Marking a Waypoint while flying

[trevpond]

Hi Guys,

With 3.3, will it be possible to mark a waypoint whilst flying over it and if so how?

regards



Trev :-?

 

[dynonsupport]

Yes!

Simply go to MAP > MENU > CREATE WAYPOINT.

If the map is centered on the airplane, it will use the aircraft location at the moment you hit the CREATE WAYPOINT menu item. If you're using the cursor to pan around the map, it'll use the cursor location. From there, you can name it, give it a description, choose the icon, etc, right there in the window that pops up on SkyView.

 

[trevpond]

Thanks for that, but wouldn't it be easier to have a "Mark" button under "Map". Easier to use in the air!

best regards


Trev

 

[dynonsupport]

There are no free buttons in the map menu (the one that is blank today is reserved for weather).

 

[trevpond]

That's a shame, we can't get weather in the UK!

 

[jakej]

Same applies in OZ, Trev :'(

Jake J

 

[trevpond]

So how about doing away with the weather button in Oz and Europe and giving us a Mark button?


Trev

 

[mmarien]

Another method would be to hold a button for "Make Waypoint" much like the Page/Enter/NRST button on Garmin handhelds become Mode/Mark/Find if you hold them down for a second.

 

[dynonsupport]

I have to say that I've never marked a waypoint while in flight on any GPS ever, so I'm not very experienced with how people use it. Can you describe some of the ways you use it and why it's important to have it be one of the primary functions so that maybe I can better understand how to make it more useful?

--Ian Jordan
Systems Engineer

 

[mmarien]

I don't use it a lot either, but when I overfly something that I might want to return to or report, I'd be long past if I had to dig through a menu to mark it. It probably doesn't need to be a primary button, but doubling up buttons (ie: holding the DTO button brings up the nearest list) may be a way to add functionality.

 

[dynonsupport]

Have you tried it yet? We did our best not to bury it.

MENU, DOWN, RIGHT, which is only two more presses than a dedicated key.

We try and avoid "overloaded" keys like the plague. They're OK when you can silkscreen the function right on the front of a product like a dedicated GPS can, but they are non-discoverable on a softkey device like SkyView. You have to read the manual and remember they are there. This is double trouble on something that hardly gets used.

--Ian

 

[mmarien]

Good point. If you use it frequently it would be like remembering the 1-2-5 screen shot combination. Or is that 2-7? :

 

[jc2da]

That is funny considering one of my pet peeves with SV is how overloaded my left knob can get.

I only have a single screen so when the map is on, the right knob is dedicated to map range.

Thus, everything else is overloaded on the left knob. Changing Barometer could require up to 6 knob clicks down to scroll through all of the bugs and functions. I wish there could be a better way.

Because you are scrolling with the knob, it requires more attention to get the right selection versus hitting a soft key. In this case, i would rather overload a soft key more than overload the knob.

Don't know what the ideal solution would be. Somehow add a softkey for selecting the knob function?

Have you tried it yet? We did our best not to bury it.

MENU, DOWN, RIGHT, which is only two more presses than a dedicated key.

We try and avoid "overloaded" keys like the plague. They're OK when you can silkscreen the function right on the front of a product like a dedicated GPS can, but they are non-discoverable on a softkey device like SkyView. You have to read the manual and remember they are there. This is double trouble on something that hardly gets used.

--Ian

 

[dynonsupport]

Waypoints are marked with the MAP knob, not with the knob that is doing BARO/BUGS.

 

[trevpond]

Hi Ian,

We have various organisations here in Europe and one of them is used by the Emergency Services, i.e. Police, and Ambulance. We are asked to look for lost Children, downed aircraft etc and we fly fairly low level using a search grid.

The "Mark" button is so useful because it is instant, hence one of the reasons that it would be so useful, i.e. as Garmin enter button. The DTO button would be of great if you could hold it down for a second or two to mark a point for later reporting.

Have a think on it.

regards


Trev :

 

[lindsayj]

The Garmin needs the map cursor turned on in order to mark with the enter button. So if we mark the SV map with the pointer button the pointer stays in place on the map, just like the Garmin map cursor. So,what happens when we do Map, Menu, Make a waypoint then? Does it record the airplane's position or the pointer position? If it records the pointer position, problem solved...Maybe Jack L

 

[dynonsupport]

It records the airplane position if the map is following the airplane, and the pointer if the pointer is active. So "it depends", basically. For those that haven't really explored the map extensively yet, once you've activated the pointer by moving the map joystick, you can switch back and forth between the pointer (map panning mode) and the aircraft being followed by center clicking the map joystick.

 

[lindsayj]

once you've activated the pointer by moving the map joystick

I think I've discovered that you can activate the pointer by PUSHING on the Joy Stick. It's not necessary to move it as the Pilot Guide says. Once it's active, it stays in place at the geographical position where it was activated. This makes it ideal in any sort of scenario, such as a SAR sighting, where upon you want to instantly record your position. Activating the pointer delivers a window with Lat/Lon, bearing, and distance, and ETE to the pointer position. Quicker and easier to see than the map cursor on Garmin GNS 430. The pointer will stay in the same place as long you don't move the Joy Stick. And so if you want to save the position as a way point, you can go Map>Menu>Create Waypoint when you have time. Very cool, better than Garmin, simple and easy, and no complex routine to remember. All you really have to do to get the position of the emergency sighting is push on the Joy Stick. Wow! Way to go DYNON. Thanks for great work. Jack L

 

[lindsayj]

once you've activated the pointer by moving the map joystick

I think I've discovered that you can activate the pointer by PUSHING on the Joy Stick. It's not necessary to move it as the Pilot Guide says. Once it's active, it stays in place at the geographical position where it was activated. This makes it ideal in any sort of scenario, such as a SAR sighting, where upon you want to instantly record your position. Activating the pointer delivers a window with Lat/Lon, bearing, and distance, and ETE to the pointer position. Quicker and easier to see than the map cursor on Garmin GNS 430. The pointer will stay in the same place as long you don't move the Joy Stick. And so if you want to save the position as a way point, you can go Map>Menu>Create Waypoint when you have time. Very cool, better than Garmin, simple and easy, and no complex routine to remember. All you really have to do to get the position of the emergency sighting is push on the Joy Stick. Wow! Way to go DYNON. Thanks for great work. Jack L

Not so fast.
I was almost right about all that, but not quite. I've now discovered that pushing on the Joystick as described above works unless you have moved the pointer with the joystick sometime during the flight. Pushing the joystick then will return the system to following the airplane. But the next time you push, the system goes to the previous position of the pointer as described on page 7-26 of the user guide revision J. Thereafter, the only way to mark your current position is to go Map>Menu>Create a Waypoint. As far as I can tell, you can not again use the joystick button to mark your position until you start a new flight. Sure wish there were a routine available to exit from the pointer another way so that the push would mark your current position always, as it does if you haven't moved the pointer. I must say it's pretty good as it is but not as intuitive as it could be IMHO. Thanks...Jack L

 

[dynonsupport]

If you push any direction when not panning, the cursor always shows up at your current location. If you click the center knob, it goes to the last location. So you have both options available easily at all times. If you always want to mark your location, just press a direction, don't push the knob.