GPS_LOG WinCE (C)
=================
This program is a port of my GPS_LOG logging and navigation DOS program for glider pilots to the Windows CE platform. It runs on PocketPC (ARM, MIPS and SH3 processors) and PalmPC (MIPS and SH3 processors) devices. Program interfaces to any instrument that provides NMEA sentences for position, track, heading .... It also provides support for Borgelt B50 and other instruments. It was developed with a non-competitive glider pilot in mind, but can be used in any situation that GPS position data are available for logging. Current position, speed, track on ground, distance and course to a waypoint destination as well as needed altitude and other information are displayed in real time. A "moving, rotating map" display shows the path traveled as well as waypoints created in flight overlaid on a pre-generated map. A zoomed display mode designed for thermalling is useful for centering thermals, observing drift and estimating wind aloft. Wind can be also obtained automatically from circling and straight flight data. Needed altitude can be corrected for winds and glider polar. The program logs data in the IGC format, or it's own. It is also capable of replaying both formats for flight review.
A companion program for converting ESRI shapefile formatted maps to GPS_LOG WinCE maps is provided in the GPS_LOG Win32 (Windows PC) distribution package.
DISCLAIMER AND AGREEMENT
============================
Users of GPS_LOG WinCE and associated software must accept this disclaimer of warranty. If you do not accept this disclaimer, do not use GPS_LOG WinCE.
"GPS_LOG WinCE IS SUPPLIED AS IS. THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF GPS_LOG WinCE AND ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES."
This applies especially to any features of the program where estimates of factors that affect flight safety (like wind and required altitude estimates) are concerned. Such features are highly inaccurate and subject to many errors both human and instrumental.
GPS_LOG WinCE and associated software can be freely distributed and shared with others as long as no charges of any kind are made.
Programs in this package are free, but not in the public domain. (C) COPYRIGHT 1998-2001 by Henryk Birecki, All rights reserved.
CONTACT for sending comments, requests, bug reports : e-mail : birecki@hpl.hp.com
GPS_LOG WinCE.EXE - in-flight logging and display program.
GPS_LOGCEresDLL.dll - resource dynamic link library for above program.
GPS^LOGCEresDLL.dll - an optional language specific resource dynamic link library for above program. It takes precedence over GPS_LOGCEresDLL.dll
WAYPOINT.DTA - ASCII file containing set of waypoints that can be selected for destination by the GPS_LOG user. You can change this file in flight. In-flight generated waypoints are appended to this file, so you should keep a clean backup copy handy.
xxxyyyzz.MAP - ASCII files containing map information. The extension must be MAP. These files are modified by the program if you add waypoints in flight.
abcdefgh.PLR - file containing polar data for your glider. You have to create your own. The one distributed here is valid for a DG100 at 30kg/m2 loading.
ALLSYMBL.MAP - a map you can load to see the symbols.
^GPS_LG#^.SLF - file with information on user definable symbols.
^GPS_LG#^.TCL - file with color information for track trace.
GPSLG!AT.WAV -file with sound to be played when entering turnpoint task observation zone.
GPSLG!TO.WAV -file with sound to be played when leaving turnpoint task observation zone.
GPSLG!LT.WAV -file with sound to be played to alert being in a restricted airspace.
GPSLG!SL.WAV -file with sound to be played to slow down.
GPSLG!FS.WAV -file with sound to be played to fly faster.
GPSLG!GW.WAV -file with sound to be played to remind one to extend gear.
City.bmp and building.bmp - user definable symbol examples
The file for logging navigational data can be placed anywhere you like, but keep the pathname to less than 49 characters.
All images in this document were generated from a desktop emulator program. Details of the appearance on your unit will vary.
Use of storage cards.
If you use a storage card for your maps, waypoint, polar.... files and GPS_LOG WinCE does not see them, create a "\My Documents" folder on the storage card and put files in it. This is a Microsoft limitation. This may not be necessary on some newer devices. Microsoft also puts limitations on number of directory levels in storage hierarchy, so you may have to "flatten" your directories tree to do that.
Some Windows CE PCs, like the Compaq Aero, may have a feature that allows you to close all/active tasks. Executing this command while GPS_LOG WinCE is running locks up the unit on Compaq Aero and it has to be ”hard reset”. I do not know how other units will behave. Always exit GPS_LOG WinCE from the program menu. If the program is hidden, then run it again. Only one instance of the program is run at any time (even on older machines).
This program was designed around using Arial font. It will work fine with other True Type fonts. Some (especially older) WindowsCE units do not support True Type. What you will get will depend on manufacturer's implementation and variety of font sizes you have on your unit. I will not try to fix it.
All efforts have been done to make this program bug free. However there are features in it that are at best experimental, and there may be some bugs. The use of NMEA compass heading sentences for wind determination has been tested on idealized data. The computations are working properly, but are very sensitive to compass input. Compass errors of more than 2 degrees make these computations pretty useless. Similar caveat applies to calculations involving true air speed. The only instruments currently supported that provide it are Borgelt B50 and Cambridge 302 digital variometer.
If you notice any bugs, please contact me, so that they can be fixed for everyone.
GPS_LOG WinCE Description
=======================
Position
Track (magnetic) and altitude MSL (or IAS or Speed to fly)
Destination “:” indicates no wind corrections.
Distance, bearing, needed altitude
If team position reporting is enabled, position can be displayed in an
alternative format. You can communicate encoded information shown in this display to your team mates.
Spaces are
just for readability.
Time
Currently used wind (true), S-straight and level (C- circling, T-turning)
Destination, “>” indicates wind corrections (":" otherwise).
Distance, needed heading change to Right, needed altitude
Track (true) and speed to fly, "I: ..." - indicated air
speed ,"T: .. " - average climb rate in thermals (recommended MacCready
setting),
"S:..." - zero MacCready horizontal air motion only speed to fly,
"G:...." - altitude AGL, "D:..." -
flown distance estimate, "fl:....." - flight level (standard pressure
altitude /100).
Map symbol note.
Indicated airspeed ("I: ..." string) displays GPS derived ground speed
corrected for altitude. In absence of wind it should be the same as the
value shown by airspeed indicator. The difference will give indication of
head wind "component".
NOTE: if meters are used to display altitudes 'g' replaces 'm' as magnetic direction indicator.
You toggle between various displays by double clicking (or clicking – configurable option) at appropriate places on the display). If compass sentences are available, you can toggle track direction into compass heading denoted with letter "h". You can also have some control over what parameters are shown.
GPS-LOG WinCE.EXE uses COM1: to connect to the GPS. It connects at the
standard 4800 baud. These parameters can be preset by setting options from
within program. It accepts
seven kinds of standard NMEA sentences RMC, GLL, GGA, VTG, and HDM, HDT and HDG (magnetic
compass heading), as well as the Garmin proprietary RMZ sentence. You can
switch between RMC, GLL-VTG, and GGA-VTG combinations for position and speed
data from within the program.
Note: If you attempt to use this program with a GPS in a "simulator" mode, you may not get anything. Some (not all) GPS units transmit NMEA sentences tagged as invalid in that mode. Invalid sentences are ignored by this program.
I developed this program with a Garmin 12XL. If you have problems with a different kind of a GPS unit please set the program to record all sentences in it's raw form. In order to save raw data check the “raw data” box on the logging options (this is the only option not remembered across sessions). This will generate (or append to) the “\My Documents\GPS_LOG WinCE\rawGPS_LOGdata##!!.txt” file all characters that come on the serial port. Send me that file and I'll try to get it working for you.
HARDWARE BUTTONS
===================
Many
of the devices for which this program is designed sport four buttons (so
called program buttons) on the front. These buttons can be mapped
onto various actions of the program facilitating user interface.
However, in some cases (e.g. selection of a landing site) you may expect the following button behaviour:
pressing Button 2 alone is equivalent to pressing a down arrow.
pressing Button 3 alone is equivalent to pressing an up arrow.
pressing (and releasing) Button 1 followed by pressing Button 2 is equivalent to pressing PageDown
pressing (and releasing) Button 1 followed by pressing Button 3 is equivalent to pressing PageUp
pressing (and releasing) Button 4 followed by pressing Button 2 is equivalent to pressing END
pressing (and releasing) Button 4 followed by pressing Button 3 is equivalent to pressing HOME
pressing (and releasing) Button 1 followed by pressing Button 4 is equivalent to pressing [ OK ]
pressing (and releasing) Button 4 followed by pressing Button 1 is equivalent to pressing [ Cancel ]
Button action can also be activated via RS232 communication port.
Hardware arrow keys can be mapped to perform functions as well. While a note window is displayed the up and down arrow keys scroll the note window.
These devices also should have an "Action Button". Usually it is combined with the arrow controls into a wheel. Pushing the wheel in results in pressing the Action Button. GPS_LOG WinCE uses the Action button to activate parameter setting window.
Hardware button functionality is not included in the Win32 PC version of the program.
GPS_LOG WinCE program displays path flown, and a blinking cursor at the current position on top of a user defined map. Cursor in shape of an arrow indicates approximate direction of travel. As current position approaches an edge of the map, the map jumps to bring the cursor to the center of the screen. You can change the threshold for the map jump by setting map margin in the options. The larger the threshold value the closer to the center of the map jumps occur. After map moves, the flight trace is refreshed from cached data. The cursor is not visible during refresh. Arrow cursor can be replaced by a user defined shape. Default arrow cursor changes every 45 degrees. Using user defined shapes one can have cursor changing more often.
On color capable (8 bits per pixel or more) units flight trace indicates lift or sink by color. You can control colors displayed by modifying the ^GPS_LG#^.TCL file included in distribution. To have a black trace set all numbers in the file to zero. If this file is missing program will use it's own default set which is different from that in the distributed file.
