Want an Inexpensive Vario

[Sail 'n Soar]

Are there any inexpensive variometers on the market? Constant energy probes, etc., etc., are nice, but I'm not wanting to pay the nearly $400 to have all that additional functionality.

[MTT]

Hi, Sail 'n Soar , were you the gentleman at the VOA field today asking me about my vario ?

Anyway. the 2 varios readily available here in the US are the picolario ( which is the one I use ) ==> Picolario (http://www.picolario-usa.com/) , and the Skymelody, available here in from Dean Gradwell at XC Soaring.com (http://www.xcsoaring.com/products/products.htm)

Here is the link to a thread here on RCGroups with lots of info about varios : http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307042&highlight=variometer+

Michael

[Sail 'n Soar]

Hi, Sail 'n Soar , were you the gentleman at the VOA field today asking me about my vario ?

Anyway. the 2 varios readily available here in the US are the picolario ( which is the one I use ) ==> Picolario (http://www.picolario-usa.com/) , and the Skymelody, available here in from Dean Gradwell at XC Soaring.com (http://www.xcsoaring.com/products/products.htm)

Here is the link to a thread here on RCGroups with lots of info about varios : http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307042&highlight=variometer+

Michael

Michael,

That was I. Thanks for the information. After reviewing the web sites and products you mentioned, I've decided that a variometer may be a luxury I can do without for a while. Nevertheless, I was really impressed with how well yours functioned.

A side note, the coordinates provided in your bio appear to be from a suburb of Cleveland.

Gerry

[MTT]

A side note, the coordinates provided in your bio appear to be from a suburb of Cleveland.

Thanks for the heads-up, Gerry, i fixed it.

Michael

[rscarawa]

I think Eagle Tree has one too, but it is also $400. If it is made in China, it will come down in price at some point.

[bie]

How about a WS-Tech-Vario (http://www.wstech.de/)?

Regards,

Andy

[GBR2]

The cheapest one from them is a bit over $200 plus shipping of course. Not bad considering the price of the others. Still what did the old Ace Thermic Sniffer cost when new. Not any where near as sophisticated but more affordable.

[Sail 'n Soar]

The cheapest one from them is a bit over $200 plus shipping of course. Not bad considering the price of the others. Still what did the old Ace Thermic Sniffer cost when new. Not any where near as sophisticated but more affordable.

Do you have a description and source? I haven't been able to find one in that price range. Andy mentioned the WsTech vario. Prices were in Euro's, which correspond to ~$200 US at current exchange rates, but with no obvius US distributor. It also isn't obvious to me if there is a WsTech vario version that meets US FCC requirements.

[MTT]

According to the WsTech website, their vario transmits on theis frequency : 433,0625 to 434,7875 MHz .

If I'm not mistaken, that frequency rangeisin one of the bands assigned to HAM operators, so you would need a HAM license to opertae it.

Both picolario and Skymelody make versions for the US market, which operate in the so called family band.

Michael