In the invent-build-publish chain I am somewhat neglecting the last step. In middle of January I had been asked whether and how well does the XCSoar navigation perform in combination with the OGN CUBEs. I actually always wanted to try that just for fun as we all already know the LK8000 provides a neat view of the other planes in CUBE’s radio range.
During the third week of January the temperatures were still freezingly low and the winds blew harshly but at least there finally came a rare sunny day. One of the remaining internal battery-powered CUBE3Bs was located at one side of LU’s testing facility’s roof while I climbed with the other CUBE3.5 depicted above to the other side – a bit higher and as far as it was possible. (Here you may also see the ‘new’ and experimental antenna which might deliver a better range.. but that is still unconfirmed.)
On the left you can spot the actual situation in the OGN viewer android application while on the right there is the appropriate configuration of the CUBE-XCSoar bluetooth pairing connection. Below the right picture shows the XCSoar map view with the other ‘glider’ as a little red static arrow. I have already misplaced the terminal screenshot but the NMEA sentences are being processed well as one would expect. And you can also compare the situation with the same view on the LK8000 screen in the the right screenshot. The zoom is at its maximum as the units were rather close to each other (well the roof is really not that large).
The screens below are older shots from the summer 2021 where LK8000 displays other gliders – one circling right above the LKKA runway (the green arrow) and two others eagerly expecting the tug plane (blue) to land and tow them to the air as well. The middle and right images are other possible modes of displaying similar situations in LK8000.
So the conclusion is YES, the OGN trackers work just fine with both XCSoar and LK8000 and can show you situation in the air when there are other planes equipped with appropriate gear around you. In the same way as the LX9000 with Flarm.. just a bit on the budget B-)