User`s guide

Cambridge Aero Explorer User’s Guide
?? Check enough disk space is available for the installation. 4MB is required for the
basic installation, however if many maps are also selected for installation, this could
increase significantly.
?? Close all other programs. This includes programs started automatically when the
computer is turned on. They can be identified by a small icon immediately to the left
of the system clock in the lower right portion of the screen. You can typically close
these by right clicking on them and selecting “Close” or “Exit”.
?? Make sure any virus checking software is turned off.
Can’t connect to recorder
Sometimes some systems have trouble communicating with the Cambridge recorder.
Should you have this problem, follow these steps:
1. Close all other programs that might use the serial port. This especially includes
programs that synchronize data between a pocket/PDA computer and your PC.
ActiveSync and HotSync are two such programs that must be closed if connection
problems occur.
2. Make sure your recorder has power and is turned on.
3. Make sure your com ports are enabled. Some laptops have both an infrared port and
a serial port, only one of which can be used at a time. Make sure the serial port is
enabled.
4. Try different COM ports. To change the COM port in the Cambridge Aero Explorer,
choose Options from the Tools menu, then select the General tab. Select COM port
1 from the dropdown list, the press the “Test Com Port” button. Try different COM
port numbers until you find one that works. Make sure the recorder is turned on and
plugged into the serial port when you try this.
5. Check with the Windows documentation to see how to get information on available
COM ports on your system. Make sure one is available.
File Formats
IGC – File Format
The format for the IGC flight log files can be found at the FAI website at:
http://www.fai.org
As of this writing the IGC file document can be accessed directly at:
http://www.fai.org/gliding/gnss/tech_spec_gnss.html
Map File Formats
Files for the display of maps in the Cambridge Aero Explorer program are stored in Windows bitmap
(.bmp) format. Each map file contains the image for one degree of latitude and one degree of longitude.
The file name should reflect the southwest map corner coordinates of the map. Map files for many popular
soaring sites are available on the CD-ROM or can be downloaded from the Internet.
To scan your own map files, you will need a color flatbed scanner and a graphics-editing program such as
“Paint Shop Pro”. To create your own map files, follow these steps:
1. Using a flatbed scanner, scan your map one degree of latitude and one degree of longitude at a
time. A US sectional map will usually fit on most flatbed scanners. If your map is to large to scan
1 degree at once, you can do it in pieces and stitch them together your graphics program.
2. Once you have the scan for a 1 degree of latitude/longitude, then using the graphics program, crop
that image to be exactly 1 degree of latitude and one degree of longitude. This may take some
careful editing to get it scaled and cropped correctly.
3. Save the image the size of 1024 X 1024 pixels and 256 colors. It does not matter if the resulting
image is not square.