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New GRT flight data analysis tools (Garmin and Dynon too, sorta)

RV-14E

Well Known Member
New GRT flight data analysis tools with support for Garmin, Dynon and AFS too.

Updated 3-Jun-20: v4.0 released. View this post for more information.

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this post with higher resolution images and embedded videos.

Greetings all.

Last September, I offered a new free tool for GRT users to analyze and view their flight data CSV files. I've since updated it. A lot. And for Garmin and Dynon users, yes, it can look at your CSV files too. But GRT users, with our nearly complete access to EFIS data, get a much cooler picture of our flights. Read on about my updated software.

My original program would take the CSV file recorded from flight, calculate some statistics, graphed various parameters and plot your flight in Google Earth. Example of graphs shown below.

Full%2BSpread.png


I've since made the code much faster, added a myriad of new parameters and added a "virtual pilot" view so you can watch your flight in Google Earth, rewind, fast-forward, pause, etc., complete with a wind vector representation and a ground course indicator. Example flight over the Sierra Nevadas and Lake Tahoe (from a GRT CSV file).

Flight over Sierra Nevadas

Here's a 4.5-hour flight from 03PR to KEIK compressed to 4 minutes. Again, note the flight director crosshairs and wind vector indicator (from a Garmin CSV file).

4.5 hour flight from San Diego to Colorado

If you're into aerobatics, here are two aileron rolls (from a Garmin CSV file).

Aerobatics


Now, the rest is only for GRT users, and for us, this is where it gets really fun. We all recall that we can record our flight using a "demo recording", for later playback on any GRT EFIS. In those LOG files are all the data from all serial port inputs. Thus, a nearly complete capture of flight data is retained in the LOG files.

GRT kindly provides the format of those binary files. The files can include data from your ADS-B receiver (Stratux, SkyRadar or any GDL90 compliant device like the GTX-345), should you have it connected to your EFIS. So the demo files have a full record of every ADS-B packet received during your flight. Which means, you can visualize other aircraft with Google Earth and rewind, fast-forward, pause, etc. Let's take a look at what we can now do.


First, you get a lot more parameters to view (see above pic).

You can get a list of all aircraft in the sky during your flight. A full list is constructed including callsign, registration, type, manufacturer, owner, etc.

1.png


All aircraft flight paths can be rendered in Google Earth at the click of a button. Here are two examples from KDEN. Red is a descending flightpath, green is ascending.

KDEN%2B0436-1800%2BUTC%2B7-Apr-20.png


KDEN Traffic 0436 - 1800 UTC.

KDEN%2B1800-0441%2BUTC%2B7%252C8-Apr-20.png


KDEN Traffic 1800 - 0441 UTC.

Here's an example from very late at night through to in the morning, showing the flight paths of mainly cargo aircraft and passenger transcons.

0436-1300%2BUTC%2B7%252C8-Apr-20.png


Front Range, CO traffic 0436-1300 UTC.

You can click on any aircraft and get a plethora of data about it, including its past flights, owner, type, etc. and even an actual picture of that specific aircraft uniquely determined by its registration. Many aircraft are accurately represented by the more than 30 icons I include.

Aircraft%2BPicture%2BExample.png


You can simply get a handle on how many planes are in the sky during your flight.

Lotsa%2Bplanes.png


You can animate your flight with all other aircraft in the sky. ?Ownship? is always the green RV icon. Here's a flight from KMCK to KOIN.

Flight animation from KMCK to KOIN video

In addition to viewing other aircraft from your GRT EFIS' LOG file ADS-B data, you can independently look at data from any Beast Raw (dump1090-based receivers) or GDL90 source (e.g., Stratux., FlightAware, FlightRadar24, ADSBx, etc.). Here's a nearly 24-hour animation of aircraft along the Front Range starting at 0436 UTC and ending at about 0400 UTC the next day.

24-hours of aircraft video

You can click on any aircraft to see its ADS-B report at that time.

Message%2BLocation.png


Or, you can take the perspective of your cockpit and see the other aircraft flying around you, like this:

Virtual%2BPilot%2BStill.png


Or, you can select any aircraft and hop in to their cockpit to see the situation from their view.

Virtual pilot video

You can project current FAA charts on to the terrain.

FAA charts video

In all cases, you can either use Google Earth's terrain or project any FAA aviation chart onto the terrain instead (e.g., VFR, IFR high/low, etc.).

For short flights, it's quite quick on a modern computer. GDL90 data is faster to process than raw ADS-B data (e.g., from SkyRadar). Though dependent on the number of aircraft in the sky with you, to give you an idea of processing time, my 2-year old computer can process an hour of SkyRadar data in a 1 minute. An hour of GDL90 data processes in less than a minute. Older computers or those with a hard drive (rather than a solid state drive) will be slower.

