LX-Nav S80 settings

So when I installed the S80 - I attached the TE tube so that it has about 6 ft of separation between the S80 and my mechanical Vario. I think that is good.

But reading the manual - it goes into detail about Electronic TE, when the S80 is not attached to the TE tube, but to the a static port - I have 2 static prots that do nothing -

Should I go with the Electronic TE on the S80??

WH

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 1:59:56 PM UTC-7, wrote:
So when I installed the S80 - I attached the TE tube so that it has about 6 ft of separation between the S80 and my mechanical Vario. I think that is good.

But reading the manual - it goes into detail about Electronic TE, when the S80 is not attached to the TE tube, but to the a static port - I have 2 static prots that do nothing -

Should I go with the Electronic TE on the S80??

WH

I just investigated this by asking people in the know, from what I'm told even a decent TE system will yield a better result than electronic, due to inherent errors in many static systems. But static errors can be glider dependent, results vary. Look into static system errors and you will get an understanding of why that is the case. I was told to check my TE system and try to make that work first. I've done that and am happy with the results.. I have not tried electronic, maybe someone that has can chime in.

A TE system are only dependent of the TE-probe and non-leaking tubes.
A electronical system are dependent on correct dynamic- & static probes, the relative position of the two and non-leaking tubes. i.e a system which more factors to consider during installation.

I have chosen TE based on these factors:
- TE was fine with my previous computer (Zander)
- Static ports are known to have problems on old gliders (read any of the Johnson reports)
- My glider has dynamic in the nose and static on the tail boom, which is not good enough for electronic compensation.

I think that electrical compensation is only valid if you have an multi-probe in the fin. For the rest of us in the TE-compensation better.

Read Borgets guide for installation. All modern computers are of pressure transducer type, therefore is there generally no problem to have a mechanical and electrical vario on the same TE-probe if you follows the guidelines below.
http://www.borgeltinstruments.com/in...tallation.html

I fly an LS8-18. I started with a C302 and now have an S80. I have a mechanical vario on the TE probe and the C302/S80 were/are set-up with electronic compensation. This way the two systems are independent.

The key was determining how to use the static ports. The aircraft manual states that the nose ports are for the airspeed indicator and the tailboom ports are for the vario. I tried using just the nose ports, linking the nose and tailboom ports together, and using just the tailboom ports. For my plane, using just the tailboom ports works extremely well.

I am still working out the problems causes by the S80 resetting itself to the factory settings during the software update. It took my a full flying season to understand the instrument and address all the settings needed to get the instrument to work the way I wanted it to. Unfortunately, I had not completed a detailed list of all the settings. My first flight after completing the update was a mess because the factory setting for the vario is to use the TE probe and I am set-up for electronic compensation. The flight wasn't ruined by the wrong compensation because I had my mechanical vario on the TE probe. It was ruined by me trying to reset the instrument while flying. It would be very nice if LX Nav would do two things for S80 users. First, allow system updates without changing all the settings. Second, provide a detailed list of all the settings with spaces for you to enter your personal settings and create the list in the same order in which one finds the settings while scrolling through the pages. Something like an Excel Spreadsheet.

"Something like an Excel Spreadsheet."

There is an excel sheet I got off this blog. I forgot where it was but I am sure you can find it - very detailed.

I asked LXNAV why they don't have a user blog on their site - with such a complicated device - help makes all the deference in the customer experience.

WH