When the cursor is within bounds of the visible map
section, the map will rotate to keep the current track over ground pointing
up. The rotation will only happen if the rate of turn is smaller than the turn
tolerance set on the compass tab of the options, and the track changed by more
than the minimum angle set on the maps tab of the options. This automatic
rotation depends on track information being supplied by the GPS unit, or
having been recorded to file. The "Flip Map" button displays the 
icon while rotation is enabled. It can be suppressed permanently by clearing the
"Rotate to TOG" checkbox in the maps option tab ( 
icon on the button). It can also be
suppressed (North on top of the map) temporarily by clicking on the "Flip
Map" button ( 
icon on
the button). Clicking the button again will re-enable rotation. While the
"Rotate to TOG" checkbox is cleared, the "Flip Map" button
rotates the map by 180 degrees. Symbols and their legends do not rotate.
You can move the map on the screen to review its appearance or to view cached
flight track by using the arrow keys. You can also drag map image with your
stylus. If you do this during flight, the
automatic map move is suppressed until you bring the cursor back within map
margins.
Locations on the map are shown by a variety of symbols and lines with
legends. The program uses 16 predefined symbols that you can use on any
predefined map. In-flight generated waypoints are shown with symbols as
on the right side of the above picture. The default symbol used for symbols
that cannot be located is shown on the picture as #18. Symbols #16 and #17 are
user defined and contained in the program
distribution files. You can generate your own symbols as outlined below.
You can display course line on the screen. Course line is determined by destination and your location when destination was changed. You control whether program shows the course line or not on maps tab of options. Course line is not shown when a task is displayed on the screen unless a checkbox is set in task options. It is displayed as 2 pixel wide black or dark blue line. As you change your destinations there is a slight delay before course line appears. That is to allow you rapid toggling through destinations.
Support for VGA screens and screen rotation
PocketPC 2003 introduced ability to rotate display and some of the devices are equipped with VGA screens. GPS_LOG WinCE provides support for these features. As the program is designed to operate in portrait mode. It makes certain that display is rotated to that orientation when starting and rotates screen back to the original orientation at exit. User can set how much of the VGA resolution is used for drawing maps in the Display options.
Companion programs for converting ESRI shapefile and ERC/Info (E00) formatted maps to GPS_LOG WinCE maps are provided in the GPS_LOG Win32 (Windows PC) distribution package.
Except for need to satisfy IGC mandates for log files and logger data, GPS_LOG WinCE is a fully Unicode aware program. This means that you can enter names in any language and have them displayed in appropriate script. The only requirement is that you have fonts on your system that support the language. On a PC, Arial Unicode MS font covers pretty much the whole range. Its file size of over 22MB is at this point probably prohibitive for use on a PDA, but in most cases one does not need to be able to cover all languages at the same time. Here is how couple of screens may look with Japanese information.
Files that GPS_LOG WinXX creates or does not know how to classify are treated as UTF8 encoded files. Unfortunately, some older PDAs like Compaq Aero 1550 may not support UTF8 encoding. In that case such files are treated as standard ASCII files. If the program encounters a comment “;ASC” (no quotes) at the very beginning of a file, it interprets the file to be ASCII.
Some WindowsCE
devices support font linking. That is a program may be using a font (base
font), but if system does not find a character representation in it, linked font
will be searched for the character. This would apply to all programs on that device
as long as they were using the same base font. In addition one can specify
which characters should be taken from linked font even if they exist in the
base font. Distribution package of GPS_LOG WinCE (OS3 and higher) includes a
utility called FontLinker that you can use to set up such association on
your device. Base fonts are ANSI fonts, Linked fonts are all others. Program
cannot help you with the file name of a linked font unless it is already
linked to some font. You specify replaced characters using hexadecimal notation with four
"digits" each. You can specify a range as in the example on the left.
Example on the left shows standard replaced characters that would be used on
Japanese or Chinese machines. For Korean only character 005c is replaced.
Note that replacing character 005c (decimal 92, '\') is not advisable. It
would replace reverse slash used in file names and other places by Yen
currency mark.
To set up linking, fill out the appropriate data and click Link button. This
will transfer data to device registry after some (possibly insufficient)
validity checks. Font linking will not become active until you do a soft
reset of the device. This is when system reads the registry data. Font
linking worked for me on two PocketPC 2003 devices, but did not on an OS3
device I tried it on.
Clicking on the "Select Destinations" button produces a list of waypoints that you can chose the destination from. This list is stored in a selectable waypoint file (see format below). You can also select a destination by clicking on a map symbol that has altitude information. When selecting a turnpoint for a task, an additional checkbox will appear to let you designate that turnpoint to be a checkpoint. Checkpoints show up as turnpoints on maps and are treated as turnpoints for navigation, but are not declared to file, nor to a FAI certified logger (unless that logger supports checkpoints).
Field
elevation, distance, and course data followed by any existing notes are displayed
for the selected destination.
Note that field elevation may be obtained from elevation data if it was not
specified in waypoint file.
Waypoint selected in the list can be edited after clicking on the "Edit" button.
You can delete a waypoint by editing it and setting the first character of its name to ";". This method is useful primarily to delete accidentally dropped waypoints.
You can change the file containing the waypoints. The last file is remembered and used as default the next time you start the program
Program remembers up to fifteen destinations that you selected. Once you select more destinations the newly selected one replaces the oldest one. You can toggle between them by double clicking on the destination name display. On the right moves you forward, on the left moves you back.
You can access this dialog even if no GPS data were received. In that case the distance to the waypoint (175.2M in the picture) and bearing are calculated from the program default position. When accessing this dialog hardware buttons can be used as described above.
Pressing the “drop Waypoint button” selects the current position to be a destination waypoint, and adds it to the waypoint file with a name "Waypoint x" where x is a consecutive number if Save Dropped Waypoints box is selected on the logging options tab. Dropped waypoint is also marked on current map using a small square with a digit or a letter, and corresponding symbol is saved to the map file. You should edit the waypoint file at a later time to name the waypoint and provide correct altitude. You should also edit the map file. This can be accomplished while the program is running using the "Edit" button for waypoint editing, and the "Edit dropped" menu item to modify map symbols. Dropped waypoints are "stamped" with date and time as a waypoint name in a waypoint file, but not in a map file. Time and date information comes from computer, but is in UTC, not local time. If digital elevation data are available, dropped waypoint is saved with ground elevation rather than current altitude. Waypoint "stamp" contains 'GL' if digital elevation data are used.
Clicking the “Select a Landing site" button will give you only the
few closest landout sites sorted by altitude needed to reach each site (field
elevation, distance, and course data are displayed during selection). You must have acquired the
first position data point for this
key to become active, and you must have marked landout sites in the
Waypoint.dta file (or another one that you are using) with "^" as
the first character of waypoint name to
get any. You will get up to 16 sites if they are reachable, 8 if 8 or fewer
are reachable.
Needed altitude is shown in the beginning of each line (units are omitted. It is computed taking wind and polar as directed by the options in effect at the time and speed that gives longest distance flown.
When accessing this dialog hardware buttons can be used as described above.
ADDING, EDITING (DELETING) TURNPOINTS and MAP SYMBOLS
=========================================================
Use “Setup | Add …” buttons to access these
dialogs. You can also access the Add Waypoint dialog by clicking on the [New] button on Select Destination dialog. Note that you do not prepend the “\”
character to the name to generate comments, just fill in the Note box. The
same applies for the “^” landout character. For the map symbol fill in the
name with all the information required (circle information, legend, show
symbol information, arc or line information). Do not enter anything in the
Note box for arcs and lines. See the Map File Format section for additional
information.
The "New File" button on the Add Waypoint dialog allows you to change the waypoint file. It’s implementation allows you start a new file, so you will get an overwrite warning if you select an already existing file. Unfortunately WinCE devices have a rather poor file dialog that allows you to type-in a new file name, so unless this is what you want to do, use the File menu to change the waypoint file (or the “W folder” button).
The "From File" button on the Add Map Symbol dialog allows you to import a waypoint into the dialog. Waypoint name will be truncated to first six characters. You of course have to add all the necessary "adornments".
If symbol number is set to -4 (arc definition), program will fill in the name field with a template for arc definition. It will also change the "Name" label to "CCW Arc". CCW stands for counter-clock wise. The same will happen for symbol -6 (arc included in a polygon)
While symbol number is set to -2, an additional control with shows up with the polygon fill color number. When that number is set to anything else than 0 (no fill) a color sample appears.
The Add Symbol dialogue is also used to edit dropped symbols ("Edit Dropped" on "Action" menu). Setting the first character of the symbol name (legend) to semicolon (";") deletes the symbol from a map. If you do not want to change a given dropped symbol, click on "Cancel" and the next dropped symbol will be shown.
You cannot add "dropped" symbols. You can only edit them. You can change it's symbol to another "dropped" value, but be aware that edited symbol is placed at the end of a file, so you will be asked to edit it again (just click [Cancel] when the time comes).
Symbols defined with numbers greater than zero and text symbols (-5) are displayed immediately after definition (including associated circles). Other symbols added using this dialog are not. You need to set the map file from file menu to see them. Do that after you have added all symbols you need. You cannot add symbols to binary map image files.
If decimal minutes are selected in Miscellaneous options they also show up decimal when editing waypoints and dropped symbols.
For waypoints you enter altitude in feet or meters depending on current units. This entry is saved in the same units to waypoint file.
In order to associate sounds and images with waypoints enter the file information in the Notes edit window. Start a line with '#' followed by 'i' for image, or 's' for sound and follow that with file name without any preceding spaces. If the file name starts with '\' it can refer to any storage location. Otherwise it is relative to the directory containing the GPSLG!LT.WAV zone alert sound. File information has to follow a note if there is a note. So for Eagles Roost information as in the picture above the Notes window may look as follows:
Not too friendly, but landable
#i\images\EagleRoost.bmp
#sEagleRoost.wav
Trick: When adding a waypoint you can specify altitude of less than -1000. If you do that the program will ask you if you want to set the default location (location that it wakes up in). The change does not take effect till you restart the program.
