BARO Button

[DHeal]

How about adding a BARO button function to the SV screen/panel (maybe on the same button line as ENGINE?) that when pushed activates the BARO adjustment function for quick and easy pressure adjustment via a screen/panel knob. The button could be timed so that once the BARO adjustment is made, the buttons/knobs revert back to their previous condition. As much as I love my SV (RV-12), I find the button pushing needed to adjust the BARO to be nettlesome. :-?

 

[southtarnation]

Press inward and hold the left knob to set to nearest. Usually accurate to a few tenths.

 

[DHeal]

Yes - I know about that, but auto-BARO doesn't work on the ground at most of the ATCT / ATIS airports I frequent. Also, auto-BARO doesn't seem to consistently use the closest ATIS BARO.

 

[dynonsupport]

I'm not sure what action you are expecting here. If you press this theoretical BARO button, what happens? Just that one of the knobs becomes BARO for a few seconds?

 

[DHeal]

Yes. A BARO knob becomes active for a few seconds to enable the pilot to enter the current pressure reading. Then the BARO knob function disappears and the screen / knob / button set-up reverts to where one started.

I use the BARO setting function several times on a flight. Sometime, like during my pre-takeoff check on the ground, the AUTO BARO does not sense the local ATCT / ATIS pressure reading transmission and I have to manually input the pressure reading as broadcast via the ATIS. In-flight, the AUTO BARO works as you intended about 50% of the time -- often giving me pressure readings for airports that are farther away from me than my nearby destination airport's ATCT / ATIS.

Granted the button pushing / knob turning required to set the BARO is not overly complex, but I find that I frequently forget to reset the BARO knob to the desired function (HDG, ALT, etc.) after inputting the pressure reading. As a result, I then inadvertently change the pressure reading while trying to next reset the HDG, ALT, etc. As a result, my pressure reading is now incorrect and da__ed if I can remember what it was!! Old age no doubt.

 

[dynonsupport]

The BARO "sync" feature comes from ADS-B IN. When you first boot up, we don't have any ADS-B data and it flows in over 5-10 minutes. So when you sync it, we may not have your local airport yet. You can check this by going to NRST and looking at WX. If we don't have the WX for your airport yet, we can't sync to it and use the closest one we do have.

As for in-flight, I am always surprised when in flight how many other airports are closer to me than the one I am flying to. Are you sure that when you ask for this in flight, your destination really is the closest airport with WX?

 

[DHeal]

Yes - absolutely.  I have had the BARO auto-sync select the ATIS airport that is @ 30 mies away when I am only @ 15 miles away from my ATIS airport destination.  Frankly, the BARO auto-sync is incorrect enough of the time as to render it marginally useful - unless I am just flying through the area and need an "in the ballpark" setting.

Love my SV!

 

[airguy]

Yes - absolutely.  I have had the BARO auto-sync select the ATIS airport that is @ 30 mies away when I am only @ 15 miles away from my ATIS airport destination.  Frankly, the BARO auto-sync is incorrect enough of the time as to render it marginally useful - unless I am just flying through the area and need an "in the ballpark" setting.

Love my SV! 

For the purposes of altimeter setting, anything within the nearest 50 miles is going to be within the margin of error and will be acceptable, I just don't see this being a major issue, perhaps I'm wrong. If the pressure gradient is so steep in your local area that the error within 50 miles is significant to safety of flight, then your likely to be encountering weather that makes the barometer setting irrelevant.

My home strip is outside of radio range of the nearest ATIS, I don't have any idea of my actual altimeter setting before takeoff - I just dial the BARO setting until my altimeter approximates 2700' (my strip actual altitude) and then go fly. Within about 500' AGL I'll have radio reception for the nearest "real airport" and get the actual setting.

Unless your IFR and IMC, you should be eyes outside at any altitude for which these minor deviations would be important - at which point they become unimportant.

 

[William_Ince]

How about adding a BARO button function to the SV screen/panel (maybe on the same button line as ENGINE?) that when pushed activates the BARO adjustment function for quick and easy pressure adjustment via a screen/panel knob.  The button could be timed so that once the BARO adjustment is made, the buttons/knobs revert back to their previous condition.  As much as I love my SV (RV-12), I find the button pushing needed to adjust the BARO to be nettlesome.   :-?

I second that.
That would be a great feature, especially for those of us that do not have the touch screen.

 

[dynonsupport]

Any suggestions where to put this button? The main menu on SKyView is full, so we'd have to move something from there, and if you were in any other menu (PFD, ENGINE, AP, TRANSPONDER, MAP, TOOLS) then you wouldn't have the button.

