XC TRACER Mini IV GPS Planet Paragliding

Quick Start Guide

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS, based on the proven and reliable XC Tracer Mini III GPS, is a highly accurate variometer powered by a solar cell. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS is using data multiple sensors (9 DOF IMU, pressure sensor, GPS to compute the real-time climb rate and altitude, avoiding the undesired time lag that conventional variometers suffer from due to data filtering. The GPS also provides real-time flight speed and direction. All the relevant data is then sent in a custom data string to an iOS or Android tablet or phone via Bluetooth Low Energy. Of course, the variometer still indicates the lift/sink rate with beeping tones!
Use the velcro to attach XC Tracer Mini IV GPS to the shoulder strap of your harness, or to your cockpit, or onto your thigh. (NB. Do not attach it to your helmet or hang it around your neck using a cord!) Position the device in such a way that the solar cell catches as much sunlight as possible during the flight.
Switch on XC Tracer by pressing and holding the red button until you hear beep-beep. The GPS will then search for a fix. The video will make some beeping sounds once the GPS has a fix, and the white LED will start blinking every 2-3 seconds. Don’t worry if you forget to switch on XC Tracer before taking off, you can switch it on whilst flying.
The video won’t beep on the ground, but as soon as you’re flying XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will indicate the lift/sink rate with beeping tones. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS has four volume settings: mute, gentle, medium, and loud. You can change the volume setting with a short push of the red button, always cycling from mute – gentle – medium – loud – mute – gentle etc.
Once you’ve landed, turn off XC Tracer Mini IV GPS by pressing and holding the red button until you hear beep-beep (after approximately 3 seconds). XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will then switch off and the LED will stop blinking.
WARNING: If necessary, charge the battery with the USB cable on the PC or on a 5V charger. Only a 5V connection/charger may be used, do not use Fast Charge / Quick Charge / Super Charge / Turbo Power or whatever. If a voltage higher than 5V is used while charging, the electronics will be destroyed.
We accept no responsibility for damage that occurs when not using the correct voltage for charging!

Introduction

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS, based on the proven and reliable XC Tracer Mini III GPS, is a flight instrument for paraglider pilots. Many pilots use XC Tracer Mini III GPS for competitions and for long XC flights. The lag-free indication of lift/sink makes it much easier to find core thermals than when using a conventional variometer. You can also use XC Tracer Mini IV GPS as an IGC logger – the files are accepted by the FAI for competitions.
XC Tracer Mini IV GPS has a built-in solar cell that delivers 3x more energy than is needed for running the device (when oriented perpendicular to the sun). The surplus energy is stored in a lithium polymer battery. The variometer will run for more than 20 hours with a fully charged battery without any sun, depending on the sound level. The built-in battery can be charged over the Micro USB connector should this ever be necessary.
The device as a built-in Bluetooth Low Energy BLE 4.2 module – the BLE strings that your phone, tablet or e-reader needs are configured in the XC Tracer configuration file. A list of compatible iOS and Android apps and their corresponding BLE string settings can be found on www.xctracer.com. But you can not only use BLE, it is also possible to connect to another device using a USB cable.
Of course, XC Tracer Mini IV GPS also indicates the climb/sink rate with beeping tones and the good thing is that you can modify the tone settings using the tone simulator on www.xctracer.com.

Mounting

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS uses data from a 9-DOF IMU (9 Degrees Of Freedom Inertial Measurement Unit), and from a pressure sensor, to compute the real- time climb rate and altitude, avoiding the undesired time lag that conventional variometers suffer (due to data filtering). For this reason, mount your XC Tracer Mini IV GPS in such a way that it moves as little as possible whilst you’re flying. Important: make sure the XC Tracer Mini IV GPS isn’t dangling from a cord or attached to your helmet. The best approach is to attach XC Tracer Mini IV GPS to your cockpit, on the shoulder strap of your harness, or on your thigh. But when attaching XC Tracer Mini IV GPS, please remember that it needs to have the best possible view of the sun in order to maximize solar charging.

Switch On/Switch Off

Turn XC Tracer Mini IV GPS on by pressing and holding the red button until you hear beep-beep. Next, the battery charge status is indicated by a series of beeps (this feature is described further below). It will then take a further 5-60 seconds for the GPS to get a fix. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will then make a beep-beep-beep and it’s now ready for flight.
Turning XC Tracer Mini IV GPS off is just the same – press and hold the red button until you hear beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will write the log file to the SD card and switch off.

Battery Indicator

After switching the device on the battery charge status is indicated with a sequence of short beeps: 5x Beep means that the battery is charged 95% or more.

• 4x Beep means that the battery is charged 75% or more.
• 3x Beep means that the battery is charged 55% or more.
• 2x Beep means that the battery is charged 35% or more.
• 1x Beep means that the battery is charged 15% or more.

When the battery is less than 15% charged you will hear a constant beep for one second after switching the device on. After indicating the battery charge the GPS now searches for a fix. A beep-beep-beeeeeep indicates that the device is now ready for flight.

Energy Management

Normally the solar cell delivers enough energy to power XC Tracer Mini IV GPS and charge the battery at the same time when flying. But on occasion the device might slowly discharge during a flight if it’s been in your shadow for long periods, or if the sun is low, or if the sky is overcast etc. Perhaps the next flight might be different, with enough sunshine to power the device and charge the battery; however it’s always a good idea to switch off the device immediately after landing.
Should it ever be necessary you can charge XC Tracer Mini IV GPS using a Micro USB cable. It takes approximately 3 hours to fully charge the battery so it’s best to leave it charging overnight.
Important: The battery does slowly get discharged even when the vario is switched off. Fully recharge the vario before the winter break, and recharge the battery again once when the new flying season starts.
WARNING: attempting to charge your XC Tracer Mini IV GPS by placing it in hot sunshine when not flying may result in it overheating and damaging the battery any other components!

WARNING: If necessary, charge the battery with the USB cable on the PC or on a 5V charger. Only a 5V connection / charger may be used, do not use Fast Charge / Quick Charge / Super Charge / Turbo Power or whatever. If a voltage higher than 5V is used while charging, the electronics will be destroyed. We accept no responsibility for damage which occurs when not using the correct voltage for charging!

Automatic Switch-Off

Automatic switch off is disabled during the first 60 minutes after switching XC Tracer Mini IV GPS on, however after that it will turn itself off if it hasn’t detected lift or sink for 1 minute – ie. after you’ve landed. In addition, low-voltage detection will switch the device off if the battery voltage drops below 3.3V.

Adjusting The Volume

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS has 4 volume settings: Mute, gentle, medium and loud. You can change the volume setting with a short push of the red button, always from mute – gentle – medium – loud – mute – gentle etc.

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS Configuration File

switch the device on by briefly pressing the red button until you hear a beep- beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS’s internal Micro SD Card will appear as an external drive in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. You will find a PDF copy of the user manual on the SD card, and also the XC_TRACER_II.TXT configuration file. Editing this file in Notepad (Windows) or Text Editor (Mac) allows you to adjust XC Tracer Mini IV GPS’s settings. The various options are described below:

• XC Tracer Mini IV GPS Configuration File

• serialNumber=6042CE915601
• Serial number of XC Tracer Mini IV GPS, is used for the IGC logger.
• firmwareVersion=XC_Tracer_Mini_III_GPS_R01
• Indicates the device’s firmware version.
• reset=no

Setting reset=yes resets XC Tracer Mini IV GPS to the factory default settings. Reset=no is the default setting. After a reset reset=no will automatically be set in the config file.

supported protocols are None, XCTRACER, LK8EX1, LXWP0 or LXWPW Select the

BLE protocol her. NB. Only one protocol can be selected at once. Please check at www.xctracer.com which protocol to choose for your app. LXWPW is like LXWPO, but with the information of the calculated wind. stringToSend=LXWP0 In this case the LXWPO protocol will be will be used. bleName=XC-Tracer A name for the BLE service can be assigned here. A maximum 0f 12 letters or numbers is allowed. # supported connections are BLE or NONE sendDataOver=BLE Her you can choose if data will be sent. NONE will not transfer any data, with BLE XC Tracer will send data over BLE.

logger configuration The logger records IGC and KML files in parallel. IGC

is recorded with 1Hz, KML is recorded with 5Hz. You can configure the logger as follows: logOnlyWhenFlying=yes When logOnlyWhenFlying=yes is set then a log file will be recorded once the GPS has recorded a speed greater than 4m/s. The logging will get stopped when you have landed. When you make a toplanding the log file will be stopped, and a new log file will get created when you take off again. When logOnlyWhenFlying=no is set then a log file will be recorded as soon as you switch on XC Tracer, and the logging will only be stopped when you switch off the device.

pilotName=Koni Schafroth Enter your name here. Please don’t use accidentally use any tabs as they will invalidate the IGC file. Spaces are fine. passengerName= You can enter the name of a tandem passenger here if you like. gliderType=Gin Explorer Enter your glider make and model here. gliderId=14049 Enter the immatriculation number (if you have one) of your glider here. # create your own vario tone settings below beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes When this is set XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will be silent before takeoff. This is very helpful when you have configured some kind of a thermal sniffer. With beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes the variometer will be silent until XC Tracer Mini IV GPS detects a horizontal velocity of 4m/s or more during 1-2 seconds. With beepOnlyWhenFlying=no the variometer will beep not only in flight, but also when you walk or move.

setVolume=2 There are four volume settings, 0-3. With this option you set the volume that the vario will use for beeping. When beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes is set then the vario will be silent until you fly. Once you’re flying the vario will beep with the volume that you have set. Remember though, that you can change the volume during flight with a short press of the red button.

dampingFactor=0.00 Here you can set a damping factor fron 0 up to max 10. As soon as you set a damping factor then the vario will react slower to changes in altitude.

