Ross,
Your got it in one; SPOTs were not designed to provide position
reporting at the intervals that would
make tracking competitions a media event. That will come, in fact they
already exist, but they are much more
expensive.
That said SPOT's do provide competition organisers and club operations with
information about where their fleet is,
this should cut down the need for radio positions reports and ops normal
reports, this will be particularly valuable on
distance flights when pilots may be out of radio range with the base or
crew.
SDF
From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net
[mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Ross McLean
Sent: Wednesday, 23 March 2011 4:36 PM
To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.'
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] spot tracking
FYI, at the GP all the spots are synchronised on the grid immediately before
the launch. So given the limitations of the Spot device we get what we get.
Because the transmissions are 10 minutes apart often it will look as though
a pilot has missed the turnpoint when in fact it just didn't transmit until
after he had turned. So forget the track just take a snapshot of where
everyone is each ten minutes or so.
ROSS
From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net
[mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Jacques
Graells
Sent: Wednesday, 23 March 2011 3:53 PM
To: aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net
Subject: [Aus-soaring] spot tracking
There was a few questions about spots used for tracking the gliding GP, here
are the answers.
The purpose and main use of a Spot tracker is as a location device in case
of accident or landing out, tracking increases the chances of being located
as it will report the current or last position even if the pilot is
un-concious. (providing the spot is with the pilot)
Tracking on fancy maps or following a contest via spot tracking is a side
benefit, it is not the primary purpose for a glider pilot to carry a spot.
* The spot tracking site used for the the GP now also works with
Firefox
* The updates are every 10 min, that can't be changed.
* The 10 min updates sent from the spot do not drift over the day they
keep coming at the exact time + 10 min
* The placement of the spot is critical, best reception and
transmission is achieved when the device is flat, facing the sky, for us
glider pilots from a safety and functional point of view the ideal placement
is on the parachute strap on the shoulder. (or on top of your helmet if you
wear one and are 160cm tall :))
* The delay in the updates as sent from spot are not consistent, even
if the device sends the position to spot, at times it might be available
within a minute, other times I have seen 5 or 10 minutes delay
Cheers
Jacques
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