OpenXVario flight reports

[Flaps 30]

Well. I am sure that I am running version r125. Just downloaded R148. Now I have to remember how to get rid of that rain dance stuff concerning using the TX to set the filter sensitivity before heading out for a test flight.

*Edit*

Test flight done in conditions that were not that good. Lots of turbulence combined with winds that were on the limits of the test model.

The altitude reporting with version r148 is working, and reporting the height correctly. Thanks Rainer.

Unable to tell if the new sensitivity setting (475) has helped at this stage.

All that is left to do, is it have a version of OpenTx that voices the altitude in feet and not Metres.

[rainer]

Great! thanks for the feedback. Good to hear that it is working.

[Promix]

Now I have to remember how to get rid of that rain dance stuff concerning using the TX to set the filter sensitivity before heading out for a test flight.

I would call it "rainer dance stuff"

[Flaps 30]

Good point Promix, Yes it will now be known as the Rainer Dance.

YW Rainer - More feedback will be forthcoming in the next week or so. Vario's are fitted to two other models.

[rainer]

whats wrong about some dancing?
much better than having to go home to change the sensitivity from 400 to 470

[Flaps 30]

Going home is okay. Field is ten minutes from home and it does give me time to think of a suitable value, along with a comfort break. You chaps have it easy.

[Rob Thomson]

Going home is okay. Field is ten minutes from home and it does give me time to think of a suitable value, along with a comfort break. You chaps have it easy.

Offtopic... But you want www.sheewee.com

Of course... You might get a few raised eyebrows!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Flaps 30]

Thanks Rob. I am aware of that device.. Not very convenient and it can go wrong and leave a mess to clear up.. Trust me on that one.. Sorry to have gone off topic...

I was thinking about the boomer that I managed to hit. Whilst riding this beast the beeper got very excited and 'end stopped'. What would the vertical speed have been? ... The setting in the vario section was +0.3 and +3 ... Any ideas?

[Rob Thomson]

I had a similar thermal today

I was cruising around - my voice readout (every 5 seconds) said 140m. .... beeep beep beeep bbbbbbbbbeep. 200m.

All happened in about 15 seconds!!

Thats what you call a fast lift upward.

[Flaps 30]

Nice one Rob... Far too windy over here to fly.. Interesting that you got a thermal. Total cloud cover + winds normally=No significant thermals So I presume that conditions your way gave you holes in the cloud cover.

[Rob Thomson]

Well.. there was a large thunder head I was aiming for.

But there is always lift. You can even scratch some 'tree lift' off the edge of my local field. The vario helps you know you are in it!

Rob

[jhsa]

Are you sure you didn't fly into a tornado? they're everywhere these days..

[rainer]

OK, had a nice day out with 2 gliders yesterday. My longshot 2 had a D4R-II with openXvario on top of it installed. Sensitivity was set to 240 with sound actrivated for lift+sink (0.1m/s each)
It helped me to find some lift and have 2 10-15 minute flights without landing.
The other one was my old easy glider with a D8R and a seperate oXv.
both worked like a charm till the end ( where my Longshot II developed some sudden smoke from a defective cable connecting my aileron servos... Oops.. but not too bad. everything working again, just had to redo some cabling..)
all in all... the best gimmick to add to my rc experience in the last years...(apart of the great 9x with open9x and the sky9x board of course!)

[jeffreymstrong]

Wanted to share my flight with you guys, as none of my non-flying friends would really get, or appreciate it.

I live on the coast just South of Boston, and there is slope just a few minutes from my place that when the wind is coming from the East that is a blast, unfortunately it has very limited landing area as high tide approaches, just a lot of stone and ocean, no beach.

BUT, I launch anyway, and decide I'll figure out how/where to land later. Chucked my HK Easy Fly into the air without engaging the motor, and quickly climbed out with the Vario chirping away. There was lift everywhere, I really didn't need the OxV, but I really enjoy listening to the audio vario. Pretty soon I was joined by 20+ curious Sea Gulls, I was concerned I would lose focus and begin trying to fly one of them instead of the glider. 40 minutes passed, and my time was running out as I was only given a 60 minute Pass by the wife. I began trying to squeak the gilder into a very small landing area that was on the ledge I was flying from, it measures maybe 20' long by 7' wide. On a marginal day it's really no problem, but not this day. I made maybe ~20 attempts to get it down but there was just too much lift.

I settled on walking down the slope, 30' below, to the rocky beach and trying to land it on the some of the smaller smoother stones. There was still a significant amount of lift on the beach and I made a bunch of approaches a few feet over the surf, before I finally got it down, but with to much speed, caught a wing tip, and veered into the surf just as the next wave came crashing in. I ran into the surf to retrieve the glider just as the wave crashed over the top covering it from nose to tail. I lifted it out of the water, and expensive smoke began POURING out of the cockpit, accompanied by a strong burning electronic/foam stench. Quickly removed the canopy, and disconnected the battery from the ESC. The smoke stopped and I assessed the obvious damage, 1 completely well-done ESC, 1 broken Aileron, and a snapped elevator still floating in the water.

