MotoCalc 8 Now Available

[stefanv]

Capable Computing, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of MotoCalc 8!

The most significant improvement is a more versatile MotoWizard, which now lets you choose specific components (such as the motor or battery you have on hand) and then selects a power system built around those components (if possible).

Other improvements include "C" ratings for cells, ranges for parallel cells/batteries, gearbox weight, an "e-mail to support" window right in MotoCalc, helpful tips of the day, and quite a bit of new data.

Please check out http://www.motocalc.com for all the details (and to download your free upgrade if you're a registered user).

Stefan Vorkoetter
Capable Computing, Inc.

[spinnetti]

Stefan, glad to see the upgrade, but you should warn people that it does not save your old data if upgrading. I don't want to have to retype all that stuff, and import did not work. The existing tuned/tweaked data is very important to making the tool useful, and there needs to be a way to upgrade that too.

I was also hoping you would seperate out the props from the gearboxes....

Finally, I find geared numbers pretty good, but EDF and small high speed props seem to throw things way off.. any thoughts?


Thanks..

[stefanv]

Regarding old data, if you installed the old version in, for example, "C:\Program Files\MotoCalc7", and the new version in "C:\Program Files\MotoCalc8", it will grab your old data the first time you run the new version. If it didn't for you, send me a message off-line (stefan@motocalc.com) and we'll get it figured out.

I would eventually like to separate the props from the gearboxes, but there are various technical issues preventing me from doing so (like what to do with people's old data in that case).

The problems with EDFs are primarily getting good constants. The mathematical model is sound, but there's very little good data available out there for individual fan units. Small high speed props suffer from scale effect, which also affects predictions for very tiny models (sub-ounce).

Stefan

[stefanv]

Egg on my face.

It appears that MotoCalc 8 was trying to import your MotoCalc 6 data, not MotoCalc 7. This is now fixed. If you uninstall MotoCalc 8, re-download it, and re-install it, it should now import your MotoCalc 7 data.

Stefan

[spinnetti]

Egg on my face.

It appears that MotoCalc 8 was trying to import your MotoCalc 6 data, not MotoCalc 7. This is now fixed. If you uninstall MotoCalc 8, re-download it, and re-install it, it should now import your MotoCalc 7 data.

Stefan

Stefan,

Thanks a TON for your quick and helpful info. I appreciate the good service.

I had put together quite a list of feature requests/tweaks at one time that I emailed to you guys when 7 came out (like ability to sort user contributed data alphabetically and ability to analyze for maximum speed for instance).
Anway, even though it could be improved further still, its a great tool which I spend way to much time in front of! Keep up the good work.

Dave.

*** Update ***
I uninstalled and reinstalled, and it imported my projects.
Thanks Stefan!

[stefanv]

Well, sorting alphabetically is there, but it was already there in MotoCalc 7. Just click on the column heading in the User Contributed Data Browser.

MotoCalc is far from "finished". We're going to keep improving it over the years ahead.

Stefan

[gadzby]

Stefan, are any of the Thunder Power cells you've included ProLites (except the ones labeled G2)?

For example,
TP1320 = 1320 ProLite?
TP1950 = 2000 ProLite?
TP2100 = 2100 ProLite?

Also, it looks like the "TP2100 G2" 15C cell is really a ProLite, and may be mislabeled. Am I missing something?

[stefanv]

Yes, the 2100 G2 should be a ProLite, as should the 1320. Also, the 920 (G2) should be a 900. I've updated the data on the web site, so if you select Cells from the Update menu, you'll get the new data.

Since I renamed some of the cells, the old data will be in your database too, so you may want to delete the following entries:

Thunder Power TP1320
Thunder Power TP920 (G2)
Thunder Power TP2100 (G2)

The original 1950, 2000, and 2050 entries are the old ThunderPower cells.

Stefan

[gadzby]

Thanks for the clarification Stefan, and for the version 8 update. I find Motocalc to be highly useful software, and use it frequently.

[Bill Germanson]

Stefan, Any way to get v8 to import the v6 data?

[stefanv]

Stefan, Any way to get v8 to import the v6 data?

No, not directly, although you could install version 7 first, having it import the version 6 data, and then install version 8.

If you want to do this, e-mail me directly (stefan@capable.ca) to get the version 7 installer.

Stefan

[Bill Glover]

I upgraded to v8 last night ... really appreciate all the work you put into this package - many thanks Stefan!

[Neil Stainton]

I just upgraded. Thanks for the new version. On slight concern with V7 (and unchanged in V8) is that MotoCalc underestimates the power-off performance of my gliders. For instance one comp model is given a sink rate of 112 ft/min, but extensive testing with a RAM2 gives me figures between 80 ft/min and 100 ft/min. I have set all the drag radio boxes to minimise drag.

Regards,

Neil.

[Brian Wa]

I don't find it strange at all that we get different results from Data loggers fitted to our models than we do from Gestimation Computer Programmes.
Of course our models never fly in still air, that's imposable to find, so data logger results are also difficult to interpret.