If you specify waypoint altitude to be -1, program will ask you if you want to change an undefined altitude. If you answer "No", program will attempt to find correct altitude in digital elevation data and add note "DEM Alt." to the waypoint if successful. Otherwise it will return to waypoint editor.
If you want a waypoint to be displayed on a map as a symbol you should follow the name of a waypoint by coma symbol number and optionally by coma delimited minimum and maximum map scales for visibility of that symbol, e.g.:
Eagles Roost,3,10,130
Space after first coma is not required here. If you want this waypoint to be selectable on a map even if it is not landable, replace coma after symbol number with "^", e.g.:
Mnt. Rose,11^10,900 or Mnt. Rose,11^
TURNPOINT and MAP SYMBOL NOTES
=================================
Turnpoint, task and map file formats allow for notes. If there is a note attached to destination, it is displayed while selecting the destination and can be displayed on the main screen by pressing on the destination name for about a second. You need to click on the displayed note to make it disappear. Clicking on a map symbol, which has a note attached to it, makes the note appear.
While a note window is displayed the up and down arrow keys scroll the note window. This is also true for notes from alarmed zones.
ADDITIONAL TURNPOINT INFORMATION
====================================
In addition to notes, waypoints can be associated with images and sounds. Currently windows bitmap (bmp) format is supported for images. Computers with WindowsCE 3.0 can also display jpegs (jpg). If you press on destination name in navigation display for about a second, three things may happen depending on what information is attached to a waypoint. A note box with a note may appear, a window showing an associated image may appear and an associated sound may be played. Both the note and image windows can be cleared by clicking on them. Associated sound is played also if the destination changes to one with an associated sound. See details of waypoint file format or section on adding and editing waypoints for details on how to associate sounds and images with a waypoint.
DESTINATION DISPLAY
====================
Program remembers up to 15 destinations that you selected. Once you select more destinations the newly selected one replaces the oldest one. You can toggle between them by double clicking on the destination name display. On the right moves you forward, on the left moves you back. The maximum number of destinations (up to 15) that can be saved to the queue is controlled by an option in the miscellaneous tab. If you press and hold on the name of a destination for about a second, a note will be displayed if it is associated with the waypoint in turnpoint file.
While a task is active, selecting a new destination does not replace destinations that are part of a task. If a destination needs to be replaced, oldest destination that does not belong to task is replaced (it could be the landing destination of a task). If the task occupies all available locations the "oldest" task destination is replaced. This is usually the start of a task.
Selecting the "Show to Finish" option in "Altitude modes" forces the destination displayed to be the finish site of a task. You cannot associate notes with task points.
Double clicking "To:" changes it to "To>" and vice versa. The ">" means that you are requesting wind corrections for needed altitude and heading. The required heading is either given as absolute magnetic bearing, or if you request wind correction, and valid wind was calculated, heading is displayed as required left and right corrections indicated by letters "L" or "R".
If you are within an auto-detect circle set up in Altitude modes "At" will be displayed instead of "To". If the destination is a task point with an observation zone, the observation zone is used to determine whether to display "At" or "To".
SOUND and VISUAL INDICATORS
=============================
In order to enable sound indicators for entering and leaving observation zones associated with a task you have to set Auto-detect in Altitude modes dialog. When a task observation zone is entered a sound defined by a GPSLG!AT.WAV file is played and when a zone is exited GPSLG!TO.WAV file defined sound is played. The exception to that rule is that when displaying needed altitude to task finish only the "At" sound is played for the last turnpoint before finish. If one sound starts playing and does not finish before the next one is required, the second one is skipped. Map file format supports restricted airspace definitions. Upon entering a restricted zone an alert sound defined by GPSLG!LT.WAV file is played and an [Alarm] indicator button shows up on screen.
The [Alarm] indicator button stays on the screen till you leave the restricted zone that triggered it. Clicking it makes it go away for a very short time it then reappears recalling the associated restricted zone note. Holding the [Alarm] button down for about two seconds makes it go away till next time you enter the zone or until the next time you re-read the map depending on setting in SUA alarm options.
You have an option to turn on speed commander which plays GPSLG!SL.WAV sound file when you are flying faster than computed speed to fly and the GPSLG!FS.WAV file if the program thinks you are flying too slow. Computed speed to fly is based on the averaged sink rate, polar, and MacCready setting. Sounds are not played while you are circling and are played more often if the speed error is larger.
You also have an option to have the program warn you to extend your landing gear. Program uses the GPSLG!GW.WAV sound file. It plays it three times in intervals as you descend through AGL altitude defined in Miscellaneous2 options. Set the threshold altitude negative to disable the warning.
Sound files should be located in "\My Documents\GPS_LOG WinCE" or "\My Documents" folders. You can use any sounds you wish as long as the wave files are named appropriately. Make certain that your computer has sounds enabled for programs, and that system volume is set to adequate level.
If you see asterixes "*" in the displayed time or position data it means that the data is outdated (either GPS unit sent you data with time not updated, or it has been a "long" time since it sent any position data at all). At the same time as "*" appears, a "No GPS" annunciator appears in top left corner of the map window. You can click it off, or it will disappear next time GPS data comes on the communication port (but see also NMEA interface options).
COMPUTED SPEEDS and their DISPLAY
=================================
You can toggle between display of current altitude, estimated indicated airspeed (ground speed corrected for altitude) [ I: ], recommended speed to fly for 0 Mac Cready setting in zero vertical speed airmass corrected for wind [S>], and recommended speed to fly [F>] by (double) clicking on their image. Speed to fly is based on currently selected polar, the average vertical speed and Mac Cready setting and is corrected for wind. Indicated airspeed is obtained directly from Borgelt B50 if available. If Cambridge 302 is available, indicated airspeed is derived from provided true air speed by correcting for altitude. If wind data are not available you will see "F:" or "S:"
TIME LOGGING and DISPLAY
========================
The time logged to file is the same as the one displayed on the screen. In the standard logging format, it is logged in decimal format for ease of use with spreadsheet programs where one might want to plot data versus time. For the same reason the logged time does not start over from zero as one passes midnight but keeps on going with added multiples of 24 hours.
Clicking on the elapsed time toggles between time elapsed from the time the program started to a stopwatch time (starting from 0). If you want to do a hard reset of the stopwatch to zero then use the "Reset Clock" entry on the "Setup" menu.
Above Ground Level (AGL) ALTITUDE DISPLAY
======================================
GPS_LOG WinCE can display altitude above ground at a given position provided that you supply appropriate data. The data take form of two files: a header file with extension of "hdr" and data file with extension of "bin". These files conform to format of GLOBE project http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/topo/globeget.shtml and can be obtained at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/seg/ff/nph-newform.pl/seg/topo/customdatacd You should get data in the freeND format for a PC. In addition a more accurate set of data is available from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission ( http://srtm.usgs.gov ) at http://edcsgs9.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/srtm/SRTM30 You need the DEM and HDR archives. These downloadable files are large and with fixed boundaries. They have extensions of *.dem or *.hgt. You should use the DEMtoMAP.exe utility that comes with the PC version of this program to create files of appropriate geographic content and size. You choose the appropriate set using the "AGL file..." entry from the file menu of the program.
Data from above sources are based on about 1km grid. They are not going to prevent you from crashing into a mountain slope if you trust their accuracy in a mountainous region, or around small hills. Use them with CAUTION!!!
The AGL altitude information is used to generate alarms for restricted airspaces.
If you try to open an AGL file, select a *.hdr file and get an
error message saying "Cannot open AGL data file": Open the hdr file with
text editor. Check first line. It should read "file_title = filename"
Program looks for filename.bin data file. If you got your data from NOOA
without specifying file name, you probably have "My Selection" as filename,
but you named your bin file otherwise.
COMPETITION TASK LOGGING
===========================
Clicking
on "Competition" in setup menu starts a sequence of events that
prepare for task recording as per IGC regulations for competitions and badges.
You start by defining a task. You need at least four
points: takeoff, start, finish and landing sites(in that order). Turnpoints go
between start and finish. Use the [Save As] function in task definition for
easy recall of task for future declaration. The [Declare
Competition Task] will not show up. It is not necessary as declaration is made as part of the
competition setup process. After you are done, the header definition dialog
comes up. Additional headers can be defined by choosing the right one in the
header selector (window with "GPS").
Choosing the "SEC" header brings up two windows to enter two copies of official observer security phrase. This is encoded into the file for verification purposes. Security phrase has to be at least 8 characters long (or none), and cannot end in spaces nor tabs (they are quietly stripped). You can only use ASCII like characters in these windows. If you try using other Unicode characters, you may not be able to verify passphrase later. If you cannot generate ASCII letters use digits 0-9.
Most (but not all entries) such as pilot name, competition class... can be entered to and selected from lists that are remembered. In order to enter an item into list, type it into appropriate box and click {Enter] on the keyboard. Program will ask you to confirm addition. To delete an entry from a list, select it and click [Ctrl] followed by [back space] on keyboard. Program again will ask or confirmation. If there are entries that are not on lists when you click OK, program will ask you if you want to add them to lists.
When written to IGC file, information you enter may be modified. FAI IGC specification demands that only "printable" ASCII characters can be included, and some characters (like coma) are reserved. GPS_LOG attempts to map characters like äüö... to auo... and replaces reserved characters by spaces. If GPS_LOG does not know what to map to, it substitutes "?" for the character.
After you are done with this, you need to select a file for logging. IGC format is enforced and you should not change the suggested name. Since on some older machines suggested file name does not show up in a file dialog, an "L" (logbook) record is added to log file indicating preferred file name. You may want to change file name later if appropriate. This record is not subject to security measures. If you are declaring the task to a FAI logger (such as EW, or Volkslogger) you can cancel the file selection dialog and still proceed. In this case any file logging of NMEA data will be terminated. You can turn it on later from file menu.
Once everything is ready, the program displays a wait dialog, that allows you to either start logging, or change the task. Again use the [Save As] function in task definition for easy recall of task for future declaration. [Declare Competition Task] does not show up since declaration is made as part of the competition setup process. The last declared (created) task counts. Once logging starts, you can still generate a new task or recall one of previously saved and declare it.
