Hi guys,
I found a affordable laser height meter. Please refer my blog.

http://moogagaga.tou3.com/Entry/84/

Thanks,
Haya

I've been flying the new HobbyKing Altitude Logger http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dproduct=22630 and it really works great. Easy to set up and use. Extremely small. I suspect this would be perfect for hand launch.

See my post http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...86&postcount=6

Hey guys, very interesting thread.

I have a topsky disser on the way and am ordering a predator 2. I would like to do an affordable lightweight altimeter. I don't need the most accurate, more the best logging, however it would be awesome to compare launch heights of the two!

I have three different altimeters that fit in my DLG's, plus a GPS and an older ZLOG unit with a built in display that are both too large for DLG's.

The three DLG units I have are the How High, a RAM3 and an OpenAltimeter. I like the RAM 3 software best, but it requires downloading to see the altitude readings.

The How-High is small, lightweight and simple, a blinking LED counts out the altitude on the field but does not have downloading capability for the data.

The OA unit is larger, is capable of downloading data, and can be programmed to give on field readings of the altitudes by beeps, the battery voltage (if using its on board regulator otherwise it sees the regulated input) and has a lost model alarm controlled by a transmitter switch. That feature is really nice. Its software is useful, but currently does not have some of the features I like that the RAM3 software has incorporated.

The data files are usually ASCII files but are completely different in content. I suppose a halfway good programmer could write conversions so the data could be used between software apps.

BP

My flying really improved when I got live telemetry and I can read the altitude off the screen.

Using a logger does not give you that instant feedback and hence the correlation between what you changed and the result is lost because of the time delay to get the information.

I went and bought a Graupner MC20 (any good system will do) with 4 altimeters (they fit easily in my Stobel, Salpeter, Fireworks, Steigeisen and Concept X2) and the Smart Box display. The Smart Box (or TX screen) gives live altitude, max altitude, sink rate/s, sink rate/3s and sink rate/10s.

Here's how I use it:
1. Launch height improvement.
I have the Tx screen set on my flap pre-set screen and the SmartBox reading Altitude.
Launch, look at the screen to check altitude, pull brakes, land adjust my flaps or elevator trim and relaunch. This takes about 45s per turnaround.
Move backwards and forwards between settings, style, effort, techniques, 2 stage launch or 1 stage launch and you very quickly learn what works with the instant feedback loop to your brain.
I added between 8 - 10m to the launch height on all my planes in 45 minutes on each plane and I now go to a comp knowing I am getting the best launch I can - a great feeling.

2. Flap settings in light air.
Watch the sink rate/10 seconds and switch between modes during the same flight and you can quickly see what is the best flap/trim setting for the same patch of air.

3. Flap settings in thermals.
Catch a thermal and watch the climb rate/10 seconds screen change as you change flap settings backwards and forwards in the same thermal. Awesome information. You learn that the stronger the lift the more flap you can use.

4. Watch how fast your sink rate is when you are not in lift after you launch, it makes you move fast rather than sitting in crap.

This is just a snap shot. My point is my flying has improved significantly with instant feedback telemetry. Give it a go - you will not be dissapointed.

Cheers,
Marcus

Marcus,

I've seen improvement with telemetry as well, though I still haven't switched over for my contest radio.

The only one of these that I don't pay much attention to is 3. In a thermal my climb rate is usually directly proportional to my ability to stay centered.

I have used it primarily to tune launch height via alteration of climbout angles, camber settings, preset timing, etc.

I also trim in some really still air to set min sink rates playing with camber and elevator trim (speed) settings. It has improved my dead air times by almost 20 seconds on average, indicating that my stuff wasn't even close to optimally set up before.

Unfortunately now the large gains are gone and I'm back to fiddling for very incremental improvements.

Very interesting information. 20 seconds in dead air is pretty significant. Significant enough that I am surprised similar settings weren't achievable before using a timer? Or is it just much faster with the telemetry?

Much faster. You can compress hours of trimming into a 15 minute session. 20 seconds is easy to find if you gain another 10 feet of launch height and optimize your min sink settings even just a little bit.

I can totally see how that would be beneficial. Optimizing launch is easily and quickly done using the Open-Altimeter (no telemetry) by launching, landing, listening to the beeps, making an adjustment and relaunching over and over. 15-20 min is all it takes to optimize wing settings and climb angles. To be able to see sink rates "live" would be awesome... so why doesn't the 8FG support telemetry

It looks like this question was asked back in 2011 with no responses. Anyone have or know of an altimeter and software combination compatible with Mac OS? I know I can use a Windows emulation or Boot Camp, but I'd rather go native if possible. Thanks.

Originally Posted by numba

It looks like this question was asked back in 2011 with no responses. Anyone have or know of an altimeter and software combination compatible with Mac OS? I know I can use a Windows emulation or Boot Camp, but I'd rather go native if possible. Thanks.

OpenAltimeter is.

Hey I was wondering how the "how high" would compare to the eagle tree "micro sensor v4" for launch height.

Hey! Here's something new... Altimeter info via bluetooth!

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1773710

Please change the openaltimeter link to just www.openaltimeter.org

THe order link is not operational anymore.

FlyDream released Bluettoth model for altimeter (Used for Android system).
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1786846