Closing Comments on BriteNav and Vertica V2

Well I guess a final update has been long overdue -

My suggestions to Lawrence at Vertica were to work on getting a filter-free GPS engine motherboard, combine it with the BriteNav display I was using and call it Vertica V2. This is what you are now enjoying.

Lawrence had done most of the work working with our supplier getting the Vertica V1 revamped and in the end I didnt have the time to support the folks I would have sold the device to - Our supplier was getting many different folks in soaring pregnant with the idea of the V2 once we had solved the problems, (in particular Paulo at LK8000 did a lot of work on this.), so I decided this wasn't a situation I wanted to deal with - plenty of other guys ready to step in without respecting the original work of others.

No regrets - I have a few BriteNav prototypes to work with in the meantime....

Next will be an Android sunreadable display platform (like the Kyobe Reader) though sadly the Mirasol display may take a while to appear due to Qualcomms change in strategy. PixelQi has products in production but nothing in the sub7" screen size we need for cockpit use. Eink has  a prototype sunlight readable android phone shown earlier this year - and they have colour technology as well.

In the end we are at the mercy of enough 'ordinary' consumers wanting sunlight readability in their android devices - and longer battery life - until these are mainstream we will have to use solutions that are expensive, or power hungry , or both.

To get a Vertica V2  go to www.verticasports.com - tell Lawrence I sent you.

Too Little Interest - Whats Next??

Dear all

Thanks for those who got back to me after my last group update where I informed everyone of the Oudie announcement using the same screen as the BritNav.

There are 2 issues I am still trying to resolve.

Firstly, in the 2 weeks or so since my last update I’ve been waiting for interest to be confirmed and to firm up the minimum order quantity. Unfortunately as of today I’ve lost over 30 out of 85 orders and this is insufficient for me to make a group order of 100 units.

Secondly, the SirfVAtlas GPS integrated into the device has an issue which I am still trying to resolve. It has track smoothing enabled (whereby the gps reported position is not exact after a sudden change in direction – useful for making car gps software easier but not very good for gliderpilots) I didn’t notice this when flying with the device in Argentina as it was very windy – however in light wind conditions this can be a real problem as it will cause significant errors in the wind reported from normal circling algorithms. Under normal circumstances track smoothing can be disabled by the gps utilities software I already have installed in the unit – however the binary switches in this particular unit from YF do not respond. I am working with Vertica Sports who have the same sourced device to see if this can be addressed. So far my suppliers and OEM have been unable to help.

As it stands, the BriteNav will still be perfect for anyone who intends to configure it with external GPS, or FLARM.  However, given the insufficient level of interest and the intractability of the track smoothing problem I am not going to pursue the BriteNav further in its current form.

Moving Forward

I am working with Vertica to consolidate and re-evaluate interest in these devices – and I'm working with them to enable enable me to service lower order quantities, initially for external GPS driven applications only. The US price will be the same as the BriteNav.  I have a Vertica V1 on its way to me right now for evaluation.

Vertica have employed GPS engineers to work on resolving the track smoothing problem and I expect an update in the next 2 weeks.

If you still like the idea of the BriteNav/Vertica device and planned on using external GPS input, the device is still very attractive – and with this new arrangement I can get sunlight readable devices to you faster than I could with the previous order requirement, at the same price as the BriteNav.

Please let me know if you’re still interested in the Vertica form of the device.

Sorry this this been so painful – what started out as a service to the soaring community has turned into a messy situation and a huge time-sink all round.

I’ll update everyone again as soon as I get updates from Vertica.

Sincerely, Peter

POWER CONSUMPTION

OK - I got to measure power consumption in the glider.

While it was still charging the device measured 432mA - With a fully charged device this should drop to around 380-400mA. The Glidertools converter measured 15mA as advertized.

This compares reasonably favorably with the high 300mA's reported for similar earlier generation PNA's reported on the PostFrontal forum.

While I was at it I compared this to power consumption of other devices.

My Becker transponder drew 390mA under very low interrogation conditions

My radio sucked 30mA with no x or TX, and a whopping 1220mA  when transmitting.

BRITE-NAV TECHNICAL SPECS

Here are the technical specs of the device. I renamed it BRITE-NAV since iGlide was already used by some software company or other. I like BRITE-NAV better anyway!