While logging, program generates security information that is saved in G record to file when you exit the program or change log file. Use the attached VALIGPSL.EXE (Windows PC program) to verify recorded file if needed.
Note: This program generates a "serial number" required by IGC by inspecting the owner information on the device. This serial number is not guaranteed to be unique. The security measures employed are not extremely strong, and I make no representation that any of this meets IGC, SSA or any other body's requirements. They should be however fully adequate for reasonable people.
In addition to header records, GPS_LOG WinCE can generate event records (E records) in an IGC file. Events are mapped onto RS232 port status lines, which can be hooked up to monitoring switches. Typical applications would be "Engine up/down" or "Engine on/off", "Pilot event", "Start", "Finish" events.
DISPLAYING TASK INFORMATION
==============================
While flying a task GPS_LOG WinCE can provide relevant distance, speed and time information for task and current task leg. To display task information click through coordinates and time display till you see something like the picture below.
Line starting with "T:" shows distance flown on task so far and speed
achieved from start. Time shown on the right is estimated time from current time
to finish in hours and minutes.
In order to see leg relevant information, click through
variometer,
wind and track information till you see a line starting with "L:" This shows
distance from last turnpoint , speed achieved on current task leg and estimated
time to complete this task leg. This
will also cause task information to be displayed.
Clicking
on estimated remaining task flight time shows you abbreviated task distance that
would be credited if you skipped the rest of turnpoints and reached finish.
Clicking
on abbreviated task distance shows you estimated arrival time in local
time and 24 hr format. This depends on your PDA being set to proper time.
Clicking estimated time of arrival brings you back to display of remaining task
time.
Clicking on the achieved task speed toggles it to displaying predicted task
distance and vice versa. This may be of importance for Turn Area Tasks.
Once one enters a turnpoint observation zone, the predicted task distance will
reflect task distance assuming one immediately starts flying towards next
turnpoint.
Task distances shown in these displays are computed based not on declared turnpoint, but first points after start and finish, and points on the track within turnpoint observation zones that maximise task distance. Time to finish is estimated based on current MacCready setting and wind information. It assumes that one flies at MacCready recommended speed to fly through airmass with no vertical motion throughout the flight to finish.
While one is flying within a turnpoint observation zone estimated time remaining on task is computed assuming that one is already heading for next turnpoint. This is significant in cases when one is flying through a large turn area. Upon entering such an area one will usually see a precipitous drop in the estimated needed time. As long as one is flying towards the turnpoint of a zone one is flying through, one should expect the leg distance to remain zero as the point that maximises task distance is moving. Distance flown on task reflects the distance flown towards (and away from) that turnpoint. Another thing to remember about leg distance is that it is measured from last turnpoint that is not a checkpoint. Thus it is quite likely that after passing a checkpoint one sees decrease in leg and task distances flown.
If you happen to miss passing through observation zone of a task checkpoint, computation of estimated time will give false results until you pass through observation zone of a turnpoint that is not a checkpoint.
EVENTS and RS232 port driven
buttons
==============================
Warning
: This feature depends on hardware implementation by manufacturer of
handheld device. It may not work completely as described on all units. For the
specific case of Compaq Aero 1550 see at the end of this section.
RS232 port has 4 status lines that can be used as inputs to the handheld device. These are "Clear to send", "Data set ready", "Ring indicator", and "Receive line carrier detect". The other two status lines "Request to send" and "Data terminal ready" are outputs that are set high by the program. You can use the output lines as voltage sources and wire the four input lines through switches. Changes on the input lines can be translated according to map established in the Settings | Events tab.
Selecting the "BtnX" mapping results in Hardware button X action when corresponding line goes high.
Selecting any of the events results in a corresponding event "E record" being recorded to IGC log file when the line goes high. For EON (EUP) event a corresponding EOF (EDN) events are recorded when the line goes low. Events are recorded only after GPS acquires signal and program receives its data.
If event map is changed after GPS acquires signal, a PEV event is recorded to IGC file. This event contains information on previous and new mapping.
Selecting the "Invert" checkbox results in switching the "goes low" and "goes high" meaning for all lines.
On a female 9-pin RS232 modem connector, above signals are usually
assigned to following pins:
inputs : CTS - 7, DSR - 4, RING - 9, RLSD - 1
outputs: DTR - 6, RTS - 8
ground - 5.
Compaq Aero 1550: In this case the RING and RLSD signals do not generate events, furthermore RLSD is set high by the unit and should not be pulled down. Generating DSR signal results in the RING event being triggered as well. Thus RING and RLSD events should be set to "None".
This display shows instantaneous vertical speed, averaged vertical speed and Mac Cready setting to be used for speed to fly. When vertical speed is derived from GPS data, total energy compensation is not applied and is not very reliable. The averaging time is set in the options, and should be set long to make the average useful. Speed to fly computations use the average. Mac Cready value is in the same units as vertical speed. If no external source (e.g. B50 vario) for it's value is available, you can set it using the up-down control next to it. You can also set it from Mac Cready display of needed altitude. Otherwise the up-down control is replaced by letter 'B'.
Display of vertical motion may be different if Cambridge 300 series or Westerboer VW921 instrument is present.
If automatic setting of Mac Cready value is allowed, it is followed by an 'a'. (double) Clicking the Mac Cready value toggles between manual and automatic setting. Automatic setting is derived from previous thermals (see Thermalling tab of options). Only thermals with three or more circles are considered. You can also see the (average climb rate in thermals) recommended MacCready value next to the track information with "T:" in front of it.
When circling it is possible to display average climb rate in a thermal by setting an option in the "Thermals" tab. The vario display assumes form of:
Vz: 3.2 [2.4] kts
in the example above [2.4] is the average climb in the thermal and 3.2 is the average climb rate previously displayed as <3.2>. In most cases the average climb rate will be close to the climb rate averaged over the last circle.
The program can determine winds in a variety of ways. See the description of winds tab of options for the appropriate settings.
In 'Track-Manual' mode double clicking on display of wind while the program is in thermalling mode results in wind data being substituted by data derived from variation of ground speed as you go around the circle. This is probably he most accurate way to determine wind using this program. The main sources of error in that case are your ability to keep the indicated speed constant and rotation of the thermal.
In 'Track-Auto' mode, wind is determined automatically while you circle. You do not need to double click the display. However you should set a number of initial circles in the thermalling tab of options to something reasonable, so that your air speed has time to stabilize.
In 'Compass' mode wind is determined from the compass and GPS NMEA sentences. Determination is done from 'straight and level' flight. Two consecutive data sets are need at two distinct headings. Click on Reset in the “Winds” dialog. to reset computations.
In 'Air Speed' mode wind is determined from true air speed and GPS NMEA sentences. Three consecutive data sets are need at three distinct headings. Click on Reset in the “Winds” dialog. to reset computations. This mode switches Track-Auto mode while circling. It is supported for instruments that output TAS such as Borgelt B50 or IAS such as LX-160. In case of instruments that provide IAS ,but not TAS, IAS is corrected for altitude to obtain TAS. This correction is not perfect and may introduce errors in wind computation.
In 'All three' mode wind is determined from GPS, compass and true air speed NMEA sentences.
In 'Instrument' mode wind is determined by an external
unit like Cambridge 302 digital variometer.
You can also set wind in the “Winds” dialog. In order to set a desired
value, enter speed and direction. Winds set in that manner do not get
added to the list.
he list box displays past history of determined winds.
Newest on top. Clicking on any of the entries in the list box fills in the
edit boxes with information.
Currently
used wind is displayed as one of the display options. By (double) clicking on
displayed wind values you can change currently used wind to other values that
were stored. Clicking on the left gets you newer values, on the right earlier
values. The selection does not wrap, so if you reach the end values do not
change. This is useful if for some reason you think the latest value is
erroneous.
Wind direction
is also displayed as an arrow icon on the left of the map under other buttons.
This is only available on the PC and OS 3.0 and higher Windows CE versions.
Arrow shows wind flow direction relative to map orientation. Note that the
wind direction value in the numerical field above is the usual FROM value,
while the arrow depicting flow points into the TO direction.
Arrow is shown on a colored field which is green for wind speeds less than
8knots (15km/h), red for speeds greater than 19 knots (35km/h) and yellow in
between. For grey scale displays equivalent colors are grey, black and
white.
At startup the program suggests a name of the data logging file. This does not seem to work for the WindowsCE 2 version. The suggested name is of the form YYMMDD-X.GPS (year month day - consecutive number) for native format data. The name suggested for IGC formatted data adheres to IGC specifications.
If log interval is set to zero in Logging options, program will not ask for log file name at startup and a log file will not be created. If you change log interval from zero to another value while logging is not in progress you will be asked for a log file name.
You can choose standard or IGC format in the “Logging” tab of the options. This controls only the default extension and suggested file name. Selecting extension in open file dialog overrides the default, but does not change the suggested name till next time.
The standard data logging format is a simple comma delimited one. It is designed for ease of use with popular spreadsheet programs for data analysis, sorting ... The minimal set of data saved is time, location and altitude. By checking the "Log All Types" checkbox on the logging options tab you can also log speed, track over ground (magnetic and true), compass heading and true air speed if available. Altitude logged in this format is the GPS reported one, not the pressure altitude.
Different formats should not be mixed in the same file when appending data. Otherwise unpredictable results may occur when retrieving data.
When logging data in IGC format program adds information headers about pilot, glider, standard GPS fix accuracy, GPS and pressure data sources. This information needs to be supplied once, and if it changes, by going through the competition setup process. Standard GPS fix accuracy defaults to 10 m. This value is used to report fix accuracy in B records by taking into account horizontal dilution of GPS signal. Satellite configuration is reported in F records.
Logging frequency is controlled in the logging options, however all positions are logged while proximity to a turnpoint is detected, or position is within observation zone of a task turnpoint ("At" indication in destination display).