GDL90 data sources restrict the radius of reported aircraft (to reduce data rate into the EFIS). The SkyRadar passes all data regardless of distance so you will see far more aircraft with a SkyRadar than a GDL90 source. I have run both simultaneously on the same flight and though the SkyRadar sees more, they generally see the same aircraft in your immediate vicinity.

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this post with higher resolution images and embedded videos.
 
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Spectacular

I'll try it out tomorrow. Thanks for all the time and effort.

Cheers, Sean
 
Very cool stuff - thanks for all the hard work you've put into developing it.

Now I have an excuse to actually download the files from my GRT memory sticks! :)
 
great tool!

would you consider adding *.ALD support for advanced flight systems EFIS?
Nothing else than a specific csv file format with header.

i'm using another open excel based analysis tool so far, but yours appears to be much more refined! and more recent and with a much improved google earth integration... nice job!!!

a typical header, fields and first data point line look like this (the <LINEBREAK> are added by me to make it more clear):

Code:
AF-4000s Software Version: S8.8.40-MV15     SN: 61041 [B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
DATE, TIME, ALTITUDE, AIRSPEED, BATVOLTS, VOLTS, OAT, BACKVOLTS, VERTSPEED, FUEL_COMP, RPM, MANIFOLD, FUEL_PSI, FUEL_FLOW, AMPS_SHUNT, AMPS_HALL, OIL_PSI, OIL_TEMP, CARB_TEMP, TANK_1, TANK_2, EGT_1, EGT_2, EGT_3, EGT_4, CHT_1, CHT_2, CHT_3, CHT_4, HP, ELEV_TRIM, AIL_TRIM, FLAP_ANG, FLIGHT_TIME, TACH_TIME, HOBBS_TIME, TODAY_TIME, INPUTS_123, PITCH, ROLL, HEADING, SLIP, G_METER, AHRS_STATUS, LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, GROUND_SPD, TRACK_DTRUE, TRACK_DMAG, BARO[B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
12/15/19,11:18:09, 2070, 78, 8.4, 14.1, 11, 3.1, -820, 16.8, 1163, 7.7, 10, 1.9, 0, 149, 52, 177, 5, 9.2, 15.6, 738, 684, 728, 723, 224, 229, 238, 224, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.04, 468.0, 605.2, 1.2, 000, -13.86, 2.1, 96.9, 0.03, 0.9, 0x0100, 47.45226, 8.24511, 97, 78, 75, 29.79[B]<LINEBREAK and next data point>[/B]

another "specialty" with AFS is that it offers to record the logs to files simply by extracting the data from non-volatile memory, looking at a certain elapsed time back from NOW in hours / and decimal hours.
Upside is you can potentially retrieve large amounts of data without having to configure anything / setup recording, even going back for several hours.
But a side effect of this mechanism is that when you retrieve every flight just before shutdown (as part of the shutdown checklist as we do), the file will usually start with a short artifact of the previous flight (usually another date/time or hours before on the same day)
When you download, let's say 1.4hrs (value gets preset by EFIS and conservatively covers the duration of the flight just ending), at the very beginning of the file you have to expect up to a few minutes of data that really belongs to another flight before.
If the toolchain could also somehow filter that out, it would be awesome! Basically forward to the first "jump" in date/timestamps by more than a few seconds and only then start using the data.
Also, the user can configure his system to by default log at different intervals. We log at 1s, but it is possible to see other intervals in an *.ALD log file. But they will always be at a fixed interval and the absolute timestamp will show what rate is used.

i certainly could hack something together, but there is bigger benefit for all if you could add that support in the "main branch" of your tool ;-)

thanks for your work!

bernie
 
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Great Job!

Super!! Been using your software this winter to monitor the engine data from my RVs and it has been a great tool. Thank you!!
 
I have older GRT EFIS that do not create .csv files only .log files. I take it that the latest version uses these to plot all the data contained in .csv and more?

Thanks

Jim Butcher
 
I have older GRT EFIS that do not create .csv files only .log files. I take it that the latest version uses these to plot all the data contained in .csv and more?

It works on my GRT HX units. Follow the instructions in the Excell spreadsheet under the "Welcome" tab. Scroll down to the "How to Setup Data Logging on your GRT EFIS" and follow those instructions. Have a usb stick plugged in and you will get lots of data, both csv and demo files.
 
When I authorize Marcos as instructed I get a Compile Error. I'm using Excel 2007 but it's a Visual Basic error.

I've tried your contact thru the blog and I get a 404 error when I enter my email address.

