Birdwatch Elev

[NewQ]

JMckie,
I had just D/L'd BW and decided to try it on my next trip. I was on a flight yesterday and, not knowing much about the way BW operates, fired up BW to get used to it. Here are my observations: (I turned on the Q and after lock-in, fired up BW)
I noticed as I went back and forth between BW trip and the queGPS screen, the elevation on the BW trip screen was 3000 ft less than the queGPS screen. I watched it for a while (going back and forth) and it didn't change (the queGPS screen said 29K+ and the trip screen said 26k+). I then went to the skyview screen and came back and it was updated and matched the queGPS screen. I don't know if it was at the same time that I switched, that it updated or if the switch to the skyview caused the update. I'm sure it would have updated eventually. How often does it update?
The Mph always seemed to match.
The Accel bar was going up and then disappearing all the time. I guess we were staying at a pretty constant speed - maybe the Accel was seeing a change?
I don't know if you or someone else has used it on a flight yet and have seen the same results?
Obviously BW does many things and I have to use it more to get used to it and understand what it is doing.

[JMckie]

I am at a loss to explain the difference in altitude. I've never observed a difference with QueTrip, although most of my observations are at ground level.

It should update once per second. It does have a filtering algorithm that treats 2D considers elevation readings as false, and only reports when you have a 3D fix. Maybe at some time in the flight you temporarily lost the 3D fix and went back to 2D?

[NewQ]

I think I can safely say that there were many times that I didn't have 3D. Sometimes I couldn't get a lock with a lot of black bars for quite a while. I guess this is the answer then. I never cleared the log and then saved it in case you might want to examine. I just don't remember what the file name was or where it stored it. "Birdtrip" on internal?

[NewQ]

Here are some pastes of some of the files. Maybe you can tell us all what we're seeing?
_________________________
Birdwatch (GPS Status - I added this)
16:24:37 - Simul Invalid
16:24:37 - PowerOn
16:12:18 - Simul Invalid
16:12:18 - PowerOn
16:09:49 - BatSav 3D Fix
16:09:44 - BatSav 2D Fix
16:09:17 - BatSav Invalid
16:09:16 - Simul Invalid
16:09:16 - PowerOn Invalid
15:07:30 - BatSav 3D Fix
15:07:09 - BatSav 2D Fix
15:03:14 - BatSav Invalid
15:03:14 - BatSav 3D Fix
15:03:10 - Simul Invalid
15:03:10 - PowerOn
14:20:15 - BatSav 2D Fix
14:19:45 - BatSav Invalid
14:19:45 - BatSav 3D Fix
14:19:40 - Simul Invalid
14:19:40 - PowerOn
13:56:24 - Simul Invalid
13:56:24 - PowerOn
13:53:09 - Simul Invalid
13:53:09 - PowerOn
13:45:56 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:36:46 - BatSav Invalid
13:36:46 - Simul Invalid
13:36:46 - PowerOn
13:23:58 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:21:56 - BatSav 2D Fix
13:20:55 - BatSav Invalid
13:20:55 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:19:53 - Simul Invalid
13:19:53 - PowerOn
13:14:54 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:14:50 - BatSav 2D Fix
13:10:24 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:10:02 - BatSav 2D Fix
13:08:54 - BatSav Invalid
13:08:54 - BatSav 3D Fix
13:08:50 - Simul Invalid
13:08:50 - PowerOn
13:07:41 - Simul Invalid
13:07:41 - PowerOn Unusable
12:46:11 - Simul 3D Fix
12:44:42 - BatSav 3D Fix
12:43:43 - BatSav 2D Fix
12:42:51 - BatSav 3D Fix
12:42:08 - BatSav Invalid
12:41:31 - BatSav 3D Fix
___________________________
As you can see, I didn't have the Q on for long times. Looks like I did get some 3D fixes.
____________________________
Birdwatch Trip 00
StartDt,StartTm,EndDt,EndTm,Odo,StopSec,MovSec,Avg Spd,DrvSpd,MaxSpd,MinDec,MaxAcc,MinElev,MaxElev,El evLost,ElevGain
1/23/05,15:18:23,1/23/05,16:12:05,163.67,344,3222,165.23,182.87,464.48,-25.79,2.89,0,29056,29759,726
____________________________
I see the min amd max elevation in this section above. 29,056 and 29,759.
I remember see 26something for a while, but don't see it in the tripmemo as a min. Maybe it was only on 2D at the time?
_____________________________
Birdwatch (Altitude memo - I added this)
15:22:10, 56.7, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:11, 55.0, 7, 17, -0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:12, 53.6, 7, 17, -0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:13, 52.7, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:14, 52.3, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:15, 51.9, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:16, 51.8, 7, 16, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:17, 51.5, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:18, 50.5, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:19, 49.9, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:20, 49.7, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:21, 49.6, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:22, 49.8, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:23, 49.3, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:24, 49.3, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:25, 49.1, 7, 16, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:26, 49.0, 7, 16, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:27, 49.0, 7, 16, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:28, 49.3, 7, 16, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:29, 50.1, 7, 16, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:30, 51.1, 7, 16, -0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:31, 53.2, 7, 16, 0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:32, 54.9, 7, 16, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:33, 57.3, 7, 17, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:34, 60.1, 7, 17, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:35, 62.8, 7, 19, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:36, 65.3, 7, 19, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:37, 67.6, 7, 21, 0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:38, 69.6, 7, 21, 0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:39, 71.0, 7, 21, 0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:40, 72.3, 7, 21, 0.4, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:41, 72.8, 7, 22, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:42, 73.2, 7, 22, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:43, 72.7, 7, 22, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:44, 71.8, 7, 22, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:45, 70.6, 8, 22, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:46, 68.9, 8, 22, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:47, 66.2, 8, 20, 0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:48, 62.9, 8, 20, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:49, 60.0, 9, 18, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:50, 57.4, 7, 18, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:51, 54.3, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:52, 51.8, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:53, 49.8, 7, 17, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:54, 48.1, 7, 15, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:55, 47.7, 7, 15, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:56, 47.7, 7, 15, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:57, 47.9, 7, 15, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:58, 48.4, 7, 15, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:22:59, 48.5, 7, 15, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:00, 48.8, 7, 15, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:01, 48.7, 7, 15, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:02, 48.6, 7, 15, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:03, 48.6, 7, 15, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:04, 48.8, 7, 15, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:05, 49.7, 7, 15, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:06, 51.3, 7, 15, -0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:07, 53.2, 7, 16, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:08, 55.9, 7, 16, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:09, 58.9, 7, 18, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:10, 61.7, 7, 18, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:11, 64.4, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:12, 65.7, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:13, 66.7, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:14, 66.9, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:15, 67.3, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:16, 67.1, 7, 20, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:17, 66.3, 7, 20, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:18, 64.7, 7, 20, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:19, 63.3, 7, 20, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:20, 61.3, 7, 20, 0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:21, 58.7, 7, 18, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:22, 55.7, 7, 18, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:23, 52.3, 7, 16, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:24, 49.2, 7, 16, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:25, 47.6, 7, 14, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:26, 46.5, 7, 14, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:27, 45.9, 7, 14, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:28, 46.3, 7, 14, -0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:29, 48.2, 7, 14, -0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:30, 51.0, 7, 14, -0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:31, 54.3, 7, 17, 0.0, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:32, 57.1, 7, 17, 0.1, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:33, 59.8, 7, 18, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:34, 61.9, 7, 18, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:35, 63.9, 7, 18, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:36, 65.4, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:37, 66.5, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:38, 67.2, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:39, 67.5, 7, 20, 0.3, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:40, 67.4, 7, 20, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:41, 66.9, 7, 20, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
15:23:42, 65.9, 7, 20, 0.2, BatSav 3D Fix
_________________________
This is the Altitude memo. I just don't see any altitude in it.
On the bottom row in reports, it says that the first column is Alt(m), looks like time to me.
I'll definitely pay more attention on the way back home (if I have a window seat)

