XC Soar screen setup advice

[Blake Seese 9V]

Hello All,

I am looking for advice on the best setup in terms of info boxes to use for xc soar. All input is appreciated. What works best for you? What information is truly important? I am not racing, just posting to olc. Still, I want to fly as fast as possible and as far as possible. The way I'm set up now, as soon as I have enough altitude to get to my next waypoint, I'm in final glide mode, so I have cruise and final glide set up the same. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your feedback!

9V

[SoaringXCellence]

Blake,

I help a number of my club-mates to set up the XCSoar on their tablets/phones. The default setup using 8 boxes and the "auto" function that changes the boxes based on the flight category: climb, glide, final glide, etc.

My advice is a little different: Set up two or three "Map" pages and do not select the "Auto" boxes, but use the "Climb" "Glide" and "Final" boxes on individual pages. You can "swipe" between them in-flight and see their individual values.

My initial problem was the transition from one "auto" info boxes to another was not quite clear and so by separating them I can learn what they mean. You can also change the boxes in-flight to see the differences (away from the gaggle, please).

Probably the number of boxes, for the first attempts should be limited to 8 as that seems pretty easy to work and not too much information at the start.

I have found that the longer I use the program, the less information I want to see! I think that may be due to gaining confidence in the program and getting a feel for what I personally need to know.

Tobias' TE version may be a good place to start if you really want a good starting setup that will not overwhelm you.

These programs are not systems that you can learn in a few minutes and it will/may/probably take many flights to begin to feel competent.

I have used Condor with several different connections to learn the program (Serial/USB, Bluetooth, WIreless, all described in the XCSoar forums). I think it's a good way to gain the experience, but you have to think "reality" on Condor to get the value. Don't just "fly around a few minutes but really ste a task or practice an OCL type flight.

Good luck, have fun!

Mike

[Blake Seese 9V]

Thanks Mike!

I should have outlined my experience with this flight computer and others. I started with soarpilot and liked it a lot. It was pretty intuitive and very useful. I won the ASA B class using it. The problem was reliability. I used xcsoar for a while on a HP PDA and then bought an Oudie. I tried running xcsoar on the Oudie, but it didn't run well so I bought seeyou. Once I learned seeyou, I found it to be ok, I like the graphical interface of xcsoar better. Plus, I don't think seeyou is as reliable. Like you, I find I want less rather than more. I am currently setting up a Dell Streak with xcsoar. The info boxes I have chosen are from left to right (first row) Next waypoint distance. This gives me name and distance. Next is required glide ratio, then current average glide ratio (last 90 sec.) then required altitude. On the bottom row I start with speed (ground) then altitude then OLC distance then duration of flight. I also have the auto switch function disabled. I should say the screen I describe is for cruise. My climb screen is a little different. I would set it up differently if I were competing in a contest. xcsoar gives lots of info on the moving map, so minimal infoboxes are required. I am just trying to get a sense of what other pilots are doing. Thanks for the reply.
9V

[Tim Smith]

[Tim Smith]

On Tuesday, September 23, 2014 at 8:10:20 PM UTC-7, Blake Seese 9V wrote:

I am fairly new to XC Soar and I'm still trying to set up the info pages. I originally set up eight different pages based on a you tube video I saw. I now wish I had stayed with the three pages: circling, final glide, cruise. I have disabled the rest of the pages and just using the three. But...I'd like to have these set up on auto function, but don't see how to do that. Please give any advice on how to activate the auto function for these pages. Thanks!
Tim

[me]

The answer you received on the XCSoar forum is correct, if a little sparse.

As you know, Config - Look - Pages allows you to set up several "pages". You don't need to set up 3 different pages, just use one page with the InfoBoxes option towards the bottom of the Pages screen set to Auto. Then, in the Config - Look - InfoBox Sets setup you can configure what InfoBoxes will be displayed during the 3 stages of flight, circling, cruise & final glide.

The auto function does not cycle through 3 separate pages, it changes the infoboxes displayed on a single page depending on what stage of flight you are in.

[Tim Smith]

Thank you!
I've been trying to straighten this out for over a month. Four lines from you...and it works like a charm.
Tim