Mark11

Done

Hi Mark,I believe that the best way to check your compass against your gps is to fly a square course and to note the differing readings on each of the four directions. This is the only way to cancel out the wind drift factor, that is, the difference between where you're pointing and where you're going - on each leg (assuming the wind remains constant over the course). The problem is a gps never knows (or cares) which way it's actually pointing, whereas that's the only thing a compass knows - or is supposed to know! - which brings us back to the original post. ;-)

You DO know that a GPS gives ground TRACK and a compass shows HEADING? They aren't the same?If there is wind there will be two times where the track and heading are identical - when you are flying directly up or down wind. The rest of the time track and heading will be different - yes it is a sine curve error.

I DO hope your cross country endorsement includes some basic navigation theory.

I've done the theory - thanks

My gps provides both !!

Hence why I was checking

My compass is out too and I bet nearly every silva compass is aswell

Spent a lot of time observing its reading against the GPS whilst flying on the weekend as I'm about to start Cross country endorsement training.

Found it varied from 15 degrees W to 15 degrees E depending on direction of travel. That means there is two directions where it is completely accurate.

It's a sine curve error - which im told is normal

I thought mine was just bad because I dropped it a couple of times - but because it's an equal error both ways I don't think so anymore

Now I need to make a chart for the errors so I can correct for it...

RIP

Condolences to families and friends

Mark11, that's an awesome mount, where did you get it? I've been using electrical tape and it's not very stable..

The yacht shop lake Illawarra- Wollongong

I find my radio indispensable.

I feel safe with it.

Listening to the radio calls helps me locate other aircraft on the ground and in the air.

I always make radio calls to let others know where I am- and I'm sure that the parachute dropping turbo prop plane appreciates it!

It's $200 bucks - so what - just get one!

I had the oppertunity recently to work on Flycom headsets are they are nothing special as far as electronics are concerned. Infact almost exactly the same as the Raptor. The key for them seems to be the microphone.

Performance wise, with my A22 icon I can listen to Sydney airport from Wollongong and hear every radio call crystal clear whilst doing 48knots in open trike.

My experience with them was Wayne fisher solution worked best. He fashioned a sock of type that slipped over the standard mike sock. It was a sold looking foam bicycle handle grip cut to size and a piece glued on one end so it looked like a mini stubbie cooler, a hole about 1/8-1/4 inch was formed and slid over with hole centred on mike and small zip tie used to fix in place, Then a loose piece of foam ( often sourced from a Simpson cloths dryer filter) was stuffed in the hole with a chunk of it protruding the new styled wind sock.

I'll tinker on the weekend and let you know what works best

Go and buy two Flycom helmets with built in headsets. Expensive, but the best, no more issues

I modified my mates Raptor. Just made adaptor leads to the proper jacks so he could use a std headset and it works very well. I own all the Raptor stuff now as John sold it all to me and have been working slowly at trying to improve the noise handling and repeatability of that function. it has proved difficult. Some intercoms work fine others not. Some headsets do make a big difference in noise performance. The basic design of the Raptor is solid and uses pretty much what every other intercom uses. I am in the process of making a whole new intercom using some designs of others and the Raptor trying to come up with something that is consistant and repeatable in high noise environments like trikes. The big issue with trikes of course is you are throwing that big noise generator behind you straight down the throat of the microphone.Flycom use a extremely small microphone element and this helps a lot in noise rejection but they are extremely difficult to source. I havent managed to find anything suitable yet maybe they get them especially made I am not sure but also you do need the mic to be right on your mouth and this is of course due to that small mic and its capture area.

Mark

If you were in Melbourne I would put it on the bench for you.

Does that mean the mic gain can be somehow adjusted?

Punkin Head at Yarrawonga was making leather microphone covers with just small holes in the mouth side. I'm not sure if the purpose was for noise reduction, but maybe worth a try?

I modified my mates Raptor. Just made adaptor leads to the proper jacks so he could use a std headset and it works very well. I own all the Raptor stuff now as John sold it all to me and have been working slowly at trying to improve the noise handling and repeatability of that function. it has proved difficult. Some intercoms work fine others not. Some headsets do make a big difference in noise performance. The basic design of the Raptor is solid and uses pretty much what every other intercom uses. I am in the process of making a whole new intercom using some designs of others and the Raptor trying to come up with something that is consistant and repeatable in high noise environments like trikes. The big issue with trikes of course is you are throwing that big noise generator behind you straight down the throat of the microphone.Flycom use a extremely small microphone element and this helps a lot in noise rejection but they are extremely difficult to source. I havent managed to find anything suitable yet maybe they get them especially made I am not sure but also you do need the mic to be right on your mouth and this is of course due to that small mic and its capture area.

Mark

I'm going to continue to mess around with the 4 raptor headsets I now have to see if I can solve it.... At least for one.

Im not keen on spending $2k on a new system just yet. I had earmarked flycom helmets/system as a future option.

My passenger headset failed.

I replaced the mic (obtained from John) but now it picks up a lot of noise. So much it's unusable as I can't hear any radio calls...

I haven't put on the correct foam sock on it - because the ones I bought off eBay were too small... So potentially the correct sock would fix it - I will do this.

I tried three other Raptor headsets (Ben kindly let me try) with very different, but not satisfactory results.

All are noisey and two of them have too much gain. Not good enough to do a cross country!!

They all work fine on the ground, but when in flight full throttle - they are very noisey

One other headset (Tony's) works perfect - but that's no good for me!

I then re-tried my usual pilots headset and it's perfectly clear and no wind noise at all... So I did a 2 hour flight to enjoy it....

I need one more like it!

Anyone have any old raptor headsets with telephone plug they don't need?

Or anyone know how to fix the gain.

It's surprising that what appears to be the same product varies greatly in performance.

Any help will be appreciated

Regards

Mark

Hi there. Open cockpit suggest you are flying a drifter?

Where is that photo taken?

When in Tasmania, we did the Hartz Mountain Peak walk in perfect clear blue sky conditions- after 20mins at the top, the clouds rolled in... That night winds were 180km/hr westerly...

Checking winds forecast trying to pick a good day near the weekend, got 659km/hr wind recorded at Albion park airport (YWOL) on 5/11/15.. That seems unbelievable!

Mark,. . . a work associate of mine in Brisbane ( circa 1975 ) had a garage well down the side of his house, but the doorway was visilbe from the road. Pete was a silk screen printer by trade and an artist par excellence. . . .he had airbrushed his garage door so well that it really did look , from the road, like the rear end of a porsche, with the surroundings getting steadily darker in the background. Absolutely brilliant. It looks as if someone has adopted the idea.I wanted to do one of those in our fist house back in the UK with a similarly recessed garage but the missus wouldn't hear of it. . .her sense of humour does not align very well with mine. Anyway, the local council are always moaning at folks for doing stuff like that, can;t have something different or distinctive ! And woe betide anyone who puts up the Union Flag on their property.. . .TREASON ! Not allowed.

( Phil,. . .you're getting pollie again. . .)

Sorry for the late reply - but too good a decal could encourage thieves...

I'd put up a picture of a pile of old cupboards ... Keep the Audi safe!

Regards

Mark

A great part of the freedom of flying - landing on outback dirt strips!

Good idea to put your flying fun into serious pursuit! Sad that it's come to this to save the animals!

3D garage stickers

This is definitely a Caption competition candidate . . . .NOW KEEP IT CLEAN PLEASE ! ![ATTACH=full]39372[/ATTACH]