schristo@mac.com

[email protected]

Well Known Member
Okay, really crappy weather but I wanted to try out my new Fat Gecko mini camera mount. It has a strong suction cup rated at 4 pounds, an adjustable arm, extension, and a ball joint terminating with a standard tripod thread. The camera is my older Canon SD600 recording 640x480 at 30 fps. I look forward to experimenting with this setup... waiting for my iPhone tripod adapter for some HD video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IF91C82SJk
skyviewlanding.jpg



UPDATE
Given comments from the first skyview video about the runway projection I decided to perform a proper compass rose calibration and give it another run. The results show a very well aligned synthetic projection of the runway rolling onto final and through landing (landing the other direction on the same runway).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mirpheyUWhM
skyviewaftercalibration.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey Stephen

Great video and great panel!!! It is exactly what I have been thinking about doing and low and behold you have it. Do you have any pictures you could post of it as a whole. I went through you build log a bit and didn't find anything really close up.

Thanks a lot

-David
 
Panel shots in -7 'show your panel' thread

David, I have several shots of the panel from planning through finish in the 'show your panel' thread for the -7... Check them out.
 
Awesome video, the only trouble. That's what your weather going to look like for the next 3 months. Ugh!!!. Of course, we had a blizzard today. The roads are covered with ice and snow. The temps are -10 windchill. But...the sun will come out tomorrow... (breaking into song):D
 
Very cool vid--your camera mount is solid as a rock. I also like your panel--a lot. The skyview-696 combo looks awesome! What say you? Any problems, shortcomings?
 
Stephen,

I noticed that the runway appeared on your screen just as you touched down. It may have been there the whole time because I couldn't tell if it was there on your final. Can you clarify for us? Otherwise, looks looks like a great more economical setup.
 
musings...

After the first 100 hours including two long cross country flights, each around 2,000 miles, I can say that I love the panel. Very comfortable for on-the-fly routing, very easy to manage... The XM weather and radio are well presented on the 696 and are a natural complement to the Skyview system.

I like having the PFD focused on flying and engine management and am not a big fan of the all in one box solution that Dynon and others are moving towards. Having the Dynon and Garmin independently driven with their own gps source gives some redundancy while allowing each to focus on their own speciality.

I have a fuzzy future expansion plan to move to the Dynon integrated transponder for traffic and hope for some future traffic/weather gizmo... the old transponder space will accommodate a certified GPS when the prices come down significantly... we'll see...

I flew a couple of hours of night cross-country and found that the panel lighting was mostly adequate from the self illuminated screens but the GMA240 has no lighting and my engine controls, switches above, and switch labeling on the VP-50 are not lighted... I do have an overhead LED light that works fine if my fingers don't remember the right location but it is not ideal. I am contemplating some very soft panel led lighting under the dash... not sure though.

Love the map box! I think I will say that again... Love the map box! Keys, wallet, cables, stuff... all well secured for tossing the plane about.

The Skyview shows the runway on climb-out getting smaller as you climb but it looks like they need to do some work on depicting runway projections for approach... that is likely part of the mapping update. Right now it looks like the runway appears on landing about when you touch down...

I am very impressed with the little camera mount.
cameramount.jpg


It is rock steady and the image shows just how smooth the engine and prop are.

The engine and prop combination are a great match on the -7. In all load configurations it is well within the CG limits.

If only the weather will cooperate...

zoom zoom:)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the great info, Stephen. I take it that you're also happy with the 240--other than the lighting problem? Have you missed the marker beacon at all?
 
Nice video Stephen!

Hey at least it didn't rain at all this weekend. Oh wait maybe it did, but only like 6 inches!!!:eek:
 
Wow, that bug where the runway suddenly shows up is weird and something we have never heard of or seen. It wasn't a fix we were planning on for the mapping update because we had never heard of it, but we will now!

What airport and runway was that so we can see if we can recreate it? Are you on 2.6 or 2.5 firmware?
 
landing on runway 34 at KAWO...

Hello Dynon, using v2.6 with current nav and obstacle data...
landing runway 34 at Arlington, WA...

Always great to have vendors on the forums!

G-Meter, G-Meter, G-Meter... need that G-Meter in Skyview!

Any update on the next update?

Jarvis, the GMA240 is a great unit, I am very happy with it and have no interest in a marker beacon... just another piece of outdated tech replaced by GPS.

Jeff, any decisions on a prop yet?
 
Last edited:
Stephen, your panel is exactly where I think I'm going to start out. So thanks for that!

How do you like the VP-50? Can you use stick mounted controls for the flaps (and other stuff) with it, or are you tethered to the switches on the unit itself. Can't really find some nit picky questions I have about it on their site, and the lack of VP-X support is the only thing really hindering my desicion on the Dynon Skyview.

