· Peter Bräuniger, who responded to the missing wind direction and strength functionality, with a beta firmware version. Also responded to many questions by E-mail.

Intent of this review : Usefulness to a recreational pilot.

Observations

Airtime with this unit: 6.5 hours as of 2004/12/12.

Desk time: A handful of hours.

Hardware

Case color. I will say it straight out: I don't like the Purple case color. But, no big deal.

· Wolf Willershausen, 2004/11/29: Starting from January 2005 you may decide what color you want for the case of Competino:

o New standard is Blue translucent ( not such a light blue as the AV-Pilot ), like the IQ-Sonic

o Dark grey as the IQ-Competition series

o Blue-Aubergine as the one you have.

GPS reception: Excellent.

· Quickly found enough satellites when first used outdoors.

· Waiting indoors for my car to get serviced, I was able to get reception (3-4 satellites) when close to a window of the customer lounge (The beeping probably annoyed other customers).

· In street in front of my house (known reference), unit was seeing 5-7 satellites.

· 1-3 satellites seen indoors, when laid on my living room table. Amazing.

· 4-7 satellites seen while driving my car, unit on my lap. Excellent.

Other gizmos included. Come with serial cable and Software on a CD. The unit I have had batteries inside (Installed by local dealer?). Protective bag with drawstring (Purple again). Leg mounting bracket, attachment screw, and Velcro strap. But to secure the unit to my Sup'Air flight deck, I stuck a male Velcro strip under it + safety tether.

Airspeed probe is extra, but one can purchase a standard Bräuniger speed probe. I verified that the airspeed gets displayed in a user selectable field.

Buttons are stiff. Good so input has to be intentional. But tiring, when setting up the unit for the first time (no big deal).

Silent noise (oxymoron). With the sound set as 0%, one can hear some noise when listening close to the unit, even some vario beeping when the unit is raised, as if the sound is at 1% instead of 0%. Not a real problem.

Radio interference test: Pass.

· Transmission.

o Description: Using a Yaesu VX-5 radio with its frequency set to 146.415 MHz, and a power output of 5 Watt : Transmission should not affect normal operation of the Vario+GPS unit, when radio antenna at 10 cm (4") distance.

o Result: Pass.

o More info: Only when antenna at 2 cm, did the display go black, but with no obvious disturbance to analog vario reading. GPS coordinates (displayed for 10s when the Enter button is pressed) seemed unaffected.

o Reference: Flytec 3005 (old vario, no GPS) has vario go nuts when antenna ≤ 30 cm. Aircotec / XC-trainer did worse, reacting at ≤ 6 cm.

· Reception.

o Description: Using a Yaesu VX-5 radio with its squelch level down to 3 (out of 15) : Radio should not pick up noise from the Vario+GPS unit, when radio antenna at 10 cm (4") distance.

o Result: Pass.

o More info: With squelch at 3/15, noise received when ≤ 6 cm. 4/15: ≤ 4 cm. 5/15: Quiet with antenna touching unit.

o Reference: Aircotec / XC-trainer did better, no noise picked up with squelch at 1/15 !

Battery management.

· Battery access. Opening the compartment is very easy (Could it open on its own?). On my old vario I needed to use a screwdriver to open the compartment of my vario. In this case, it is just a side-slide mechanism.

· Someone told me he was concerned that memory may be lost when all batteries are removed for transferring those in bank 2 to bank 1. But I'm thinking that if Flash-type memory is used to store data (like those USB keychain type I use), they don't need to be powered to keep the data. But, I was curious enough to check. I took all 4 batteries out for more than 5 minutes, then put them back in. My waypoints were still there. Also were my stored flights (summary data + 2D map of flight). Non-issue.

· Replacing batteries when unit is secured to a flight deck with Velcro. I used a male Velcro patch on the underside but not covering the battery compartment. To change the batteries, I don't need to separate the Velcro, just lifting the top of the unit and sliding off the compartment door (nice of the door to easily open), I have enough access to pry off the batteries with a fingernail, from the side the door slides to. To help me remember the battery orientation (middle ones are the same direction!) I used a permanent marker to write (+) and (-) signs on the side (but inside the compartment door). More details (with pictures) in: Electronics Component: Vario+GPS.

· In the basic settings, one can select between the type of battery: Alkaline or NiMH (rechargeable).

· 2005/1/22. In flight, I enjoyed seeing my first battery bank energy level go dead, and the second bank kicking-in. Very nice! But when switching battery bank 2 into bank 1 as documented, I turned on the unit after for a final verification, to notice that the new batteries I had put in were almost dead. But then I thought that maybe the battery bank numbers could be wrong, undid my battery swap, and corrected as if bank 1 would be the lower one. Now both banks showed full charge. So I believe the battery bank order as shown in the documentation is wrong, with bank 1 being in fact the lower one. I will report this observation today to Bräuniger. I recommend that the battery bank energy-level bars on the display be swapped to match the physical order, so we would see the lower bank get consumed first. This would be more intuitive.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2005/1/24: You are right, and I have to ask your pardon. There has been a series of delivered Competino ( and Flytec 5020 as well) with twisted wires for Battery bank 1 and bank 2 . It was too late when we detected this error. Because this is more a cosmetic error and not a functional one we refrained from a call back action. If it is annoying you too much, we or someone else could re-twist the two wires between the batteries and the board.

Fixation. See Electronics Component: Vario+GPS.

Display.

· Problem: Sticky pixels within compass circle.

o On 2004/12/4, I had a 2 hour flight up to 2105 m (6904') MSL, and the temperature on launch (4000') was 45°F. Another pilot reported 23°F at 7400', so interpolating for 6900' I get 26°F or -3°C. Some pixels of the LCD screen stayed on longer than they should, cluttering the display: The NESW orientation letters, the last lift indicator and windsock icon started interfering from previously displayed locations. User-displayed fields did not seem affected. Problem disappeared each time I got down to warmer temperatures. Still the instrument documentation states that the Competino should be usable down to -10°C (and up to 45°C). No a big problem as it was damn cold to be flying anyway.

o On 2005/1/15 I flew 2 hours in 60°F (16°C) air, and the problem re-appeared 3-4 times. First battery bank was at about 50% charge indication. Software version 1.12a.

