VFR flight planning and navigation software I've written
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Just started playing with it now, so far - I am very pleased. My needs are few and this easy to use and intuitive offering fits the bill precisely. Thank you.
Best Wishes
Best Wishes
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Tim,
There is a bug in the "zooming", when the program window is not full sized, ie. double clicking on the window border.
Zooming in / out displays only water.
ver 0.9.4.30095
Mike
There is a bug in the "zooming", when the program window is not full sized, ie. double clicking on the window border.
Zooming in / out displays only water.
ver 0.9.4.30095
Mike
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WorkingHard, airfields and frequencies should be automatically added to the PLOG if SkyAngel picks them up along your route. If you've got a route on which you think frequencies should be being picked up and aren't, please let me know it.
malcolmf, thanks for the feedback. I think number 1 may be fixed in today's release, it certainly saves the weight&balance along with a route you've saved.
x933, good point. This has slipped through so far.
mstram, that's a great bug report but I've so far been unable to reproduce it. What exactly do you have to zoom to and where exactly do you have to click?
yakker, with what airfield is the VRP associated? I'll check the AIP.
malcolmf, thanks for the feedback. I think number 1 may be fixed in today's release, it certainly saves the weight&balance along with a route you've saved.
x933, good point. This has slipped through so far.
mstram, that's a great bug report but I've so far been unable to reproduce it. What exactly do you have to zoom to and where exactly do you have to click?
yakker, with what airfield is the VRP associated? I'll check the AIP.
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Released today is another exciting new version of SkyAngel, build 0.9.5. Most of the work this week has been on InFlight but there are bug fixes in Plan, and also functionality associated with automatically connecting to InFlight devices. I'll detail the new stuff below:
InFlight
--------
The route editor has been rewritten in a graphical way to be more intuitive
A context menu is now available on the main map to allow easy creation of routes
Runway centreline and glideslope plotting on both maps
Saving of routes is now supported
The menu can now be hidden, making more room for the instruments
Heading indicator improved with actual heading and bug direction displayed
An option has been added to automatically change waypoints as they are passed
Improved map rendering while dragging the map
Distance and speed units can now be configured
Battery status is now displayed alongside GPS status in the main map
The GPS functionality could fail to open ports that were actually valid, stating they were not
Baud rate can now be set in GPS options
The onscreen keyboard can now be toggled from the Tools menus, for WinCE-based devices
Plan
----
New Import VFR Route functionality allows entering of a route in flightplan shorthand
Routes can be exported directly to a SkyAngel InFlight device connected via ActiveSync
Flight logs can be imported directly from a SkyAngel InFlight device connected via ActiveSync
InFlight
--------
The route editor has been rewritten in a graphical way to be more intuitive
A context menu is now available on the main map to allow easy creation of routes
Runway centreline and glideslope plotting on both maps
Saving of routes is now supported
The menu can now be hidden, making more room for the instruments
Heading indicator improved with actual heading and bug direction displayed
An option has been added to automatically change waypoints as they are passed
Improved map rendering while dragging the map
Distance and speed units can now be configured
Battery status is now displayed alongside GPS status in the main map
The GPS functionality could fail to open ports that were actually valid, stating they were not
Baud rate can now be set in GPS options
The onscreen keyboard can now be toggled from the Tools menus, for WinCE-based devices
Plan
----
New Import VFR Route functionality allows entering of a route in flightplan shorthand
Routes can be exported directly to a SkyAngel InFlight device connected via ActiveSync
Flight logs can be imported directly from a SkyAngel InFlight device connected via ActiveSync
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Confirmation of zooming bug
There is a bug in the "zooming", when the program window is not full sized, ie. double clicking on the window border.
Zooming in / out displays only water.
Zooming in / out displays only water.
1) Set the enroute features tab to auto-hide
2) Click on the main map to hide the enroute features window then on the enroute features tab to re-display the window.
3) Click back in the main map and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom (only one zoom level) before the enroute window has had a chance to auto-hide (you have to be quick)
Hope this helps to track it down.
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Tim,
The VRP at the junction of the M6/M58 just North of the Manchester low level route.
Would it be possible to also add some typed notes to the flight plan before printing it out?
Also if flying to an airfield, such as Woodvale, could the plan show the tower frequency as well as the approach frequency.
Cheers
Yakker
The VRP at the junction of the M6/M58 just North of the Manchester low level route.
