XC-Tracer XC Tracer Mini II GPS User manual

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
Quick Start Guide
XC Tracer Mini II GPS, based on the proven and reliable XC Tracer II, is a highly accurate variometer
powered by a solar cell. XC Tracer Mini II GPS is using data multiple sensors (9 DOF IMU, pressure
sensor, GPS to compute the real time climb rate and altitude, avoiding the undesired time lag that
conventional variometers suffer from due to data filtering. The GPS also provides real time flight
speed and direction. All the relevant data is then sent in a custom data string to an iOS or Android
tablet or phone via Bluetooth Low Energy. Of course the variometer still indicates the lift / sink rate
with beeping tones!
Use the velcro to attach XC Tracer Mini II GPS to the shoulder strap of your harness, or to your
cockpit, or onto your thigh. (NB. Do not attach it to your helmet or hang it round your neck using a
cord!) Position the device in such a way that the solar cell catches as much sunlight as possible
during the flight.
Switch on XC Tracer by pressing and holding the red button until you hear beep-beep. The GPS will
then search for a fix. The vario will make some beeping sounds once the GPS has a fix, and the
white LED will start blinking every 2-3 seconds. Don’t worry if you forget to switch on XC Tracer
before taking off, you can switch it on whilst flying.
The vario won’t beep on the ground, but as soon as you’re flying XC Tracer Mini II GPS will indicate
the lift / sink rate with beeping tones. XC Tracer Mini II GPS has four volume settings: mute, gentle,
medium and loud. You can change the volume setting with a short push of the red button, always
cycling from mute –gentle - medium –loud –mute –gentle etc.
Once you’ve landed, turn off XC Tracer Mini II GPS by pressing and holding the red button until you
hear beep-beep (after approximately 3 seconds). XC Tracer Mini II GPS will then switch off and the
LED will stop blinking.

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
Introduction
XC Tracer Mini II GPS, based on theproven and reliable XC Tracer II, is a flight instrument for
paraglider pilots. Many pilots use XC Tracer II for competitions and for long XC flights. The lag-free
indication of lift / sink makes it much easier to find and core thermals than when using a
conventional variometer. You can also use XC Tracer Mini II GPS as an IGC logger –the files are
accepted by the FAI for competitions.
XC Tracer Mini II GPS has a built-in solar cell that delivers 3x more energy than is needed for
running the device (when oriented perpendicular to the sun). The surplus energy is stored in a
lithium polymer battery. The variometer will run for more than 20 hours with a fully charged battery
without any sun, depending on the sound level. The built-in battery can be charged over the Micro
USB connector should this ever be necessary.
The device as a built-in Bluetooth Low Energy BLE 4.2 module –the BLE strings that your phone,
tablet or e-reader needs are configured in the XC Tracer configuration file. A list of compatible iOS
and Android apps and their corresponding BLE string seetings can be found on www.xctracer.com.
But you can not only use BLE, it is also possible to connect to another device using an USB cable.
Of course XC Tracer Mini II GPS also indicates the climb / sink rate with beeping tones and the
good thing is that you can modify the tone settings using the tone simulator on www.xctracer.com.
Mounting
XC Tracer Mini II GPS uses data from a 9-DOF IMU (9 Degrees Of Freedom Inertial Measurement
Unit), and from a pressure sensor, to compute the real-time climb rate and altitude, avoiding the
undesired time lag that conventional variometers suffer (due to data filtering). For this reason
mount your XC Tracer Mini II GPS in such a way that it moves as little as possible whilst you’re flying.
Important: make sure the XC Tracer Mini II GPS isn’t dangling from a cord or attached to your
helmet. The best approach is to attach XC Tracer Mini II GPS to your cockpit, or on the shoulder
strap of your harness, or on your thigh.
But when attaching XC Tracer Mini II GPS, please remember that it needs to have the best possible
view of the sun in order to maximize solar charging.
Switch On/Switch Off
Turn XC Tracer Mini II GPS on by pressing and holding the red button until you hear beep-beep. Next
the battery charge status is indicated by a series of beeps (this feature is described further below).
It will then take a further 5-60 seconds for the GPS to get a fix. XC Tracer Mini II GPS will then make
beep-beep-beeeeep and it’s now ready for flight.
Turning XC Tracer Mini II GPS off is just the same –press and hold the red button until you hear
beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini II GPS will write the log file to the SD card and switch off.

