schafe3624

I recently made a post about which vario I should get for my Evolution 2.5 motor glider. Several people looked at the question w/o answers, so I'll make it easier. What variometers are there? I can only find 2 - Picolario and Eagle Tree. I'll figure out the mounting stuff.

thanks

rscarawa

I too am trying to figure out which vario to use and am considering the before mentioned products. I am not sure if you can get the picolario at this time as the website that redirects you to a US vendor is non-existent. I like the compactness of the Picolario since it should fit just about anywhere.

The eagle tree product (which is about the same price as the Picolario), offers some nice functionality but some of the features are overkill to me. Having a dashboard and recorder is nice but not what I really need. The internal hardware of the ET product also means you may need more planning for installation and it may not fit in some of the carbon ships where space is really tight. Being that this seems to be the only option at this time, I am considering it but $400 is pretty steep for what I need.

There is also a Skymelody product which is similar to the Picolario. I have not found out where this can be purchased in the US. You may want to research this on your own.


There is another product out there that wags the rudder when lift is detected but I am not sure I like the idea of something overdriving my rudder. In addition, how will I detect the motion of the yaw if I am in choppy air anyway. I think the best product for a vario was the Ace Thermal Sniffler. You can sometimes find them on ebay but they seem to be getting harder to find. It is the simplest idea of just sending a signal to a radio and it was compact too. It had no features to tell you airspeed or altimeter but those are not important anyway. I sure wish someone would bring that design back. It would be well worth $150 if they did.



Scot

JRinAZMN

I have a "Thermal Scout", that I move about, from plane to plane, and I love it... I have it setup on my "gear switch" on the radio. After I get off the hi-start, I flip it on: as soon as it wiggles the tail, flip it off and work the thermal. If you think you have fallen out of the thermal, flip it on for a second, to see... I now find lift in the strangest places... Just don't ever launch with it on: your plane will go crazy in a bad way... JR

schafe3624

I'm going with the Eagle Tree. It has more features than I want and more stuff to install, but the Picolario needs a Rx channel which I don't have available and the avialability seems sketchy.

rscarawa

I am going to try one from the following website. It is going to require a transmitter/receiver combo in the plane to send its signal though. It does all I need it to do.


http://www.lastonedown.com/index.html

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

We have three "thermal finders" mentioned here.  How about some flight reports?

schafe3624

I blew it off last year but am looking into this again. I like the simplicity of the Picolario and figured out a way to make it work in my glider even though I don't have an unused channel - I would operate it along with the flaps which go positive and negative on my glider. The availability and customer service of the Picolario still seem sketchy so I have again decided to go with the Eagle Tree system. Will order soon.

stewswanson

I have an Ace Sniffer for sale on Ebay- Item 280649877039. It is the newer style (rectangular transmitter) and is on 49.84 mhz. It comes with the matching reciever (FM radio with belt clip and earphone. The Tx is about 1 1/2 x 5 x .75 and runs on a 9 volt battery. Any questions E-mail [email protected]

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Stewart,

How have you been? Missed you at the ESLcontests last year. Hope to fly with you this year.

Ed Anderson

stewswanson

Been ok , may get out to Reading this year.Will skip the Nats since the dates got changed. BTW the Sniffler is already sold (was only listed for an hour.)
Stew

schafe3624

Got the Eagle Tree system. I had to completely redo the inside of my glider (twice) to make it all fit and buy a micro RX. I haven't had the time to get everything crammed into the fuse.

On the bench it works great. I'm amazed that it is sensitive enough to register the pressure difference from the top of my bench to the ceiling as I pick it up. Look forward to flying.

Skysailor51

Hi Schafe 3624

I have used the Thermal Scout but know nothing about the Eagletree set.

Please list out the components of this system for a complete installation, including photos if possible. It will help newbies like me.

Thank you.

Skysailor51

schafe3624

Here is the link for the Eagle Tree system: http://www.eagletreesystems.com/Sail...sailplane.html

[link=http://www.eagletreesystems.com/Sailplane/sailplane.html]Eagle Tree Vario[/link]

I purchased the top system for $399 plus an extra pitot tube. As I said previously, I have only bench tested it. I don't think photos of my install would be very helpful since everyone will be different. Lets just say that I have a 5 gallon bucket and 10 gallons of poo. Now that I have the micro Rx, I have 9 gallons of poo. The biggest problem I have right now is fitting the extension cables that connect the Rx to the servos in the wing (4) back into the fuse w/o pinching the rubber tubing for the variometer.

sawdust

My Feedback: (7)

The Thermal Scout is currently being modified by the manufacturer so that is will give a real time read out to the telemetry systems currently in use by at least 2 of the major transmitter manufacturers. More transmitter vendors will be announcing telemetry soon.

Winged Shadow has already changed their How High unit to work real time with the telemetry equipped transmitters.

Got this information from Winged Shadow at Toledo.

I am going to wait on the new Thermal Scout and then upgrade my transmitter to one that offers telemetry. Note I use the current version of the Thermal Scout.

Todd