Engine Noise Level LOGGING:
=======================
GPS_LOG WinCE is capable of using computer microphone to record noise level in IGC log file. At this point this is an experimental function and is not enabled by default. In order to enable it you have to create a file in "My Documents" folder on your computer. This file has to be named "ENLset.txt" and is a simple one line ASCII (not Unicode) text file. A default file is distributed in installer packages, but it is not installed. You can create it easily using Notepad or other text editor on your PC. It has to contain two or three numbers separated by a coma, e.g.: 100, 1, 2 There should be no space between first number and the coma. First number represents the bandwidth of low pass sound filter (100 corresponds to 10ms relaxation time), the second number should be 0 or 1 and it controls how fast the filter rolls off (1 gives steeper filter). These values are recorded to IGC file, though bandwidth is represented by relaxation time in units of 100 microseconds. The third number determines if program attempts to re-start sound recording if it gets hanged up. If it is missing or less than one, no re-start is allowed. If it is greater than zero then it is the number of re-starts program will attempt.
In order for recording to work properly you should disable automatic gain control of your microphone if there is one. Look for it in Settings | System | Audio or a similar place on your computer.
Known issues with noise level logging:
DATA REPLAY FROM FILE
=======================
The program is capable of replaying flights from data
stored in IGC formatted and GPS_LOG formatted data files. Click on
"Replay File..." in the file menu and select a file to replay. An
arrow button 
will appear in the gray region to the left of the map, and the
menu item will change to "Stop Replay File...". While you press on
the arrow button and hold it down, the file will be read, and data interpreted
as if coming from the NMEA source. Release the button in order to pause
replay. All other buttons and functions should work as if in flight except
that the data are not logged. Before logging new data, you should exit and
restart the program.
Trick: If you press the arrow button and then move the stylus off it and release, flight replay will continue. Click the button again to stop it. This way you can have continuous replay without having to keep the button pressed.
When replaying IGC formatted files the speed and track data are computed and no filtering is done in the computations. Thus if the position and time data are noisy, all speed/track dependent computations will be noisy as well. Magnetic variation is taken from the variation set in the options and the "use GPS variation" setting is disregarded.
It is IGC requirement that GPS altitude values in a file are above WGS84 ellipsoid rather than MSL. If you want the program to display MSL values, you have to enter MSL correction in the NMEA dialog.
In order to have a task appear on your map use the “Setup | Make Task”
button on the menu. A list of turnpoints appears in which you can insert
(below the selected one) or delete turnpoints. You insert turnpoints by
selecting them from a list of turnpoints derived from your waypoints.map file.
Once you define your task, it will be displayed on your map drawn with a
dashed line (course line). The task is saved to file, so you can reuse it the
next time you run the program. It will not however appear, until you define it
as above. Clicking on the [Cancel] button reverts to the original task and
cancels task display on a map. Numbers to the left of the turnpoint name
represent the task leg distance starting at that turnpoint in whatever units
you chose in the units tab of options. The last
(bottom) number is the total length of the task. Task distances are computed
based on WGS84 geoid for earth shape. All other distance calculations are
based on spherical earth model. The difference is not worth computing time.
Task and leg distances will change if you do an edit assigned area task goal points
on a saved task. These distances are computed from goal point to goal point
and do not take start nor finish cylinders into account. If some task
turnpoints are defined as checkpoints the "All" checkbox becomes active.
Toggling its state causes distances to be shown including or excluding the
checkpoints.
Checking the "has landing" or "has takeoff" boxes informs the program that the first waypoint in the list is a takeoff point and the last the landing point. These are required for competition task declarations. Takeoff to start and finish to landing site segments are not shown in task displayed on a map.
You can save task shown on the display to a temporary (while the program is running) task list. Give it a unique name, e.g. "Task A". A new name is suggested each time a task is saved. You can recall previously saved tasks using the arrows in the name edit window. The tasks list thus created can be saved to file and then recalled when you run the program again. task list files are compatible with "Flight Display" and "Flight Analysis" programs and can be used by both interchangeably. They should have extension of TSK. File format details are given below.
Last task list saved or recalled is re-loaded at program startup if possible. This causes the following behaviour: As you open the Make Task dialog, last used task is loaded as default. The "Save As" window shows the "next available name" to save the task to list. If you click on the task selection arrows the default task is lost unless you cancel the dialog. Since the default task more than likely came from the task list you loaded this should not cause a problem. If you know it did not, or want to make certain you do not lose it, click the Save As button to save it. This will save the task in memory, but will not be transferred to file unless you explicitly save tasks to file.
If you edit assigned area task goal points on a task that was selected from the list, these changes are saved so you can go back, select the task and retrieve them. Any edit of turnpoints or takeoff/landing information breaks the connection to selected task and task displayed is treated as being new. You can edit observation zones without breaking the connection. If you do so, it is your responsibility that the edited goal points still fall within new observation zones. If a current task came from the saved list, program shows it as default when you go to make task again.
If a task is read with elevation of a turnpoint missing, program attempts to look it up in its digital elevation data and uses looked up value as turnpoint elevation.
The [Declare Competition Task] button appears only if a valid log file with IGC format logging was established beforehand, you entered this dialog form competition setup, or a FAI certified logger dll is on your system (see this page for module availability). Clicking on it will record the displayed task in a competition declaration format to file. The purpose is to be able to easily declare a task defined during competition setup in case of task change after logging had started. Declaring Competition Task enforces the has takeoff and landing properties.
When you accept the task, it is transferred to destination queue. Takeoff site is not transferred. Neither is the landing site if it has the same name as the finish turnpoint. Names of destinations that come from a task are prefixed with "x," where x can be S-start, F-finish, or the ordinal number of a turnpoint in a task. It is assumed that the destination queue can hold the whole task. After task is transferred, current destination is set to the start turnpoint. Transferring task to destination queue enables auto detection of observation zones including audible indications of entering and leaving them. In order for this auto-detection to be active "Auto detect" checkbox has to be selected in Needed Altitude Modes dialogue. If this checkbox is selected prior to transferring task to destination queue, auto-detection is temporarily suspended and a "Start" button appears on the screen. auto-detection is resumed once the button is pressed. This enables one to come in and out of the task start zone without advancing in the destination queue.
You can move turnpoints to change their order in the task definition dialog by dragging. On PDAs you have to start moving the stylus fairly quickly after touching the screen, otherwise system thinks you are selecting an entry for some other purpose and does not send out appropriate messages (the same is true for most other programs). One thing you need to be aware of when dragging turnpoints, is that you drag their observation zones as well, so you have to pay attention to task observation zones dialog that shows up after you click OK.
When accessing this dialog hardware buttons can be used as described above except for the following:
pressing (and releasing) Button 4 followed by pressing Button 2 is equivalent to pressing [Delete].
pressing (and releasing) Button 4 followed by pressing Button 3 is equivalent to pressing [Insert].
Setting up TASK OBSERVATION ZONES
=================================
GPS_LOG WinCE
draws observation zones after defining a task.You will see this dialog is if you click on
[OK], [Save As] or [Declare
Competition Task] in the Task Display. If have a FAI logger dll on your
device you will see the FAI logger checkbox when task is being declared.
When you define the width of line start or finish gate you have to enter half of the full width in the radius window.
You can define sectors as start and finish gates. These gates will have 90 degree sector angles.
Start gate can be defined as an inverted cylinder ("=>Cylinder" entry). In this case start is defined by entering the cylinder rather than leaving it. Destination display will show "At" no matter how far one is from the start as long as one is outside the cylinder. In this case "At" and "To" have intuitively (but not logically) reversed meaning. Typically such start gates will have large radius and be centered around the first turnpoint. Inverted cylinder gates are treated as turn areas in terms that the task is redrawn to the start point after one enters the cylinder.
Directions for line and sector gates are the same as required flight direction. Directions for turnpoint sectors are those of sector bisector coming from turnpoint into the sector. Directions are recalculated to FAI standard values if you set the All Alike checkbox. If checkpoints are present in the task, directions for turnpoints are computed skipping checkpoints, these for checkpoints are computed based on neighboring turnpoints (checkpoint or not). Whether computation of start and finish directions is to a checkpoint is controlled by a checkbox in task options.
If the "All Alike" box is unchecked, you can define different observation zones for each turnpoint. This box is checked as default if the program discovers any problems with turnpoint zone definitions. If the task was recalled from saved data, this checkbox will probably be cleared. It is a good idea to double check all the values.
If "All Alike" is unchecked and turnpoint has a sector with no cylinder, you can define a sector with a minimum radius by checking the "Min. S. R." checkbox. (this will show an edit box to its right) This is primarily for assigned area tasks, and if you specify minimum radius you will have to make AAT edit of the turnpoint in order to bring it within defined observation zone.
When "All Alike" is unchecked additional checkbox with "TA" label appears. Checking this box declares the turnpoint observation zone to be a turn area, and this is reflected in task declaration made to an IGC file. Declared turn areas can have a cylinder, or sector, but not both. Also, once one leaves an observation zone marked as turn area, program draws task to the point that maximizes distance instead of to the goal point. In addition turn area turnpoints can be re-entered. If you leave a turn area program will direct you to the next turnpoint. However if you return to turn area before reaching next turnpoint that is not a checkpoint, program will roll back the changes and treat the flight as if you just entered the observation zone, except that it remembers previous point that maximized distance.
If selected turnpoint is a checkpoint a "Checkpoint" indicator appears to its left.
Gates with lines are treated as semicircles, to auto detect passing through a gate you need to enter semicircle and exit through the line.
If you check the FAI Logger checkbox, the program will attempt to
transfer the task to your logger..
Setting LIMITS on FLIGHT DURING TASK
==================================
When
you set up a task the task limitations dialogue will appear after you click
on OK in observation zones definition. This will allow you to limit allowed
altitude before start and on task as well as to set maximum altitude allowed
when crossing start gate and maximum speed that is allowed while doing that.
