Wintec vs. Flysight

[sdctlc 0]

The discussions in the US Performance cup thread has me wondering about the two units I have heard the most about, the Wintec WBT-201 and the FlySight. The latter was used at the Elsinore event with some issues and the Wintec was brought up in that thread as one previously used in competitions. It seems that the "talk" is that the FlySight is now the preferred unit and at ~$250 it is much more then the Wintec at ~$90. What advantage is it that the Flysight offers? Since I don't own either unit, my only perception of the difference is that the Flysight can offer audible signals to provide performance feedback DURING a flight which can provide some great performance feedback and improvements. Additionally it is being developed to give directions to a waypoint. I am assuming that there are more reasons that the FlySight is now preferred over the Wintec but I don't know. Is the data outputted to paralog the same? If so, is the Feedback you can get while flying the only big difference?

Who has used both and has some thoughts?

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[unclecharlie95 3]

Real time feedback of performance in flight.

BASEstore.it

[LukeH 0]

Did you stop following the other thread?

It seems more likely that the issues encountered at the US comp were related to GPS jamming than a problem with the unit.

Jamming is more common than you might think. GPS signal is very weak and easy to interfere with. There was an airport somewhere who's state of the art auto landing system used to go crazy a couple of times a day. It turned out to be a truck with a jammer installed to kill it's own GPS tracker that passed by on the highway! Another famous incident was when cell phone towers and atms in some costal city all stoped working because a navy ship was testing a jammer nearby. (Lots of things use GPS as an assurate time source)

Did anyone ask the pilots on the day if they were having any problems with GPS?

I've used the Wintec WBT-201 until mine stopped working. I bought a FlySight as soon as it was released and have been using it since, it's far superior.

[sdctlc 0]

Quote

Did you stop following the other thread?

No, still following the other thread. Broke this off to get a better understanding of the differences between the units. the other thread is mostly about the GPS issues more so than anything else as of late, separate form the results.

So Basically the two units do the same data but FlySight gives live in flight performance feedback.

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[LukeH 0]

The benefits of Flysight over other GPS loggers as listed in the other thread...

The main advantages of Flysight (other than the tone indication) are:
1) The chipset used (u-blox 6) is one of the most recent and best for our application. It can track lots of Sats, has fast acquire time and is very sensitive.
2) The methods used by Flysight to calculate various speeds are much more accurate than many other loggers as it's based on Doppler shift rather than lat/lon change.
3) The GPS model is set to Aviation out of the box which works better with the kind of data we get, it can be changed easily.
4) It can log data at up to 5hz, without any hacks.
5) Accuracy data is also recorded in the logs, so Paralog can filter the data recorded to exclude spurious data.
6) It's small, easy to mount and easy to download data from without special drivers or software.
7) The units software is open source, so people can add features to it specific to skydivers needs, e.g. navigation and competition specific modes.
(BTW the navigation to a waypoint has been available for almost a year, this is not an official feature of the device but is being used by quite a few people, there is another thread all about this)

You can find other GPS's with a couple of the features above in them or with complicated ways to achieve some of them, but I'm not aware of any other GPS that offers all of the above for a similar cost. When you add the ability to give audible indications is makes it a no-brainer if you are looking for a GPS for skydiving.

Specific to Wintec WBT-201 items 1,2,4 & 5 apply. The Wintec would never connect by USB for me so I had to use Bluetooth, usb is quicker and easier for me. I think there is a hack for item 3 on the Wintec but I'm not sure (requires extra software and fiddling with it).

If you don't have to spend $250 for a Flysight, Michael has made the schematic freely available. Head to RadioShack and break out your soldering iron

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Scott,

Congrats on winning the US Performance cup.

I used the wintec briefly in 2007 and have the FlySight. now. I used a GPS older than wintec GPS for most of my logging when it was necessary.

The Flysight does the same job and makes it worry free for me. If I follow the instructions(turn on 15 mins at start of day, a few mins before boarding the airplane and before exit) the flysight works flawlessly.

I only use the FlySight as a passive GPS(no earphones) and still think it is worth it compared to the older units.

Kris

[antonija 0]

I used both.

First I got me a Wintec because Flysight did not exist yet. The thing was very very bad at acquiring signal inside the plane, that I did not get many useful tracks. Keeping it turned on for the plane ride did not help, turning it on few minutes before exit neither. This was in Turbo Let-410 and Pilatus PC-6.
BTW, if anyone wants to buy wintec, contact me

When Flysight appeared I got one. This thing will find signal anywhere, anytime. Hot start is usually only few seconds, sometimes it needs up to 20s if the unit is far from windows (inside a metal plane). I _always_ had signal before exit with Flysight.
Audio feedback in air is also pretty cool and I think it has helped me with my performance. I use earphones at the moment but will install low profile speakers inside of my helmet just to eliminate fiddling with the wires.
Plus if you don't have anyone to jump with then the audio feedback is about the only objective info about your performance that you have at your disposal.

Flysight wins even without audio feedback (with feedback it has no competition).

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

[kallend 1,620]

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When Flysight appeared I got one. This thing will find signal anywhere, anytime.

Except at Elsinore during a competition.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 1,620]

I'm curious what audio feedback modes people find most useful with the Flysight. I have tried all the listed modes and generally leave mine on forward speed mode now.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[antonija 0]

I use glide ratio beeps... It's kinda annoying that GPSs can only track ground speed and not airspeed (having "real" glide ration would be the awsomest thing evar!!), but you can at least get inter-day feedback if you keep the direction of flight constant and wind speed does not change much during the day.

Plus I get kinda excited when I make my flysight go silent during WS flight

I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne