User Manual XC Tracer Maxx User Manual XC Tracer Maxx Rev 01 23.2.
Quick Start Guide Attach the vario to your cockpit or onto your thigh. Press and hold the red button until you hear beep-beep, then release the button. The logo appears while the vario is searching for GPS satellites and as soon as the logo disappears the vario is ready and you can take off. You can switch screens with a short push on the button, and you can change the volume level by double pressing the button.
Introduction XC Tracer Maxx is a high-precision GPS variometer with a perfectly readable LCD and integrated collision warning device FLARM. XC Tracer Maxx transmits twice per second the position and also the estimated flight path for the next 20 seconds. Other FLARM devices in the vicinity can then draw conclusions about a possible risk of collision risk. In case of a possible collision the corresponding FLARM device warns the pilot in the aircraft or helicopter.
Switching off is done in exactly the same way. Press the red button until you hear a "beepbeep", then release the button and the XC Tracer Maxx switches off. User Manual XC Tracer Maxx Rev 01 23.2.
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.
Screens XC Tracer Maxx can display several predefined screens: • • • • • Simple Standard Thermal Buddy Airspace (Not yet ready) The LCD, which is perfectly readable in bright sunlight, has an update rate of 10Hz, so that a smooth display is guaranteed. The preconfigured screens cannot be changed; only which screens are to be displayed can be preset. Simple Screen This is the ideal screen if you don't want too much information displayed.
Standard Screen The standard screen will be the ideal screen for many pilots. The displays are exactly the same as in the simple screen. In addition to the simple screen, the standard screen also shows the glide ratio and the current flight duration. The wind is also displayed. As long as the wind arrow is pointing upwards and the arrow head consists only of thin lines, the code cannot calculate the wind.
Thermal Screen The analog vario display as well as altitude, digital vario and wind and compass show exactly the same as on the standard screen. On the bottom right you can see the altitude curve of the last 30 seconds. This display can be very helpful to see at a glance whether you have gained or lost altitude. A short look at the screen is enough to know immediately what is going on without having to read numbers or remember numbers. The thermal assistant displays the last 60 seconds of flight with dots.
Buddy Screen On the Buddy Screen you can see all paraglider and hang glider pilots who fly with a Flarm device and have been received by the XC Tracer Maxx in the last 5 minutes. Your position is in the middle of the circles, and from one circle to the next the distance doubles. The dots show paragliders or hang gliders that are equipped with Flarm that are flying, and the triangles show pilots with Flarm that have not yet taken off or landed.
Change settings without a computer If you want to change the settings: double click and hold the second click for one second. To go to the desired setting press the button once briefly; with a long press to select/change the setting. It is very easy to add a buddy at takeoff who also uses a variometer with Flarm. Switch on the XC Tracer Maxx and the vario of your friend, and wait until both vario's have a GPS fix.
XC Tracer Maxx Configuration File Connect XC Tracer Maxx 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 Maxx is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Maxx’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_Maxx.txt configuration file.
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.
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.
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.
# FLARM glider type is HANGGLIDER or PARAGLIDER type=PARAGLIDER Here you can enter either HANGGLIDER or PARAGLIDER. # Add Radio ID and buddy name Buddy1Name= Buddy1RadioID= Here you can add a name for your buddy and his or her radio ID. Or you can go to settings in the vario and add a buddy with a few clicks on the red button, and then later on you can change here in the config file the name of the buddy as you wish. User Manual XC Tracer Maxx Rev 01 23.2.
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 Maxx 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.
The obstacle database is intended as additional safety feature, but you must never rely on it alone!!! User Manual XC Tracer Maxx Rev 01 23.2.
XC Tracer Maxx Firmware Update / How to read flight data Connect XC Tracer Maxx 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 Maxx is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Maxx’s internal Micro SD Card will appear as an external drive in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Download the newest fligth firmware for XC Tracer Maxx and the newest FLARM firmware from www.xctracer.
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, broken lcd etc.) and normal wear and tear (scratches in the enlcosure, degradation of the battery) are excluded from the guarantee.
User Manual XC Tracer Maxx Rev 01 23.2.