Would it be possible to also add some typed notes to the flight plan before printing it out?
Also if flying to an airfield, such as Woodvale, could the plan show the tower frequency as well as the approach frequency.
Cheers
Yakker
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Hi Tim,
Firstly, excellent work!
I've just installed 0.9.5 inflight on a widescreen Navigo unit and it seems to work fine, with the exception of the GPS altitude. It's 100 - 200 ft out compared both a Garmin Etrex and PocketFMS on the same Navigo.
I think this relates to the ellipsoid separation on the SIRF III chipset. My understanding is SIRF III subtracts the separation in the output altitude so doing another subtract using the separation from the GPGGA sentence causes height errors.
A few suggestions:
"ETE NXT", would be nice if this box could be clicked to toggle to ETA Next as in my position reports I estimate my next position time as minutes-past-the-hour. I don't know if this is normal but it's certainly the way I was taught. A third option of Destination ETA could be incorporated too and clicking the box would cycle through.
I've not tried the software in flight yet, but there doesn't seem to be an option to allow it to return to following position after maybe 20 seconds after manual panning. This option would be useful for devices with no hard buttons as it's likely the map will be inadvertently panned when flying.
Turning instruments on and off. It would be good to be able to do this without using the menu. Clicking on the instruments / approaching features could hide them and have a click area at each side / bottom of the screen to re-display the individual instruments.
Likewise it would be good to have button areas on the map to zoom in and out.
Approaching features. Is it possible to have this in a standby mode where it's hidden unless terrain/airspace/obstacles need to be warned about?
Location. It would be good to have the ability to display a position report based on 8-point direction and distance from airfields, navaids, big town etc. i.e. "4.5NM SW of Shobdon". I believe the Skyforce locator did this?
What you've got so far is excellent though. Compared to PocketFMS the performance on the device is absolutely outstanding.
-j34-
Firstly, excellent work!
I've just installed 0.9.5 inflight on a widescreen Navigo unit and it seems to work fine, with the exception of the GPS altitude. It's 100 - 200 ft out compared both a Garmin Etrex and PocketFMS on the same Navigo.
I think this relates to the ellipsoid separation on the SIRF III chipset. My understanding is SIRF III subtracts the separation in the output altitude so doing another subtract using the separation from the GPGGA sentence causes height errors.
A few suggestions:
"ETE NXT", would be nice if this box could be clicked to toggle to ETA Next as in my position reports I estimate my next position time as minutes-past-the-hour. I don't know if this is normal but it's certainly the way I was taught. A third option of Destination ETA could be incorporated too and clicking the box would cycle through.
I've not tried the software in flight yet, but there doesn't seem to be an option to allow it to return to following position after maybe 20 seconds after manual panning. This option would be useful for devices with no hard buttons as it's likely the map will be inadvertently panned when flying.
Turning instruments on and off. It would be good to be able to do this without using the menu. Clicking on the instruments / approaching features could hide them and have a click area at each side / bottom of the screen to re-display the individual instruments.
Likewise it would be good to have button areas on the map to zoom in and out.
Approaching features. Is it possible to have this in a standby mode where it's hidden unless terrain/airspace/obstacles need to be warned about?
Location. It would be good to have the ability to display a position report based on 8-point direction and distance from airfields, navaids, big town etc. i.e. "4.5NM SW of Shobdon". I believe the Skyforce locator did this?
What you've got so far is excellent though. Compared to PocketFMS the performance on the device is absolutely outstanding.
-j34-
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Another excellent update, Tim, thank you.
I echo junction34's comments about the altitude readout on the Navigo.
Mine is also almost exactly 150 ft out (the whole time I'm in the SE region certainly) & I've looked in vain for a means of correction via other software.
An offset adjustment would be most welcome if possible.
The other point is the default directory for flight plans being: \My Documents\SkyAngel Routes.
On the Navigo (& some other WinCE devices) all Windows info apart from the registry, is wiped every time the device turns off. This means that any saved routes are lost on Turn Off. (Its also difficult to import "Planner" routes)
Is it possible to have the default "Routes" directory on the SD card?
Again, Thank You for your hard work & great software,
Regards,
Max.
I echo junction34's comments about the altitude readout on the Navigo.
Mine is also almost exactly 150 ft out (the whole time I'm in the SE region certainly) & I've looked in vain for a means of correction via other software.
