Good morning,
I have bought the new charts. In your offer you marketed the typical 28 day update frequency.
I have just updated my av_data and ob_data like every month. When downloading the map data again I get a file with the same name as the one I loaded when buying the charts - there should be some release information in the file name. Have I loaded an updated map file or not?
What do I do wrong?
BR
Heiko
Hi Heiko,
You are not doing anything wrong. All this manual file handling required for Dynon SkyView is a real pain for many users, and as such for our support team also. We're struggling to find workable solutions that makes it easy even for non-computer literate users. One possible solution could be the Dynon DataExchange module in EV4 (getting there almost I think), another solution we're exploring is using DropBox enterprise. We obtained a DropBox enterprise license where we can share unlimited diskspace with an unlimited number of users, and currently we're testing the system internally and soon with some external users. The idea is our servers will keep a dropbox directory that is shared with a user constantly up to date automatically; as soon as there is a new version of a plate, AVData, OBData or chart then this will automatically be updated so the user only has to manually copy his local dropbox directory to a memorystick.
Now back to your original question : We considered creating different filenames for each new airac cycle, but decided not to do that because it would fill up the user's memorystick rapidly given the filesize of this chart file. So we opted to keep the same filename for the moment. When you download the latest chartfile and the keyfile (its important to download the keyfile again each time you download a new chartfile) and use that in your SkyView then you will see the chartlabel is now refering to cycle 2021-08.
But I see your confusion about not knowing the current AIRAC cycle for the currently available download. We could change it description to include the cycleid also, but then that would show up in the shop also and might make people think its just a single cycle they buy. I need to discuss this here internally to see if we can come up with something better.
Rob,
what you explain is fully understood and no problem for me. As an engineer I am used to imature development statuus.
I believe usage is too complicated for standard users:
- delete from USB drive: keynote and DCF file in root directory for EV4 chart, delete sqlite file in _pfmsdata_plates
- rename new key and .dcf files and copy to above locations
- repeat if you have more than one Dynon
The file names dont tell you if the files are ok. When you open the Dynon page in EV4 it suggests the EV4 chart has been downloaded and is ok while it is not. (s. attachments of files on USB drive and EV4 message).
I have taken the habit of taking my USB sticks home and do flight prep at my desk to always be up to date.
A cloud based, automatic solution is a good idea. Please keep in mind that many hangars don't have internet access - out in the sticks or made from metal (Farraday). When travelling bandwidth is often too small to download charts or plates. Automatic download must be selectable to avoid blocking EV4 as flight prep / NAV equipment.
Best regards
Heiko
Heiko, version 4.0.924 that we released yesterday has fixed/improved some issues with the Dynon Dataexchange module already. I think its pretty robust already, although it might need one or two more development cycles before its really perfect and a "fire and forget" solution.
For those without without windows or don't want to use EasyVFR4 soon a dropbox based solution will become available.
Rob,
data handling works well for me now.
A key point to buy the easyvfr chart is the availability of FIS frequencies.
Please check the result on all 3 zoom levels on my HDX1100.
To identify the respective area and frequency better even more zoom levels would be good.
BR
Heiko
Rob,
here are some pictures of the new map on my Dynons.
To test I have installed the new map on the left display, the right screen has the old map - the improvement in readability is obvious.
Still there are areas where one more zoom level would be excellent - check the area between Geneve and Lyon. If you zoom further in you can find the frequency somewhere on the map. But too small to pick up whlie flying.
Both map releases have identical file names on the USBs (key and dcf file). The map to choose in the Dynon map layer menu have identical names (EV4-2109). There is no way of identifying if the map is current. This must be changed. The risk of flying on outdated maps is too big.
Best regards
Heiko
Heiko, there are only a very limited number if characters available to label a chart. “2109” refers to cycle 9 in year 2021 (next month the chart will be labeled EV4-2110), and this coding is the way to tell if the chart is current or not.
