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By dmt3339
#41944
My guess is that if they worked to even a small degree they would be a lot more popular and on the market.

I have never seen one myself but doubt it works.

Dave T.
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By CHassan
#41945
Didn't they try to sense temp dfference?
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By DocSoc
#41950
If you recall back when I posted info on Thermal devices I'll find the thread, someone talked about these and that they were very difficult to use, and that it just wasn't worth the effort, now the question is are they real, and I would have to say yes since a guy actually had one, and do they work, well that depends on the dude using it....

Hugs....

-Soc
User avatar
By designbydave
#41969
I don't think any machine will ever be able to replace 30 years of thermaling experience. Finding thermals seems to be about much more than just temperature differences and rising air. Its a matter of using all senses, and a bit of luck to find them.
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By Jeff OBrien
#41978
Ask Peter Birren about the snooper. He's probably got the greatest amount of experience with the snooper. I believe he flies with one still.
Cheers,
OB
By noman
#41980
your vario is a thermal sniffer and so is ur control bar and so is ur drift and so is the bird circling below and so is the water and so are the trees i think dave said it best time in the seat makes u the pilot a thermal sniffer not some new fangeld walkman.as my friend little willy said the more u fly the better u get :shock:
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By FBickford
#41984
When I was starting out I wondered if you could feel warm air. In my experience so far there are thermal days when you can feel the temp difference of rising and sinking air and days when you can't.

I want a garmin gps with xm satellite that can receive real time info from one of those new weather satellites they put up a couple years ago for xc. Then I can really get in trouble. :crazy:

The best flying instrument you can ever own is in your head. :thumbsup:
By day dreamer
#42003
does putting foil on your helmet work? :mosh: :mrgreen:
User avatar
By Radwhacker
#42005
day dreamer wrote:does putting foil on your helmet work? :mosh: :mrgreen:
I tried that, but every time I flew in front of a microwave dish my head starting arcing.

I don't think there was any permanent dain bramage tho.
User avatar
By HangDiver
#42091
My thermal snooper is the guy who launched in front of me. :chair:
User avatar
By Spark
#42119
...
Last edited by Spark on Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By FBickford
#42145
This thermal snooper could be beneficial for detecting lifting air in shear or convergence...? How does it produce a reading? Just beeps and boops or numbers? Do you turn it on and off for a refresh?

My experience with convergences so far is you don't really acquire a mental image of the lifting air like you can topping out a thermal. Convergence flying is more just trying to stay in lift no matter what direction you're going. I guess you could get an image of it if you are able cover a large area and "see" the lift at different altitudes as well.
Can't be everywhere at the same time either.

The E-Team knows about convergence!
User avatar
By Spark
#42168
...
Last edited by Spark on Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
By day dreamer
#42173
HangDiver wrote:My thermal snooper is the guy who launched in front of me. :chair:
Nice! at my site,being the newbie,I am the test dummy.And i suppose that these are not the best thermal snoopers?
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By day dreamer
#42174
Cause if they are not,then i'm taking mine off this weekend. :goodidea:
User avatar
By FBickford
#42483
Thanks for the pic Spark!

see you Saturday the meeting has been moved up to 9:30 to allow for the 10:30 thermals, or you guys can just please talk louder so I can hear what your saying in the meeting while I'm high-siding a thermal?


:shock: :thumbsup:
User avatar
By mgforbes
#47455
TomGalvin wrote:Hmmmm


http://support.fluke.com/find-sales/Dow ... NG_A_W.PDF
Got the FLIR version of this at work. Way cool; sees all sorts of interesting
things in the thermal spectrum. I'm using it for circuit board design optimization,
but they're handy for other things too. For $30 grand, you can have one too. They
do come cheaper....black/white versions for a few thousand.

I've been in a discussion with somebody local about resurrecting the thermal
snooper using modern sensors and processors. Sounds like there's some
interest in such a device.

MGF
User avatar
By saltoricco
#47463
mgforbes wrote:Sounds like there's some interest in such a device.
Yes Mark, I'd love to have one. I don't have the expertise to help though. Can you tell more?

Holger