· Someone asked me if the refresh rate of the compass was fast enough: a non-issue for me.

· Recessed window. Good idea for reducing the amount of abuse the display may receive. A friend who has the Flytec/5030 (Equivalent to Bräuniger/Compeo) did not like the recess, stating that it will create shadow edges on the display. That aspect did not bother in flight so far.

Software

Versions tested :

§ 1.11

§ Updated to 1.11d (Beta of 1.12) on 2004/11/23.

§ Updated to 1.12a on 2004/12/16.

§ Updated to 1.13 on 2005/2/21.

Learning curve. It took me about 2 hours to get use to the menus, and setting up my personal preferences, not including local waypoints. I would qualify it as an "easy to learn" device.

The general idea is that you have 3 similar screens with the analog vario in the center, which you can toggle with the "Right" button. Each of those screens can contain 3 user-selectable fields. Plus, you have the other "view from above" screen, which you can toggle with the "Esc" button, to show start/turnpoint cylinders, and no-fly zones.

Customizing your screens: Go to the selected screen page (labeled under the battery indicator as of firmware version 1.13). Select a field by pressing the Left button, use Up/Down buttons to toggle between available user-selectable fields choices, then exit by pressing the Right button.

User-selectable fields.

· Vario screens.

o My preference without an airspeed probe:

P1 - Thermalling		P2 - XC or Upwind		P3 - Waypoint
Dist to^		L/D gnd		Dist to WP


WindSpd	Alt 2	GND Speed	Fl.Time	Alt a. BG	L/D req

o My preference with an airspeed probe (changes from above, shown in yellow background):

P1 - Thermalling		P2 - XC or Upwind		P3 - Waypoint
Dist to^		L/D gnd		Dist to WP


WindSpd	Alt 2	GND Speed	Airspeed	Alt a. BG	L/D req

· Crosshair screens.

o My preference (used outside a competition):

P1 - To LZ		P2 - Extra		P3 -
Alt a. Gl		GND speed


L/D gnd	Dist Gl	Time	Temp

Basic setting: "L. thermal thres.". Not described in documentation, but understood as the minimum lift rate for keeping track of this location as the last thermal. Range is 0.5 to 3.0 m/s, default is 1.0 m/s, I set it to 1.5 m/s.

Basic setting: Stall speed. Nice feature if airspeed probe is used (See Airspeed). I would set it to 28 km/h to be 5 km/h conservative over a 23 km/h stall speed. I hear that some hang glider pilots use stall alarms to know when to flare.

Basic setting: Altitude alarm. Nice feature, I set it to 4573 m (15000') to warn me of the risk of Hypoxia.

Entering waypoints directly. Interface is intuitive (no need to read manual). Long names can be used like "Marshall Launch" (maybe up to 16), but remember that the map will only show the first non-blank characters, so a space in the name will cut-off the full name in the map display, in this case "Marshall". Also when selecting a waypoint (Use Goto button to get a list of your waypoints), you only see the 12 characters of your waypoint names. Next waypoint entry will use the rounded coordinates of the previous entry (saves some time). Although a simple process, it is time consuming to manually enter the names and coordinates.

Flight summary (menu called FLIGHT-ANALYSIS). After a recorded flight (Main Setup Menu à Flight memory à Pick a flight) we can view: Date, Start and Stop times, Flight time (puts an end to the bragging), Scan rate, Max A1, Max A2, A3 (cumulative altitude gain), Max and min vario, max airspeed. Makes for easy logbook entries. One can also view a map of the flight, in which waypoint are displayed.

A1 - Altitude over sea level.

· Same question keeps coming up (I had it too): The altitude shown by A1 is always off by some amount. I keep adjusting it to what it should be, but have to repeat the process each day. What's the problem? The answer is written in the manual (RTFM):

§ Alt1 should be adjusted to display the correct height above sea level. It is originally set by the manufacturer to a sea level pressure of 1013hPa. Since this is seldom the case, the correct altitude should be set before commencing each flight by using the arrow keys (increases altitude) and (decreases altitude). By means of this adjustment, the air pressure display changes as well (the air pressure (QNH) always refers to sea level).

§ If there is satellite reception, a brief press on F2 the GPS altitude is taken over for Alt1.

§ If there is no satellite reception, the 1013 hPa altitude will be used.

§ During flight, adjustment of Alt1 is blocked.

§ If Alt1 is adjusted to zero for any planned landing area, then the height above this location will always be indicated after starting. The associated air pressure (QFE) is the actual air pressure in hPa at this spot, which deviates from QNH (the pressure at sea level) according to the difference in altitude.

§ In practice what I end up doing, is hitting the F2 button many times until the A1 value stabilizes. I guessing that instrument warm-up and averaging of satellite input, is required before getting a meaningful A1 value.

Wind Vector: Direction (windsock icon) and Speed (user-selectable field):

· Until 2004/11/23, I could not get this information.

· On 2004/11/23, I got a message from Peter Bräuniger with a Firmware update (version 1.11d = Beta of 1.12), which said this should now be available. My local dealer (Steve Pearson of Wills Wing) gave me back the unit I returned yesterday with v1.11d of the firmware already flashed, telling me to go fly some more with it. Again, great customer service. I stopped in a park, and ran around in eccentric circles. For sure, people must have thought I was an eccentric. I got tired before I saw a wind value and/or direction show up. When I stopped running I saw the windsock icon (wind direction), and a wind speed of 4. And I did not use an airspeed probe. So it seems like the wind direction and strength are now available. I just need to do a final confirmation during a flight. Supplemental info from Peter Bräuniger: Only be aware that the wind is measured during circling. To get good results you should circle with constant speed especially when flying without speed sensor.

· How it gets determined:

o Without using airspeed probe:

§ Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/17: In all our instruments ( IQ-Competition/GPS; Compeo; and Competino ) the wind is acquired by flying one or two full circles as steady as possible. We collect the groundspeed at different directions . This way we get wind strength and direction. Also the ground speed comes from the GPS as a value and a direction (=track).