While I was at the SSA Convention this weekend I compared the Brite-Nav with the Dell Streak Android device which is a viable device if you are ok with being restriced to XCSoar - I compared devices with Ramy Yanetz and the BriteNav is clearly brighter (about 20% brighter according to my carefully calibrated eyeball) in any full sun situation but I was interested in how nicely the Streak display and interface worked. The Streak is bigger and heavier - maybe too big for some cockpits. But not by much.

Brite-Nav runs all current WinCE6.0 compatible soaring software - SeeYou Mobile (my favourite), LK8000 and XCSoar, and is compatible with all the existing third party support hardware available on line from Naviter and GliderTools.

BRITE-NAV TECHNICAL SPECS

Size:                131.5*86*13.5mm , Net weight: 190g

Display            5”, 480x272 pixels, 950nits, anti-glare coating, TFT LCD, Backlight Adjustable

OS:                  Windows CE 6.0

WinCE6.0 Rotation Driver (support for 0°/90°/180°/270° Rotation)

CPU                 600MHz AT550, SDRAM 128M, NAND Flash 2GB, 4GB optional.

GPS                 Internal SiRF Atlas-V, Port COM1

Receiver frequency 1575.42MHz

22 Tracks

GPS module sensitivity -159dBm

Precision Position: < 10 meters

TTFF Hot start: #12288;#8804;10 sec, average  TTFF

Refurbish Frequency Warm start:#12288; #8804;38 sec, average

Cold start: #12288;#8804;70 sec, average 1 time/second

Working Temp -20-50#8451;

Serial Port       mini-USB – YF/Oudie/Wayteq configuration - USB 2.0

External GPS input COM4 – Baud rate 4800 +

Memory           Expansion memory MAX 8G TF card

Built-in memory 4G FLASH

Audio              Output power Speaker 1.5W/8R

Speaker Stereo 20 mW/32ohm Headphone

Power Audio WMA, MP3

Power              Travel charger INPUT#65306;AC 100-240V#65292;OUTPUT#65306;DC 5V /1.5A

Car adapter INPUT#65306;DC 12-24V#65292;OUTPUT#65306;DC 5V /1.5A

Charge mode External DC POWER

Battery 950mA/H 3.7V

Working time 2 hours

Power save Auto- enter idle state , auto-off backlight

Accessories    Car adapter,USB Cable,user manual, mounting bracket.Travel charger (110V/240V)

Multi-Media      Picture Support JPEG, BMP, E-book Support TXT, TTS,

                        Business software Support calendar, calculator notepad etc.: 

                        Video, AVI,WMV,ASF,ASV,DAT,MPEG,MPG,MOV,

NEW BRIGHTER (950nits) UNIT!!

I have the new unit up and running - 50% brighter than the previous sample!!
950nits

I used this at the PreWorlds in Argentina, running on internal GPS with SeeYou Mobile. It was faultless and very accurate on final glides . I was flying a Std Cirrus and our tasks all completed with a 100m minimum altitude at 3km finish radius. It was dead nuts on every time. I mounted it inside the canopy on my rented Cirrus using the suction mount provided with the unit - worked great the whole contest and in 104F heat many days. 

I compared it directly with an Oudie - most dramatically, when looking into the sun and the Oudie and the Brite-Nav side by side, the Brite-Nav was completely visible. The Oudie screen was impossible to read. This is because of both the contrast ratio, the anti-glare coating and the brightness of the display.

I've put together 2 tutorial videos on YouTube


Tutorial on the unit in horizontal mode (indoors)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S838DHm6H7g       

In vertical mode and very bright sunlight - a hostile environment for visibility.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au6y3geb000           

This unit runs with external GPS input over  http://www.glidertools.com  RS232 - USB converter


Contact me at tango.soaring@gmail.com for purchase information

Cost Effective Sunlight Readable GPS

Sunlight Readable PNA for Soaring

There are several excellent sunlight readable moving map systems on the market if you are in the position of installing a new panel or completely upgrading your system but these are all very pricey. What if you want a good soaring moving map capability without ripping your panel apart, obsoleting perfectly good equipment, and don’t have $5000 to spend in the process?

Based on personal experience there are several criteria that moving map soaring instruments need to meet to be useful.

1         they are bright enough to see when looking into the sun (ie sun dead ahead)

2         they do not reflect so much ambient light that the screen visibility is below threshold for normal human viewing

3         they are not washed out by direct sun (ie sun from behind)

4         they are bright enough to use in strong light while wearing sunglasses, and not affected by polaroids.

5         they are large enough that key information is easily visible in turbulent flight without excessive squinting.

