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Introducing SkyView Assist

J

Joe

Well Known Member
[I'm posting this jointly with friend and fellow RV-driver, Peter Seferovic.]

Announcing SkyView Assist (?), an Android application for use with the Dynon SkyView. SkyView Assist displays Dynon SkyView engine gauges on your tablet or phone. This allows you to display a larger Map page and/or display engine instruments for a co-pilot or passenger. This is especially useful for those of us who have no panel space for an additional SkyView (like in my RV-8A).

SVA2.png


More details are available at https://skyviewassist.wordpress.com/

It's free; just download and install it from the Google Play store. Or it can be downloaded from the above URL.

But there is one tiny catch: SkyView Assist requires a serial port connection to the Dynon SkyView. It's not hard to add a serial-to-Bluetooth adapter to a SkyView spare output port and pair it with your tablet. These adapters are available inexpensively from Amazon, eBay and other sites.

Future releases may add other functionality such as customization of the engine indicators and the layout. And eventually there may be a PFD page so an aft cockpit passenger can see the altitude, airspeed, etc.

Contact Peter with questions or issues about the app at [email protected]. Or I can help you with Bluetooth installation issues by emailing me at the same address.
 
Joe,

This is pretty darn cool. Thank you for the contribution to the Dynon community. I definitely see the value in this and would like to get it up and running in my plane. Any plans for an iOS version???? If not - as a non-Android person, can you recommend a cost effective Android tablet that will work? I see that there are some for less than $50 - for that price it makes a nice dedicated engine display to free up the map area. An example is the RCA 7" tablet at Walmart:http://www.walmart.com/ip/45804404?...4744272&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=142286440592&veh=sem
 
n144sh said:
... Any plans for an iOS version????...
Click to expand...
Alas, no plans for iOS.

n144sh said:
... as a non-Android person, can you recommend a cost effective Android tablet that will work? ...
Click to expand...
A dedicated low-cost Android tablet is a good idea but it's tough to make a recommendation because it totally depends on your criteria. Virtually any Android 4.0 and later tablet would work but visibility in the cockpit, usability, and battery life (to mention just three items) would have to be considered.

Personally, I use and very much like the Google Nexus 7 (2013 model) as the screen is the best I've encountered, new or old. Sometimes I use my LG41C "burner" phone (a low-cost TracFone) but the screen is noticeably inferior in bright sunlight.

Steve, I see you're in nearby Hillsboro. Fly down sometime (I'm at Independence Airpark) and we can easily check out any device on my RV-8A's SkyView via Bluetooth. If it doesn't compare well to the Nexus 7 you can return it to WalMart.
 
I will try it today

I just downloaded it onto a Galaxy tablet and will try it today. When I opened the application it only shows 3 cylinders. I also unchecked "Portrait" in Settings but it still displays Portrait.

Headed to the hanger. I already have a Bluetooth USB fob on my SkyView so I can upload flight plans from ForeFlight so this should be straightforward.

I appreciate your offering this to us. I agree that the map gets much better when the EMS page is off.
 
I just checked the on line documentation and it looks like just having the SkyView Bluetooth fob won't be enough. I like doing electronics projects so will tackle the serial port adapter sometime soon. I probably have a Bluetooth adapter on a board from an earlier project that I can use.
 
Bubblehead said:
I just checked the on line documentation and it looks like just having the SkyView Bluetooth fob won't be enough.
Click to expand...

That's a WiFi "fob" isn't it? AFAIK Dynon doesn't have any Bluetooth support, hence the need for a serial-to-Bluetooth adapter.

They're available all over eBay and other places. I bought a dozen, programmed them for proper baud rate, and connected pin 9 of the D-sub to +5V so they're "plug and play". Anyone can contact me about obtaining one for cost plus USPS shipping.

Bubblehead said:
I agree that the map gets much better when the EMS page is off.
Click to expand...

Thank you -- that's two of us! Going from 40% to 50% really is a big deal because of the "overhead" of the non-map items on the Map page.
 