§ On 2004/12/12, without a speed probe, I flew over the LZ, and it took 2 full circles to establish a wind vector matching the windsock in the LZ.

o With airspeed probe:

§ My understanding is that there is no difference from the method used without an airspeed probe.

Airspeed.

· How it gets determined:

o Without using airspeed probe:

§ Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/17: For paragliders, who seldom fly with the trailing speed probe, we obtain a calculated air speed by an addition of the two vectors : Wind Vector + groundspeed ; beside this we also get the wind component for any flight direction.

o With airspeed probe:

§ Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/17: The real airspeed from a speed probe is more precise. And therefore Speed to fly, Net Vario (Steve Pearson: climb with respect to the air mass), TEK (Jérôme: Total Energy Compensation, compensates climb rate for pilot-induced kinetic energy recovered from displacement speed) and McCready functions only can be used with a speed probe. These last mentioned functions are not available in the Competino.

§ Based on above comment, I see little benefit (stall warning) in using an airspeed probe, aside from precise airspeed readings. When/If advanced functionality as describe in above message become available, then an airspeed probe will become more valuable.

Altitude above Best Glide.

· Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/17: To calculate the altitude above the path of best glide it is not necessary to know the whole polar. We are using the L/D ratio for best glide, correct it with the wind component (= ground speed - airspeed ; when flying towards goal) and because we know the distance to goal we are able to calculate the height lost on the way to goal; always assuming that the wind remains constant and rising and sinking air neutralize each other.

· Nice to see in above message that Wind Vector is taken into account (I first thought wind was ignored). Note that starting with firmware version 1.11d, "Best L/D" and corresponding speed is entered under the "Basic Setting" menu, where default is 8.0 at 40 km/h.

· Chris Webb (E-mail), 2004/12/18 (Summarized): Bräuniger says "To calculate the altitude above the path of best glide it is not necessary to know the whole polar. We are using the L/D ratio for best glide, correct it with the wind component..." This is not correct. Of course, the airspeed at which best glide over the ground is achieved varies depending on the wind component. Into a head wind you fly faster to get best glide over ground; with a tail wind you fly slower. Your best achievable glide into a strong headwind may be poor and rely on much speed bar, but it's not zero as the described procedure would conclude.

o I agree that what we really need to know is the altitude over the waypoint, assuming the pilot would fly the idea airspeed to optimize his glide. For this we need to have a defined polar curve. My recommendation would be at least 3 points: Min sink, Best L/D, Max speed. But this also implies that the pilot should have a user-selectable field (or other display means) to know the ideal speed to optimize glide over ground. Another implication is that an airspeed probe should be used to get more accurate airspeed reading (not just deducted from last wind vector and current ground vector). Right now, I need to iterate speed bar position in an attempt optimize glide over ground in a head wind, but that takes some time to establish (more when air is not smooth) when heading upwind. It would be so much better to use a defined polar curve and know directly the ideal airspeed. I'm willing to purchase a speed probe if this functionality gets in. I guess the company must be struggling at the moment with what features to include in the Competino, and still justify the higher priced Compeo. But I don't see any technical reason why such feature could not get in the Competino.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/20 (Summarized): For this functionality, one would need to use an airspeed probe, and the Compeo (high-end model) offers the desired functionality.

Functionality verification:

User Selectable field	Status	Definition	Comment
Alt a. BG	OK	Safety height above the best glide path*	2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime: No value displayed. Airspeed probe was used. But this is not a problem for me, as I don't plan on using this much. 2004/11/25: With v1.11d firmware, I verified this in flight. See Altitude above Best Glide.
FL (ft)	?	Flight Level not adjustable by the user
Dist CTR	?	Distance to nearest flight restricted area*
Airspeed	OK	Speed measured with the vane wheel (not required, see my comment in right column), true air speed	2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime. Verified (probe in use). 2004/11/24: With v1.11d firmware. Being a passenger in a car, value was displayed without using the airspeed probe (nice) ! See Airspeed.
WindSpd (WITHOUT using airspeed probe)	OK	Wind strength*	2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime: No value displayed when airspeed probe left protected from wind (v1.11). 2004/11/26. Verified in flight the wind strength with v1.11d (Beta of 1.12). See Wind Vector .
WindSpd (Using airspeed probe)	95% sure	Wind strength*	2004/11/26: With firmware v1.11d (Beta of 1.12) this works without an airspeed probe, so this will most likely also work when using an airspeed probe. See Wind Vector.
Time	OK	Time	Local time displayed after setting UTC minus 8 for California. Issue about local time zone setting not kept between shutdowns, is resolved with v1.11d (Beta of 1.12).
Fl.Time	OK	Flight time since take off	Verified while driving
GND speed	OK	ground speed*(=GS)	Verified while driving.
Spd-Diff	OK	Wind component (ground speed minus true airspeed)*	Verified while driving (showed same as GND speed).
Dist to WP	OK	Distance to chosen destination (waypoint)*	verified by selecting a waypoint, and viewing the distance in km.
Bearing	?	Direction to chosen destination*
Track	?	Flight direction (course)*
Temp	?	Internal temperature
Alt 2	OK	Reference height (if desired can be set at 0)	Verified while driving
Alt 3	90% sure	Cumulated gained height	2004/11/26: Likely to work since the flight summary (FLIGHT-ANALYSIS menu) reports values which make sense.
QNH hPa	?	Air pressure in hector-Pascal
L/D gnd	OK	Actual L/D over ground (=Ground Speed/Sink)*	Verified while driving. Only displayed when driving downhill. 2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime. Verified. During a few into-the-wind segments, I used this value to optimize my amount of accelerator use. Nice! Chris Webb (E-mail), 2004/12/18: This name is not correct, "Glide Ratio" should be used. I got confirmation that it will be fixed in the next firmware release
L/D air	?	Actual L/D in air, only available with vane wheel connected.	Bad calculation anyway: Airspeed divided by sink rate. Sink rate is not the rate of descent within the air mass.
L/D req	OK	L/D required to reach a WP*	2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime. Verified. At one point, I set the waypoint to launch which was higher than me (thinking I could regain altitude back over it). A value was only displayed when I was under a glide ratio of 40 to reach it (OK). No value displayed while lower than the WP (OK).
Dist to^	OK	Distance to last thermal	Verified while driving, value seems to be in km.
A1	OK	Altitude over sea level.	New in firmware 1.13. See A1 - Altitude over sea level.
Vario	OK	Climb rate.	New in firmware 1.13.
Dist Gl	?	Sum of all sections of a route in front of the pilot.	New in firmware 1.13. Enhancement request: I was hoping this would be usable without defining a competition route, only a waypoint and that it could be interpreted as goal. No numerical value displayed when only selecting a waypoint.
Alt a.Gl	?	Calculated height above last WP of a route.	New in firmware 1.13. Useful for knowing if you need to find any more thermals along your route until goal. Enhancement request: I was hoping this would be usable without defining a competition route, only a waypoint and that it could be interpreted as goal. No numerical value displayed when only selecting a waypoint.
Other	Status	Definition	Comment
Wind direction (WITHOUT using airspeed probe)	OK		2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime: No value displayed when airspeed probe left protected from wind (v1.11). 2004/11/26. Verified in flight the windsock icon with v1.11d (Beta of 1.12).
Wind direction (Using airspeed probe)	95% sure		2004/11/26: With firmware v1.11d (Beta of 1.12) this works without an airspeed probe, so this will most likely also work when using an airspeed probe.
Direction to last thermal	OK		Verified while driving. 2004/11/19, 2 hour airtime. Verified, but the direction seemed to be diverging from my attempts to return exactly to it when thermalling (Chasing my tail?). But when further from a lost thermal the direction seemed consistent. I found the feature useful a few times during my 2 hour airtime.
Climb rate.	OK		Verified while driving.
Vario sound	OK		Sensitive to raising unit from ground to head level. Tones verified while in simulation mode and while driving.
Display current GPS coordinates.	OK		Available by pressing Enter button. Coordinates are shown for ~10 seconds.
Stall alarm	OK		2004/11/24: With v1.11d firmware. Being a passenger in a car, I displayed airspeed in a user-selectable field (without using the airspeed probe). Stall alarm sounded when preset stall speed was reached (I gave 23). The alarm sound was always active, even with vario sound set at 0%. Alarm sound was low for my taste.

