Digifly Air vario vs 6030?

A discussion restricted to the topic of hang gliding.
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DougM
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Post by DougM »

By the way, Digifly is represented in the USA (Florida) now. Hopefully they will stay awhile. https://flydigifly.blogspot.com/
And their prices ain't too bad, either.... https://flydigifly.blogspot.com/p/prices.html
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Rich Diamond
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Re: Digifly Air vs 6030

Post by Rich Diamond »

can anyone Download the VARIO Tone Up /Dn. on here please !
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Chippy
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Location: Sylmar, CA

Post by Chippy »

I'll write up something this week since I just got back from SCFR. I flew the DigiFly exclusively. Just don't want to write it completely on the phone. We've just purchased 5 of them in the Sylmar crowd . I'll include the sound of the very audible vario.

Got a few ideas for improvements that Pedro is considering. He has many good ideas as well. If the company is open to pilot input/suggestions, I think they have a winning combination
Jeff Chipman
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Chippy
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Post by Chippy »

I purchased a new DigiFly AIR BT before the SCFR in AZ because my other one (6030) was stolen in July. I had a good lead on a new 6030 but learned that the entire Italian Team has moved over to these varios and thought I'd use the "opportunity" to check out something new

I had a few flights on the "future" flytec 7030 called the Connect presently, and was pretty disappointed, so I felt I had nothing to lose since insurance was replacing the vario anyway.

I know Pedro Garcia, so I thought I'd help support his new venture and buy them at the great introductory price of $700.

First, the vario is very light. This would seem to make sense since pilots need to get that vario out in the airflow and having a heavy vario out so far creates quite a moment that bounces. The majority of the weight is actually the battery. If one could take out the battery, which doesn't look possible unless you have soldering skills (which I do have). The battery is a cell phone Lithium Ion 4.2 cell that looks like it came directly out of a Samsung cell phone.

Charging the DigiFly is accomplished by connecting the USB 4 pin cable (like the one you download with on the 6030). This allows you to charge it in the car, connected to a computer or connected to the wall. Full charge is achieved when the battery reaches 4.2 volts. Battery charging is achieved when the instrument is off. If you turn on the instrument, battery charging continues.

Next thing you notice about the instrument is there is no mounting holes. This concerned me a little since the velcro DigiFly provides is very different than you're likely used to. Being that the pod I ordered (not from Pedro) had not arrived and actually still hasn't. However the mount and Velcro provided is enough to do the job. The "Velcro" is more like a locking plastic hook and loop system instead of being fabric based. I just made sure I cleaned the area with acetone before sticking the sticky back to the instrument. After getting the "Velcro" on the instrument I tested the effectiveness of the material. I've grown to like the locking feel of it.

The mount arm is too short to effectively use the instrument when going fast, but it's OK when thermalling. Pedro knows that the arm is short and hopes to offer options in the near future. The pod once received will be a great option. See here: http://www.deltalinkpage.com/files/icar ... NGLISH.pdf

Externally, there is only one other connector, micro memory card slot. I have not needed to use this yet.

So let me cut to the chase, how do I like the vario?
I believe this vario can serve all pilots equally and should be able to be useful for expert to novice pilots due to its customization capabilities.

The audio is superb and can be customized, but I found I like the FST setting best as it really helps the pilot mentally map the strongest lift.

There's a prethermal beep that helps the pilot slow down when you start hearing the tone. I used to fly the McReady tone on the 6030 all of the time. There is not an equivalent on the DigiFly, so I found the prethermal tone an OK compromise.

I absolutely love the thermal centering display and used it a lot on the 5th task at the SCFR in AZ. For the most part I believe the indicator is pretty accurate. I did feel that there were times that intuition was pulling me towards stronger lift. Sometimes I was rewarded with success and other times, I recentered the indicator when intuition failed me.

During contest flying, automated page switching (called intellifly) can be confusing if you are not expecting it. It's best to go about this slowly by minimizing the number of pages you have enabled. On more than one occasion I found that intellifly had switched when I hadn't expected it. If you are a button pusher, turn it off.

I'd like the instrument to sound off better when a waypoint is made other than the dull audio sound it makes. I'm pretty sure this will be addressed at some point.

I like the warning the pilot receives when the countdown clock reaches 10 minutes, and then the gate opened message when countdown goes to 0.

When it comes to flying comps, there is so much this instrument can do, it's too much to list in this post.

