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