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Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

carloslagoa.com

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Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#81

Post by carloslagoa »

DavidPeiffer wrote: post #69
whartung wrote: post #13

You should look into a roll chart. It’s a small device typically mounted to a handlebar of a motorcycle that contains directions. As you reach each waypoint, you turn a knob and roll the next waypoint into the window. It should work just great with your receipt printer and your not limited to the length of the A pillar in your plane.

I like any excuse to mention the Jones Live Map. Back in the day it hooked up to a car odometer and when the arrow pointed to a direction, you'd take it. It works well as long as you never miss a direction, then it gets off. It'd be horrible with the variability in land speed from the same engine speed, but maybe that'd be part of the "fun" trying it for an airplane. https://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org/collection-test…

i had no idea this existed -- amazing

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#82

Post by carloslagoa »

tux1968 wrote: post #42
carloslagoa wrote: post #2

Hi HN! Just a small script I wrote a few days ago, but I had 2 or 3 friends publish some blogs online and I got hella jelly --- so here's my submission, so at least I can say I made something and post it. Hopefully you like both planes and tech and very hopefully you find this an okay read :) Any spelling mistakes, bugs, issues, ethics, please do tell me about! Sorry if it looks rushed -- night is coming upon us and…

Hi there! Which printer are you using? Can't be a new one at that price, surely?

Hi! erm, lemme check tomorrow -- I'm using one I got second hand in facebook marketplace from a business. The printer works with the library in the article but things like font-size selection had to be retweaked

It's a generic brand one -- but on eBay I've see some for cheap; maybe (like someone pointed out) not that cheap (sorry if title was misleading, not my intention at all)

My recommendation? buy it locally or just ask a business if they are getting rid of one (that was how I got lucky)

Sorry I can't help much more

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#83

Post by TeMPOraL »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #66
pierat wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I've been "burned" by thermal receipts before. Had a receipt in my wallet. 30 days later, the thermal print completely faded. Had to dispute with credit card company over that one. Wasn't fun.

Makes me wonder if "you need a receipt to claim warranty" is intentional like that. There's a few apps that can organize / OCR receipts for you, if a photo of a receipt is adequate. I don't actually know any and I may be talking out of my ass but err. I'm sure there are!

Over here in Poland, companies usually require a "proof of purchase", which can be a receipt or an invoice. As a buyer, it's up to you which one you want to receive[0]. There's a special kind of pseudo-invoice called "personal invoice", which is like a VAT invoice except you don't need to be a company or provide a tax ID for it. This is the one you want in any scenario when you expect to hold on to the proof of purchase for longer than it takes to reach the nearest trash can - its killer feature is that it can't possibly fit on a thermal paper receipt[1], so you get it printed out using regular, durable means, on regular office paper (and/or e-mailed as PDF).

--

[0] - On-line you usually get to pick at check-out, off-line you usually have to ask before paying.

[1] - Technically it could, but it would be quite an achievement, and it's sufficiently non-standard that nobody bothers.

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#84

Post by DavidPeiffer »

carloslagoa wrote: post #81
DavidPeiffer wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like any excuse to mention the Jones Live Map. Back in the day it hooked up to a car odometer and when the arrow pointed to a direction, you'd take it. It works well as long as you never miss a direction, then it gets off. It'd be horrible with the variability in land speed from the same engine speed, but maybe that'd be part of the "fun" trying it for an airplane. https://www.sealcoveautomuseum.org/collection-test…

i had no idea this existed -- amazing

If you're ever in Maine, I highly recommend the museum. I'm not the biggest car guy, but it was neat seeing everything they had.

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#85

Post by seabass-labrax »

EMM_386 wrote: post #7

I'm a dinosaur and I'm always amazed at the technology that pilot's have available to them these days. While complex to learn, having huge glass navigation systems sitting in front of you in a single engine plane seems so foreign to me. I did my instrument ride in a C-172 and my commercial in a PA-44. During both of those checkrides, I ended up having to shoot ILS approaches to minimums, in turbulent IFR conditions,…

> The fanciest thing in the plane was probably the HSI.

