Windsock

Stop taking your home office to the field to track pibals.  Windsock is a new, revolutionary handheld computer system customized for use in determining the direction and speed of winds aloft based on the intermittent tracking of pibal movements.  Measuring only 3" x 7" x 1", Windsock is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket or even to take with you in flight.  Built on a gently used Hewlett Packard 48G calculator core, Windsock provides the ultimate ease of use, power and convenience.  A large 32 KByte memory stores the Windsock software and allows for the indefinite storage of wind conditions at different times and locations.  Windsock is completely battery operated and has power management circuitry that automatically shuts the system down when not in use.

Windsock comes ready to use straight out of the box.  No DOS, no Windows and no installation -- simply turn it on and it's ready to go.  Windsock is extremely easy to use and is fully menu driven, so even the most computer illiterate crew will love it.  Set the desired field parameters for the site and start collecting data (a theodolite or a compass and clinometer are required).  Windsock supports both U.S. Customary (feet) and Metric (meters) units and can automatically convert the units of your setup parameters and data at any time.  All preferences, options and input data are automatically saved when input, so there is no need to worry about the loss of valuable information even when Windsock is turned off or when the batteries are replaced.

Use the simple full screen editing feature to input the vertical angle and compass heading of the pibal's position or let the optional Electronic Theodolite enter the data automatically.  Windsock continuously scans for input problems and features immediate error notification so that operator mistakes are minimized.  Select any sample period using either time intervals or pibal height intervals.  Variable sample periods allow you to make many precise and accurate wind readings or just a few readings for quick easy scans of winds aloft conditions.  Optional warning and sample tones aid in insuring precise measurement times.

The variable pibal ascent rate parameter allows entry of the precise vertical speed of your pibals for accurate height calculations.  Variable field elevation and magnetic declination parameters allow for the display of either ground level or sea level altitudes and for the display of either magnetic (compass) or true (map) wind directions, respectfully.

Once all sample points have been input, Windsock quickly calculates the absolute 3D coordinates for each measurement position along the pibal path.  These coordinates are used to calculate the wind direction and wind speed for each altitude.  This information is displayed in vertical table form on the LCD screen.  The LCD screen has adjustable contrast for easy viewing even in the brightest sunlight.  Wind speeds can be displayed in knots, mph or kph.

Wind directions can be displayed either to or from the desired site.  The pibal's ground track can also be displayed graphically so that you can view relative wind conditions at a glance.  Auto scaling and positioning of the graphical information provides a quick, easy to use interface.

An optional battery-powered cordless Infrared Printer means producing hard copies in the field couldn't be easier.  Simply aim the Windsock computer at the printer and you get a neat, clean and easy to read copy of your input data, output table and pibal tracking graph.

Of course, full calculator functionality is standard as well as a full-function built-in real-time clock and calendar.  Programmable alarms will insure you don't miss those early morning pilot meetings.  Don't let others get the upper hand (and the preferred launch site).  Order today!

$395 U.S. List (plus S & H)