An offset adjustment would be most welcome if possible.
The other point is the default directory for flight plans being: \My Documents\SkyAngel Routes.
On the Navigo (& some other WinCE devices) all Windows info apart from the registry, is wiped every time the device turns off. This means that any saved routes are lost on Turn Off. (Its also difficult to import "Planner" routes)
Is it possible to have the default "Routes" directory on the SD card?
Again, Thank You for your hard work & great software,
Regards,
Max.
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yakker, SkyAngel shows all frequencies it knows about for an airfield that's the destination in your planned route. Woodvale being military, the only frequency listed in the AIP is APP and we therefore don't have TWR data at the moment. I don't think the military AIP is published online unfortunately. [Edit: I've just found it. Shame on me.]
The problem of ellipsoid elevation versus mean sea level elevation is an interesting one. A few devices are "naughty" and report ellipsoid altitude rather than mean sea level altitude, and Navigo devices seem to be among these. This is obviously a problem when pilots are using car satnav units, whose manufacturers do not care about altitude, for aerial navigation. My advice would be not to purchase a unit that doesn't do the required conversion to amsl. I guess some products like the ones you mentioned are doing their own correction, but unfortunately I don't have the resources to build geoid correction into SkyAngel right now, so the best I can do is to detect the condition (this is easy) and allow manual calibrarion by entering the known altitude. This will work fine for trips that are not too long. In fact I can detect the fact that you're at an airport, and pre-populate the calibrarion box with the known elevation of the airfield. If you'd like to test this functionality in a preview build, contact me.
ETE should read ETA, I'll get that corrected. It is actually showing the zulu time of arrival. I do plan to have a "return to follow" feature for the mapping. I like your other ideas, too, but unfortunately at this stage I've got to stop adding new features to it and just get it polished so that it can actually be released this year. After release I'll then be able to start planning for the next version.
The problem of ellipsoid elevation versus mean sea level elevation is an interesting one. A few devices are "naughty" and report ellipsoid altitude rather than mean sea level altitude, and Navigo devices seem to be among these. This is obviously a problem when pilots are using car satnav units, whose manufacturers do not care about altitude, for aerial navigation. My advice would be not to purchase a unit that doesn't do the required conversion to amsl. I guess some products like the ones you mentioned are doing their own correction, but unfortunately I don't have the resources to build geoid correction into SkyAngel right now, so the best I can do is to detect the condition (this is easy) and allow manual calibrarion by entering the known altitude. This will work fine for trips that are not too long. In fact I can detect the fact that you're at an airport, and pre-populate the calibrarion box with the known elevation of the airfield. If you'd like to test this functionality in a preview build, contact me.
ETE should read ETA, I'll get that corrected. It is actually showing the zulu time of arrival. I do plan to have a "return to follow" feature for the mapping. I like your other ideas, too, but unfortunately at this stage I've got to stop adding new features to it and just get it polished so that it can actually be released this year. After release I'll then be able to start planning for the next version.
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Thanks Tim,
I'd be happy to test any changes made to the altitude calibration.
I understand the requirement to concentrate on getting the product ready for an initial version 1 release, but I think the facility to automatically return to following the position a set time after manual panning is almost essential for airborne use.
Given the small screen area on these devices, it's often necessary to have the screen zoomed in quite far. Panning can be used to have a brief "look ahead", but going through the menu to resume following is far from ideal.
-j34-
I'd be happy to test any changes made to the altitude calibration.
I understand the requirement to concentrate on getting the product ready for an initial version 1 release, but I think the facility to automatically return to following the position a set time after manual panning is almost essential for airborne use.
Given the small screen area on these devices, it's often necessary to have the screen zoomed in quite far. Panning can be used to have a brief "look ahead", but going through the menu to resume following is far from ideal.
-j34-
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If you could contact me through the SkyAngel site I'll be happy to get a preview build to you.
Note that the feature whereby a panned map returns to follow mode is already committed to the to-do list; there's no way v1 will ship without it. I'm just not accepting significant new features for the to-do list any more
There'll be a community forum set up on the SkyAngel site at some point where detailed discussion can happen about proposed features for each version.
Note that the feature whereby a panned map returns to follow mode is already committed to the to-do list; there's no way v1 will ship without it. I'm just not accepting significant new features for the to-do list any more
There'll be a community forum set up on the SkyAngel site at some point where detailed discussion can happen about proposed features for each version.
