing, new probe etc.

I think his C4 is configured to use either manual switching or GPS-
detected circling switching. IIRC the manual says it switches after 1/4
turn, which has the disadvantage that if you fly straight through lift
the C4 will remain in cruise mode: you have to feel the lift and turn 90
degrees turn before the C4 will switch from netto to TE mode.

I tried using GPS-based circling-detection switching on my C4 and hated
it. I never considered using manual switching because, unlike the C3,
manual switching is just a third switching mode and can't be used to
override the other modes. At least thats what I understand the manual to
say.

The C3 could be configured to automatically switch between TE and netto
mode using GPS (circling detection) or airspeed and, in addition had a 3-
position switch on its face: the positions we

UP: thermal mode (TE vario)
CENT automatic switch using the configured method
DOWN: cruise mode (netto)

IOW the switch was really an override for the configured automatic
switching method.

The C4 lacks this switch, but does allow an external switch to be
connected with the expectation that it would be on the flap lever or the
top of the stick. However, it can only be configured to use one of the
three switching options:

automatic switch between TE and netto mode on airspeed
automatic switch between TE and netto mode on GPS-detected circling
manual switch between TE and netto mode

My C4, installed in a 201 Libelle, switches mode on airspeed:
netto to TE as the airspeed drops through 55 kts
TE to netto as the airspeed increases past 60kts

This leaves the C4 in the appropriate mode better than 95% of the time.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org