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
Battery Indicator
After switching the device on the battery charge status is indicated with a sequence of short beeps:
5x Beep means that the battery is charged 95% or more.
4x Beep means that the battery is charged 75% or more.
3x Beep means that the battery is charged 55% or more.
2x Beep means that the battery is charged 35% or more.
1x Beep means that the battery is charged 15% or more.
When the battery is less than 15% charged you will hear a constant beep for one second after
switching the device on.
After indicating the battery charge the GPS now searches for a fix. A beep-beep-beeeeeep indicates
that the device is now ready for flight.
Energy Management
Normally the solar cell delivers enough energy to power XC Tracer Mini II GPS and charge the
battery at the same time when flying. But on occasion the device might slowly discharge during a
flight if it’s been in your shadow for long periods, or if the sun is low, or if the sky is overcast etc.
Perhaps the next flight might be different, with enough sunshine to power the device and charge the
battery; however it’s always a good idea to switch off the device immediately after landing.
Should it ever be necessary you can charge XC Tracer Mini II GPS using a Micro USB cable. It takes
approximately 3 hours to fully charge the battery so it's best to leave it charging overnight.
Important: The battery does slowly get discharged even when the vario is switched off. Fully
recharge the vario before the winter break, and recharge the battery again once when the new
flying season starts.
Automatic Switch-Off
Automatic switch off is disabled during the first 60 minutes after switching XC Tracer Mini II GPS
on, however after that it will turn itself off if it hasn't detected lift or sink for 1 minute –ie. after
you’ve landed. In addition, low-voltage detection will switch the device off if the battery voltage drops
below 3.3V.
Adjusting The Volume
XC Tracer Mini II GPS has 4 volume settings: Mute, gentle, medium and loud. You can change the
volume setting with a short push of the red button, always from mute –gentle - medium –loud –
mute –gentle etc.

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
XC Tracer Mini II GPS Configuration File
Connect XC Tracer Mini II GPS to a computer using a Micro USB Cable and once connected, switch
the device on by briefly pressing the red button until you hear a beep-beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini II
GPS is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Mini II GPS’s internal
Micro SD Card will appear as an external drive in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. You will find
a PDF copy of the user manual on the SD card, and also the XC_TRACER_II.TXT configuration file.
Editing this file in Notepad (Windows) or Text Editor (Mac) allows you to adjust XC Tracer Mini II
GPS’s settings. The various options are described below:
# XC Tracer Mini II GPS Configuration File
serialNumber=6042CE915601
Serial number of XC Tracer Mini II GPS, is used for the IGC logger.
firmwareVersion=XC_Tracer_Mini_II GPS_R01
Indicates the device’s firmware version.
reset=no
Setting reset=yes resets XC Tracer Mini II GPS to the factory default settings. Reset=no is the
default setting. After a reset reset=no will automatically be set in the config file.
# supported protocols are None, XCTRACER, LK8EX1, LXWP0 or LXWPW
Select the BLE protocol her. NB. Only one protocol can be selected at once. Please check at
www.xctracer.com which protocol to choose for your app. LXWPW is like LXWPO, but with the
information of the calculated wind.
stringToSend=LXWP0
In this case the LXWPO protocol will be will be used.
# supported connections are BLE, USB, BOTH or NONE
sendDataOver=BLE
Her you can choose if data will be sent, and you can also choose the interface over wich the data
will be sent. NONE will not transfer any data, with BOTH XC Tracer will send data over BLE and USB.
# power on USB connector can be ON or OFF
powerUSB=OFF
powerUSB=OFF is the factory setting. If you want to connect a Kobo without an external battery you
have to set powerUSB=ON. XC Tracer Mini II GPS will then internally produce 5V that are
necessary to switch on the USB part of the Kobo. Pleaes be aware that setting powerUSB=ON
leads to a higher power consumption, and it may be possible that the internal battery of XC Tracer
Mini II GPS is going to discharge slowly during a flight.
# logger configuration
The logger records IGC and KML files in parallel. IGC is recorded with 1Hz, KML is recorded with
5Hz. You can configure the logger as follows:

