I'd venture to say that there are a heck of lot more TXs out there that CANNOT do this than that can, this app is designed to serve those who use them. I wrote it even knowing that my Jeti DC-16 will soon be able to do it directly... One of the benefits here is that when new sequences come out, I add them to the cloud and they are instantly available in the app for all (assuming you have an internet connection on your phone occasionally :-). Do that with your 14MZ, 18MZ or Jeti DC/DS-16 :-)

I'm planning to put this in the app store soon, and I'm planning to charge $1.99 for it. Proceeds will go to the US F3A World team fund. Similarly profits from the BLE device will go to the same place, but it will take a little longer to get those together and available for sale. In the meantime, if you are interested in a beta BLE device, PM me. I'm looking at two options for control on that -- tilt or switch (so you can mount the device to the underside of your TX and just tilt the TX to advance/repeat/reverse -- let me know what you think would be better.

Peter+

It took me around 20-30 flights before I flew P15 from memory with no mistakes. I never attempt to fly in a comp without a caller calling the manouvres.

Hi Peter
Everything you say is right. It is a idea. And I hope many Pilots are interested at this App. All newest infos are in the cloud and directly available.
I fly aerobatics many years. In my opinion for practice it is usable. Maybe also in Comp. When I fly I need a friend behind me. He see the plane and can tell more than a App. And I need Infos.
Wish you good luck with your Idea and hope many Pilots use this App. Sorry but I'm not interested to test as beta tester. Maybe another time.
For my training the T14 give me enough info. If I need a spec. info I rec on the field and have the info directly available. Only the info I need.
Have a nice day and all the best.
SR

Andreas

Thanks Andreas. It's never been my intent that this replace a caller in competition, but it sure is nice at the field when you go out to practice a new sequence and the buddy you expected to meet you there isn't there! That's fundamentally what I'm trying to solve for -- the practice scenario when you don't have someone to call for you or you would rather have your coach tell you what you are doing wrong than tell you what to do next...

Peter+

I got a chance to fly today in moderate winds with the Jawbone ERA, it wasn't *perfect* but some may consider it "good enough" with the jawbone sheltered from the oncoming wind by my head the app responded correctly about 80-90% of the time (and didn't hear me well enough the other 10-20%, not a garble problem, just didn't hear me, probably because the noise reduction circuitry was working too well. I'm thinking a bluetooth device with noise reduction and a boom that puts the mic closer to the mouth might work even better, a couple of times I had to almost yell "Next!" to get it to respond. I'm encouraged!

Peter+

Hey Peter, keep in mind that Bluetooth is also on 2.4 like our radios. You may get some interference between Bluetooth and the radio

Well aware, thanks :-) That's part of why I test it in real field conditions (along with the noise aspect). BT is MUCH lower power than our TXs so there's no concern for the quality of connection to our planes (it would be more of a concern if the BT device were in the plane near the RX, but even then of minimal risk) -- though, of course, I did range check... So then we're left with a concern about the quality of the connection between the phone/tablet/ipod touch and the device (whether it be my custom BEL device or a BT headset) -- indeed, if you aren't careful about where your phone is (which, by the way, is ALSO using 2.4GHz to talk to the cell tower :-) relative to the earpiece (or BLE device) your TX, and your body, it is definitely possible for there to be enough interference to interrupt the connection between phone and device (when using a BT earpiece, you can hear the corruption in the sounds playing through the headset) but it's not hard to find an arrangement that works. Phone + Earpiece on right side of body, TX is tray style on harness slightly above waist level. Phone on right side of body at my belt, BLE device mounted under my TX, switch on top of TX both worked fine.

Peter+

I just posted a new build to the beta site, release notes below:

Finally having a chance to get back to this. It occurred to me that I could leverage the iPhone tilt sensors to get what we need as far as control and eliminate the need for external controllers. So I’ve added “Tilt” as a control option, at which point you select whether the roll, pitch or yaw axis should control the calling.


IF you imagine the phone is an airplane with the vertical stabilizer extending up from the home button and the cockpit being by the front-facing camera, then the axes for roll, pitch, and yaw will be correct.


If you select the roll axis, roll the phone 20+ degrees right from the starting point (I’ll get to that in a moment) to move forward, 20+ degrees to the left to move back.


If you select the pitch axis, pull the phone up 20+ degrees to move forward, 20+ degrees down to move back.


If you select the yaw axis, yaw 20+ degrees right to move forward, 20+ degrees left to move back.


The “starting point” is the position of the phone when the “start calling” switch is turned on (which you can now do by pressing the center of the mic switch on the standard apple headset, or the “play” button on a bluetooth headset. Roll/Pitch/Yaw from that point to control the call.