* Only active when the GPS receiver is switched

The used-defined fields seemed to be unchangeable in flight. Yes, I tried re-programming in flight (scary, huh?).

What we surprisingly still know when NOT using the airspeed probe:

Name	Value	Comment
Airspeed	1/10	In itself, not very useful, but other more valuable info gets derived from it.
Stall alarm	1/10	Verified while being a passenger in a car.
Wind direction	4/10	Verified while running around.
Wind strength	7/10	Verified while running around.
L/D air	0/10	Should be available, but needs to be verified.
Speed-diff	1/10	Wind component (Ground speed-airspeed). Should be available, but needs to be verified.
all other data

Right now, I feel that if the unit can display wind direction and speed, without the airspeed probe, I may avoid the probe, as it is annoying to deploy and to retract prior to landing.

Using the serial transfer cable:

For using the FlyChart program:

o Turn ON your Competino. Then either:

§ For downloading a given flight to your PC: Go to a given flight in the Competino menu: The "FLIGHT ANALYSIS" page must be shown.

§ For downloading waypoints to your PC: Have your Competino display the waypoint list.

For using the Flasher program:

o Wolf (Bräuniger), 2004/11/18: For uploading a new firmware to the COMPETINO as well to the COMPEO the instrument must be "OFF". Attention! The actual flasher software for the COMPETINO has some problems with different WINDOWS versions! We recommend loading the Microsoft.NET patch every time to all WIN versions! At the moment we are working on a new version for the Flasher program to avoid this procedure! The uploader for the COMPEO is working without any problems, but can't be used for the COMPETINO as there is a different controller used! If a pilot can't handle or use the flasher, [he should send us an E-mail] and we can mail him a professional tool for uploading (it's handling is a bit tricky, but safe).

o Wolf (Bräuniger), 2004/11/18: We ship each instrument with a CD where the flasher + manual + Microsoft.NET is available. Since this week we also ad an additional flasher program for such ones who have too much troubles with the actual version. It's a professional version, which is a bit difficult to handle, but it's safe. I'm sure next days our programmer has a new update tested where we don't need the Microsoft.NET patch. We inform all registered pilots automatically. So it's important to be registered at our "newsletter" for COMPETINO at our website.

Crosshair screen.

· Available with firmware 1.13.

· By pressing Esc a second time, you get the crosshair display to appear. You get 3 pages for this visualization mode, each containing 3 user-definable fields locations. Aside from the crosshair and the user-definable fields, you get a vario bar on the right of the screen (scale goes from -4 to +4). Selecting a waypoint (not defining a competition route), the display seems to consider this WP as a Goal and does guide the pilot to the WP (< ^ > symbols) and a graphical symbol appears in the crosshairs when semi-aligned with the WP.

· Question: How should we refer to the new crosshair screen(s) type: "Crosshair", "Graphical final glide calculator", "Goal" ?

· Question: When using the crosshair screen(s), must we absolutely have defined/selected a competition route? Or will a recreational pilot having selected a waypoint (like the LZ) have this waypoint interpreted as the Goal, and be able to use this display type?

o Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/23: The cross-hairs screen is always related to the active waypoint. It doesn't matter if this waypoint is part of a route or was entered by the "Goto" function. The glider symbol appears transparent if the pilot flies more than 60° off-course or if the "L/D req" is smaller than 2.5 or bigger than 11.5 (this depends also on the entered value for best glide, here the default value is 7).

Bug:

· 4/10 (moderate annoyance) - Sticky pixels within compass circle. For more information, see Display.

