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New Channel Map and Login Account functionality

Channel Map and Login Account changes

Overview

Channel Map

Changes:

  • Complete re-write and so much easier to extend to new features
  • Much better interface
    • Easier to use
    • Faster
    • Easier to explore other registrations
    • Nicer looking
  • Warns on registration errors (multiple same minute registrations)
  • Supports flushing old reservations
  • Supports new features (coming soon)

See Channel Map Help for details

Initial old channel flushing approach will be decided after a week or two to open up discussion

A new Admin-screen allows freeing registrations when a registration is: - 6+ months old, or - 3+ months old on a busy band (50% or more).

Because old registrations didn't keep track of the time they were made, the default is that migrated registrations "start now."

As in, nothing happens for at least 3 months.

If there's a desire from the group for speeding up the first opportunity for admins to free up registrations, that date can be brought in sooner.

Login Accounts

Changes:

  • Much easier to log in and out
  • Much higher security
  • Supports multiple accounts
  • Supports password reset
  • Supports new features (coming soon)

See Login Accounts FAQ for details

  • in site
  • 1 min read

New Website Content

Overview

Solar

There's a new page with a walkthrough using PowerFilm panels.

It's as simple and step-by-step guide that works, hopefully suitable for use in education or beginners.

PowerFilm

Flying / Balloons

There's a new page with walkthroughs for:

  • Getting/Sealing/Attaching balloons
  • Calculating Free Lift

They're simple and step-by-step guides that work, hopefully suitable for use in education or beginners.

Flying / Balloons

  • in site
  • 5 min read

New Website Features

Many changes across dashboard, messages, and other tooling

Overview

Messages

3 ET message types in draft (experimental/feedback) form:

  • Heartbeat
  • ExpandedBasicTelemetry
  • HighResLocation

New field encoding type for low-cost expanded value ranges

Slots

Slot renaming to from 1-5 to 0-4, too confusing as-is

Dashboard

2-3x faster load, esp on large datasets

Prettier load screen

Faster more responsive charts

Map has:

  • new controls and help guide
  • better spot popup

New dashboard Data Table Control layout and granularity

Future

Jetpack tracker

  • support gpsValid=0
  • breaking change to support Slot0-4 in url params and tracker config
    • (gui will prompt/guide)
  • in site
  • 3 min read

New Website Features

More graphs, map tweak, laps, and filtering insight

Overview

Graphs

  • RxStationCount
  • SpotCountByDate
  • RxDistance Histogram
  • Scatter Plot lets you compare any series against another

Summary

  • Lap Counter

Map

  • Highlight of latest

Filtering

  • Row-by-row filter data under Pro (under Data Table Controls)
  • Flight-wide filter breakdown under Data Table

Telemetry's Future

Overview

Common telemetry questions:

  • Where is telemetry documented? (For implementation or curiosity)
  • Can telemetry be extended? And to what?
    • Who decides these things?

This change aims to answer those questions and provide a path forward.

Short answer -- it's documented here, we can extend it, and we all get to decide how.

Bar Chart of daily metrics

This entry is based on a converted groups.io post, put here for any documentation value.

Update, new graph available showing daily counts.

eg total spots per day:

It is found under the Detailed Graphs section, so not visible by default without a click on first page load.

You can look at the count for a number of metrics:

You can also see in local or UTC time:

I found it interesting in general, but also due to my father's flight (link) which repeatedly has been so far North that it's getting 24 hours of sun. Looking at the spot counts, multiple days have received the maximum number of spots possible (144). Nice!

As usual, this, and all other changes, work for old flights, too, so feel free to look at old flights which might be interesting!

Thanks.

Doug

Data Column cleanup (order, colors)

This entry is based on a converted groups.io post, put here for any documentation value.

Small update -- the column headers of the data table on the dashboard are now colored and grouped more intelligently for easier reading.

Map and DateTime columns remain in the same order and color, but the times are partitioned off from the Map column.

The Regular message is now Green, and partitioned.

The Encoded message is now LightPink and partitioned along with some (not all) of the decoded values from the Encoded message.

In short, you can ignore everything in LightPink unless you have a reason to look at it. Everything in the LightPink will be reflected in other columns in some actually-useful way or another, so there's unlikely to be anything here you want to look at on a regular basis.

Grid and Voltage are colored and partitioned away from the other metrics because they aren't metric/imperial values, they are a single unit we all understand.

The altitude, temperature, tracker-reported speed, gps speed, and distance traveled are now colored and partitioned, each now grouped within that set of data where the units are metric or imperial.

The same approach is done for the channel-less mode, which has far fewer columns.

Thanks.

Doug