Finding a PDA or PNA with a screen that works well when the sun is behind you  (transflective screen required) and that is both bright enough to give enough contrast for the human eye when looking into the sun, and without massive reflections  in either of these cases, has been very difficult.

The PNA/PDA format device is very compelling from a cost effective perspective but has suffered from real visibility limitations due to the nature of the screens used.

The unit I am testing has all the processing power of a late model pocket PC combined with built in GPS and 4GB of flash storage . It runs Windows Mobile 6.0 and has the ubiquitous SiRF GPS engine. In direct sun the visibility is as good as or better than iPaq PDA’s as they share a common trnsflective screen technology. Into the sun, and in dealing with reflections, the unit is far better than the iPaq or the Mio PNA’s I’ve also been playing with.

Comparison of various levels and costs of moving map soaring instruments

Device Specs

            5” Sunlight readable LCD  (Good backlight, TFT, high contrast ratio, anti-reflective coating)

800*480 pixel touch screen  ~ 600nits TFT with anti-reflection coating – suitable for all soaring s/w.

Win CE 6.0

SiRF GPS built-in

MicroSD external memory slot

Mini-USB data and charging port

Internal GPS on COM1, External (including FLARM and flight computer input) on COM4

All comparison pictures are taken at full brightness. The camera image sensors are more sensitive than the eye in high contrast situations – in real life the sunlight readable unit looks significantly better than the iPaq – also the viewing angle of the sunlight readable device is  better than the iPaq and way better than the Mio PNA so relections are much easier to deal with.

Indoors, Full Brightness

Outdoors Full Bright sun Directly onto Screen

Outdoor  - Directly into Full Bright Sunlight

What I'm trying to achieve with this

• Provide access to cost effective sunlight readable GPS navigation hardware
• Avoiding artificial barriers to progress and costs through over customized solutions
• Software agnostic, not tied to any one commercial soaring software package
• Some support and help – provided by help sheet (readme installed on unit)
• Enable ANY soaring pilot (club, juniors, recreational X-C to contest pilots) to have a full feature low cost GPS nav capability without breaking the bank. Money is better spent on tows.

This device will probably not appeal to tech geeks and early adopters of new OS's and device formats - but it should appeal to anyone who wants flexibility and value for money. This low cost unit that doesn't double-up as a personal phone is cheaper and better suited to club or FBO type operations - install it and leave it in the glider.

The number and type of available units for soaring moving map displays is pretty dynamic right now - Wndows CE devices are good for current legacy software and only ONE soaring software package is currently available on Android (XCSoar) however it is not as configurable as LK8000 (which is based on XCSoar open source code) or SeeYou Mobile. 

Android tablet and smart phone devices are sophisticated sensor platforms these days (specifically GPS & barometric pressure to come...) but the focus has not been on outdoor use. Useful size of soaring cockpit displays maxes out at around 5inches - much bigger than this and panel space can become a real problem. 7" tablets will be too big. Upcoming Pixel-Qi displays are monochrome mode for outdoor use - at least for now.

Additionally, many pilots have existing panels and instruments sets that work perfectly fine, converting to an expensive moving map flight computer (like a LX9000 or ClearNav or Ultimate) These are all great units for new panel installs but are too expensive for the average pilot.

Installed Picture

Here is the initial install in my LS8. My USB power cable requires an elbow but thats easy to do. The RAM arms and hardware are available from folks like Craggy Aero and Cumulus Soaring

One key is to be able to drive the Soaring PNA with Flarm and/or other flight recorder and/or your flight computer output. This typically  means converting RS232 type outputs to 3V quasi-differential data for the mini-USB port and converting onboard 12V supply to 5V for the USB power supply. Multiple sources are available for hardware and signal conversion from 12V RS232 signals to USB format PNA unit -  a good looking option is here..

http://www.glidertools.com/products/converter-rs232-to-usb-for-pna-with-switching-power-supply-5v/

I am planning on using this cable as the interface between my FLARM driven SN10 nmea output (Dave Nadler kindly reflects all nmea input on the SN10 output so FLARM is output as well as wind information from the SN10) - So,  one interface gives wind, Flarm, barometric info directly into the PNA - LK8000 is already set up to accept all these nmea packets from the SN10.

When I get my FLARM brick I'll post the setup here as part of the blog. I'll be putting the Butterfly display front and center in place of the Cambridge GPS-NAV, driving the SN10 with the FLARM and driving the combined SN10 output into the Soaring PNA through the glidertools cable.