· 2/10 (slight annoyance) - Airspeed probe readings trigger flight recording. Firmware 1.12a. To reproduce: Turn on the unit and do not move; Get some airflow through the speed probe (for measuring wind speed on launch); After storing the speed probe, and waiting a short while, the Competino records what it thinks was a flight. I would think verified GPS movement, not just airspeed readings, should trigger that automatic flight start/stop. This way pilots could use their speed probe to measure wind speed on launch before considering flight.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2004/12/20: Good idea: For not starting a record when measuring the wind at start place. We will find a solution with a later SW version. A manual start, as we've had in earlier instruments, I don't like. Too often I forgot to press the start button. Currently, the flight starts when either the airspeed or the ground speed exceeds 10 km/h (GPS).

· 1/10 (not important) - Waypoint names truncated, as displayed in the map. Firmware 1.11. If you leave a " " (blank) character in a way point name, like "Marshall Launch", the map will display it as "Marshall", cutting it off at the first " " (blank) character. It would be preferable (in my opinion) to cut-off the name at the last non-blank character in its name. Work-around is to use the "_" character instead of the " " (blank) character.

· 1/10 (not important) - Unable to select a user field in the crosshair display. Firmware 1.13. To reproduce: Turn ON unit, go to "final glide / crosshair" screen, click Left arrow button, try to scroll Up/Down to pick a new user field option à Unable (bug). Click on Left button again to go to another of the 3 locations, and now you can select a different user field option for that location, we can also return to the first location and it will now behave normally.

Enhancement request:

· 1/10 (not important) - Scrolling of last 3 digit entry of coordinates. Firmware 1.11. When manually entering waypoint coordinates, it is normal that to get to higher absolute values of a Western coordinate we have to press the "Down" button. But when entering the last 3 digits of that same coordinate (.000-.999) I would expect to press the "Up" button to get from .000 to higher absolute values. I can understand that since we are now in Western coordinates, the logic of pressing "Down" will create a more negative westerly coordinate, but in the scope of adjusting the decimals only, this is debatable.

· 2/10 (would be nice) - "Alt a.Gl" and "Dist Gl" user fields to be usable without an active competition route, just a waypoint. Firmware 1.13. Only having selected a waypoint, the "Dist to WP" and "Alt a.BG" user fields behave as expected, while the Goal seems undefined as the "Alt a.Gl" and "Dist Gl" fields do not display numerical values. If in the absence of a route, a selected waypoint would qualify as a Goal, the "Alt a.Gl" and "Dist Gl" user fields could have a more generic usage.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/23: Good idea; if you had chosen a waypoint by the "Goto" function, the user fields "Alt a.Gl" and "Dist Gl" should show the same results as "Alt a.BG" and "Dist WP" ; we will realize this in one of the next SW versions..

Firmware versions:

1.11d (beta version of 1.12). Installed 2004/11/23, enhancements:

o Correction for permanent (remembers between shutdowns) setting of local time zone.

o We now have wind direction and speed. Just need a final verification in flight to be 100% sure (95% sure from running around with unit and seeing windsock icon and wind value).

o "Alt a. BG" user-selectable field, thanks to new basic setting: Best L/D @ speed.

o Airspeed user-selectable field, without using the airspeed probe!

1.12a. Released 2004/12/8.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2004/11/23: It does not matter if you fly with or without a speed probe. Only be aware that the wind is measured during circling. To get good results you should circle with constant speed especially when flying without speed sensor. Another new function is the pre-calculation of distance and arrival altitude over the whole route (max.30 waypoints). So after starting you know already how many km are at your task and how many meters to climb up to do the job. This is extremely useful for competition pilots when turning the last waypoint, they know already to reach the goal without additional thermals. Sure for all the legs in the route the correct wind component is taken into account.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2004/11/23: Yes, the calculation "Alt above BG" is working now. If flying without a speed probe you nevertheless could display the correct airspeed, because we calculate the airspeed by a vectorial sum of groundspeed +/- wind. You could check when car driving; to get a wind, drive circles with different speeds. If a competition pilot is thermalling up between the last and the last but one turnpoint, he knows if he could make it to goal when checking "Alt above Goal" (Alt a.Gl). Goal is the last WP of your route. All functions can be tested also in the simulation mode; if you set a wind, the wind is taken into account after one whole circle (circling in simulation is done during climbing). If switching over to the graphic map screen, you see how the circles are wind drifted like in reality. Very soon we will implement these new functions also in our Compeo.

1.13. Released 2005/2/18.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2004/11/23: The best of all will be a graphical final glide calculator which shows your position in relation to a cross-hair as a symbol displayed left, right, over or under the cross-hair. I hope to release this function (Vers.1.13) before 2004/12/25.

o From the release note (PDF file in the firmware Zip file):

§ Additional graphical display for final glide calculation to the next active WP by means of a crosshair.

ü Jerome Daoust, 2005/2/22: Verified.

§ Additional user fields for Alt1 and digital Vario.

ü Jerome Daoust, 2005/2/22: Contrary to what I was hoping for (be able to choose different fields for the locked Alt1 and Vario numeric displays on each screen page) all this is, is the addition to 2 new options ("Alt1", "Vario") when picking a user-selectable field for the 3 locations on each screen page. There is no benefit for the standard screen pages, only the crosshair screen type.

ü I also found these unannounced new user field: "Dist Gl", "Alt a.Gl". See Functionality verification for more info.

§ Page number notification below the battery status (P1 ... P3).

ü Jerome Daoust, 2005/2/22: Verified.

o See Crosshair screen.

No label yet.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/23: If you had chosen a waypoint by the "Goto" function, the user fields "Alt a.Gl" and "Dist Gl" should show the same results as "Alt a.BG" and "Dist WP" ; we will realize this in one of the next SW versions.

o Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/23: A new function for both units (Compeo and Competino) to send position and flight related data via SMS with help of an attached mobile phone. This function will be used at the "Red Bull X-Alps 2005" championship.

