Butterfly external display questions

RAMY: We already do significant filtering of the displayed climb rate-values. This filter needs to get some data to produce exact results, this is why at the beginning it fluctuates but ofter some seconds it gives you a very accurate value.

Great, thanks Marc. This makes sense as the targets I observed were new. So better wait some time before deciding which aircraft climbs better.

Ramy

I've flown with my brick and butterfly rectangular display 3 times now. Sort of grudgingly getting used to seeing the red butterfly when there's nothing going on, but as configured it seems semi-useless. However:

If it were programed to flash to a blank screen and back a couple of times quickly as the PF detects traffic, it could help compensate for the feeble alert volume as the quick flash should attract attention in one's peripheral vision.

Thoughts?

bumper

On Saturday, October 13, 2012 11:24:38 AM UTC-7, bumper wrote:
I've flown with my brick and butterfly rectangular display 3 times now. Sort of grudgingly getting used to seeing the red butterfly when there's nothing going on, but as configured it seems semi-useless. However:



If it were programed to flash to a blank screen and back a couple of times quickly as the PF detects traffic, it could help compensate for the feeble alert volume as the quick flash should attract attention in one's peripheral vision.



Thoughts?



bumper

This may work if the display is in your peripheral vision when it blinks, but not if you were scanning elsewhere or thermaling. Problem is that there is currently no audio alert when the screen switches from no traffic to traffic. There is only alert when there is collision risk. It will be much better if it will be programmed to provide an audio alert, even if faint, whenever the display switches to the radar display. I was surprised the first time I found out this wasn't the case.

Ramy

Ramy,

That seems a logical improvement, and would probably be a fairly easy software fix.

On the portable PF, I've added a bright LED using the audio out, and that works very well in my Husky - - no need to interface with headset audio and the light is all but impossible to ignore. Shame they didn't give us an audio out on the brick, as that would have solved the problem for us half-deaf old timers nicely (without having to get rid of us prematurely).

bumper
Minden

I believe the reason why the brick does not have an audio jack is that it only produces NMEA sentences which are processed by the display which produces the audio alerts.

Ramy

On Sunday, October 14, 2012 11:54:47 AM UTC-7, Ramy wrote:
I believe the reason why the brick does not have an audio jack is that it only produces NMEA sentences which are processed by the display which produces the audio alerts.



Ramy

Understood.

But they "could" add the additional circuitry and audio jack to the brick, as they "could" have built in a bright alert LED on the portable (to make it more viable in tow planes etc, without having to wire it into the headset audio).

Neither change is likely as I doubt there's enough demand and they are working on other improvements. I also suggested to them that they provide a lower intensity back light on the portable for night flying (power plane). Lowest it goes now is 10%, which sounds just fine until you try flying with it at night! Lowest setting is still so bright it interfers with night vision.. If they don't fix that in a software revision I'll use some dark static cling plastic over the screen I guess.

bumper