If you want to create very simple pages for display of vario and altitiude with very large fields the AirPages application makes that relatively easy to do. If you are a Mac user, DigiFly has you covered. Learning what you want to display will be your biggest issue

There are two waypoint "categories". Comp waypoints and User waypoints, so it is no longer required that you dump all of your local waypoints when going to a comp. Just dump all of the Comp waypoints and keep your user waypoints. As a scorekeeper, I find this setting useful.

The DigiFly has an advanced 99 channel GPS receiver, 3 accelerometers, 3 magnetometers, and 3 gyroscope sensors, so this is as close to an inertial navigation system as you can get.

I had to set the sink alarm to be nearly off because the default setting was not desirable (2.5 m/s / 492 fpm is default). I think it's closer to 600fpm down now.

Easily read in direct sunlight (preferable), it can be difficult to see in low light conditions.

I've bricked the vario and un-bricked the vario during firmware updates. Getting the latest firmware was the answer to unbricking the vario.

Resetting the vario is simple and can be accomplished in the air if needed.

Startup and GPS acquisition is fast.

Route is ALWAYS optimized.

Is there a lot to learn? Of course, but unless you are going to a comp in a week or so (like I did), you should have sometime to gain experience with the wealth of info this vario is capable of providing.

Loading waypoints I feel is best accomplished with GPSDump. I've had some issues using the Airtools application. Mainly I use AirTools for saving configuration data and backing up those configs.

It would be nice If AirPages could download the default pages to a config where you could then begin modifying those pages as a starting point. That does not look possible.

I would suggest disabling many of the pages until such time as you are ready to start experimenting with page customization.
Jeff Chipman
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Chippy
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Post by Chippy »

Sylmar now has the largest concentration of DigiFly Air varios in the country I believe. It is what DigiFly USA stated. To think the first one only arrived at the end of August, I know because it was mine.

Last count we had 15 or 16 pilots that have purchased the vario within the last two months with a few more heavily eye'ing the purchase given the demise of the connect which I believe is basically dead given the lack of meaningful progress. Argue all you want about my opinion, purchasers of the connect are not very happy with all of the empty promises to date concerning the connect.

DigiFly USA was here on Saturday October 22nd to give a small clinic on the vario and ended up selling 5 more while they were here. Pedro and Maria gave us a nice presentation and said a new manual is in it's final review and they hope to publish soon.

We've learned some of the better optimization from the factory defaults and we're (the veterans that have been flying the vario for a couple of months) assisting the new owners with the settings that have worked out the best. We bounced those settings off of Pedro and he concurred that he was using many of the same settings.

I would like to see the default pages numbered in the next firmware update if possible, that would help a lot if you have all of the pages enabled (12 of them if you don't count the GPS page)

With such a significant number of varios in one place, I'm sure we'll all be learning from each other.

My tag line for the vario when asked: This instrument can take you from Novice to World Champion.
Jeff Chipman
LeadingEdge
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Post by LeadingEdge »

I'm gagging to get a Digifly but honestly, how out of the box ready to fly is it?

The comments about learning from each other and changing from factory defaults/consulting with Pedro, and having no manual are a little scary.

Is Digifly reachable for customer support? What kind of manual is currently available?

Thx!
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Fabiano
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Post by Fabiano »

You can download the manual from their site and take a look:

http://www.digifly.com/wp-content/uploa ... nglish.zip

The manual is pretty thick, but it doesn´t change the fact that in order to go fly you just need to turn it on and take off, the sounds will be there as well as the basic indications which you can surely identify (climb rate, speed and such).

Learning the more complex features is of course a little more… complex.

They have a few videos on their youtube channel that you may find interesting to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4S2bh ... duZn_uHg5g

(click on the link above not on the video that, for some reason, appears below)
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Chippy
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Post by Chippy »

The manual is good enough to begin. Maria is adding to the manual to make it better. I think Davis may have accomplished the same thing for the FlyTec

The two most important things to change are
Vario Profile to FAS
Change the sink alarm/sound to 600' fpm equivalent.

Also enable pitot and choose P3 polar, equivalent to 12.7 l/d
Jeff Chipman
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SergeyKa
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Post by SergeyKa »

I've read the manual, and it seems like Speed2Fly has no sound - is that true?
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Fabiano
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Post by Fabiano »

That´s true.

You´re supposed to look at the arrows.

Not to many pilots used the McCready sound so I´m not sure if this is a big deal.