A feature I'd like to see is to compare two flights. I do that manually by printing out graphs of spreadsheets but to see them on the screen would be great. I use this as a tool to look for trends prior to starting condition inspection. I look at a recent flight and compare it to flights just prior to previous condition inspections.

Thanks for the help.

Jim Butcher
 
Well, that's a great idea, but it will be an even better idea once I have a GRT engine monitor installed! :D

(I've got the hardware, the EIS-66R and a new Sport EX EFIS sitting on the shelf waiting to replace the currently installed dedicated engine monitor. Soon, soon...)

The remote EIS is not the same as the EIS 4000. I have an open ticket with Savvy analysis since November of 2019, still waiting for a resolution. They have been unable to process the data and stated they have been working with GRT to resolve the issue. I can open the csv files with this tool however.
 
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AFS Users

For those who use AFS EFIS - after downloading the ALD files simply change the ALD to CVS; confirm you want to use CVS, then any spreadsheet program will work with it un-impeded. Mac as well as PC systems won't know the difference.
Therefore, this program can work with "ALD" files just fine - after you "convert" to CVS.
 
The remote EIS is not the same as the EIS 4000. I have an open ticket with Savvy analysis since November of 2019, still waiting for a resolution. They have been unable to process the data and stated they have been working with GRT to resolve the issue. I can open the csv files with this tool however.

Skid - would you be able to elaborate on this point, please? In what ways are the data from the EIS-66R different from the EIS4000? I (clearly mistakenly) believed their data streams would be the same since they provoke the same display response on the GRT EFIS displays.

Thanks in advance for your patient sharing of information.
 
For those who use AFS EFIS - after downloading the ALD files simply change the ALD to CVS; confirm you want to use CVS, then any spreadsheet program will work with it un-impeded. Mac as well as PC systems won't know the difference.
Therefore, this program can work with "ALD" files just fine - after you "convert" to CVS.

totally aware about that. changing the filename extension does exactly zero to its content. simply renaming it as csv doesn't do the trick here. it's still a comma separated value file with a custom header line, then a custom column index line and then data.
and neither the order of the columns nor the column header names in AFS are exactly the same as with GRT.
you do not want to map the data e.g. by column index order and then end up with the wrong data in inappropriate data fields. this will screw up all the valuable graphics and the other essential processing which makes this tool special.
 
Skid - would you be able to elaborate on this point, please? In what ways are the data from the EIS-66R different from the EIS4000? I (clearly mistakenly) believed their data streams would be the same since they provoke the same display response on the GRT EFIS displays.

Thanks in advance for your patient sharing of information.

Savvy never explained how the data was different just that they (Savvy) was unable to read it. The response I received in January was they were working with GRT to resolve the issue. I asked for an update from them about a month ago but due to the shutdowns around the county I have to assume they are behind like everyone else. I have the R66 connected to my GRT Sport SX and it is much easier to use as all the limits etc. are set on the EFIS instead of having to go through the pages on the EIS 4000 it replaced.
 
Greetings.

Let's take a look. Send me an example file. Contact info is in the spreadsheet.

great tool!

would you consider adding *.ALD support for advanced flight systems EFIS?
Nothing else than a specific csv file format with header.

i'm using another open excel based analysis tool so far, but yours appears to be much more refined! and more recent and with a much improved google earth integration... nice job!!!

a typical header, fields and first data point line look like this (the <LINEBREAK> are added by me to make it more clear):

Code:
AF-4000s Software Version: S8.8.40-MV15     SN: 61041 [B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
DATE, TIME, ALTITUDE, AIRSPEED, BATVOLTS, VOLTS, OAT, BACKVOLTS, VERTSPEED, FUEL_COMP, RPM, MANIFOLD, FUEL_PSI, FUEL_FLOW, AMPS_SHUNT, AMPS_HALL, OIL_PSI, OIL_TEMP, CARB_TEMP, TANK_1, TANK_2, EGT_1, EGT_2, EGT_3, EGT_4, CHT_1, CHT_2, CHT_3, CHT_4, HP, ELEV_TRIM, AIL_TRIM, FLAP_ANG, FLIGHT_TIME, TACH_TIME, HOBBS_TIME, TODAY_TIME, INPUTS_123, PITCH, ROLL, HEADING, SLIP, G_METER, AHRS_STATUS, LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, GROUND_SPD, TRACK_DTRUE, TRACK_DMAG, BARO[B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
12/15/19,11:18:09, 2070, 78, 8.4, 14.1, 11, 3.1, -820, 16.8, 1163, 7.7, 10, 1.9, 0, 149, 52, 177, 5, 9.2, 15.6, 738, 684, 728, 723, 224, 229, 238, 224, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.04, 468.0, 605.2, 1.2, 000, -13.86, 2.1, 96.9, 0.03, 0.9, 0x0100, 47.45226, 8.24511, 97, 78, 75, 29.79[B]<LINEBREAK and next data point>[/B]