You need to check the appropriate checkboxes to apply these limits. Altitude
margins cause in-flight warnings to appear before you hit the limit
altitude. All altitude are MSL and pressure altitude is used if available.
Otherwise GPS altitude is used. See setting of altimeter (if needed) in
alarmed zones options.
In flight program warns you with an alarm sound used for alarmed zones and pops up the note window. If you cancel the notes window by clicking on it, it will not come back unless you go below the warning altitude and come back up. The note will vanish if you go below the margin adjusted limit altitude. The "Before Start" and "On Task" warnings just state that you are flying too high.
If you cross the start too high or too fast the warning note will be shown as "Bad Start" and the second line will show you the violation in form of "+100ft +10kts" if you violated just one parameter, only one value will show. You need to cancel this note by clicking on it. As far as the program is concerned you started the task as GPS_LOG does not enforce these limits. If you come back and do a re-start, the note may appear again if the repeat start is bad, but program's task will reset itself just as if everything were OK. The "Before Start" limit is not watched for once you cross the start the first time.
The value you enter as maximum start altitude is saved in task information (even if "START" is left unchecked) and can be used later on for purposes of flight evaluation. However GPS_LOG does not enforce it, thus it ignores a start that happens as you thermal through the top of a cylinder start gate.
FAI triangle checkbox appears only if task satisfies the free distance FAI triangle flight. If checked, task will be created with turn area zones that satisfy FAI rules.
EDITING ASSIGNED AREA TASK
============================
Picture below shows a sequence of screens one sees when editing a turnpoint in an AA task.
Starting screen on the left shows flight in progress to task start (7M Ranch). In order to edit the Ukiah turnpoint one toggles destination to Ukiah and swipes the name left to right as shown by red arrow. Swipe has to start in the first 1/3 of screen width and end in the last 1/3. One can also program a hardware key to enter AAT edit instead of swiping screen.
Program zooms to the selected observation zone and sets the destination to the current task turnpoint. By clicking on the map screen, one moves the turnpoint (observation zone does not move). Turnpoint can be moved only within an observation zone. Map can be moved by dragging, enlarged and shrunk just as in normal operation. Screen area above the navigation information shows modified total task distance (subtracting cylinder radii of start and finish), estimated time remaning on modified task (total estimated time if editing before actual start), current MacCready setting and turnpoint elevation. Mac Cready setting can be modified with the up down buttons. Mac Cready value shown during AAT edit is not remembered and is used only for planning purposes. Turnpoint elevation can be edited with keyboard that will show up if its edit window gets focus. The value in this window is also updated from digital elevation data if a valid AGL file is present. Hitting [Enter] on the keyboard will hide the keyboard. Once you are satisfied with the edit click the [Done] button to return to normal operation.
Clicking the estimated remaining task time toggles it to displaying estimated total task time and vice versa. Estimated total task time is denoted by 'T' following the time, e.g. "2h17T".
Clicking the Mac Cready value will show expected speed (in current units) for the remainder of the task and vice versa. This allows you to set turnpoint goal based on expected speed as opposed to expected Mac Cready value.
You cannot edit start nor finish turnpoints. Program checks that new points falls within selected observation zone. If current task came from a list of tasks maintained by the program, AAT edits are reflected in the list. You can recall the task again with edits preserved.
While AAT edit is active, hardware arrow keys control the MacCready value.
INSERTING TURNPOINTS IN A TASK (POST)
====================================
Swiping name of a destination that is not part of a task in a manner similar to that for Assigned Area Task edit, but in the opposite direction, allows one to add that destination to current task after confirmation (message box). Destination is added as last turnpoint (not finish) of a task with a cylinder observation zone. Radius of the observation zone is controlled in task options. If the "Insert as Finish" checkbox is checked in task options, turnpoint is inserted as finish. If finish previously had a line gate, it is replaced by the default cylinder.
MAXIMUM DISTANCE DISTANCE FOR ASSIGNED AREA
TASK
=====================================================
If a task contains turn areas (TA box checked in observation zone definition) program computes points that maximize task distance. These points are shown on a map as 1km radius hatched circles as in the picture on the left (here these points are circled with blue lines for clarity). As one leaves a turn area zone, these points are re-computed for following zones based on the maximum distance point achieved in the zone being exited.
SUPPORT FOR FAI TRIANGLE FLIGHTS
================================
If you define a task that satisfies FAI triangle rules, the
Task Limits dialog shows a checkbox "FAI triangle".
This checkbox is unmarked by default. If it is checked, program creates FAI
regulation zones. They are created one at a time as the flight progresses. FAI
zone is used together with an "original" observation zone to create Turn Area
observation zone. Once you leave that observation zone and your distance to the
next turnpoint is less than twice the distance to the point maximizing distance
in the existing observation zone, program creates a new zone around next
turnpoint based on acumulated information about the flight.
Picture shows zone about first turnpoint for a case of a task that allows distance of 750km. FAI zones are drawn to a shape calculated accurately on a plane. Approximating earth sphericity and projection leads to drawing errors on the order of 1km in the shapes I've seen. Rule checking in flight is accurate.
If you create a real triangle task (4 points), program adds another turnpoint
with small cylinder observation zone at the finish location. This is necessary
for turn area operation of the combined zone.
As the above implies, finish gate can underly previous turnpoint FAI zone.
Using computation of needed altitude around the last turnpoint should
be disabled when FAI zones are present, It does
not make a lot of sense to use it in any case.
One cannot add waypoints to task with FAI zones in flight.
GPS_LOG
offers an option for members of a team to share their position information
that is easy to transmit and is not readily understood by others that do not
know the basis for position encoding. There are three user interface
elements of this feature: display of your
position in encoded form, set of options
for enabling team information and selecting the encoding, and a dialog
where you can enter someone else's location and turn it into a destination.
Clicking the "??" button on the display of your position opens up a dialog
shown in the picture on the left.
You can enter position information either using keyboard or buttons on this dialog. the "<" button is a backspace key and erases the last entered character.
Clicking the "?" button displays distance and magnetic bearing to the encoded location. If elevation of that location can be found in the AGL data, it is also displayed.
Clicking the "GO TO" button (or Enter on keyboard) turns the location
into destination waypoint and puts it in the
destination queue.
EDITING SOME PARAMETERS
===========================
You can edit some parameters without going through menus. To access that
capability you have to swipe the upper half of the navigation display showing
time/position and track/wind... The swipe has to be at least half of the width
of this display and can be in either direction. After swiping you
will
see an edit window as shown here. You can also bring this window up by pressing
the hardware Action button.
You can change the (WGT) weight factor (current wing loading/ wing loading of the polar file), (BGS) bugs induced degradation of polar performance in percent, (L/D) default glide ratio to be used if polar is not used, (MC) manual MacCready value, and (Wnd) wind. Use the up down spin button to change the values, click the value name to toggle between parameters and click OK to exit the edit. Editing parameters this way does not change the default value that is set in options. However, if you open options, currently selected value will be entered in appropriate fields and may be set as default for the future.
In case of editing wind, the wind value is shown in current units and the
angle in true degrees. You change the angle by clicking areas above and below it
as marked on the picture. Wind set this way is remembered only till the next
time it is set automatically by instrument, or manually while thermalling.
When you edit MacCready value, you can also set which value is currently active: manual (M) or automatic (A) by clicking the letter shown. This is not available if automatic MacCready is not allowed in thermalling options.
When the parameter editing window is visible it takes over the operation of
buttons and arrow keys. Up/Down arrows have function of the spin button,
Left/Right arrows and keys 2 and 3 change the secondary parameter like wind
direction or MacCready value type. Pressing key 4 followed by pressing key 1
results in changing the parameter to be set, while pressing key 1 followed
by pressing key 4 is equivalent to pressing OK. Arrow keys will output a
continuous stream of signals, for various system related reasons button keys
should not be held down for too long, are debounced for 1/4 second, and need
to be "pecked" for multiple changes. Pressing "Action Button"
while the parameter edit window is visible is equivalent to clicking "OK".
Zooming in on TASK TURNPOINTS
============================
When approaching a turnpoint program switches scale of the display so that you can see the details of your flight. Map scale is chosen so that the turnpoint "fills" the screen. If a turnpoint is larger than what would fit on display given current scale of a map, program does not zoom out. when you leave the turnpoint, or switch destination, map scale reverts to the original one.
THERMALLING (zoomed) MODE
==========================
Zoomed mode is really designed for thermalling. It allows you to temporarily zoom the map display to some predetermined resolution (options parameter) and then come back to the previous map display. The “magnifying glass” button toggles between the zoomed and unzoomed states. When you toggle the map state you automatically re-center the map. The zoomed map span is remembered while the program is running, but is not saved to file.
Map rotation is suppressed while in zoomed mode. North is on top of the map. Data display automatically switches to the Vario display. Dots marking the track are slightly bigger for better visibility.
While in the zoomed mode it is assumed that you are circling, and after the first circle the program starts looking for maximum and minimum speed in each circle. It interprets the difference as due to the wind. As you keep circling it averages the value of wind velocity derived from the minimum and maximum speed in each circle and displays it instead of the TOG: on the screen (see below). Double clicking on displayed values result in saving the value for future computations involving wind. To reset the wind averaging double click on ”DRFT” in zoomed mode. The wind speed and direction thus derived, is sensitive to the averaging filters of your GPS unit. It is also sensitive to your ability of keeping the indicated speed constant while thermalling.
In zoomed mode, map centering may seem a bit confusing at times.
The program attempts to center on the center of last circle rather
than on the current position. However, if the center was not yet
established or the map needs to be re-centered more than once in a circle, the
program temporarily gives up and centers on the current position.
NEEDED ALTITUDE ESTIMATES
============================
Needed altitudes to reach a destination are computed in two different
modes. While one is cruising, needed altitude is computed based on current
speed and wind. While you are thermalling it is computed assuming
that you fly at a speed that maximizes flown distance.