Took it all home, laughing at myself most of the way. Once there, took out the Frsky receiver, and OvX, cleaned them with Rubbing alcohol and tooth brush and left over night in a bowl of raw rice. Tested OK the following day.

Repaired the Aileron, and elevator with Gorilla PU White. Servos, and battery survived without damage.

What did I learn? ESC's don't like Sea Water.

Would I launch again in the same conditions? ABSOLUTELY!, but I think I'll walk down the beach the 400 yards to get to the sandy beach next time.

[Flaps 30]

Nice to hear about your adventures Jeffrey.

Sounds like time to fit flaps or spoilers to your model(s) as they can be a great help with spot landings.

Rainer - I see you like your vario to be sensitive with that setting of 240 on the filter. My setting is now at 500 and it works well. Yesterday was one where the thermals were weak and small, so it was a good test to see if that figure was workable. No problem at all, although I was getting the odd false indication of lift when I was in stable air. The telemetry lift is set to 0.3 as a minimum.

[rainer]

so 3 documented test flights yesterday with 2x smoke... not a bad ratio

@Flaps: yes. i like it sensitive.. i get false readings but the advantage is that i get a faster response time as well. and the last bit of filtering takes place in the Pilot
The false readings you get... is it when flying straight or could it be related to changes in direction or maybe changes in light reaching the oXv/temperature changes?

[Rob Thomson]

I car prefer to have the false readings.

I use the various as hint. Visual confirmation then taken!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Flaps 30]

The false readings you get... is it when flying straight or could it be related to changes in direction or maybe changes in light reaching the oXv/temperature changes?

Yes I do get the odd beep sometimes that I cannot atribute to anything. Other times it happens when the aircraft is level and sinking slowly, for example when I am on the downwind leg during a landing approach. The vario is inside the fuselage away from light and the ESC.

Looks like tomorrow will be a great flying day for us in the South of the UK. More information will be gathered.

[Rob Thomson]

Just finished soldering up 3 more varios.

Do you think that means I like them?

Rob

[tilmanb]

Did you ever find a place to buy all the parts from one source? I like to put one in the Passer you sold me.
But I don't want to go on the whole ebay binge again and pay shipping or order from china.

[Kilrah]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... OC:CH:3160
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... OC:CH:3160

Same seller, free shipping.

[tilmanb]

Item location: shenzhen, China
That is tough. But I probably won't find better.

[Kilrah]

Nope. Or you'll pay 3x more.

[Rob Thomson]

I have sosome spare parts to suit if you want to take them from me?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[rainer]

For the arduino boards i like these here: http://www.ebay.de/itm/230935770283?ssP ... 3279605223
the advantage is that they are especially thin (0.8mm). it really makes a different. and if you solder the 2 boards back to back you can build really small and light oXv's

[jhsa]

I got one of those after you posted the link some time ago.. I might order more as I might need more varios even without sensor

João

[tedbmoss]

Flew with both the openxvario with pot to change sensitivity and the WSHHigh, which has feet instead of meters. Both work well as far as I can tell. I am FAA limited to 400 feet (123 meters).

[Kilrah]

While analyzing some logs done with a model that happened to have an oXv inside to find an openTx bug this afternoon, I came across a little bug with the centimeters jumping erratically when doing a slow altitude change by hand, and which wasn't happening with the FrSky vario making it unlikely to be an openTx problem:

The bug was indeed in oXv, and probably went unnoticed as centimeters are not displayed on the stock board, but the fix is simple:

void SendAlt(long altcm)
{
uint16_t Centimeter = uint16_t(abs(altcm%100));

Also, the meters calculations can be simplified a bit:

int16_t Meter = altcm/100;

I haven't checked, but this may also apply to the routines that send altitude values in other FrSky fields.

[jhsa]

Finally I'm able to give a flight report with the openXvario..
It's a quite warm day here today (Hurraahh) and I took my "Substitute" glider..
Stop laughing That's the name of the glider
there was Thermal everywhere above the field. I'm a beginner on thermal flying but with the help from this vario I went from about 80 meters to about 170 meters (558ft) in no time.. the glider is quite small so I decided to bring it down.. that was difficult I gotta say, I was getting bored as well.. 20 minutes without doing some rolls and loops and without hearing the sound of an engine was too much for me..
But it was fun. will do it again..
Thank you Rainer for this project..
Ah, I'm using the vario and the voltage sensor with it.. wonderful. 5*****

Also there were at least 6 full scale gliders circling above our field.. about 15Km away from their airfield on a straight line.. Never seen them around our place before so the thermals must be really good today..

Just came home to pick up some real airplanes

João

[Rob Thomson]

It is silly how easy it is to catch thermals when you have a vario.

I had a 40 minute flight from a single launch earlier today. Crazy!

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