another "specialty" with AFS is that it offers to record the logs to files simply by extracting the data from non-volatile memory, looking at a certain elapsed time back from NOW in hours / and decimal hours.
Upside is you can potentially retrieve large amounts of data without having to configure anything / setup recording, even going back for several hours.
But a side effect of this mechanism is that when you retrieve every flight just before shutdown (as part of the shutdown checklist as we do), the file will usually start with a short artifact of the previous flight (usually another date/time or hours before on the same day)
When you download, let's say 1.4hrs (value gets preset by EFIS and conservatively covers the duration of the flight just ending), at the very beginning of the file you have to expect up to a few minutes of data that really belongs to another flight before.
If the toolchain could also somehow filter that out, it would be awesome! Basically forward to the first "jump" in date/timestamps by more than a few seconds and only then start using the data.
Also, the user can configure his system to by default log at different intervals. We log at 1s, but it is possible to see other intervals in an *.ALD log file. But they will always be at a fixed interval and the absolute timestamp will show what rate is used.

i certainly could hack something together, but there is bigger benefit for all if you could add that support in the "main branch" of your tool ;-)

thanks for your work!

bernie
 
v4.0 released

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this and the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.

Greetings. My data analysis program has been updated to include bug fixes, user experience improvements, code optimizations and speed improvements.

Garmin and Dynon users do not have additional features. You can still use your CSV files to view your data and create a Google Earth KMZ file with several methods to view your data.

However, several new features have been included for GRT users (the main audience for my program):

First, the most significant:
A master database of all aircraft identified by your ADS-B receiver can be maintained.

1. Automatically create a master database of all aircraft identified by ADS-B.
? Count number of unique dates each aircraft was found (a "hit").
? Track dates of each "hit".
? Single click access to all dates any aircraft was identified.
? Independent master databases for each aircraft you fly (based on its registration). Useful if you fly more than one aircraft.
? A new yellow tabbed sheet is maintained to show the records in the master database.
? Each aircraft you fly gets its own tab.

2. Aircraft list includes accurate silhouette of aircraft type.
? The aircraft-to-silhouette mapping can be exported and imported to support updates to the mapping.
? Automatically create a list of aircraft for which a silhouette could not be resolved.
? This list can be used to manually update the mapping.
? After this list grows significantly, you can send it to me so I can update the mapping.


Additional features I added:

? Magnetic variation is calculated using the IGRF model (the same model the EFIS uses) when the GPS source does not provide it. This allows wind vector to be now calculated under all conditions.

? Analog input decoding from LOG file now supported for HXr, HX, Horizon HS and Horizon WS. Requires EFIS PIC calibration data from setup screen.

You can find the minutiae of all of the changes on the "Changlog" tab. My contact information is on the "Welcome" tab.

I am especially grateful for one of my users, let's call him "R", for helping me test the code. His attention to detail, willingness and responsiveness are greatly appreciated.

Example of aircraft listing showing silhouettes.

List%2Bof%2BSeen.png


Example showing "hits" from the master database of all aircraft identified.

Dates%2BLast%2BSeen.png


You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this and the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.
 
v4.1 released. Feature updates and AFS support added.

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this and the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.

Greetings.

v4.1 released. In addition to the usual myriad of code improvements and bug fixes, here are the major changes:

1. For GRT users
? LOG file: Wind vector thresholds available to suppress calculation of the vector (e.g., during aerobatics or high rate-of-change maneuvers).
? LOG and CSV files: Data smoothing available for analog and EIS aux inputs (useful for noisy inputs like fuel floats and Hall effect sensors).
? List of LOG files processed provided, including start, end and duration times including how long it took the EFIS to flush each file (representing missing flight data).
? ADS-B:
-- Can now decode ADS-B surface position reports so you can see aircraft and vehicles move on the ground. KDEN ground movement video from a flight near that airport.
-- Can sort by callsign for those aircraft whose callsign is an N-number. This will favor putting private, U.S.-registered aircraft at the top of the list so you don't have a bunch of Boeings and Airbuses at the top.
-- Master database:
---> Added editing features.
---> Can import master databases so you can share and compare among friends.
---> You can now compare two or more master databases to find aircraft common to them. This lets you determine if two different airplanes you fly or databases between friends have seen ADS-B reports from the same aircraft.