Also, how comfortable would you feel using the GPS derived 6 pack on the 696 as a back up if the dynon went blank in the goo? Seems like a great alternative to standby's especially since the battery in the thing would probably last longer than the gas in the tanks in the event of a total loss of power.
 
Last edited:
Sig600 said:
Also, how comfortable would you feel using the GPS derived 6 pack on the 696 as a back up if the dynon went blank in the goo? Seems like a great alternative to standby's especially since the battery in the thing would probably last longer than the gas in the tanks in the event of a total loss of power.
Click to expand...

I'm not him................but, I'd feel quite comfortable with the 696 "six pac".
There have been numerous times, when I've updated the altimeter setting with XM weather, for the area I'm flying..........and the planes altimeter & the 696's exactly follow each other.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
Good to know. The more I research, the more I'm coming to the realization that I may have to rethink my panel cost wise. Want synthetic vision, and redundancy, but ILS/VOR only and one display may have to be the way I go until I can add more later. This panel seems to be a great way to go.
 
Stephan and Dynon, it looked to me like your approach profile was a bit nose high and shallow. Did you have full flaps? My runway seems to show up on the synthetic vision sooner than yours did. seems like a see it about a mile or two out?
 
Stephen,
The G-meter is already coded and will be in 3.0, and it's really neat ;)

We don't have an exact date for 3.0 yet, but our target is Q1 2011.
 
Hey Stephen,

Great video! I'm putting together a dream panel on paper and it looks remarkably similar to yours. Surprise, surprise. If I can figure out how to send it to you, I'll do it. I'm curious about the camera mount, too. I really like that!
 
Great video! Maybe Dynon will put a "recommended traffic pattern track" on the display so some guys don't keep flying those big bomber patterns...

Just kidding! :D

Still, the idea of an automatic HITS appearing by inference (e.g. because you are in the pattern area and at traffic pattern altitude, and choosing a default runway based on calculated winds or HSI) would be an awesome feature for a future release.
 
Runway direction (or alignment)

Others have mentioned the runway popping into view way late.

I wonder about the direction of the runway once it appears. If I was trying to track the runway centerline using the synthetic vision, it sure looks like I'd need to turn left. Is this because of a crosswind or something? It doesn't seem quite right as it is.
 
The direction that SynVis shows you out the window is based on the magnetometer. So if your heading is off a few degrees you'll see what you see in the video. If you have a SkyView and notice this issue, a re-cal of the magnetometer should fix it.

There is a flight path indicator on the screen that is GPS based that shows where the plane is actually going, and this is a great reference for lining up with a runway since it takes out crosswind for you.
 
Here's my SkyView approach. There is lot's of "white". Mostly snow reflection. It was actually a high overcast. You can see the runway on SkyView right by the altitude tape an slightly to the right of the center of the PFD. I was 1.3 nm out. It was actually really hard to find the runway in the snow.

PC170316.jpg


And on the runway

PC170318.jpg
 
RV 7 on skis

You Tube "Flight around the world Argentina 1" & 2

I'm not sure what Vans thinks about the loads on the gear sockets and motor mount but gentle landings on smooth surfaces are evidently OK.
 
F1R said:
Questions. 1)Has anybody put the skyview magnetometer in the instrument bay with success, and where did you mount yours? I have no electronic ignition and no gyros, so it's tempting
Click to expand...

You can download the manual on their website, I seem to remember reading to specifically not mount it near any EMI source. I would think behind the panel with the comm wires, electronics and other stuff, it would be way to noisy back there and your mag heading is constantly going to be changing with the changes in EM noise as you turn stuff on and off, transmit, etc.

The head aches of trying to get it just right and trouble shooting it would be way more effort than just mounting it in the back the first time.
 
Richard,

1) Try putting a "boy scout" compass in your avionics bay, and see how accurate it is while you turn stuff on and off. That is the best test, before you try installing a magnetometer there.

2) With SkyView, the engine monitoring displays can be set up exactly the way you want them, with control over: which parameters are displayed, type of gauge (needle, bar, column, etc.), labels, size, and location. The 20%, 50%, and 100% engine monitor screen sizes can all be set up differently.

-Robert
Dynon Marketing
 
after compass rose calibration...

UPDATE
Given comments from the first skyview video about the runway projection I decided to perform a proper compass rose calibration and give it another run. The results show a very well aligned synthetic projection of the runway rolling onto final and through landing (landing the other direction on the same runway).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mirpheyUWhM
skyviewaftercalibration.jpg
 
apkp777 said:
Awesome video, the only trouble. That's what your weather going to look like for the next 3 months. Ugh!!!. Of course, we had a blizzard today. The roads are covered with ice and snow. The temps are -10 windchill. But...the sun will come out tomorrow... (breaking into song):D
Click to expand...

Just don't look out the windscreen..The Dynon had a clear blue sky depicted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.