The HSI is probably the most intuitive navigation instrument for me. You point the picture of the plane to the heading you want to fly into or away from the radio beacon, and it tells you whether you need to fly left or right in order to intercept the correct course.

For fun, I fly the Lockheed Super Constellation^1 in my flight simulator (FlightGear; it's FOSS) in CAT2 or even CAT3 weather mode, and try to fly from one airport to another using only the 'steam gauge' instruments and my memory of the radio navigation frequencies. Recently I've been hand-flying without the autopilot as well. I'm the pilot, navigator, radio man and flight engineer for the quad R-3350 engines all in one seat. There's something amazingly satisfying about seeing the ALSF lights appear through the jet-black haze seconds before a smooth touchdown, and I'm proud to say that I've only crashed into hills a few times!

^1: ...which predates glass cockpit instruments in airliners by about half a century

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#86

Post by seabass-labrax »

carloslagoa wrote: post #73
iefbr14 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I've seen them at $20 Have another look, its more like 50 nowadays, thanks to the new ones having proprietary paper with chip.

damn you may be right (maybe something between 20 and 50 at least) does second hand count? gumtree m/craigslist/facebook marketplace/ etc etc

I got a second-hand one for a bargain £30 with so much paper that I will be hard-pushed to use it all in my lifetime. The power supply burnt out after a year or so, so that will be another £10 or so, but I don't regret that purchase by any stretch. I've used it to print out the headlines from RSS feeds, like my own personal Telex ticker-tape machine!

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#87

Post by [deleted] »

klinquist wrote: post #79
cameronh90 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've ridden a motorbike for 15 years and this is the first I've heard of roll charts! Prior to phones, I would just scrawl my notes onto a sheet of A5 and tape it to the top of the tank. It didn't work well when it was raining.

It's most common in the dual sport community. I ride dual sport rides here on the west coast that still provide roll charts as their primary routing.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#88

Post by tyingq »

klinquist wrote: post #79
cameronh90 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've ridden a motorbike for 15 years and this is the first I've heard of roll charts! Prior to phones, I would just scrawl my notes onto a sheet of A5 and tape it to the top of the tank. It didn't work well when it was raining.

It's most common in the dual sport community. I ride dual sport rides here on the west coast that still provide roll charts as their primary routing.

I don't know if "Enduro" is still a thing, but roll charts were everywhere with that. Ones like these... https://www.john-stichnoth.com/sitebuilder/images/RollChartS...

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#89

Post by chaxor »

Scoundreller wrote: post #77
chaxor wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

General Aviation still uses lead in their gas, despite it being shown several times in enormous nationwide studies consistently to not be necessary, and often simply requires more cost in maintenance (lead builds up on spark plugs causing a lot of issues). So environmental impact isn't high on their list already, and this BPA issue is very likely going to be completely ignored by anyone in that field.

Yes, but the avgas lead situation is primarily a problem for the people behind/under the aircraft, not inside the aircraft.

You still have to fill it up by touching and breathing in the fumes while pumping it into the tank, so not exactly, but you're right that it does affect others as well.

Re: Show HN: Aviation navigation log on $20 receipt printer

#90

Post by mickdeek86 »

chaxor wrote: post #75
clumsysmurf wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, most thermal paper is high in BPA/BPS. https://www.pca.state.mn.us/business-with-us/bpa-and-bps-in-...

General Aviation still uses lead in their gas, despite it being shown several times in enormous nationwide studies consistently to not be necessary, and often simply requires more cost in maintenance (lead builds up on spark plugs causing a lot of issues). So environmental impact isn't high on their list already, and this BPA issue is very likely going to be completely ignored by anyone in that field.

Guessing parent was referring to the practice of heating BPA-laden paper in the near vicinity of commercial food-prep
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