2. For non-GRT users:
? AFS users
-- Support added. Though I'm not clear on what version(s) may be supported.
? Dynon and AFS users:
-- Can select from a single flight when multiple flights are contained in your CSV/ALD file.
? Beast Raw and GDL90 binary (Stratux, FlightRadar24, FlightAware, ADS-Bx) users:
-- Much more robust code.
? All users:
-- Distance calculation also shown in km.
-- The full suite of support now include AFS, Garmin, Dynon and my favorite, GRT, having an expansive data analysis capability only available to GRT users thanks to willingness to share their data formats.

A full accounting of all the changes are found on the "Changelog" sheet.

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in this and the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.
 
AFS support added

Bernie kindly sent me some ALD files to work with and graciously tested my new code. AFS support has been added. However, I'm not clear which versions of AFS' .ALD files are supported, so for those that try it and it doesn't work, please let me know. My contact information is on the "Welcome" sheet.

Note: For AFS users, all of your options are on the "FDL - Options" sheet except for the wind vector filtering options, which are located on the "LOG - Options" sheet for now (since GRT LOG file users share those options).

great tool!

would you consider adding *.ALD support for advanced flight systems EFIS?
Nothing else than a specific csv file format with header.

i'm using another open excel based analysis tool so far, but yours appears to be much more refined! and more recent and with a much improved google earth integration... nice job!!!

a typical header, fields and first data point line look like this (the <LINEBREAK> are added by me to make it more clear):

Code:
AF-4000s Software Version: S8.8.40-MV15     SN: 61041 [B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
DATE, TIME, ALTITUDE, AIRSPEED, BATVOLTS, VOLTS, OAT, BACKVOLTS, VERTSPEED, FUEL_COMP, RPM, MANIFOLD, FUEL_PSI, FUEL_FLOW, AMPS_SHUNT, AMPS_HALL, OIL_PSI, OIL_TEMP, CARB_TEMP, TANK_1, TANK_2, EGT_1, EGT_2, EGT_3, EGT_4, CHT_1, CHT_2, CHT_3, CHT_4, HP, ELEV_TRIM, AIL_TRIM, FLAP_ANG, FLIGHT_TIME, TACH_TIME, HOBBS_TIME, TODAY_TIME, INPUTS_123, PITCH, ROLL, HEADING, SLIP, G_METER, AHRS_STATUS, LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, GROUND_SPD, TRACK_DTRUE, TRACK_DMAG, BARO[B]<LINEBREAK>[/B]
12/15/19,11:18:09, 2070, 78, 8.4, 14.1, 11, 3.1, -820, 16.8, 1163, 7.7, 10, 1.9, 0, 149, 52, 177, 5, 9.2, 15.6, 738, 684, 728, 723, 224, 229, 238, 224, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.04, 468.0, 605.2, 1.2, 000, -13.86, 2.1, 96.9, 0.03, 0.9, 0x0100, 47.45226, 8.24511, 97, 78, 75, 29.79[B]<LINEBREAK and next data point>[/B]

another "specialty" with AFS is that it offers to record the logs to files simply by extracting the data from non-volatile memory, looking at a certain elapsed time back from NOW in hours / and decimal hours.
Upside is you can potentially retrieve large amounts of data without having to configure anything / setup recording, even going back for several hours.
But a side effect of this mechanism is that when you retrieve every flight just before shutdown (as part of the shutdown checklist as we do), the file will usually start with a short artifact of the previous flight (usually another date/time or hours before on the same day)
When you download, let's say 1.4hrs (value gets preset by EFIS and conservatively covers the duration of the flight just ending), at the very beginning of the file you have to expect up to a few minutes of data that really belongs to another flight before.
If the toolchain could also somehow filter that out, it would be awesome! Basically forward to the first "jump" in date/timestamps by more than a few seconds and only then start using the data.
Also, the user can configure his system to by default log at different intervals. We log at 1s, but it is possible to see other intervals in an *.ALD log file. But they will always be at a fixed interval and the absolute timestamp will show what rate is used.

i certainly could hack something together, but there is bigger benefit for all if you could add that support in the "main branch" of your tool ;-)

thanks for your work!

bernie
 
clicking on this "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f7sEsmv2m6vBiJ5ykkU8Zb0Dp7oOsOEf/view?usp=sharing" on your website for the latest file sez that your file is in your trash. What am I missing? Thanks.
 
Greetings.

My apologies. I neglected to update the link from v4.0 (which is now in the trash). It's been updated on the site to point to v4.1.


You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.
 
You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.

Greetings.

Version 5.0 is up. Stability improvements and bug fixes. Plus a number of new features. See images below.