I am envisioning a couple of possibilities here:


1. Slap some velcro on the back of your TX and the back of a cheap snap-in iPhone case. Start the app, select tilt control, choose your axis (I find roll to be best), plug your headphones in and then snap the phone into the case and secure the case to the back of your TX with the velcro. Get yourself positioned to fly and press the mic button to hear “Takeoff” (unless you are flying an F3A sequence that doesn’t start with “Takeoff”. Then tilt your TX 20 degrees right or left to control the call.


2. Same deal, but put the velcro on the side of your TX and use the yaw (for a forward/back tilt of the tx) or roll (for a right/left tilt of the tx) to control the call.


3. Put the phone in a holster on your hip, use the pitch (for a horizontal holster) or roll (for a vertical holster) axis and twist your hip to control the call…


I’ll be interested to hear how this works for folks! I think this might actually crack the nut!


Peter+

I downloaded the APK, installed it etc... but there are no builds/betas available for download according to the message I got....

There is an older android build available (unfortunately, apple bought TestFlight, so the support for Android there is drying up) but I'm trying to nail the iPhone app down first, then I'll update the Android app to the same functional profile.

Peter+

Looking forward to it... thanks!

Awesome. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to the android app.

Quick update for all -- I submitted the iOS app to the app store on Sunday night, it started review by Apple this morning. Keep your fingers crossed for a quick accept, I know I am :-)

Peter+

Is it updated with the new sequences?

Hi Jeff,

Of course! :-). The great thing here is because the sequences are delivered from the cloud, the app never needs to be updated to update the sequences. Just to fix bugs and add control methods.

I'll post here when it's live.

Peter+

Video of the app in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOEfi3VqnCQ. forgive the dumbed down intro, but I needed to supply a video of the app in action for Apple to approve the app even for beta testing (Apple bought TestFlight, which has created a bit of an initial barrier to me adding beta testers). Good news is the app is "in review" now on the app store, so hopefully Apple will approve it this time.

Having just gone through major improvements to the Developer Experience on developer.intuit.com, I'd love to give Apple a serious download on what a pain they've created for developers here, and the over control of the beta process is just the starter...

Anyway, I'll let y'all know when it's live on the App Store, and/or when my beta build is approved on itunesconnect.

Peter+

Wow! That was fast! I just got an e-mail that my BETA app is approved for distribution via TestFlight.

If you want to beta test the latest version, please PM me your e-mail address, first name and last name. First 1000 get a 30 day beta :-)

Peter+

P.S. Keep your fingers crossed for the production build to be approved as well!

The app is now LIVE on the app store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rcca...7888?ls=1&mt=8

Nice Birthday present for me :-)

Awesome, Peter! Congrats! I'll be d/l'ing this for sure.

Android folks:

https://dply.me/4jmfy2/button/large

Here's what you need to know:

1. In voice recognition mode, for reliable recognition of keyword phrases I need 3-4 syllables so the vocabulary is "Start Calling, Next Maneuver, Previous Maneuver, Repeat Maneuver, Stop Calling"
2. In tilt mode, only roll works decently. I calibrate the position of the device when you start the caller, usually by the button on the wired headset, so before you click it, make sure you are in your normal flying position and that the device in portrait mode would be rolling when you tilt your TX, or whatever you have the phone attached to. I watch for a return to nearly the same position as the starting position to reset the trigger to wait for the next right/left roll.
3. I need a network connection to get the maneuvers, but I don't need a network connection for the voice recognition.

Peter+

It works on my Galaxy S4,
is it possible in the next version to include french language ?
because french speech with english sequence is ununderstandable :D . I can do the translation for you if you want.
Great Job !

Thanks Macleote,

The voice recognizer needs a language model that would work with French and CMU today has only English & Spanish. The Text to Speech voice synthesizer on Android does support French, so I could make the sequence be in French, when I add sequence customization you would actually be able to put in your own french calls, but the voice recognizer would still need the "next maneuver", "start calling" words to be in english. Does it have trouble recognizing your french accented English?

Peter+

I just finished adding the IMAC Basic, Sportsman, Intermediate, and Advanced sequences to the cloud so everyone with the iOS app or the Android Beta app will have the 2015 IMAC sequences in addition to the 2015 NSRCA sequences and the CPA sequences that I'm aware of.

Hi,
It recognize my french accent without any problem so no problem for using keywords. It is working with or without my earphones/mic plug in the phone.
Customization will be great.

++
Seb

I downloaded Virtual Caller Android to my Galaxy S4 Mini. It works as long as I have internet access. Is this feature just part of the beta or will I always need internet access to use the Virtual Caller app?

Thanks!

Ken