emailing your log file from an iPhone

[Dave Nadler]

These days we're asked to email our log files to
the (often remote) scorer, and PC's are, well, so passe.
It's a drag running around trying to find somebody with a
PC to email the file. And we definitely to NOT want
to delay the scoring.

Some flight computers can send the log file directly from the
plane. Heck, I prototyped this decades back using a PalmV with
cell-modem, and people said "That's silly, you're wasting your
time, why would anybody want that?". Cell coverage and speeds
were really bad back then anyway.

What about using a smart phone to email the log?
Android users have a few options; Android can read a USB stick.
But what about us iPhone users?
"Can't be done!" I'm told by pundits, "Get an Android!".
But really, at least until January, we get to chose our religion
here in USA. But I digress again.

For iPhone, I found a device with an iStore app, that has
a Lightning connector on one end (recent iPhones) and a USB-A
connector on the other end (like a normal USB memory stick).
Works like a charm: normal USB side works with PowerFLARM
(which I use as my primary logger) and also with ILEC SN10.
https://www.amazon.com/HooToo-Lightning-Connector-Expansion-Computers/dp/B019W8N4DU
After copying the log from your logger onto the stick, plug
the stick into the iPhone, run the special app, then select
and email the file from the external storage. QT will be happy.
So you will be happy.

Some notes:

- Always exit app prior unplugging stick from iPhone.
Otherwise you get to reboot your iPhone prior using the app again.

- Must be formatted FAT32 (as it is shipped)

- Do NOT try "iDrive from Omar's" - does not work!!!


PS: For Nerds: Unlike Linux, where I can just write a script to deal
with a newly-mounted USB device, I'm told iOS needs a registered app
matching the USB deviceID. When iOS reads an unregistered USB stick
(using a lightning-to-USB cable), it pops an "import" app, which
doesn't seem to do anything with unknown filetypes like IGC, or
do anything useful with external files that I could find...
A detailed explanation from an iOS nerd would be great.
No, don't want to jailbreak...

[dr...@williamssoaring.com]

Would one of these wifi usb sticks work for your needs.

https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/connect-wireless-stick

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 6:02:04 AM UTC-4, dr...@williamssoaring.com wrote:
> Would one of these wifi usb sticks work for your needs.
> https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/connect-wireless-stick

Possibly, but does have to be kept charged, and requires turning on
WiFi on phone. Let us know if anybody tries one of these!

[Benedict Smith]

At 23:37 03 September 2016, Dave Nadler wrote:

>
>What about using a smart phone to email the log?
>Android users have a few options; Android can read a USB stick.
>But what about us iPhone users?
>"Can't be done!" I'm told by pundits, "Get an Android!".
>But really, at least until January, we get to chose our religion
>here in USA. But I digress again.
>

Dave,
what about using a USB SD card reader plugged into your logger / flarm,
then use one of the Wi-Fi enabled SD cards, most of the memory suppliers
offer these now and some even have iOS apps that let you email files
straight
from the card without having to copy them to your phone first, looking at
an
on-line review they start at as little as $30 US, unfortunately no one
seems to
do a micro SD yet, they are all full size hence the need for a USB
adapter.
You would only need the lowest capacity available as log files are tiny
compared to photos etc.
Ben.

[ueli....@gmail.com]

The wifi ones work also, even for uploading files to OLC (but not with the standard Safari browser).

[Craig Reinholt]

Dave, any issues with the HooToo being 3.0? Per PF, they are using 2.0 (below).

Core has a built-in USB A 2.0 connector for a memory stick. The stick is used for device updates and readout of device information and flight records. See the section ‘Device update’, ‘Flight recorder’ and ‘Feature licenses’ for details. Maximum size is limited by FAT system (32GB).

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 11:24:38 AM UTC-4, Craig Reinholt wrote:
> Dave, any issues with the HooToo being 3.0? Per PF, they are using 2.0 (below).

3.0 devices are *supposed* to be backwards compatible.
Some 3.0 devices are advertised as compatible with 1.1 and 2.0m,
but don't actually work (like the one I said avoid above).

> Maximum size is limited by FAT system (32GB).

As long as the device can be formatted FAT32 you're all set.

HooToo works great with both ILEC SN10 USB and PowerFLARM core USB.

[Benedict Smith]

At 23:37 03 September 2016, Dave Nadler wrote:

>

>What about using a smart phone to email the log?
>Android users have a few options; Android can read a USB stick.
>But what about us iPhone users?
>"Can't be done!" I'm told by pundits, "Get an Android!".
>But really, at least until January, we get to chose our religion
>here in USA. But I digress again.
>

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 11:22:57 AM UTC-4, ueli....@gmail.com wrote:
> The wifi ones work also, even for uploading files to OLC
> (but not with the standard Safari browser).

Can you confirm a particular model that works with PowerFLARM core
and ILEC SN10? Lots of stuff *should* work, but doesn't...

Thanks!
Best Regards, Dave

PS: I recently had to send back a Sandisk USB stick because it
had wildly less than advertised capacity (and unlike their tech
'support' Indians, I do know how to compute powers of 2 ;-)
Lots of returns of that part also for over-heating!