For Garmin, Dynon, AFS and GRT users
  • Airports along your flightpath can be plotted in Google Earth based on a worldwide database of nearly 42,000 airports. The info box for these airports include a nice popup VFR chart snippet.

For GRT LOG file users only:
Flight Data:
  • New "stats" page provided that shows which devices are connected to your EFIS, what your serial port and EIS setups are and how much data each device sent to your EFIS.
  • TAS and DA calculations improved and now essentially match what your EFIS shows.
ADS-B :
  • ADS-B processing is 2.5 times faster.
  • FIS-B text products are extracted and provided in a new sheet. You can see METARs, TFRs, PIREPs, Winds Aloft, TAFs, CWAs, etc. from your entire flight.
  • Comprehensive FIS-B statistics provided.
  • Comprehensive ADS-B and TIS-B statistics provided.
  • For ADS-B processing, you can choose with targets to process (ADS-B and/or TIS-B)
  • For non-GDL90 ADS-B users, you can now process UAT targets including anonymous TIS-B targets (not to worry: GDL90 users always had this capability with my program).
  • More silhouettes are matched to aircraft type on the aircraft list.
  • Silhouettes are also provided on the aircraft info box in Google Earth.
  • In Google Earth you can flag any aircraft with a red icon, based on highly versatile rules.
  • Ground transceivers (a.k.a., "towers") received during your flight are plotted at their locations with a red tower icon.
  • URL to actual aircraft image is now saved in the master database.
  • You can automatically process your master database to update the actual aircraft image URLs from the image server.
  • Reminders given when your aircraft databases are getting stale.

Airports along path.


Info box for each airport.


Airport info box with FIS-B data from flight (METARs, SPECIs and/or NOTAMs.


New comprehensive stats page with EFIS and EIS setup.


LOG file list with flight times and time for EFIS to flush the file to USB.
Log%2BList.jpg


Comprehensive ADS-B and FIS-B stats.
ADS-B%2BStats.jpg


ADS-B traffic with aircraft silhouette based on manufacturer and type and comprehensive ADS-B and FIS-B stats.


Aircraft info box in Google Earth includes silhouette and image from the image server when available.


ADS-B Towers received during your flight are shown in red.


Example of FIS-B data (shown here formatted differently than in the program).

For Beast binary (folks that use any dump1090-type receiver such as FlightRadar24, FlightAware, ADS-Bx, etc.) and GDL90 binary users (folks that may record data directly from a Stratux using UDP port 4000), the various ADS-B processing improvements for the GRT LOG files have been incorporated into these binary formats too.

For those that are using my program to visualize your ADS-B data, please send me your "No Silhouette Found.txt" file after you've processed some data so I can continue to expand the mapping of the aircraft to their silhouettes. Each locale has a kind of "aircraft ecosystem" so the kinds of planes I see where I fly can be different from those that you may see where you fly. With your help, I can make the silhouette map more comprehensive. I will periodically update the map and publish it so you can import the new map back into the Excel file (easily done through a single button click).

Once again, I am especially indebted to user "R" who is uniquely skilled at finding bugs in my program and has kindly offered suggestions for improvement and a lot of good flight data to test against. Thank you kind sir! And thanks to user "J" for sharing some of his data that helped find holes in my code.

You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.
 
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GRT WS EFIS?

Does this analysis tool work with the GRT WS EFIS and it’s older format of data recording?

I am just barely functional with Excel (used to be better but ten plus years of retirement has reduced my computer skills) and wondering is there a Macro button for up loading data from a usb drive? I would love to be able to do some engine analysis from previous flights and look closely at stall and climb data.

Jim
 
I uploaded a csv file to Savvy today and it worked fine. Are you running an R66 as well?

Thanks for confirming Savvy now works with GRT EIS-66R data files.

As an update from this corner of the world, I've finally got the EIS-66R installed. It's controlled by a newly-installed Sport EX EFIS, with data shared over to the HX as well. I haven't yet pulled any files from the Sport EX to see what they look like - when I do it will be very helpful to be able to upload the files to Savvy.
 
IAS calibration

Hi Emarit, would you be able to take the data and give information about IAS accuracy?

I guess all the information needed is in the file. Assuming you know the GPS groundspeed, the IAS, the rate of climb, heading/track, etc. it should be possible to figure out the IAS error.

Is this something that's already in your excel program, or something you could add? I realize it's not as sexy as the other cool stuff that you've added in the last versions!

Thanks!
 
Hi Emarit, would you be able to take the data and give information about IAS accuracy?

I guess all the information needed is in the file. Assuming you know the GPS groundspeed, the IAS, the rate of climb, heading/track, etc. it should be possible to figure out the IAS error.

Is this something that's already in your excel program, or something you could add? I realize it's not as sexy as the other cool stuff that you've added in the last versions!

