Hi!
I know I can press the magneta leg and click leg properties to get this info, but surely there is an easier way? My intensions are to know to which heading to turn before turning. Planning ahead. Is there a way to put this info up in the left hand side, so that it is always displayed?

Many thanks in advance =)

You could always tap on the Current Position data block at the top of the screen, to bring up the Plog.

Mike
_________________________________________

Thanks, and lastly but very importantly (for me at least). Im sure its a feature I just can't find it. The bearing to the next point? I see the magneta figure on the HSI, but where is the number? It would make it much easier for me to quickly sort out which way to point the aircraft =) Maybe I could get this number on the left hand menu? That would be perfect, as there are numbers there I don't use anyway near as much as the bearing number =)

Its just hard the way I have to do it now: Every time the leg changes heading, I have to first turn the plane, look at the magneta symbol on the HSI, overshoot it, try again and again till Ive got it perfectly inside the symbol... And clicking the screen every time to check the  bearing seems cumbersome... Am I missing something?

I recommend you read this thread:-

http://forums.skydemon.aero/Topic13370.aspx

As you pass a waypoint, SD momentarily flashes up a data block indicating the heading to the next waypoint. Furthermore, if the HSI is not fully displayed, acknowledging the fact that the magenta heading bug may be out sight, the magenta route line plotted on the chart indicates which way to turn the aircraft. However, if the HSI is fully displayed, in addition to the magenta line on the chart, the command bar and the magenta heading bug also show which way to turn the aircraft.

Hope this helps.

Mike
_________________________________________

Thank you!
I am aware of this way of doing it, but doing it this way is very cumbersome for me.. Its not precise.. When I see the magneta symbol in the HSI, i don't know if it shows 270 degrees, 269, 268,267,271,272, or 723.. Making these 7 small adjustments every time the leg changes, is to me cumbersome...


The way I do it now is to print out the Pilots LOG, this provides me with exactly what I want, namely the exact magnetic heading to the next leg (assuming Ive been navigating well). 

But I still don't understand why it is difficult to add this magnetic heading as a number somewhere on the main navigating site, like either on the left hand (change it out with some of the other unimportant numbers! Not needed nearly as much as a magnetic heading) =) I think more people would like this as opposed to not...

I will check out that link! Thank you very much for your help!

The reason is that we do not know what the wind is doing, so we cannot show a magnetic heading. The best we could do would be true or magnetic track, and then you'd have to work out the heading from that. Track to next waypoint is what is displayed in the DI at the bottom of the screen.

I like the pop-up box when at a waypoint but at a time when things can be busy (if for example turning in somebody's overhead) I find I miss it.  Is it possible to have it come up sooner and stay on the screen longer or perhaps make that a user preference?

I've been trying to persuade SD to provide a readout of bearing to the next waypoint, but there seems to be resistance.

There seems to be some confusion over terms.  I agree that SD cannot provide a heading because it does not know the wind.  What it SHOULD be able to do is provide the BEARING to the waypoint. From that, the pilot makes a mental adjustment for the wind and works out a heading to steer.

As others have pointed out, there are some ways to see the bearing information, but they are fiddly and cumbersome.  What is needed is a BRG display option in the Instruments menu.  I simply cannot understand SD's resistance to providing this most basic of navigation information.

Do you mean track to next waypoint? That is different from Bearing. There is a thread dedicated to this very topic, if you're seeking further understanding as to why we have not included such an instrument at this time. The bottom line is that nobody has been able to explain why they actually need such an instrument as a permanent display onscreen.

No!  We mean BEARING to the next waypoint, not track.
Why is it needed?  I think I and others here have already covered that.  There are many scenarios but here are just three:

Scenario1. For whatever reason, I deviate from my planned course.  Maybe to avoid some weather or perhaps just to wander off and look at something on the ground. There is then little point in trying to regain the magenta line so a Bearing to the destination allows me to work out a rough heading and fly direct. As the flight progresses I want to be able to glance at the Bearing display for confirmation that my course (my track) is ok.

