User manual

XCSoar User Manual
of the software is described in detail in Chapter 11. The formats of
the various data files that program uses, as well as where to obtain
them from and how to edit them, is described in Chapter 12.
Finally, a short history and discussion of XCSoar’s development
process is presented in Chapter 13.
1.2 Notes
Terminology
A variety of terms may be used to describe Pocket PC devices, in-
cluding ‘organiser’ and Portable Digital Assistant (PDA). XCSoar
is available on triadis Engineering’s Altair glide computer, which
is formally an Electronic Flight Instrumentation System. Through-
out this document, these terms are used interchangeably to refer to
whatever hardware XCSoar is running on.
Screen shots
Throughout this manual are several screen-shots of XCSoar. These
are taken from the program running on a variety of hardware plat-
forms. Each platform may have different screen resolutions, lay-
outs and fonts, and so there may be slight differences in the ap-
pearance of the display. Most of the screen-shots in this manual
are of XCSoar running in landscape orientation.
1.3 System requirements
PC or laptop : Running Microsoft ActiveSync, to enable installation to a
Pocket PC device. The PC is used for XCSoar installation
on Pocket PC devices, and is used for the PC version of XC-
Soar. Refer to the XCSoar website for installation instruc-
tions when using Linux or MacOS operating systems.
Pocket PC : Microsoft Windows CE Version 3.0 or later (PocketPC), MIPS
and ARM processors. Refer to the XCSoar website for a list
of devices verified to work correctly. Devices with Sym-
bian, Palm OS or Linux operating systems are not currently
supported.
GPS data source : NMEA-0183 data source that outputs GPRMC and GPGGA
sentences. Suitable devices include handheld serial GPS
devices, glider flight loggers, bluetooth GPS devices, GPS-
integrated variometers, and FLARM. Many flight simulators
can output NMEA data and so can be used with XCSoar.
Some Pocket PC devices now have an internal GPS. Up to
10