Thanks!

To do this you need to know the wind, or be able to calculate it. Usually people will fly a triangle to figure the average wind (hoping it won’t change much during the three legs). It would then be easy to program up in Excel.
 
Does this analysis tool work with the GRT WS EFIS and it’s older format of data recording?

I am just barely functional with Excel (used to be better but ten plus years of retirement has reduced my computer skills) and wondering is there a Macro button for up loading data from a usb drive? I would love to be able to do some engine analysis from previous flights and look closely at stall and climb data.

Jim

Hi Jim,

The program will work for your EFIS and in fact it will work for all GRT EFISs to-date.

Please download the program and read the "Welcome" sheet on the spreadsheet to learn how to use it. It does take a little time investment, however it's worth the effort.

For LOG files, there are two ways to ingest them into the program:

  1. Place the LOG files from one contiguous flight that you want to analyze into the same folder as the spreadsheet. Hit the big blue button on the "LOG - Options" sheet and wait a few seconds for the analysis to complete. Note: If you have LOG files from more than one flight in the folder, the program will popup a warning message.
  2. On the "LOG - Options" sheet, change the "LOG File(s) Location" option to "Choose Files", press the blue button and then select the files from one flight that you wish to analyze.

In either case, then change to the "FDL - Graphs" sheet to see the flight and engine data graphs (including graphs that show your EFIS' "health", like temperature and voltage), change the bounds, zoom, etc.

Also, by default, KMZ file(s) will be available for viewing in Google Earth. One KMZ file would be of your flight path showing engine and flight data at each point and a "virtual pilot" mode for you to take the pilot's view of the flight in real time, or quicker. If you had ADS-B data being fed to your EFIS, you will see the results of that processing on the "LOG - ADS-B" with highly specific silhouettes and other aircraft information, including a separate KMZ file animating all the traffic from your flight with each aircraft shown with an icon representing type (by default, I set all RVs to be red icons, whereas others are yellow).

Once you use the program a few times, it becomes natural and you'll be a pro at it!

I hope you find the program useful and helpful.
 
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Hi Emarit, would you be able to take the data and give information about IAS accuracy?

I guess all the information needed is in the file. Assuming you know the GPS groundspeed, the IAS, the rate of climb, heading/track, etc. it should be possible to figure out the IAS error.

Is this something that's already in your excel program, or something you could add? I realize it's not as sexy as the other cool stuff that you've added in the last versions!

Thanks!

Hi Mickey,

That's an intriguing idea, thank you! I already calculate the wind vector at every point in time for LOG files (GRT provides it in the CSV files, but not the LOG files since it's calculated by the EFIS).

I'll add it to my TODO list.
 
Hi Mickey,

That's an intriguing idea, thank you! I already calculate the wind vector at every point in time for LOG files (GRT provides it in the CSV files, but not the LOG files since it's calculated by the EFIS).

I'll add it to my TODO list.

Careful....EFIS calculates the wind vector assuming the IAS is correct. Turning it around and calculating IAS will say it’s 100% correct, guarranteed!
 
Careful....EFIS calculates the wind vector assuming the IAS is correct. Turning it around and calculating IAS will say it’s 100% correct, guarranteed!

Bob,

For sure.

However, I'm thinking that with calculated wind data one can get a handle on how reasonable the assumption of the wind averaging out over your boxed course is. E.g., if the calculated winds aren't reasonably consistent during the test run, then maybe one could find a better day and try again to check IAS accuracy.
 
E.g., if the calculated winds aren't reasonably consistent during the test run, then maybe one could find a better day and try again to check IAS accuracy.

Yes. In fact because of this I suspect it’s more accurate to do your best to fly directly into the wind, check ground speed, then reverse course and repeat, average the ground speeds to get TAS.
 
You can find my free public domain Microsoft Excel-based software here and view much of the information in the initial posts with higher resolution images and embedded videos.

Greetings.

Version 5.3 is up. Lots of bug fixes and improvements (and by the transitive law of programming, more bugs surely introduced). Major changes since v5.0:

For GRT, Dynon, Garmin and AFD:
  • Graphs now have a "click-and-zoom" function so you can zoom in on data.
  • Zoom can apply to all graphs or just one.
  • Includes multi-level unzoom.
  • Added pressure altitude and CHT/EGT rate-of-change graphs.
  • CHT and EGT graphs are more functional: One click add/remove cylinders from graphs and selectable limit lines.
  • Graphs are better organized.

