LouDiamond 1 #1 February 12, 2003 I did a search here and on BLINC and haven't found anything recent or evidence that anyone is persuing the use of GPS on BM flights. While I can't really get into the squiggly lines I saw on one site , I can kind of appreciate the graphs posted that give a linear representation but again this all gets kind of nerdy. I am more intrested(as I assume most probably are) in knowing how far I went and how fast with altitude included. I know the average GPS will tell you that all day long but there has to be a easier or should I say simpler program/software solution out there that will allow you to DL the info gathered and instead of the whiz bang slide rule charts, simple start/finish points, distance traveled,speed and altitude incriments. Any of you programers/geeks know how to write a simple program like described that can be used with the Garmin gps and transfered via serial or USB port? Short of putting my extended antenna on my Garmin V and a shit load of duct tape to my helmet and marking a waypoint immediately before exiting and again after opening, I know of no other way that is being used. Anyone have any experience with this?"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #2 February 12, 2003 get a gps.... turn it on... hit MARK jump open parachute hit mark read the screenLeroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 26 #3 February 12, 2003 Have you tried downloading your data? It's not too hard. Maybe I'm a geek, but it wasn't that big a deal for me.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #4 February 12, 2003 Quote get a gps.... turn it on... hit MARK jump open parachute hit mark read the screen DUDE....your a god.... a god damn geek! NO shit, I have that much figured out. Tom, what are you using to DL your data and how is it depicted?"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #5 February 12, 2003 then wtf is ur malfuntion?Leroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #6 February 12, 2003 Quotethen wtf is ur malfuntion? I guess "Reading is fundamental" never made it to your neighborhood. SOFTWARE, I'm looking for a software solution to interpolate and display knuckle dragger type info. No fancy scribbly lines or graphs. Just tell me where I got out, how fast and far I went, my altitude and where I opened up at. Capiche?"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leroydb 0 #7 February 12, 2003 go to garmins web site bo.... www.garmin.comLeroy ..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #8 February 12, 2003 Quote go to garmins web site bo.... www.garmin.com BOY, you'r just FULL of all KINDS of good info...I never would of thunk of going to the Garmin site"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #9 February 12, 2003 OK kids, BTFU, both of you. Scott, the most techie GPS guys I know in this forum are Craig Poxon and maybe Fordy. I am sure one of them will pipe up in a minute. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #10 February 12, 2003 Quote Scott, the most techie GPS guys I know in this forum are Craig Poxon and maybe Fordy. I am sure one of them will pipe up in a minute I was going to but he poo-pooed my "squiggly lines" so now I'm sulking :-P Was having a brief conversation with Hooknswoop about this the other day. I've had some good results from OziExplorer which produces a nice track profile, but it seems that the latest freebie version doesn't have that function available? I'm unable to test this as I don't want to lose the version I've got installed if this is true and don't have a spare machine at the moment. I tried playing with the 3D version for a visualisation but with no success. I've emailed the authors to see what they know. I'm sure I posted something about this before when Yuri supplied me with some of his data before I had my own Skyflyer, but I've not been able to find it?! I had attached several pictures of combinations of the track profile. Their production required a little bit of tweaking; manually determing the start and the end of the freefall to trim the graph left and right with the scroll bars, setting a nice scale, as well as vertically. I've attached a couple of graphs generated from Yuri's data which should satisfy Scott/Lou (I thought he was really Lou Diamond Phillips! :-P) where the speeds and distances covered are apparent. Both measurements are for the horizontal vector. A ProTrack download will give you a graph of both of the vertical vectors (I think OziExplorer will only do this for distance not speed). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #11 February 13, 2003 Thanks Craig. I think I'm gonna try just using my Garmin V attached to my chest strap. There are fields in the display screen that cover speed, altitude, average speed, max speed,vertical speed and moving average. It has a track or "bread crumb" feature that may be benificial, we'll see. I don't think there is a way to down load this info once the jump is over but I'll be happy if it at least lets me write it down after each jump. Has anyone used the Garmin V for BM before?"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VectorBoy 0 #12 February 13, 2003 Sounds like we really need ground based telemetry and a bird suit carried transponder. JK Glen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #13 February 13, 2003 QuoteThanks Craig. I think I'm gonna try just using my Garmin V attached to my chest strap. Have you tried it there before? I think it's going to be pretty shielded from the satellites by your body and you'll have trouble getting a lock. Think you are going to have to extend the antenna up to your helmet. Also, you'll have trouble getting a lock in the plane. Either sit by the window and hold the unit or antenna to it so it has a clear view of the sky (not under the wing) or ask the pilot to pop it on his dash. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cobaltdan 0 #14 February 13, 2003 we have a 3d ploting software we wrote in labview for our gps data. you can also plot vertical speed and glide ratio. unfortunately we do not have the developers pack yet so i can not make executables for people not running lab view. sincerely, dan<><>Daniel Preston <><> atairaerodynamics.com (sport) atairaerospace.com (military) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #15 February 13, 2003 QuoteQuoteThanks Craig. I think I'm gonna try just using my Garmin V attached to my chest strap. Have you tried it there before? I think it's going to be pretty shielded from the satellites by your body and you'll have trouble getting a lock. Think you are going to have to extend the antenna up to your helmet. Also, you'll have trouble getting a lock in the plane. Either sit by the window and hold the unit or antenna to it so it has a clear view of the sky (not under the wing) or ask the pilot to pop it on his dash. I haven't flown it in that position and that was one of the first things I thought about ,however I don't think it will be an issue since I can get up to 6 satellites from inside my house on a consistent basis. I had initially planned on having the antenna extension mounted on my helmet but the way it's been picking up birds I figure I'll give it a go this way.We shall see. I thought about signal in the plane but since I sit up front by the cockpit I assume I'll get enough satellites to keep the data accurate. The Garmin V has the ability to track data up to 30 secs without constant contact from a bird. I take all of that with a grain of salt though since Murphy is a mother fucker. I've used the Garmin III and V extensively on the ground but never while flying, let alone flying my self in a BM suit, so it will be an interesting endevor. If I am able to jump this long weekend I'll update the thread with my findings."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cobaltdan 0 #16 February 14, 2003 gps repeaters are relatively cheap. as our dataloggers have an internal 12ch gps, for every test jump we make we tape a repeater on the plane. basically it is a small patch antennae connected to a small reradiating antennae and a nicad battery. the reradiating ant. is taped to the inside of the plane and the receiving ant. is either taped to the cockpit window or outside to the fuselage. if attaching to the window make sure it is a clear patch (no metal wires in the glass). sincerely, dan<><>Daniel Preston <><> atairaerodynamics.com (sport) atairaerospace.com (military) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
