The main topics were:
- Brief intro to the PDA
- How to use most of the features of SeeYou Mobile
- How to upload a task declaration to the Volkslogger with ConnectMe
- How to download flight traces from the VL
I loaded up a flight trace from the local Hemet area, which included some thermalling, and played back various parts at different speeds to demonstrate all the important features. I also prepared a four-page cheat sheet full of notes that they could take away with them as reminders (and which I used as an outline), and some diagrams showing the flow of information between the various hardware and software parts.
I felt it was important to demonstrate nearly all the screen features, navigational indications, and the main ways to customize the display. It's very important to spend some "quality time" to become very familiar with the device and the software on the ground so you're not trying to learn and/or configure it while you're flying. You don't want it to be a major distraction that pulls your head down into the cockpit too much... you still have to fly the glider, after all. Hopefully this gets them off to a good start and can save them a few hours of figuring out what's where.
The classroom part took about two hours, and then we also spent maybe 20 minutes actually hooking everything up in a glider and demonstrating downloading a flight trace. That part went OK but because of the sun glare, no one but me could really see the program on the PDA.
Most of the participants were flight instructors who, although they've flown huge numbers of hours, and may have used GPS's in other situations, have never delved into soaring-specific software. Everyone seemed pretty pleased with the class. Now that I have the materials, I could run it again when more pilots get ready to use such systems for cross-country soaring.
2 comments:
I am rigging a PDA with SeeYou and a Volkslogger, and would be interested in reading your articles under the four headings you mentioned. Could you direct me to them please. Many thanks, YG
You can use the Search feature on the blog to find the articles. Search once for "volkslogger", once for "seeyou", and once for "pda" and you should find them all.
If you'd like a copy of the notes that I handed out in my class, email me at webmaster@ocsoaring.org.
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