Installations with more than one screen generally don't need this (they can leave a knob on baro all the time), lots of people have knob modules with dedicated baro knobs, and touch screens can just touch it, so it's kind of a shame to remove any primary function for it.

We could maybe wire it to an external input so you could wire up your own button to do this. Would that work?

 

[DHeal]

I was thinking of including a BARO button on the same button line as ENGINE, etc. Lots of space there. For my operations, I would use the BARO function early in my initial pre-takeoff check-list after listening to the local ATIS or inputting the local airport elevation at an airport without ATIS. I am trying to avoid more panel cutting and wiring! Mainly I find that I occasionally forget to reset the BARO knob and as a result screw up my altitude reading -- for some reason, I forget this more than any other SV knob resetting operation!

 

[dynonsupport]

If your issue is accidental adjustment, is what you want actually an option where the knob will default to doing nothing after X seconds so you always have to select what it does before you use it?

I'm not sure what you mean as "The same button line as ENGINE"

This screen shot has the ENGINE menu- as you can see, all buttons are used

 

[mmarien]

Mainly I find that I occasionally forget to reset the BARO knob and as a result screw up my altitude reading

You and me both. But I think selecting BARO from the menu is an option (see the manual). If you click the joystick any direction (or push on it) you'll get the menu. Click up/down to BARO and without clicking left or right, turn the knob to input the barometric setting. That's it. It defaults to whatever bug it was set to previously after a few seconds.

 

[RobertHamilton]

We keep looking at ways to improve the user interface, and this is good feedback.

Something that hasn't been mentioned here is the SV-KNOB-PANEL. It has dedicated BARO, HDG/TRK, and ALT knobs. I find I always use it first.

-Robert

 

[DHeal]

MMarien -

My SV BARO button does not default to a previous setting -- I think you are mistaken. No such action is mentioned in the SV product manuals.

It appears that the button line with ENGINE is in fact full. I would be happy if the BARO function would revert to the previous knob setting.

The Dynon knob panel is nice, but I just don't feel like hacking up my panel and wires (and I am somewhat "thrifty" in my retirement years).

ps to Dynon -- Despite my having the latest software updates, I continue to get traffic ghosting alerts. A lot less than before, but still enough to be an occasional nuisance.

 

[southtarnation]

I picked up a knob module on VAF for 100 dollars and installed it today with out taking my panel off. I used a pre made pigtail and just plugged it in. Took about 1.5 hrs in a 100 degree hangar. I still have to add nut plates though. It's nice!

 

[mmarien]

My SV BARO button does not default to a previous setting -- I think you are mistaken.  No such action is mentioned in the SV product manuals.

Hmmm. You could be right. Maybe I just got in the habit of selecting my default bug after setting the barometric pressure.

 

[mmarien]

My SV BARO button does not default to a previous setting -- I think you are mistaken.

I stand corrected on this. Page 4-8 of the User Guide does mention that it's optional to move the joystick left or right to select the Bug. I checked it today. What I do is move the joystick up or down to get BARO, spin the knob to set the barometric pressure and then move back down to select my personal default Bug. A habit I didn't realize I was doing. : Moving left or right is also optional here. You also can save a few clicks by removing the Bugs that you don't use from the list.

 

[Tuiliere]

Hello Dynon,

Reading this post there is another thing I experimented about the Baro button. I precise I am in Europe and we don't have ADSB.
When I fly in Flight Level, I have to change my Baro to 1013. For that, I only have to push the Baro button a few seconds to obtain this number. But when I begin my descent, sometimes (often), I forgot to put the "local" Baro value and continue to fly with the 1013 indication...
I don't know How, but it would be helpful to add a message on the screen, like " Baro adjustment ". This message could appear when Baro is 1013 and the plane in descent ?

Sorry for my bad English
In advance thank you
Sylvain

 

[airguy]

Hello Dynon,

Reading this post there is another thing I experimented about the Baro button. I precise I am in Europe and we don't have ADSB.
When I fly in Flight Level, I have to change my Baro to 1013. For that, I only have to push the Baro button a few seconds to obtain this number. But when I begin my descent, sometimes (often), I forgot to put the "local" Baro value and continue to fly with the 1013 indication...
I don't know How, but it would be helpful to add a message on the screen, like " Baro adjustment ". This message could appear when Baro is 1013 and the plane in descent ?

Sorry for my bad English
In advance thank you
Sylvain

It seems that this should be on the "Descent Checklist" rather than built into the Skyview, since you would need to perform this step in any aircraft, with or without Skyview.