1.15. Released 2004/3/22.

o Josemi Isasa, 2006/2/6: Description of changes (source):

In version 1.15 the restricted areas or airspaces are implemented. The CTR’s are only
showed on the mapo screen. There is no distance warning. The distance warning is
available in the Flytec 5030/Compeo.
Some bugs could be eliminated , especially the bug with the readout of the flightlist
with CompeGPS.
There are two new user fields available:
“Distance to start” “Dst Strt” and “Distance to the Cylinder“ “Dist Cyl”
The changes in detail:
New functions
• Restoring an active route after power up.·
• Cylinder radii up to 200km
• More zoom in and zoom out
• Store a route before powerdown and restore after powerup
• Additional display of the coordinates if the function “mark” was activated to
show that the instrument has accepted the “mark”
• Takoff and landing point in competition routes in the igc file.
• Additional Userfield „Distance to Start“·
• Additional Userfied Dist to Cylinder
• CTR functionality in the Map screen. Only 2D display of the airspaces
• New functionality „startgates“ in competition routes (Enter and Exit and
multiple start times
• Alt a. Goal = Alt a. BG if only 1 waypoint active
• FAI sound shorter
• Automatic date and time from GPS after first GPS reception ( Beep for
acknowledge)
• New identification 5020 or COMPETINO in $PBRSNP·for flight analysis
software.
Bugfixes
• Faster screen build up
• RTC readout in an interrupt to prevent multiple times in the IGC file·
• Valid GPS-Data and GPS speed data only with 3D fixes·
• Readout of the flight list corrected.
• Bug fix cylinder recognition in competition routes
• Bugfix „endless“ signatur calculation in case of short flights

1.16. Released 2004/4/6.

o Bräuniger website: This update contents new functions, please also download the new manual which will be available in a fey days too! Before the update, please close all active software at your PC. For updating the firmware, flight memory must be cleared! ( Menue - Basic Settings - Erase all records ).

o Peter Loeskow, 2006/4/12: Description of changes (source):

In version 1.16 the restricted areas or airspaces are implemented. The CTR’s are only showed in the map screen. There is no distance warning. The distance warning is available in the Flytec 5030/Compeo. The first 20 CTR’s are released for free use. (SW Package 01 Released)
There are two new user fields available:
“Distance to start” “Dst Strt” and “Distance to the Cylinder“ “Dist Cyl”
Some bugs could be eliminated , especially
- the bug with the readout of the flightlist with CompeGPS
- the bug with corrupted IGC files if a route without waypoints was activated
- The bug with the wrong number in the release code of SW packages
New functions
• Restoring an active route after power up.•
• Cylinder radii up to 200km
• More zoom in and zoom out
• Store a route before powerdown and restore after powerup
• Additional display of the coordinates if the function “mark” was activated to show that the instrument has accepted the “mark”
• Takoff and landing point in competition routes in the igc file.
• Additional Userfield „Distance to Start“•
• Additional Userfied Dist to Cylinder
• CTR functionality in the Map screen. Only 2D display of the airspaces
• New functionality „startgates“ in competition routes (Enter and Exit and multiple start times
• Alt a. Goal = Alt a. BG if only 1 waypoint active
• FAI sound shorter
• Automatic date and time from GPS after first GPS reception ( Beep for acknowledge)
• New identification 5020 or COMPETINO in $PBRSNP•for flight analysis software.
Bugfixes
• Faster screen build up
• RTC readout in an interrupt to prevent multiple times in the IGC file•
• Valid GPS-Data and GPS speed data only with 3D fixes•
• Readout of the flight list corrected.
• Bug fix cylinder recognition in competition routes
• Bugfix „endless“ signatur calculation in case of short flights
• Bugfix with corrupted IGC files if there was an empty route activated
• Bug fix with wrong number in the release code of SW packages.

Upgrading your firmware.

OS (Operating System) verified to successfully allow the upgrade:

· Windows XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 2. Reporter: Jérôme Daoust, 2005/2/21.

· Windows XP Pro. Reporter: John Walton.

· Windows 98 SE. Reporter: Anonymous. He successfully installed v1.13 from Bräuniger, onto his Flytec/5020.

Procedure (Windows computer):

· Download the latest flasher installer: Bräuniger related page. This is the software that will install the flasher on your computer. Once installed, the flasher will allow you to upgrade your Competino by flashing its memory with the latest software (downloaded separately in the next step). Step by step:

o Download the installer for the flasher.

o Execute the downloaded executable: installFlasherc.exe . Follow these installation steps:

§ Screen 1

§ Screen 2

§ Screen 3

§ Screen 4

§ Screen 5

o Verify that you have access to the flasher program:

§ Start - All Programs - Flasher

§ You see this application: Snapshot of the Flasher window.

o Note: Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/22: The Microsoft "Netpatch" is not necessary anymore for this new flasher program. (It was for the older , previous program, which is still present on older CDs delivered with our units).

· Download the latest firmware (software for your Competino):

o Bräuniger's main download page. Click on "Firmware".

o Version 1.16.

· Unzip the latest firmware:

o Execute the ZIP file: Competino-1.16.zip .

o Screen 1. Click "Use Evaluation Version"

o Screen 2. Click the "Extract" button.

o Screen 3. Set the extraction directory (C:\Temporary in the example). Click "Extract".

o Verify you see these file added to the directory you chose to extract files to:

§ V116.moc . This is the one the flasher program will need to update the firmware/software on your Competino.

§ Competino_CMP.doc . Documentation of the version changes.

· Install the firmware:

o Launch the Flasher: Start - All Programs - Flasher.

o Screen 1.

§ Choose a COM port (COM1 in this example).

§ Browse to version 1.16 file (V116.moc file) by clicking the "File Open" icon (first one on the left).

o Verify your Competino is OFF.

o Connect your Competino to the computer using the supplied cable. You may notice vertical bars on the Competino's screen.

§ Peter Bräuniger, 2005/2/22: The moment you plug in the cable into the unit it is internally switched on in a mode to receive data for the flash memory. Every data at the serial port is interpreted as part of the firmware. Therefore it is better to first start the flasher program, then choose the firmware (V116.moc), now plug in the cable and directly after this start the upload procedure. If you would plug-in the cable too early some log 1 to 0 (or vice versa) transitions could cause irritations.

o Screen 2. Click Flasher Upload icon.

o Screen 3. Wait for Flasher to complete (should take couple of minutes).

o Screen 4. Disconnect the cable (Competino end).

o Close the application window.

· Turn ON your Competino (cable disconnected from computer) to verify you have the latest & greatest version.