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 11:15:06 AM UTC-4, Benedict Smith wrote:
> Dave,
> what about using a USB SD card reader plugged into your logger / flarm,
> then use one of the Wi-Fi enabled SD cards, most of the memory suppliers
> offer these now and some even have iOS apps that let you email files
> straight
> from the card without having to copy them to your phone first, looking at
> an
> on-line review they start at as little as $30 US, unfortunately no one
> seems to
> do a micro SD yet, they are all full size hence the need for a USB
> adapter.
> You would only need the lowest capacity available as log files are tiny
> compared to photos etc.
> Ben.

Can you confirm a specific model that works with PowerFLARM core
and ILEC SN10? Or is this RAS (random aviation speculation)?
Again, lots of things *should* work, but...

Thanks!
Best Regards, Dave

[swanso...@yahoo.com]

iPhone or iPad running iGlide can post directly to OLC. Remote scorer can get the file from there. It works like a charm.

[JS]

Does the Files app work, or is it just another one lost in the walled garden like the apps I tried a year ago?
Jim

Review of Files app:
https://9to5mac.com/2013/02/28/review-files-is-the-finder-for-ios-youve-been-waiting-for/

The dark side:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_platform

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 9:49:22 PM UTC-4, swanso...@yahoo.com wrote:
> iPhone or iPad running iGlide can post directly to OLC.

Most contest pilots will be using dedicated loggers.

> Remote scorer can get the file from there.

I want to watch when you explain to the scorer that
he's supposed to go search for your file...

Aaarrrgggg.....

[Dave Nadler]

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 10:31:34 PM UTC-4, JS wrote:
> Does the Files app work, or is it just another one lost in
> the walled garden like the apps I tried a year ago?

Jim, files apps cannot see the USB drive unless they are registered
for the specific USB DeviceID (a manufacturer-partno code).
So, you need to use the specific app provided with the
special USB stick...

I'm not an iOS nerd, so I don't know the detail...

Anyway, the HooToo gadget works great and is inexpensive.

If any one else has a TESTED SOLUTION it would be great to hear.

See ya, Dave

[Andy Blackburn]

I may have missed something but it seems like many of these devices will only transfer specific (mostly photo and video) file types. Does anyone have experience using either a WiFI SD card or USB stick to email IGC files?

Snagging the IGC file as an attachment off a USB or SD WiFi device directly from within the iPhone mail app I think requires getting Apple to approve transfer of the IGC file type (or some hack making an IGC file look like a photo or video file). I'd be very happy to be proven wrong about the restrictions or shown a good workaround.

People may be aware of some of the other proposed, in development or deployed solutions to this challenge.

LX Nav offers emailing directly from the LX 90X0 (and some LX 80X0) flight computers either by connecting directly to a WiFi network or via a mobile device set up as a WiFi hotspot. I have it, but have not yet tried to set it up. I believe they are still working on much of the advanced functionality like realtime uploading of weather maps in flight (if you have data service in flight, that is). Pushing my glider to within WiFi range is usually a non-starter and setting up WiFi hotspots can be cumbersome.

Flarm had at one time proposed automatic downloading of your Flarm IGC file upon landing via Flarm ground station - which of course requires setting up a Flarm ground station. I don't know what, if anything, became of that idea. Flarm ground stations are pretty cheap and have a lot better than WiFi range for direct connection of gliders to the Internet for this sort of purpose. Interesting idea for contests. Third-party Flarm ground stations are popping up all over the world, even the US. They would require Flarm support to download full IGC files as opposed to ad-hoc tracking. I'd pay to have that.

Glideport has developed a small tracker device that directly connects to terrestrial data networks to provide tracking data. I don't know whether it could accommodate transmission of IGC files. It would be cool to do real-time scoring estimates while glider are still on course - and have preliminary scores available before each glider even clears the runway.

Then all we need is to have the file be automatically routed to a scoring program (which would need some front-end system to put them in the right place for processing), OLC or a personal email address.

Ah technology. So close, yet so far...

9B

[Dave Nadler]

On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 2:22:22 PM UTC-4, Andy Blackburn wrote:
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 4:47:13 AM UTC-7, Dave Nadler wrote:
> > ... Anyway, the HooToo gadget works great and is inexpensive.

> > ... If any one else has another TESTED SOLUTION it would be great to hear.

> I may have missed something but it seems like many of these devices
> will only transfer specific (mostly photo and video) file types.

That is correct. The HooToo's iPlugmate app:
- is keyed to the HooToo-specific USB DeviceID
- allows selecting any file on the external storage and emailing it.

Does anyone have experience using either a WiFI SD card or USB
stick to email IGC files?

Again, you need a USB stick keyed to an app that can do this.
As I understand, no generic solution (for arbitrary DeviceID
supporting class MSD) is possible.

> Snagging the IGC file as an attachment off a USB or SD WiFi
> device directly from within the iPhone mail app I think
> requires getting Apple to approve transfer of the IGC file
> type (or some hack making an IGC file look like a photo or
> video file).