Scenario 2. I run into weather or have a mechanical problem and need to divert from the planned course. So I use the Direct To facility which creates a new magenta line to the selected airfield. The workload is likely to be heavy and rather than trying to slavishly fly the magenta line, I want to be able to glance at the SD display and see the current bearing in BIG numbers without having to put on reading glasses.

Scenario 3. I've flown the magenta line to my destination but I still fail to spot the little grass airfield (sound familiar, anyone?) So I fly around the local area trying the spot the strip. If I get hopelessly lost, I want to be able to glance at the SD display and see the current bearing which will always tell be which direction to look in.

I know, SD does provide the Bearing information already!  But (as others have pointed out) accessing it is cumbersome and fiddly, requiring for some of us the donning of reading glasses.

It does not have to be permanent. As I have suggested before, BRG can be included in the Instruments menu so that users can choose to display it or not.

I've spent a lot of time on this topic, Tim. Trying to help you improve your product. You only have to look at this and related threads to see that BRG is a much-needed feature. In fact SD is probably the ONLY aviation GPS in existence that does not allow the user to display BRG in a useable manner!

If you feel that that gives your product some kind of exclusivity, you may wish to reconsider your decision to be different.


 

Although we always listen to customer feedback, I am not rushing to make this change. Whatever we're doing, we are doing it right, as we're by far the market leader in Europe. I'm not trying to be arrogant, just explaining why we are VERY reluctant to mess with a formula which seems to be working very well for us.

The first line of your post says, rather emphatically, that you mean BEARING to next waypoint, not track. This has confused me. Please could you explain the difference as you see it? True track from your current position to your next planned waypoint is the data which is available to us, and it's that value which is currently shown in the DI at the bottom of the screen. I need to make sure I understand which value it is that you want displayed bigger. We can also take magnetic declination into account to show magnetic track instead of true track.

Have you read the other thread in which some of our users explained why this potential bearing instrument is not necessarily needed? If so, it would be good if you could respond to that; since we are responding to your request. I'd like the debate to be had.

I'm slightly surprised that a manufacturer of navigation equipment would be asking this, but I'll try to explain the difference.

TRACK (TRK) is your current direction of travel. It is the line connecting the aircraft's consecutive positions over the ground. It is not necessarily related to a waypoint. 

BEARING (BRG) is the compass direction from your present position to a waypoint.

And it is BRG that is being requested here. It needs to be displayed larger and more prominently but it does NOT need to be a separate instrument.

I wholly agree with G-AXJI that being able to toggle the TRK T instrument to BRG would do the trick for most of us!

Also, please bear in mind that the data some people seem to want is already onscreen. It's displayed at the bottom, in a logical place alongside your current track over the ground. It appears to the right if you need to turn right, or to the left if you need to turn left.

If the problem is that data isn't large enough, or otherwise prominent enough, then that's something we can help with.

I agree with Timwatson - sorry.

I'm getting into the second half of my life and now need reading specs. Bad enough seeing the Kollsman window on the alt on the panel in front of me or the CHT/EGT gauge without trying to read the ever so small and oft washed out white numbers on a grey background in the small area within the DI thingy at the bottom of the page, or if it's undocked to try and work out what the magenta bug is on.

Please, just give us a numeric in the block at the top - so where it says TRK M why not allow it to be tapped to show the Bearing. TRK M is already replicated in the block in the DI instrument but that is much clearer. Why not just allow the TRK M 'instrument' at the top of screen to be dual-function in the same way that DST, ETA, ALT and 'WIND' are? For some of us, it would make things a bit easier. I think that is all we are asking for.

This request does seem to have stirred up some 'annoyance' at Skydemon and I cannot understand why. Surely if 'some' of us feel we need it, and there is the capacity to provide it, then by providing it would make those 'some' of us feel more warm and cuddly towards Skydemon. Those who don't feel they need it don't have to use it. Certainly had this facility on my Skymap and I fail to see how NOT having a particular function makes the product MORE popular.