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on a slightly different note... can someone suggest a good GPS unit which I can purchase so to enjoy using SkyAngel in the cockpit as well as at home on my laptop?
Keep up the good work Tim!!
Keep up the good work Tim!!
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There is a bug in the "zooming", when the program window is not full sized, ie. double clicking on the window border.
Zooming in / out displays only water.
Tim - I can reliably replicate this in V0.9.5.22182.
1) Set the enroute features tab to auto-hide
2) Click on the main map to hide the enroute features window then on the enroute features tab to re-display the window.
3) Click back in the main map and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom (only one zoom level) before the enroute window has had a chance to auto-hide (you have to be quick)
I don't have to do any of that, I just open the program in it's default mode, then double click the window border to "unmaximize it".
I also have the 3d terrain shading turned off, that might be a factor.
**EDIT* I just downloaded the latest??? U.S. skydata and the problem seems to have gone away.
Speaking of the 3d, the two buttons leftmost buttons, (tooltips "Flat terrain shading", "3d terrain shading"), are confusing. Are those buttons supposed to be toggles, i.e. where one mode is active at a time? .. Or can they both be on/off at the same time? It's not obvious from their displayed state which mode is active. I've been running with them both off, as my p.c. is too slow.
Mike
Zooming in / out displays only water.
Tim - I can reliably replicate this in V0.9.5.22182.
1) Set the enroute features tab to auto-hide
2) Click on the main map to hide the enroute features window then on the enroute features tab to re-display the window.
3) Click back in the main map and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom (only one zoom level) before the enroute window has had a chance to auto-hide (you have to be quick)
I don't have to do any of that, I just open the program in it's default mode, then double click the window border to "unmaximize it".
I also have the 3d terrain shading turned off, that might be a factor.
**EDIT* I just downloaded the latest??? U.S. skydata and the problem seems to have gone away.
Speaking of the 3d, the two buttons leftmost buttons, (tooltips "Flat terrain shading", "3d terrain shading"), are confusing. Are those buttons supposed to be toggles, i.e. where one mode is active at a time? .. Or can they both be on/off at the same time? It's not obvious from their displayed state which mode is active. I've been running with them both off, as my p.c. is too slow.
Mike
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Calling anybody who wants to use SkyAngel Plan with their existing Garmin GPS device!
I'm prototyping a version which can export routes directly to your Garmin aviation GPS unit connected via USB. If anybody here has such a device and is interested, please get in touch with me (through the SkyAngel site) and I'll send you a test version so you can let me know how it works for you.
Thanks!
I'm prototyping a version which can export routes directly to your Garmin aviation GPS unit connected via USB. If anybody here has such a device and is interested, please get in touch with me (through the SkyAngel site) and I'll send you a test version so you can let me know how it works for you.
Thanks!
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Mike, I think I've fixed the drawing bug you mentioned and if you like I can send you a test build so you can verify this; I'd appreciate it. Email me if so.
Of those two buttons, either can be turned on or neither. Not both though.
Of those two buttons, either can be turned on or neither. Not both though.
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Mike, I think I've fixed the drawing bug you mentioned and if you like I can send you a test build so you can verify this;
After downloading the (updated ??) U.S. skydata, the problem seems to have gone away. Has the .skydata changed for the U.S. .. all the countries? I read in an earlier post where you mentioned updated .skydata files.
If the data files are changing, it would be nice if the install program could detect out of date data files (I know it's still beta
), and notify the user / offer to download etc.
It seems that the Canada data you sent me no longer works, all airfields have disappeared
Mike
After downloading the (updated ??) U.S. skydata, the problem seems to have gone away. Has the .skydata changed for the U.S. .. all the countries? I read in an earlier post where you mentioned updated .skydata files.
If the data files are changing, it would be nice if the install program could detect out of date data files (I know it's still beta
), and notify the user / offer to download etc.It seems that the Canada data you sent me no longer works, all airfields have disappeared
Mike
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Mike, the data format should settle down from now onwards. Once of its enhancements is knowing about its own "version".
Biggles, you've discovered a secret "feature" that I've been using to test the map rotation code. Shh!
Biggles, you've discovered a secret "feature" that I've been using to test the map rotation code. Shh!