That is my understanding. You may also need to contend with
power limitations and other gotchas ;-) I couldn't get the
Apple 'import' function to do anything, even with 'known'
file types like JPG.

> I'd be very happy to be proven wrong about the restrictions
> or shown a good workaround.

Yup. If anyone has any additional TESTED, NON-HYPOTHETICAL,
ACTUALLY WORK IN REAL WORLD solutions, please let us know.

Meanwhile, I'll use the TESTED, ACTUALLY WORKS HooToo.

See ya, Dave

[Ron Gleason]

>
> Then all we need is to have the file be automatically routed to a scoring program (which would need some front-end system to put them in the right place for processing), OLC or a personal email address.
>
> Ah technology. So close, yet so far...
>
> 9B

The above has been done and is easily accomplished. For the Worlds in Uvalde we, myself and John Godfrey, utilized IGCMAIL available here http://www.naviter.com/products/seeyou-competition/

Establish an email address and define rules so that acknowledgements are sent when email arrive, set up IGCMAIL to place attached IGC files in an appropriate folder (typically it changes for each day) and if you are using SeeYou competition it will automatically detect new files, score them and post the results to WWW.SOARINGDATA.INFO at defined intervals.

The process can be used when utilizing WINSCORE for SSA competitions but you manually have to tell WINSCORE to score the files.

QT has refined this process and utilized for remote scoring and assisted the scorer at the 2016 15M, Standard and Open class nationals in Nephi UT

[Andy Blackburn]

On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 11:34:30 AM UTC-7, Dave Nadler wrote:
> > I may have missed something but it seems like many of these devices
> > will only transfer specific (mostly photo and video) file types.
>
> That is correct. The HooToo's iPlugmate app:
> - is keyed to the HooToo-specific USB DeviceID
> - allows selecting any file on the external storage and emailing it.
>

...<snip>...

>
> Meanwhile, I'll use the TESTED, ACTUALLY WORKS HooToo.
>
> See ya, Dave

Dave - I wasn't totally clear on the meaning of your post. Sorry if I'm being dense.

HooToo specifies the files that can be transferred and (not surprisingly) .IGC is not among them. I realize the .IGC files are basically text files that carry the .IGC extension - and HooToo does transfer .TXT files. The question is: Can you use HooToo to load a file from a logger with a USB port (that part seems obviously okay) and then plug HooToo into your iOS device, select that file as an iOS mail attachment (or maybe it's a HooToo iPlugmate mail app) - OR does iOS filter out files based on the extension without looking at the file content, which would make any .IGC files loaded onto the HooToo USB stick invisible to any app on the iPhone - even iPlugmate - because .IGC isn't listed a a supported file extension. If iOS looks at the file content .IGC might show up but if iOS looks only at the extension, it might not.

I could just buy a HooToo stick and find out I suppose. I just don't want to waste the time if it's fruitless.

9B

[Dave Nadler]

On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 4:26:22 PM UTC-4, Andy Blackburn wrote:

> The question is: Can you use HooToo to load a file from a logger with
> a USB port (that part seems obviously okay) and then plug HooToo into
> your iOS device, select that file as an iOS mail attachment (or maybe

> it's a HooToo iPlugmate mail app)...

Yes, as I said in the initial post, it works like a charm.
The HooToo's app will copy *any* file (regardless of type) between
external storage and any app-specific internal storage area where
you've granted permission. But you don't need to copy to email it;
the app will allow you to select and email a file from the external
storage.

> I could just buy a HooToo stick and find out I suppose.
> I just don't want to waste the time if it's fruitless.

Already tested, works great.

See ya, Dave

[Andy Blackburn]

On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 1:57:43 PM UTC-7, Dave Nadler wrote:
> On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 4:26:22 PM UTC-4, Andy Blackburn wrote:

Thanks - should have re-read the initial post.

It's odd that they go out of their way to specify file types that it can transfer if it can transfer any file type.

Auto-download direct from the logger would be cool. Also auto upload of tasks to the flight computer.

9B

[Dave Nadler]

On Monday, September 5, 2016 at 5:35:58 PM UTC-4, Andy Blackburn wrote:
> Auto-download direct from the logger would be cool.

I probably still have that Palm-V system in one of my junk boxes;
make me an offer!

See ya, Dave

[Eric Greenwell]

swanso...@yahoo.com wrote on 9/4/2016 6:49 PM:
> iPhone or iPad running iGlide can post directly to OLC. Remote
> scorer can get the file from there. It works like a charm.
>

Where does IGC file come from? Iglide? Or some other logger?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"

https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/Guide-to-transponders-in-sailplanes-2014A.pdf

[8H]

[8H]

On Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 7:37:45 PM UTC-4, Dave Nadler wrote:

[8H]

On Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 7:37:45 PM UTC-4, Dave Nadler wrote:

On Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 7:37:45 PM UTC-4, Dave Nadler wrote:

Dave, Used the Hoo-Too at the New Castle contest to send in my flight logs and it sure was nice to land and just send in the file while standing by the glider. Sure wish I had it in Uvalde this year, would have saved a trip to the motel or other side of the airport. Al Tyler 8H

[Sean]

Me too. Works great.