Android Pilot Altimeter & VSI v1.3

I just released version 1.3. Release notes are as follows:

Added QNH and QFE buttons that remember the pressure setting used. (You use QNH for altitude and QFE for height above aerodrome.) These two buttons just act as memories; if you don't need that feature, just use either.

If you select Pressure Alt, the -10, -1, +1 and +10 controls become disabled. They are re-enabled if you select QNH or QFE.

Unit selection is now in the configuration screen rather than accessed through a button on the main screen.

Android Pilot Altimeter & VSI v1.2c

I released version 1.2c a couple of days ago.

With the help of Andrew Dobie Tanpaw for which I'm very grateful indeed, I eventually found that the timestamp returned by SensorEvent differs between various Android versions.

It seems to be the case that on earlier Android versions, the timestamp refers to nanoseconds since the time the device was booted; in later Android versions, the timestamp refers to nanoseconds since the epoch (start of 1970).

I determined empirically that the timestamp on my Nexus 4 refers to nanoseconds since 1970 and produced a compatible timestamp when the altimeter was being drawn, which was used for the purposes of filtering. Unfortunately this did not work on some devices because the timestamp did not have the same point of reference, and it caused the program on those models to crash.

Since it is never officially documented what the timestamp refers to, I have taken the decision to leave out filtering when the altimeter is drawn; filtering now occurs only when samples come in.

I have also added the capability since the last release of moving the program to SD card where appropriate.

My new rating

It's not strictly to do with Phabvionics, but two days ago I received my new licence from the UK CAA. It's an EASA private pilot's licence with night rating, and I also now have an IMC rating, notated on the licence as IRR(A) - instrument rating (restricted to the privileges of the UK IMC rating). Great!