· Clean-up (delete) the temporary files you have unzipped (In folder C:\Temporary in the example).

Customer Service

Based on the quick responses from the manufacturer (Wolf Willershausen and Peter Bräuniger) to my questions, and Steve Pearson's (of Wills Wing, local US dealer) eagerness to please (supplying demo unit + answer questions): I'm impressed with customer service, both locally and from the manufacturer.

Additional Software

Flasher

This is an executable to allow to update the firmware by "flashing" the memory.

Steve Pearson (Wills Wing) says that you will not loose your Waypoints, Basic Setting, and Logged Flights.

.Net patch

This is a necessary patch to allow the Flasher program to run properly under Windows.

Bräuniger recommends doing this for all Windows platforms, but the download section of Bräuniger's website, says it is not necessary for Windows XP.

The following represent the steps I took to install and use the software…

Insert the CD

Intall the .Net patch.

Go to: D:/Microsoft dotNET Framework (D: was my CD drive)

Execute dotnetfx

Click Yes.

Select "Ich stimme zu" + Click on "Installieren"

It will take a few minutes for it to do its thing.

Click "OK"

Remove CD you inserted earlier.

GpsDump

A simple program to install and allow you to recover your flight from your unit onto your computer.

Installation for a Windows XP computer:

Go to their website: http://www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen/
Click on "GpsDump" to get to the page with the latest version.
Use the links under "Latest version", to download the latest executable file (version 3.68 as of 2006/4/9)

How to save a flight from your Competino:

Turn ON your Competino.
Go into "Flight memory" page (where a list of your flights is displayed).
Connect the cable between PC and your Competino.
Execute (double-click) the *.exe file (example: GpsDump368.exe).
Logs: Read IQ-Compeo/Competino
From the Pop-up "Track list" page, click on the flight that you want from the lower window + Click OK.
From the main page do Ctrl+A to select all flight items (they become highlighted).
File: Write tracklog (IGC).
In the pop-up "IGC File format" window, you can enter info for "Pilot", "Glider Type", "Site" if you want (I don't) + Click OK.
In the pop-up "Save track log" window, select a destination folder (create a new one, like I do for the flight date) + Click Save.
Exit the application (File: Exit).
Disconnect the cable from your Competino.
Optional: Clear your flight on the Competino after verifying the IGC file is OK.

FlyChart

Warning, 2006/4/8:

I had loaded firmware 1.15 about a week ago, and last night after returning from a fun day of flying, I tried using FlyChart to download my flights into IGC files for Leonardo.

FlyChart would complain that I wasn't on the "Flight Analysis" page (which I was) and would not go further. Also my Competino would freeze up and i had to remove the batteries to reboot it. Not cool.
Then I noticed that firmware 1.16 was out, but it is said that you must first clear your flights. Exactly what I did not want to do (loose my flights).

I tried GpsDump for the first time. It is compatible with the Competino (or 5020) and would show all my flights store on my unit and easily save them as IGC files onto my computer.

Now having my flights extracted from the Competino, I updated to 1.16 firmware (not sure what it does better than 1.15), but in the future I see little value with using FlyChart since my main goal is just to get my flights saved as IGC files. Also GpsDump is much easier to install (just save the EXE file on your computer), and requires no registration process.

I will retest FlyChart with a flight store with firmware 1.16, to see if the issue is resolved. But even if it does, GpsDump may be my new favorite flight download tool.

This a program to download and analyze your flights on your personal computer, or upload routes to your unit.

I had a look at the demo flights saved. Interesting, but I don't plan to use this much.

Wolf Willershausen (Bräuniger), 2004/11/19: Attention! This software version is a "beta" version for COMPEO/COMPETINO instruments. We are just working on a more reliable version. The update can be downloaded from our website soon.

Jerome Daoust, 2004/11/29: With Version 4.32.x, Bräuniger/Competino is not listed as an option when choosing an instrument. I will wait for this option before using FlyChart. I don't feel comfortable configuring my Competino as if it was a Compeo using the "Extras: Flight instrument options" menu.

Version 4.32.x (what came on the CD)

The following represent the steps I took to install and use the software…

Insert the CD

Install FlyChart:

Go to: D:/Bräuniger-Flychart Full (D: was my CD drive)

Execute the "fc432-25B" application

Select English, click Next

Click Next, twice.

Accept default install location (C:/Program Files/FlyChart), click Next

Click "Install"

Click Next (for the InstallShield Wizard).

Click Finish, twice.

Install FlyChart update:

Go to: D:/Bräuniger-Flychart Update (D: was my CD drive)

Execute the "fc432-x25B" application

Select English, click Next

Click Next, twice.

Accept default install location (C:/Program Files/FlyChart), click Next

Click "Install"

Click Finish.

Remove CD you inserted earlier.

To get the latest update (no need as of 2004/11/29):

Start: Programs: FlyChart: AutoUpdater

If you are connect to Internet:

Click Next

Click OK to install new AutoUpdater

Click Next

Message : Can't download FlyChart 4.32's XML-settings file.

Reason is: File 'http://www.flytec.ch/download/fc432-x25B.exe.xml' not found.

Do you want to continue and try to get other updates (yes=recommended)

Click Yes

Message : There are no updates available

Click Finish.

Read/Print the ReadMe file:

Go to: C:/Program Files/FlyChart/Sys

Double-Click the "ReadMe_E" HTML file

Execute FlyChart.

Either:

1) Start: Programs: FlyChart: <the program name>

2) Go to: C:/Program Files/FlyChart/Sys

Execute the "Fcw432" application.

For the first time only:

Change language to English (why was this not set before?):

Extras : Systemeinstellugen...

"Allgemein" tab.

Sprache = ENGLISH (FC432EN.DLL)

Click OK.

Click OK again for the pop-up Information window.

Close the application.

Re-start the application. Now you can read the menus!

Select the "Pilots/Gliders/Licenses" tab.

Click anywhere in the License table.

Edit (from top menu) : Add...

Serial nr = Last 4 digits of the one in the back of your unit (without leading zeros).

User code = ???.????