[JMckie]

NewQ, its hard to say but it looks like the 2D/3D explanation to me. I'd love to see the results on your return trip.

[NewQ]

Is the "BatSav" part of "BatSav 3D Fix" telling me that I have the Q in battery saving mode (may be dumb question) or is this a battery saving alorithm you've implemented? I don't remember if this is some of the feedback you can get from the Q. Since I haven't tried it yet, would it say WAASEn mode if in that mode?
I looked at my itinerary and it says "seat assignment unavailable" (I hate when that happens - overbooked?) so I have to wait until I get to the airport Friday to see if I can get a window seat. If not, I have another trip pretty soon.

[JMckie]

Is the "BatSav" part of "BatSav 3D Fix" telling me that I have the Q in battery saving mode (may be dumb question) or is this a battery saving alorithm you've implemented?

It's the former.

[NewQ]

I played around with Birdwatch again on my last trip. Unfortunately I was told by the flight attendant this time (different airline - ATA) that I had to turn the GPS off because it wasn't approved by the FAA. I think I got enough data to analyze though.

I had the same occurrance of the elevation not updating until I went to QueGPS and then it updated (1st time). The second time it seemed to update right away.

I took notes this time so I remembered what happened:
"Birdwatch- 2/21/05- turned it on at approx 1420 and didn't see elev until l went to QueGPS and came back in, then it displayed. Was about 5 mins before l went to QueGPS.
Turned it on again at about 1500. Seemed to show the correct elev this time, as soon as it locked."

Birdwatch acq
15:05:58 - Simul Invalid
15:05:58 - PowerOn
15:04:59 - Simul 3D Fix
15:02:20 - BatSav 3D Fix
14:59:15 - BatSav Invalid
14:59:15 - BatSav 3D Fix
14:51:46 - Simul Invalid
14:51:46 - PowerOn
14:27:33 - BatSav 3D Fix
14:26:57 - Normal 3D Fix
14:25:41 - Normal 3DD Fix
14:24:48 - Normal 2DD Fix
14:24:38 - Normal 3D Fix
14:24:24 - Normal 2DD Fix
14:24:14 - Normal 3D Fix
14:24:00 - Normal 2DD Fix
14:23:08 - Normal 3D Fix
14:22:11 - Normal 2DD Fix
14:21:06 - Normal 3D Fix
14:20:52 - Normal 2D Fix

Birdwatch Trip 00
StartDt,StartTm,EndDt,EndTm,Odo,StopSec,MovSec,Avg Spd,DrvSpd,MaxSpd,MinDec,MaxAcc,MinElev,MaxElev,El evLost,ElevGain
2/21/05,14:24:44,2/21/05,14:29:41,38.99,0,297,472.57,472.57,489.04,-1.46,1.32,20930,25157,7,4222
2/21/05,14:57:11,2/21/05,15:04:59,63.18,6,468,479.87,486.02,556.56,-34.44,1.32,20930,38977,92,18056

Looks like the first time it logged anything was 4 min after I started. The most useful data is for the 1420 part. There isn't much for the 1500 part.

JMckie, I haven't cleared anything from BW if you need me to show something else.

Edit: Maybe we can get some of the visiting pilots to validate this. Just have to control the urge to leave the BW Trip screen.

[JMckie]

NewQ, would you mind sending me the PDB files? I don't have time to look at it right now, but it would be nice to have it on file next time I work on Birdwatch.