Colibri Data Logger reviewed

At 08:54 14 April 2004, Bruce Greeff wrote:
Kevin Christner wrote:
Andrew Warbrick wrote in message news:...

Good review, clear and to the point.

You forgot to mention one feature of the Colibri which
might influence people's decision. The internal memory
back up battery needs to be replaced every few years
and to retain IGC approval this has to be done by the
dealer, not the owner. Having said this, I still bought
a Colibri as the best option. The user interface on
the Volkslogger really is vile in comparison.



It is true that the Colibri does have internal back-up
battery, as do MOST
other flight computers, loggers and even avionics,
the truth is that since
the Colibri was introduced now nearly 8 years ago,
we have yet to replace
any of these batteries from routine use.....as long
as the Colibri is used
frequently and not left dormant for very extended
periods.

Kevin Christner for Tim Mara
Having done this with my LX20 it is pretty simple on
this model. The battery is
on a seperate screw secured pocket - as long as you
ensure power continuity when
you replace the battery you are away.

If you are unwise enough to remove the power completely
(no external power and
no 9V leads to the battery connector) you will have
to return the unit to the LX
folks in Slovenia. The reason for the batteries is
to ensure integrity of the
data stored in NVRAM, so the security info will be
lost when it loses all power.


In the Colibri the back up battery is internal. To
get IGC approval loggers have to erase security information
once the case is opened. Having said which, I still
consider the Colibri the best option, even if I have
to send it away to the dealer every few years (the
manual just says 'several years', it's nice to hear
that this may be as much as eight years) to get the
battery replaced.

From the documentation it appears the Volkslogger does
not require a battery replacement, but the Volkslogger
woud not have fit my panel and the user interface is
truly abysmal.

Might be worth sending to LX for the older LX20 units
anyway - so they can be
upgraded to the new security spec. Can't speak for
the other loggers.

Good idea.

One other point - the battery on mine was getting weak
but still functional
after 8 years. 1996 model LX20 must be one of the older
ones out there and still
going strong. With the latest firmware I even get final
glide information and a
rudimentary moving map.

The support from LX is outstanding and consistent.


Agreed, the Colibri still seems to be the best solution
on the market today.