SVAssist starts the first time in Portrait mode. We have very different layouts depending on the orientation and size tablets and there are some quirks with this, anyway to switch to
landscape mode for SVAssist do the following, this should be a one shot deal.

1. Start SVASSIST, change setting to Landscape, by unchecking Portrait mode
2. Exit SVASSIST and kill it by pressing the x when you view all apps in Android (The square button in Marshmallow and Lollipop to bring up all active apps)
3. Move your tablet/phone to invoke landscape mode
4. Disable the AutoRotate feature, thus it locks into Landscape
5. Restart SVASSIST It should look OK.
 
Is there a problem with having both Dynon's USB Bluetooth for tablet connectivity and one of the ones for SVAssist active at the same time? I guess the tablet would have to connect to two different Bluetooth networks simultaneously. Don't know if they can do that.
 
Tom,
Dynon's adapter is WiFi not Bluetooth, so there is no interference there. We had to use WiFi since Apple doesn't allow Bluetooth connections for data to devices that they don't bless (and you pay for that blessing).

Joe,
Looks like a cool project. Let us know if we can do anything reasonable to make your job easier.

Don't forget, you can put two 10" SkyViews in a RV-8:

DSC_0820.jpg
 
dynonsupport said:
Tom,
Dynon's adapter is WiFi not Bluetooth, so there is no interference there. We had to use WiFi since Apple doesn't allow Bluetooth connections for data to devices that they don't bless (and you pay for that blessing).

Joe,
Looks like a cool project. Let us know if we can do anything reasonable to make your job easier.

Don't forget, you can put two 10" SkyViews in a RV-8:

DSC_0820.jpg
Click to expand...

Not strictly true.. Bluetooth 4.0 AKA Bluetooth LE (low energy) is an open interface, built into all iThings for the last few years. I was using a Bluefruit LE Micro from Adafruit to build a seral port extender for Skyview. Unfortunately it is no longer available and mine died, so the project has been set back. Adafruit sells other gizmos that work, plus some free Apple Apps with source code for both ends.

This makes it quite easy to grab serial information, transmit it to an iPad or iPhone and make it into an auxiliary display.

Unfortunately, my time has been been drained advising/investing in a couple of aerospace start-up companies that will have a better ROI, so I hope someone else with more time can pick this up! Hopefully Joe will have some ideas.

Cheers.
 
Last edited:
Fair enough Vern. However, BLE also only supports data rates up to about 10kBps, which wasn't enough for our use case.
 
I was looking at the BTLE module's CPU to suck in the data at 115 kbit/s, extract certain fields and compress the data for transmission. Seems like a lot of work if you already have a wifi dongle that can be used.

V
 
dynonsupport said:
Joe,
Looks like a cool project. Let us know if we can do anything reasonable to make your job easier.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much; that's a wonderful attitude. And it reaffirms my choice of Dynon since the early days of the EFIS-D10 (before the D10A!)

So would it be reasonable to provide over WiFi everything that's now available in the EMS, ADAHRS, and System Serial Data Format tables (Appendix E of the Installation manual)? <g> We would greatly prefer this be a WiFi project instead of Bluetooth.

dynonsupport said:
Don't forget, you can put two 10" SkyViews in a RV-8:
Click to expand...

Wish I could but I need some round gauges and standard-width avionics too:

RVpanel.jpg


Now, if Dynon would make a 7-inch portrait-mode screen I wouldn't need a tablet on a ball mount but I understand the realities of that. It's too late for this panel but a higher-resolution 12-inch screen would have worked for me.
 
Joe,
We currently send AHRS data over WiFi but not EMS data. We'll look into how much work that would take.
 
I just uploaded a new version of SkyView Assist.
This new version 1.2.16 has new functionality in the ?Setting? Menu. You can now change the ranges, colors and titles on the engine gauges. You can also 'Export' and 'Import' Engine parameters. Check it out
Peter
 
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