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ORIGINAL: Gordon Mc

Nice to see some innovation.

Any reason why you're still using the LED I/O board with it ? I would think this unit would be handier if if obsoleted that board altogether - display 'Ready to start' , ' Cooldown in Progress', 'No start clearance' etc on the srceen rather than still using the Christmas tree lights to get that info.

Also, a small ABS enclosure would be nice - I'm getting tired of all of the 'open-board' stuff that we get - whether it be the original Jetcat ECU (before plastic boxes were invented :) ), or the IO board, or the Weatronic multiple PCBs, etc. ... I just don't like circuitry to be exposed such that you have to worry about it getting shorted out if you drop a servo screw in the aircraft, etc.

Would also be handy to have a 'pass-through' mode for the cable, so that you could plug your GSU into the other side of this unit if you want to make ECU prog changes etc - rather than having to undo cable, or try a splitter etc.

The above isn't meant to be negative - just some possible thoughts for improvements. Good job.

Gordon

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ORIGINAL: cgroen

As I'm currently waiting for a GPS unit for the ECU, I have no real data to look at.
So, can any of you with a GPS tell me if the G-force is of any use ? If it is calculated from GPS data I would guess it has not too much value, but I might be wrong !?
Trying to decide how much info should be shown in idle, too many screens is not ideal from a user standpoint....

Sverrir, exactly ;)

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ORIGINAL: Socomon

It would be nice if you could get the GPS data to import directly into Google Earth the way the Eagle Tree does with theirs. It makes cool ''spaghetti strings'' of your flights.

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ORIGINAL: BaldEagel


Carsten

I find the GPS data very useful if only to confirm the wind speed above ground compared to the pitot, also the max G force pulled has scared me on more than one occasion, and told me enough to know not to do that manauvre again with that airframe (I pulled 9.6G with an Elan) in general flying including some snaps and reversals the G is kept within 5 according to the GPS which seems about right, max radius out from the start point and distance travelled can be also very interesting especially if you have mapping software, perhaps you could include all of the info, but have the facility to dissable some screens if wanted.

Mike

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ORIGINAL: cgroen

Good input Oliver!
I'm currently looking at changing/adding screens to the device, my only concern is that there simply is too much data.
So it all boils down to try to minimize the number of screens, but still be able to ''deliver'' the most important data to the user, without having to wait for a high number of screens to pass by

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ORIGINAL: olnico


What you could do is have the system display the important in flight data while the engine is cooling down.
Once the temperature of 100 degrees is reached, you could return to the ''before start'' screen.

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ORIGINAL: BaldEagel
Carsten

I find the GPS data very useful if only to confirm the wind speed above ground compared to the pitot, also the max G force pulled has scared me on more than one occasion, and told me enough to know not to do that manauvre again with that airframe (I pulled 9.6G with an Elan) in general flying including some snaps and reversals the G is kept within 5 according to the GPS which seems about right, max radius out from the start point and distance travelled can be also very interesting especially if you have mapping software, perhaps you could include all of the info, but have the facility to dissable some screens if wanted.

Mike

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ORIGINAL: David Gladwin

Sounds like a good idea, I will buy a couple. I think that you have got all the useable data and I am glad you have restored the fail safe data, I think one of the most valuable recorded parameters.

As for G loading, my experience with an earlier jetCat GPS unit, is that G calculated from GPS positions is wildly inaccurate, I have had some outrageous readings, I believe the positional accuracy at the speeds we are flying and the refresh rate are not adequate to calculate an accurate G. One can see why when using 3d plots from the Weatronics receivers with GPS , loops can look very odd !

Now, having seen Weatronics install 3 gyros in a tiny receiver perhaps you guys could incorporate a tiny accelerometer into your device to accurately measure and record G.

Good luck with it whatever you do.

Regards, David Gladwin.

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ORIGINAL: jason

Sandor

anything that gets rid of the unfinished looking I.O board I have been looking at for ten years has to be a good thing. I'll have three if you can get it compacted into a funky looking case.


Jason

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ORIGINAL: cgroen


Thats also a possibility, but here in the ''cold north'', my P160SX's cooldown in a few seconds during the winter, so maybe not much time.
I don't know if it's a problem with ''all the data'' in idle, the engine is not doing anything ''usefull'', so the display might as well show 5 different screens, maybe 3 seconds each, it's just sitting there anyway, so maybe not a problem in practice ?!

Guys, I really thank you for all your input, it's very nice to get a different opinion on stuff like this, when doing things like this, it's very easy to focus on something, very nice to get input in the process, thank you!

PS Sandor, the soldering of two cables on the board is a no-go, the GSU needs the 2 centre wires of the 6 pin connector (it uses I2C comms, SCL and SDA), so we would have to add 2 ''spare'' pads on the board, which there is not much room for. I think the splitter is a better idea

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ORIGINAL: Socomon

It would be nice if you could get the GPS data to import directly into Google Earth the way the Eagle Tree does with theirs. It makes cool ''spaghetti strings'' of your flights.

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ORIGINAL: NightSwan

Cool project! :)

On the GPS G-units, they come directly from the NMEA datastream from the GPS receiver, so it depends on which receiver you use how the G-force is being calculated.

The problem with the 'strange' readings is, that the jetcat ECU only shows min/max/average values, you always have some strange spikes, and that's what is reported as min/max (I dont believe there is any intelligent filtering inside)
Averages are always quite good, so I'd vote for showing the G-force data from the ECU. At least on my rookie it always looks like valid data.

Also, maybe one button to toggle on/off the display? (maybe I didn't read correct, and it is in there :P )

Hans

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ORIGINAL: RoLe

Hi Carsten and Sandor

Really a super nice product. But keep it simple and at a attractive price level! In my opinion we just need the basic info, otherwise just connect the original GSU.

Regards,
Roar
Jets of Norway

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ORIGINAL: RoLe
Maybe the next idea will be an internet connection where we can chech our bank account...:D:D

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ORIGINAL: Gordon Mc


Or just a connection to your cellphone, with an app that connects you to someone who remotely checks and adjusts your ECU parameters, etc. At $1 per minute, of course :)

On the topic of 'next ideas' for ECUs - I think it's time the ECUs started taking an SD card or similar, to store data longer term ; then pull your SD card out, plug it into your 'puter, and get an analysis of trends ... fuel pump voltage going up slowly ? - time for a filter change / flush, etc. Ditto for being able to upgrade your ECU firmware (the BMT already allows this), transfer your settings from one ECU to another, etc.

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ORIGINAL: digitech
Actualy Gordon we are working on a Wireless aplication also that works with bluetooth.
it can read life data up to 900 ft from the jetcat ecu
i got a prototype working but this is one of our future apps.
we need to write a Windows mobile app for that..
we got some many idea,s but so little time.....[:o]

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