Alternatively, if a final glide Mac Cready display is selected, 
needed altitude is computed based on speed to fly
determined in last thermal which is related to the Mc value. The algorithm for
determining the speed and Mac Cready values is as follows: As long as you are
below the altitude necessary to reach destination at best speed MC value is
zero, and speed is the best speed. Once you are above that altitude, maximum
speed is computed for you to reach the destination, and equivalent MC value is
determined from that speed. Two computations are done, one with wind
correction and one without. When you toggle wind correction, the appropriate
values come up. If you are interested in reaching your destination in minimum
time, you should climb as long as your climb rate is higher than the MC value
shown. This display can be turned on automatically while thermalling by a
setting in the second tab of miscellaneous
options.
If you are using digital elavation (AGL) information to compute needed altitudes, they are also used to compute values in the Mac Cready display. For a single segment final glide values are computed as if there were no obstacles and the resulting flight path is compared to the terrain. If there is an obstacle, values are recomputed to the obstacle. Then during final glide program checks whether you are closer to the destination than the obstacle and recomputes the Mac Cready display values if you are. Thus you may start your final glide at a small MC value setting, and see it switch to a higher one during final glide. Calculation for a final glide via last turnpoint is more complicated, but basically the same applies.
You toggle between the normal and MacCready display by (double) clicking in the center of the destination display. When Mac Cready display is selected, you can transfer the "recommended" Mac Cready setting to the one used in other computations by (double) clicking it and confirming the transfer (this will not work if a supported vario instrument is present). Mac Cready display is active only when you are using polars information for computations. Mc and speed for this display are updated when you are thermalling (after one circle), if you manually enter wind, destination changes, and when the status of "Include last Turnpoint" (see below) changes. When last turnpoint is included in computation, the suggested speed to fly on the first leg shown in Mac Cready display does not strictly guarantee minimum time to finish, but should be a close approximation (exact value can be computed, but it involves time that computer can better spend doing something else).
Other needed altitude features are controlled through the needed altitude modes dialog accessible through "Setup" menu.
"Use
MacCready" checkbox controls whether or not Mac Cready setting is used to
determine needed altitude while thermalling.
"Use AGL" controls whether digital elevation data is used in order to determine needed altitude. For more information see below. Program requires half of the set pattern altitude clear an obstacle.
Checking the "Show difference" box results in difference between current GPS reported altitude (not pressure altitude) and altitude needed to reach destination to be displayed in "GOTO" button and waypoint selection dialog when looking for landouts. Needed altitude needs to be displayed as difference in the navigation window as well for this setting to be implemented.
"Show to Finish" box controls whether needed altitude is computed to a general destination, or to a finish point on task. You have to have a task set up before you can check this box. Once this feature is active you cannot click through destinations. You can cancel this mode, by selecting another destination either from a map, or by asking for landouts or destinations, or by un-checking the box on this dialog. This feature is also activated if you send task to destination queue. This setting can be toggled using a hardware key by configuring one of them to mean "Toggle Show Finish" on the key options tab.
"Show to Next turnpoint" is similar to "Show to Finish", but Next turnpoint is used instead of finish. See more details on navigating to next turnpoint below. You have to have passed task start for this functionality to be enabled.
"Include last turnpoint" allows you to compute altitude needed to go to last turnpoint and then to the finish. in this mode a "+" sign is preppended to the displayed destination name. This option can be toggled by clicking on the name of the finish site shown as destination on the display. If you select "Show to Next turnpoint", label on this box changes to "Include current Turnpoint". See more details on this below.
If you check "Auto-detect", "Include last Turnpoint" setting will be cancelled once you come within distance entered in the "Radius" box to the last turnpoint. If you choose Auto-detect, but not "Show to finish", the program will automatically switch the destination to the next one in the queue once you LEAVE the circle of the selected radius around current destination. The destination display will display "At" instead of "To" when you are within the circle. If a destination is a task point with an observation zone, the observation zone is used to determine whether to display "At" or "To". Checking auto-detect also enables sound indicators for tasks. Auto-detect is temporarily disabled once a task is transferred to destination queue. It is re-enabled when the "Start" button that appears at that time is clicked.
When "Auto zoom" and "Auto-detect" checkboxes are selected, program will zoom map display automatically as you approach a waypoint even if it is not a task turnpoint. This occurs at a distance equal to sum of the auto-detect radius and about 1/2 mile.
When using glider polar to predict needed altitude GPS_LOG WinCE subtracts altitude that can be gained by slowing down to best L/D speed of the glider. How much of this correction is made depends on the value in the Total Energy factor box. 0-none, 1-full correction.
Constant speed box controls whether
Once you select a polar curve on the “Polars” tab of options you can use it for needed altitude computation. You can also choose to use default glide ratio in calculations. You can also change this default in the same tab of the options. Data are fit to the equation:
v_sink = a + b* speed + c * speed^2
and the glide ratio is derived from this. There is no guarantee that your glider's polar obeys above equations, though it ought to be reasonable approximations. For safety's sake I suggest you build some reasonable air sink speed into the polar data. Otherwise you will probably be getting overly optimistic estimates for altitude.
Double clicking on "To:" or "To>"
toggles wind corrections for the calculation of estimate of the altitude
needed to reach destination. You know when the correction is active because
the destination data start with "To>" instead of "To:"
and because the heading will be displayed (if wind is valid) as (e.g.) "34L" (meaning
turn 34 degrees left) rather than "168m" meaning magnetic bearing of
168 degrees.
THIS DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT VERTICAL AIR MOTION. If you are not asking for the wind correction then calculation is done based on the glide ratio calculated from glider polar at the GPS indicated speed. The reported altitude is a sum of destination elevation, pattern altitude and the distance/glide ratio. If you ask for wind correction, glide ratio is computed based on the estimated airspeed (unless a suitable instrument is present) which is derived from GPS provided ground velocity vector and wind velocity vector. Furthermore, actual path required to travel is computed based on the estimated air speed, wind and bearing to the waypoint. "NO GO" is displayed if required altitude is greater than 100000 feet (100kF). Altitude estimate is displayed only for waypoints with known elevation. For speeds less than 5 knots needed altitude defaults to "NO GO". This is done to avoid possible division by zero in the program. The 5 knots limit is arbitrary and was chosen because it is well below any realistic stall speed. You can select a different speed by appropriately editing your polar data file (see format below), but you cannot set it below 5 kts. This limitation is not imposed if you use a default, speed independent glide ratio.
NAVIGATION TO NEXT TURNPOINT ON
TASK
=======================================
Once
one passes start, one can ask program to navigate to "Next turnpoint". In
general one will navigate to it via current (this) turnpoint, but this is
optional and can be toggled by clicking on the name of "Next turnpoint"
shown in the navigation part of the screen. When current turnpoint is
included a "+" is shown next to "next turnpoint' name and program calculates
needed altitude to the next turnpoint based on flight path around "this
turnpoint". Also, if current turnpoint is included, flight direction shown
by the program is to "this turnpoint". When one enters observation zone of
"this turnpoint" while it is included in computations, a sound is played,
navigation to next turnpoint is automatically turned off, and program
automatically navigates to "next turnpoint" (but see below for Turn Area
turnpoints). This change in navigation is normally done when one exits
observation zone rather than enters it. "This turnpoint" is advanced
automatically whenever one enters observation zone of turnpoint one is
navigating to.
When you ask for navigation to "Next turnpoint" program determines which turnpoint it is, based on the last turnpoint which you rounded properly. If you miss a turnpoint you will not get what you may expect until you reach a turnpoint to which the program is navigating to. If you miss the intermediate turnpoint while navigating to "Next turnpoint" in general you would have cancelled navigation to next turnpoint, or at least cancelled navigation through intermediate turnpoint long before you reach the "Next turnpoint".
While navigating to next turnpoint via intermediate turnpoint, the GoTo line is drawn to "this turnpoint", also auto zoom to turnpoint observation zone turns off immediately after one enters observation zone, so it may appear as if it did not happen.
Since one navigates to "next turnpoint" immediately after entering "this turnpoint" observation zone, this functionality would be of questionable utility if zone around "this turnpoint" is a turn area. They are usually very large. If the intermediate turnpoint observation zone is a turn area, navigation to "next point" is cancelled only after one leaves that area. "This turnpoint" is advanced at the same time.
TAKING TERRAIN INTO ACCOUNT IN
NEEDED ALTITUDE COMPUTATIONS
================================================================
If you are using digital elevation data file for deriving AGL information you can also use it to take terrain shape into account when computing needed altitudes. By clicking in the center of the lowest line of the destination display as you toggle between standard and Mac Cready displays you can toggle to the "Ground Clearance" display. You have to have "Use AGL" checkbox selected in the Altitude modes dialog. The display looks as follows:
In order to understand better the information contained in the last line
take a look at the following diagram:
In the display above the "G:" line reads: collision with ground expected in 5.8 miles. Height of the highest obstacle with respect to flight path is 300 feet and its distance is 17.7 miles. Accuracy of the distance is determined by data spatial grid, and the height is an estimate as it assumes projected flight path. When you are thermalling the flight path is calculated based on currently set Mac Cready value or Mac Cready value of 0 depending on the setting of the "Use MacCready" checkbox in "Altitude modes" dialog. In straight flight it is calculated based on current speed (or last speed determined while thermalling if you have "Constant Speed" checked). If you are expected to clear the obstacles, collision distance value is not displayed and clearance height value becomes positive.
When "Use AGL" checkbox is selected, terrain data are also used to determine needed altitudes when selecting a landout or clicking on a map symbol. You can see the difference this makes in a mountainous terrain by looking at the following composite picture:
You can see the glider position at the beginning of a flight in a mountainous region. On the right you see two windows from landout selection one with terrain information turned off one with it on. You notice that the airport selection is radically different. Notice also that in the bottoms elector Stead airport is missing even though Eagles Roost and Spanish Springs are listed. There is a sizeable hill in the path between the glider and Stead that shadows the airport. In spite of that Stead is reachable easier than either one of the other two by slight deviation from the straight path. Just because you have and use terrain data does not mean that the results are perfect and that you are absolved from thinking. Program requires half of the set pattern altitude to clear an obstacle.