The trouble with your request is that we ALREADY provide the information you are requesting. As I said, if you want it bigger or more contrast-y, that is something we can address. But repeatedly asking for an instrument which is already there is what has left us at SkyDemon confused.

I do like your proposal about making the track instrument (which SkyDemon originally didn't have either) toggle-able to say bearing, but many of the people asking for this have specifically said it must be a separate instrument.

This was suggested a while ago as a compromise ;-)
http://forums.skydemon.aero/FindPost14638.aspx

I think that may be because (and probably due to the fact I seldom read manuals) many people didn't realise there were 'instruments behind instruments' as in things like wind, ETA, DST etc. To be honest I only realised when I'd poked one and it changed.

You say you already provide the BRG info which as I said is just too small and not in an ideal place. But then you also have the TRK replicated on the instrument cluster (the one we're talking about having BRG as a 2nd function of) and also on the DI, but annoyingly it's much clearer on the DI than BRG is - but I still never look at that, I look at the 'instrument panel' at the top as I can make this nice and big for my failing eyes!!

Perhaps just humour us on this one ... I could understand if we perhaps were asking for the display of Mach number you'd get a tad upset but I'm struggling to understand where the reluctance (polite phrase) for bunging this number which is already generated and provided (albeit in a much less than ideal way for some of us) as a func2 of the TRK instrument, especially as this doesn't currently have a func2 assigned.

Interestingly last weekend I was showing someone who is just about to get his rating back round the Pup and as we sat in AV8 for lunch I was showing him how good SD was - he is a potential SD customer (as well as ANP which he is also looking at). I showed him some of the stored track logs from previous trips, showed him the Google Earth import etc, then showed him a short simulated route. One of the many questions he asked was 'where is the bearing to the waypoint if I go off for a wander and don't want to screw up/remove the route or having to fanny about with typing stuff in to execute a DCT?'! Out of all the questions that I could answer in a positive way, that was one HE also wasn't too happy about.

Thank you for clearing up what you meant. As a manufacturer of navigation equipment, all angles between two places on earth are represented internally as tracks. Therefore the angle between your current position and any other position is a track. Bearing is ambiguous because some people mean relative bearing when they say it, and some mean track. Some think track refers only to a planned leg. We try to be clear and consistent everywhere so we can be sure what people are referring to.

You'll be pleased to hear that we've done some work on the existing DI instrument at the bottom of the screen, to make the reading of what you call bearing larger and clearer. We'll see how this is received in the next software update.

When you pointed to the instrument at the bottom of the screen and said "there", what did he say?

We've made some changes to the way bearing to next waypoint is displayed ready for the next version so we will come back to this once those changes are in people's hands.

I still don't understand why you cannot simply make BRG the second function of TRK as G-AXJI suggests.

Firstly, he said "where?" - so when I explicitly pointed it out to him he thought it was 'too cluttered to be that clear, and too small to see easily'. He then dragged the DI off into the map and of course, the BRG numeric then disappears so he was then looking how to get it back. I had to snap it back to the baseline to get the numeric back. And of course, when you actually fly the correct BRG, it also disappears until you wander off.

I hope if you say the next release will be clearer that it IS more useful. My friend has now bought a SD sub after I demonstrated all of the plus points, but we concur that this is one thing (perhaps the ONLY thing) we both don't like - at all. Sorry.

As an alternative, why not have a setup option that allows you to select whether you want BRG in the DI or under the TRK instrument? Then use app diagnostics reporting to see where people prefer it?

We won't resort to that at present because we believe its position next to your current true track is much more useful. The two values are so closely related, that's why we put them there in the first place. And crucially, you can read them both at once rather than having to interact with anything. The position of one in relation to the other also makes it easy to intuitively see whether a turn right or left is needed.