ClimbToneOnThreshold=0.2 With this setting the vario will begin to beep when the climb rate is higher than 0.2m/s. When you want to use a thermal sniffer then you can set ClimbToneOnThreshold=-0.5 for example. In this case the vario will begin to beep when the sink rate is less than -0.5m/s. In this way you can adjust  the beeping tone so that you know when you’re flying in lifting air, despite the fact that you’re actually sinking gently. This can be helpful to find and core thermals in weak conditions.

ClimbToneOffThreshold=0.1 With this setting the vario will stop beeping when the climb rate is below 0.1m/s. You can also use negative values here, for example -0.51m/s when you use a thermal sniffer.

SinkToneOnThreshold=-3.0 The sink tone will be activated when the sink rate is below -3m/s.
SinkToneOffThreshold=-3.0 The sink tone will be deactivated when the sink rate is less than -3m/s.

• tone=-10.00,200,100,100

• tone=-3.00,280,100,100

• tone=-0.51,300,500,100

• tone=-0.50,200,800,5

• tone=0.09,400,600,10

• tone=0.10,400,600,50

• tone=1.16,550,552,52

• tone=2.67,763,483,55

• tone=4.24,985,412,58

• tone=6.00,1234,332,62

• tone=8.00,1517,241,66

• tone=10.00,1800,150,70

You must define exactly 12 tones. Additional tones will be deleted from the configuration file, and missing tones will be complemented with values stored in the Eeprom. The tones must be defined ascending from tone 1 of -10m/s to tone 10m/s of tone 12.
Important: Please avoid using exactly the same climb rate on adjacent tones as it will create issues.
tone=1.16,579,527,50 means that with a climb rate of 1.16m/s the vario will beep with a frequency of 579Hz, that the complete tone interval will last 527ms, and that the tone will be audible for 50% of the tone interval. This is a typical tone that is used when indicating climbing.
tone=-3.00,280,100,100 means that with a sink rate of -3.0m/s a tone of 280Hz will be emitted. As soon as the sink rate changes the tone frequency also changes, depending on the configuration. This creates a nice sink tone (not that a sink tone is ever nice!)
You can create your own tone settings using the tone simulator on www.xctracer.com and then copy and paste them to the configuration file, or you can simply copy and paste other people’s tone settings to the configuration file. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS doesn’t actually save the new configuration into its internal memory until it starts up in normal flight mode. So, press the red button briefly to unmount / eject the device from your computer, disconnect it from the USB cable, then turn XC Tracer on as normal.

XC Tracer Mini IV GPS Firmware Update Connect XC Tracer Mini IV GPS to a computer using a Micro USB Cable and once connected, switch the device on by briefly pressing the red button until you hear a beep-beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Mini IV GPS’s internal Micro SD Card will appear as an external drive in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Download the newest firmware for XC Tracer Mini IV GPS from www.xctracer.com and copy the new firmware using drag and drop to the SD card. Now press the red button briefly and the new firmware will start to be installed. During installation XC Tracer Mini IV GPS will make a few beeps, then delete the firmware file from the SD card and finally switch off. The new firmware is now installed and the device is now ready to use.
Important: The information about the firmware version will only be updated once the device has been started up in normal flight mode. It’s impossible to install incorrect firmware on the XC Tracer Mini IV GPS – all that happens is that the incompatible firmware will get deleted from the SD card.

Troubleshooting

In the rare event that XC Tracer Mini IV GPS doesn’t respond when you push the red button, you can perform a hard reset by pressing and holding the red button for approximately 1 minute. The battery will then get disconnected from the electronics. After that you can restart XC Tracer Mini IV GPS in flight mode, and the device will be functional again.

Warranty XC Tracer grants a 24 month warranty for material and workmanship. Unsuitable or improper use (for example strong impact, water landing, opened enclosure, software modification, ripped off USB connector etc.) and normal wear and tear (battery, scratched solar cell, scratched enclosure etc) are excluded from the warranty.

Technical Data

• Time-lag free indication of climb / sink rate
• Data transmission to cell phone / tablet / e-reader using BLE 4.2 and/or USB
• Many compatible Apps for Android / iOS
• IGC / KML Logger
• Extremely easy operation
• Firmware update by Drag & Drop
• User-configurable acoustics/tone setting with tone simulator at www.xctracer.com State of the arte electronics including a 9-DOF IMU, GPS, BLE and mems pressure
• sensor Solar cell with 22.5% efficiency
• Runtime with fully charged battery min. 20h (no sunlight)
• Size: 44.5 x 44.5 x 17.0 mm
• Weight 34g

References

• Variometer | XC Tracer
• Variometer | XC Tracer

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