Wolf (Bräuniger), 2004/11/19: the FlyChart version on the CD is a

full version which can be use for 20 flights for free.

All owners of a COMPEO or COMPETINO we offer the release

code matching to the S/N (serial number) of the instrument.

Other ones have to pay for it. Please send me your S/N by E-mail.

Baroname = Brauniger IQ-Compeo

Click the Green check-mark icon

Notice the row with your entry is pointed to in left column

Click "Default" button.

To make your license valid, you must download flights from your Competino.

Download a flight from your unit (will validate your license, not tested yet):

Extras: System setting...

"General" tab.

Model = Brauniger IQ-Compeo

Port = COM1

Turn ON the Competino.

Select a given flight in the menu:

The "FLIGHT ANALYSIS" page must be shown.

Connect cable.

Click the "Flights" tab.

File: Download flights...

To save as an IGC file:

File: Save...

To set waypoints (not tested yet):

Extras: Flight instrument options...

Waypoints:

Download...

Upload...

Compared To…

Aircotec / XC-trainer

What the Competino does better:

Value	Description
10/10	GPS reception. Walking the street in front of my house, the XC-trainer struggled, only seeing enough satellites to calculate position about 5-10% of the time. The Competino had no problem, with satellites to spare.
7/10	Less influenced by radio transmission. See Radio Interference Test. I don't want radio transmissions to corrupt the in-flight data collection.
4/10	More buttons, less function overloading of each button.
3/10	Battery backup with a second bank of batteries. Auto-switch to other bank.
3/10	More options to customize screen with user-selected fields : 3 screens with 3 fields each.
2/10	Alt 2. I like knowing my altitude over a reference (launch).
2/10	Customer service. People at head of Bräuniger company respond to E-mails, compared to Aircotec being a black hole. In the USA, Wills Wing provided a demo unit for as long at testing was needed (2 weeks).
1/10	Recessed display window. Window doesn't fall off like the XC-trainer.
1/10	No air temperature probe on the side.

What the Competino does worse:

Value	Description
5/10	Emits more radio noise. See Radio Interference Test.
2/10	No thermalling map like the XC-trainer. But the Competino displays direction and distance to last thermal. Also Competino can display tracking map, which can be zoomed, and show where time was spent thermalling.
2/10	Screen management. The screen is dominated by the analog vario, which does not justify the space it occupies.
1/10	No infra-red data exchange between 2 units.
1/10	No plot of wind strength VS compass direction.
1/10	Batteries cannot be recharged while inside the unit. So I will have to un-Velcro the unit each time I replace batteries (Battery cost not an issue).
1/10	Shape seems longer (165 VS 137 mm). Why don't manufacturer understand that these things have to fit on a paragliding flight deck? I would prefer to have it wider than long. Maybe a future software version would allow rotating the display screen? But for now it (barely) fits.
0/10	Weighs more: 286 VS 150 g (both with max amount of batteries). No big deal, since I don't want to put these expensive instruments on my leg. They should see less abuse while on a flight deck (more visible too).
0/10	No left/right turn ratio indicator.

Flytec / 5020

Basically, it is the same thing as the Competino, just with a different name stamp. The 5020 is available thanks to a business relationship between Bräuniger and Flytec. Benefit to pilots: Bigger distribution channel.

What the Competino does better:

Value	Description
1/10	Bräuniger writes the firmware (drives what you see on the screen in flight) used for both models. But software design input is supplied by both Bräuniger and Flytec. So it seems that Bräuniger is more involved in the development of the unit.

What the Competino does worse:

Value	Description
0/10	No proprietary post-flight analysis software. Shipped with the Competino is FlyChart (written by Flytec).
0/10	It comes in a Purple color instead of Flytec's more classic grey. Note that Bräuniger will soon have more color options: See Case color.

Wish List

1. Thermal map/screen, like offered on Aircotec Top Navigator. Common argument is that competition/good pilots do not need it. But it could be good for the average pilot.

2. Speed-to-fly. Note: One would have to supply 3+ data points for his wing's polar curve. Why this feature is offered on the Compeo (more expensive unit by the same manufacturer) and not here, makes me think it is for marketing reasons.

3. Make the unit less long, wider is OK, so it fits better on a paraglider flight deck. Maybe a future software version would allow rotating the display screen?

4. Be able to recharge batteries left inside the unit. The idea is to avoid un-Velcro-ing the unit each time I replace batteries (Battery cost not an issue).

5. Make Alt1 a user-selectable field, so we have more flexibility in what is displayed (having a total of 12 instead of 9 selections). I almost wish I had a 4^th display screen for showing the info I am not currently displaying through user-selectable fields.

6. Stall alarm sound is weak, I would prefer a louder sound.

Conclusion

My wife asked: Why do you need that thing instead or your regular vario? Good question. For a comp pilot, this is a must, but for me (recreational pilot) here is my answer…

· Very useful:

o Knowledge of wind speed when high over terrain. This is a safety issue (go land if wind getting too strong) and for optimizing XC distance when I have a choice of path direction. It also provides educational value to see how much wind can change in direction and strength throughout a flight, improving your understanding of how air flows.

o Glide ratio (with respect to ground tracking). I can now optimize glide into the wind by varying amount of speed bar.

o Find lost thermal.

· Nice-to-have:

o Know if I have a goal on glide (like the LZ).

o Compass, if I loose visibility.

o Analyze downloaded flights on my computer. But I don't plan to do this much.

2004/11/27: With firmware version 1.11d (Beta of 1.12), the Competino meets all my expectations. Future releases (free and downloadable) promise even more goodies. And it does the basics very well (GPS reception, Vario sensitivity, Battery consumption). For double the price of a normal Vario, the Competino delivers about 4 times the usefulness. In some ways, it is easier to use than a simple vario: Time and altitude are set automatically from GPS (no more need to mess with pressure adjustments). I will not return the test unit, which is in my possession, I'm buying it. I wish every decision was this easy.

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Other

Wind direction (WITHOUT using airspeed probe)

Wind direction (Using airspeed probe)

Climb rate.

Vario sound

Display current GPS coordinates.

Stall alarm