If your glider position, or destination position fall outside of elevation map coverage, program reports needed altitude as if you were not taking terrain into consideration. NO WARNING is given. It is pilot's responsibility to use appropriate files for any given flight. You can check coverage for your position by looking at the AGL height value. It will show "G: ??" if you are outside data coverage (or your altitude is unknown).
Terrain data are also used for computing suggested Mac Cready value. For more details see description above.
TERRAIN ELEVATION PROFILES
============================
If you set the program to use digital elevation map data in Needed Altitudes
Modes dialog, you can also get visual information on terrain.
You
call up the terrain profile screen by swiping the destination display more or
less vertically (preferably down) as shown in the picture to the left, or by
clicking around the G letter if it is showing. You can also
program a hardware key to show terrain profile.
Following pictures show what you can expect to see:
First
one shows elevation profile display in straight flight in this case program
displays ground section along extension of ground track. Distance shown is 50 km
or distance to destination plus 2km, whichever is longer. A thin vertical line
marks distance to destination (but not necessarily location as your track may
not be pointing at it. bottom of the graph is at minimum elevation of ground
profile not at zero elevation. markers along the top are every 10 km or 5
statute or nautical miles depending on your choice of distance units. The
vertical marker to the left starting from the top of the picture represents 1000
ft, or 300m depending on your choice of altitude units. “> 89R” is the
course correction to destination just as in standard destination display. The slanting lines represent your expected
glide path. The thin line represents path at best L/D speed for zero MacCready
setting, the thick one corresponds to your current speed.
Second one
shows what you see while thermalling. Name of the destination is on the left,
destination itself is on the very right. The thick sloping line represents the
glide path calculated based on zero, or current MacCready setting depending on
what you chose in Needed Altitude Modes dialog for needed altitude calculations.
The thin line is calculated always at zero MacCready setting.
Clicking
on the right one third of the terrain profile picture toggles its vertical size
if possible. This way you can see terrain profile simoultaneously with flight
status data.
Things get a bit more complicated if you choose "Show to Finish" and "Include
last Turnpoint":
In that case
the vertical line in the straight flight forward looking picture
represents distance to last turnpoint, not to finish.
When you are
thermalling both segments are shown on display, destination shown on the left is
the last turnpoint, and the ground profile shown, is along expected flight path
(current position, turnpoint, finish) Flight path shows two separate segments
calculated separately (as for reporting needed altitude). Note that the glide
slopes are different due to wind correction.
Regardless of whether you are thermalling or not, program puts a marker on a map if a ground impact is expected on the line joining your position and destination. This is shown in the picture on the right. Note the red-white-black shape between glider position cursor and the end of the Goto line. Healdsburg airport is not on this map. Ground impact marker was removed from the left picture for clarity.
REACHABLE TERRAIN OUTLINE
============================
If digital elevation data (AGL data) are available and used by setting a checkbox in Needed Altitudes Modes dialog program will display an outline of terrain that can be covered in Final glide. Outline is computed at a number of points and represents a line where you can expect to be at pattern altitude after starting at current location flying at best speed for the wind (if wind correction is used) in still air at a given MacCready setting. Display of the outline is enabled by setting the "Show accessible region" checkbox in reachable outline options. Number of points and MacCready setting used for computations are set in reachable outline options. Number of points can be set in the range of 48 to 200. Use the minimum number of points that gives you acceptable results, otherwise computations are not going to be updated very often unless you have high performance machine.
Reachable terrain outline is computed roughly once every half minute in normal operation and once every few seconds during flight replay. Color of the outline varies depending on underlying background. It is dark green on white field.
GPS_LOG supports overlays on maps. There are two kinds of overlays. "Permanent" consisting of polygons defined with symbol 27 or -27 that are permanently coded in a map, and a "variable" overlay that is defined by selecting an overlay file from file menu. Overlay objects are drawn on top of topography and alarm objects layers and before any other shapes. Variable overlay file cannot contain any alarm objects and all shapes contained in it are put in overlay file and drawn in order of appearance. Overlay can be shown or hidden (not displayed) in response to action menu command and toggling can be assigned to a hardware button. Action menu overlay command is disabled if there are no overlay shapes. Typical use for an overlay would be weather information, or some detailed map information that might take long time to draw or decrease readability of map, but useful for occasional reference.
==============================
At this point the internet server supporting this functionality is still under development. If you are interested in trying it, please contact me at soaringpilot@soaringpilotsoftware.com for more details.
When flying with GPS_LOG WinCE on a device with internet connection (e.g.
through GPRS Web Access Phone) one can establish connection and report position to an
internet server. Ones position and task information may then be made available
in real time to other internet users. To enable this functionality you need to
install an additional module GPS_LOGinternetDLL.dll. When installed, a "Web
Server" entry appears on the setup menu.
Clicking it
shows a dialog used to establish connection to the server. Top combo box allows
you to select your dial-up connection. When the "Connect using" checkbox is
unchecked, currently available Internet connection is used if present. Timeout
entry how long GPS_LOG WinCE waits for response from a server, and the Port
parameter controls the internet port on which communication is done. In response
to data from the program, server may issue messages or warnings in response.
Messages appear as message boxes that vanish after a time defined in the
"Message timeout" entry. Setting this entry to zero disables messages, but not
warnings. Warnings have to be cleared by the user.
Prior to using this program feature you should go through competition headers setup and fill out pilot name, glider registration number, class .... The glider registration number is particularly important as it is the primary unique identifier. This information is sent to the server when communication is established.
GPS_LOG WinCE collects GPS data every 12 seconds to be sent to a server and
sends them every two minutes (this may change at some point). It also sends the
server task information when a task is defined or added to. Right now it does not
report canceling of
If the internet connection is lost, the program attempts to reconnect (re-dial)
automatically. You may get warning messages if data are getting lost due to lack
of internet connection for several minutes. Transmissions end when program is terminated.
You can also terminate transmissions by clicking Web Server menu entry again and
confirming the disconnect.
EXPORTING MAP IMAGE TO FLIGHT DISPLAY
=======================================
Using the Export Map .. entry on File menu you can export map image to a Windows bitmap and generate a calibration file that later can be used in the Flight Display program. This option is available only for the PC version of the program. Its availability is further limited by your computer memory size and may be grayed out if map objects are not stored in memory.
Size
the map window and move and scale the map until you get the map extent you
want exported showing in the window. You may need to adjust the "Map
Scale" factor in the Maps options temporarily to get exactly what you
want. Click the menu entry, select bitmap file and fill out the properties
dialog. Checking the "256 colors" limits the bitmap size by
restricting the color space. Bitmaps can take up a lot of memory and disk
space. Currently no checks are made on memory nor disk constraints. Image
enlargement factor controls how much bigger the bitmap drawing area is
compared to the window on the display. File size grows as square of that
factor.
Neither flight trace, nor a task are exported to the bitmap file.
A calibration file (*.flt) is generated with the same file name as the bitmap - only the extensions differ. This file contains information needed for Flight Display program.
GPS_LOG WinCE accepts pressure altitude information from Zander SR940 and other instruments that use the same format. Pressure altitude reported by these instruments is used for computations and is logged to file.
If LX-160 vario is available in the system, GPS_LOG WinCE uses data it provides for pressure altitude, air speed, rate of climb and Mac Cready setting, bugs setting and optionally ballast information for computing polars. LX 160 bugs setting overrides the one set in options. Additional parameter display is also available which shows polar efficiency (100%-bugs) and ballast setting . Toggle to it as to other displays. It is assumed that only one instrument is in the system.
Other LX Navigation instruments that provide similar data will behave in the same way. Wind information provided by these instruments can be used only if direction and magnitude are output.
BORGELT B50 INSTRUMENT support
===============================
If Borgelt B50 super vario is available in the system, GPS_LOG WinCE uses data it provides for air speed (true and indicated), rate of climb and Mac Cready setting, bugs setting and optionally ballast information for computing polars. B50 bugs setting overrides the one set in options. Additional parameter display is also available which shows polar efficiency (100%-bugs), ballast setting and outside air temperature. Toggle to it as to other displays. It is assumed that only one instrument is in the system.
ILEC SN10 INSTRUMENT support
============================
GPS_LOG WinCE uses data it provides for pressure altitude, rate of climb and wind. When using this instrument it is important that the altimeter setting is done properly in the Alarm Zones options. This instrument reports altitude corrected for altimeter setting, but reports that setting only when changed. Until program detects instrument altimeter setting it is using its own setting to recover standard pressure altitude.
The SN10 outputs wind data together with a confidence factor. GPS_LOG WinCE will accept wind data if the confidence factor is greater than 70%.
CAMBRIDGE 302 INSTRUMENT support
=================================
When Cambridge 302 digital variometer is detected in the system variometer display shows "relative vario" value in place of instantaneous climb rate. This is demarcated by value being surrounded by "] ... [". Averager time constant is determined by 302 not computed. 302 bug setting is ignored and ballast setting is displayed as in the case of Borgelt B50. Pressure altitude output by 302 is logged and used for IAS computation. This unit also outputs wind data. They can be used by setting wind determination method to "Instrument". It is assumed that only one instrument is in the system.
CAMBRIDGE GPS_NAV LOGGER support
==================================
You can connect handheld running GPS_LOG WinCE to GPS_NAV data port. When starting, GPS_LOG WinCE will initialize the data port to transmit NMEA data. It will also perform this initialization on serial port reset. In order for this to work you have to have GPSlgFAI.dll in the \Windows folder that is designed for GPS_NAV. This works only with program version 1.1.7.2 or higher.
GPSlgFAI.dll module will pause program when necessary so that you can switch cables between GPS_NAV data port and the GPS source you are using when doing task declaration to GPS_NAV.
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