For GRT LOG file users only:
Flight Data:
  • You can now process LOG files from multiple flights for unattended processing. Each flight will generate its own saved spreadsheet(s) and/or KMZ file(s) to view after batch processing is completed.
ADS-B :
  • Nearly 2,000 aircraft added to the silhouettes map.
  • Local aircraft "master database" has edit features.

Thanks to "R" for his many good ideas and code contributions!

My next adventure is decoding the graphical FIS-B products to incorporate them into Google Earth (my program already decodes the text products). If anyone has well-documented examples of how to decode FIS-B graphical products specifically showing the APDU formats, I would be pleased to hear from you (my email is found in the spreadsheet). Thank you.
 
My old GRT WS doesn’t save its data as a “log” file. I’m not sure what it’s format is. However I would like to up load it’s data to your spreadsheet tool.

If you would be kind enough to send me a PM with an email address I would like to send you one of my old data files and see if you can upload it into your analysis tool or give me guidance on what I must do.
 
Jim,

I wonder if your PC just might not be configured to display filename extensions? I have a dual-screen GRT Horizon WS (circa 2006) with the GRT EIS-4000 wired to it (similar to your setup if I understand the data on your signature line) and it does save data to DEMO.LOG files. I have the EFIS settings enabled to save the date and time right in the filename too. Example filenames are DEMO-20201227-094313.LOG and DEMO-20201227-094313+1.LOG and so on for additional files. If it's a short flight or you have the EFIS set up to allow really large files, you may not get the +1.LOG files.

While using Emarit's Excel tool, I found I liked more, smaller files than really large files. A typical file size for me is 6.1 MB. I did try larger files and, coincidentally, had something corrupt one of the files on a flight. I wouldn't have lost as much data if I'd continued to use the smaller file size, so I changed my EFIS settings back to where I had them.

The directions for using Emarit's tool are on his Welcome page as is his direct email address. The directions seem daunting at first blush, but getting everything set up to run isn't too bad. Some items only require setup once while other settings that describe your actual hardware configuration will need to be updated with each new version he releases.

If you want the simplest approach to get familiar with his code and see plots of your data, you can turn off most of the ADS-B extraction routines by setting "Process ADS-B" to "No" on the LOG-Options worksheet. You might be able to ignore all settings on the FDL - Options worksheet also, but I'm not 100% positive of that. This is how my hangar-mate uses the spreadsheet, since he's most interested in fuel flow optimization and fuel injector tuning at the moment and doesn't care about his Google Earth flight path or ADS-B data.

Even if you don't get all of the parameters correct on the first go-around, you'll most likely still see lots of valid data plotted. EFIS voltages may not be the correct value because they require calibration data contained within each EFIS that doesn't get written to the log file.

After posting the above reply, I wondered what were the minimum number of changes needed in Emarit's Excel file in order to get GRT Horizon WS Demo.LOG file data extracted without Google Earth files or ADS-B data being extracted. Below are the things to change on the LOG-Options worksheet that appear to achieve this goal. No changes to other worksheets appear to be necessary, nor does it appear that you'll have to set directory paths or download databases. Hope this helps...

LOG – Options Worksheet:
1. Cell F3 – Set to No (Turns off ADS-B data extraction)
2. Cell F40 – Set to No (Turns off looking for aircraft silhouettes associated with ADS-B extraction)
3. Cell F45 – Change to your N-Number
a. You actually may not have to set this. In the test I just ran, the code automagically extracted this from my data file.
If it’s in your EFIS settings in the correct location, it’ll probably find yours too.
4. Cell F58 – Set to No (Turns off FIS-B data extraction)
5. Cell F70 – Set to EIS (Tells the code the OAT probe is hooked to the EIS rather than the AHRS)
a. You may need to leave this set to AHRS if that’s how your aircraft is wired.
6. Cell F76 – Set to No (Turns off writing a CSV formatted data file)
a. This step isn’t really necessary to turn off, but I dislike having extra files created when I’m not going to use them.
7. Cell F77 – Set to No (Turns off Google Earth KMZ file output routines)
8. Cell F139 – Set to Suppress (Turns off nastygram about no ADS-B data
a. You already told the code to ignore ADS-B data in Step 1, so you might as well get rid of the nastygram that squawks about ADS-B data.
9. Cell BC4 – Set to Choose File(s) (Cells B4 and C4 are merged into a named cell INPUT_LOG_LOCATION)
a. I typically choose one set of files at a time rather than having the code operate on all the files in a directory.
As such, I set this to Choose Files(s) rather than Spreadsheet Folder.

You may still get some pop-up messages, but hopefully, they're informational, not errors.

Certainly, for full functionality and to understand more of what his code is doing, reading his Welcome sheet and following his instructions is a good idea.

Best of luck,
Rob
N706DR
RV-7A
 
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