Cathy,
We have had two Colibri at Narrogin Gliding Club for about a year. I agree
with John's comments. They are not greatly used at our club, probably
because (a) we don't have many cross country pilots and (b) because few
people know how to use them. The manual is difficult to read. I gather
Luke gave some lectures last winter. I missed them, so I grabbed the
manual and taught myself. It's a bit like using a Dos PC. It's OK if you
know what you're doing, but its not intuitive.
Luke has been very helpful. We now have four club gliders with fittings for
the two Colibris and I expect a great increase in usage in the next 12
months.
For my own part. I use an ancient Garmin (1995 vintage) because I can
monitor how far I am from home and, by pushing 2 buttons, it tells me where
the nearest turn points are. Also, I have all the badges I expect to get.
To finish, Colibris are small, reliable and FAI compliant. They seem a bit
expensive to me, but Uni Gliding club should have no trouble with them.
Regards,
Brian D Voce
Ph. 08 9445 1210
Fax. 08 9445 3375
Mob. 0419 945 545
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---- Original Message -----
From: John Orton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: [aus-soaring] Data loggers
> Hi Cath and others,
>
> I have been using a Colibri data logger for a couple of years now. So have
a
> several others in my club. We find them fantastic for comparing flight
data
> at the end of the day. Climb rates and cruise speeds statistics are easily
> compared using IGCview.
>
> I think that they are a very good unit and have some advantages over
others.
> Mind you the Australian agent is a friend of mine, however I was convinced
> that they were the unit to get before he bought one and became the agent.
I
> found that the agent Luke Dodd has been very helpful and responsive,
though
> of course my opinion may be coloured.
>
> Pros:
> Small unit with low current drain ( ~105 mA ) and has navigations screens.
> Stores lots of data. The way I run mine, log point every 12 second with 2
> seconds at sectors, gives about 75 hours of flight recording. You have no
> need to clear the memory as it will write over the earliest data, unlike
> some other types which stop if the memory is full. New models have
> programmable sectors. The logger will also tolerate some power
> interruptions. I have switched mine off while flying for short intervals
up
> to about 20 seconds to see what would happen. It still recorded a valid
IGC
> file. Flights can be verified on the logger and some statistics readout on
> the logger after the flight. Declarations can be entered via software or
on
> the logger. The Colibri also gives wind speed and direction from thermal
> drift.
>
> Cons:
> The manual and the software are not fantastic but is comparable to others
> from what I have seen. The nav screens only give bearing to, track, name
of
> and distance to turnpoint. You have to go to a more expensive unit to get
> more.
>
> Some other general comments.
> From what I have seen the Cambridge only allows for cylindrical sectors.
> Somewhat awkward for FAI flights. Also the Cambridge logs when turned on.
I
> had to look at a flight once from one which had been left on, in the
glider,
> while the glider sat on the ground for some time before flying. This
> resulted in a lot of useless data. The Colibri only starts logging when it
> detects movement above a certain speed.
> I have seen postings from Volkslogger users trying to protect the logger
> from small power interruptions. This suggests they may not tolerate small
> power drops.
> Mike Borgelt has poured scorn on the small connector that the Colibri uses
> ( a plastic telephone type). However I have not had any problem with these
> after a couple of years of usage. These connectors also get used all the
> time for network connectors where I work and give very little trouble even
> in the dirtiest of places.
>
> I have had one flight with a LX20. It is a very nice unit as well. It also
> has a moving map and final glide calculator with a bigger screen. A bigger
> and more expensive unit, however it is very nice.
>
> I have also had experience with an older model EW logger which required an
> external GPS. Very limited in comparison to the new loggers.
>
> Regards
> ****************************************************************
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ****************************************************************
>
>
>
> --
> * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list.
> * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message
> * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
>
>
--
* You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list.
* To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message
* or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