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
logOnlyWhenFlying=yes
When logOnlyWhenFlying=yes is set then a log file will be recorded once the GPS has recorded a
speed greater than 4m/s. The logging will get stopped when you have landed. When you make a
toplanding the log file will be stopped, and a new log file will get created when you take off again.
When logOnlyWhenFlying=no is set then a log file will be recorded as soon as you switch on XC
Tracer, and the logging will only be stopped when you switch off the device.
pilotName=Koni Schafroth
Enter your name here. Please don’t use accidentally use any tabs as they will invalidate the IGC file.
Spaces are fine.
passengerName=
You can enter the name of a tandem passenger here if you like.
gliderType=Gin Explorer
Enter your glider make and model here.
gliderId=14049
Enter the immatriculation number (if you have one) of your glider here.
# create your own vario tone settings below
beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes
When this is set XC Tracer Mini II GPS will be silent before takeoff. This is very helpful when you
have configured some kind of a thermal sniffer. With beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes the variometer will
be silent until XC Tracer Mini II GPS detects a horizontal velocity of 4m/s or more during 1-2
seconds. With beepOnlyWhenFlying=no the variometer will beep not only in flight, but also when you
walk or move.
setVolume=2
There are four volume settings, 0-3. With this option you set the volume that the vario will use for
beeping. When beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes is set then the vario will be silent until you fly. Once you’re
flying the vario will beep with the volume that you have set. Remember though, that you can change
the volume during flight with a short press of the red button.
dampingFactor=0.00
Here you can set a damping factor fron 0 up to max 10. As soon as you set a damping factor then
the vario will react slower to changes in altitude.
ClimbToneOnThreshold=0.2
With this setting the vario will begin to beep when the climb rate is higher than 0.2m/s. When you
want to use a thermal sniffer then you can set ClimbToneOnThreshold=-0.5 for example. In this
case the vario will begin to beep when the sink rate is less than -0.5m/s. In this way you can adjust
the beeping tone so that you know when you’re flying in lifting air, despite the fact that you’re
actually sinking gently. This can be helpful to find and core thermals in weak conditions.
ClimbToneOffThreshold=0.1

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
With this setting the vario will stop beeping when the climb rate is below 0.1m/s. You can also use
negative values here, for example -0.51m/s when you use a thermal sniffer.
SinkToneOnThreshold=-3.0
The sink tone will be activated when the sink rate is below -3m/s.
SinkToneOffThreshold=-3.0
The sink tone will be deactivated when the sink rate is less than -3m/s.
tone=-10.00,200,100,100
tone=-3.00,280,100,100
tone=-0.51,300,500,100
tone=-0.50,200,800,5
tone=0.09,400,600,10
tone=0.10,400,600,50
tone=1.16,550,552,52
tone=2.67,763,483,55
tone=4.24,985,412,58
tone=6.00,1234,332,62
tone=8.00,1517,241,66
tone=10.00,1800,150,70
You must define exactly 12 tones. Additional tones will be deleted from the configuration file, and
missing tones will be complemented with values stored in the Eeprom. The tones must be defined
ascending from tone 1 of -10m/s to tone 10m/s of tone 12.
Important: Please avoid using exactly the same climb rate on adjacent tones as it will create issues.
tone=1.16,579,527,50 means that with a climb rate of 1.16m/s the vario will beep with a
frequency of 579Hz, that the complete tone interval will last 527ms, and that the tone will be
audible for 50% of the tone interval. This is a typical tone that is used when indicating climbing.
tone=-3.00,280,100,100 means that with a sink rate of -3.0m/s a tone of 280Hz will be emitted.
As soon as the sink rate changes the tone frequency also changes, depending on the configuration.
This creates a nice sink tone (not that a sink tone is ever nice!)
You can create your own tone settings using the tone simulator on www.xctracer.com and then
copy and paste them to the configuration file, or you can simply copy and paste other people's tone
settings to the configuration file.
XC Tracer Mini II GPS doesn't actually save the new configuration into its internal memory until it
starts up in normal flight mode. So, press the red button briefly to unmount / eject the device from
your computer, disconnect it from the USB cable, then turn XC Tracer on as normal.

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
XC Tracer Mini II GPS Firmware Update
Connect XC Tracer Mini II GPS to a computer using a Micro USB Cable and once connected, switch
the device on by briefly pressing the red button until you hear a beep-beep-beep. XC Tracer Mini II
GPS is now running in USB-MSD (Mass Storage Device) mode. XC Tracer Mini II GPS’s internal
Micro SD Card will appear as an external drive in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Download
the newest firmware for XC Tracer Mini II GPS from www.xctracer.com and copy the new firmware
using drag and drop to the SD card. Now press the red button briefly and the new firmware will
start to be installed. During installation XC Tracer Mini II GPS will make a few beeps, then delete the
firmware file from the SD card and finally switch off. The new firmware is now installed and the
device is now ready to use.
Important: The information about the firmware version will only be updated once the device has
been started up in normal flight mode.
It’s impossible to install incorrect firmware on the XC Tracer Mini II GPS –all that happens is that
the incompatible firmware will get deleted from the SD card.
Troubleshooting
In the rare event that XC Tracer Mini II GPS doesn’t respond when you push the red button, you can
perform a hard-reset by pressing and holding the red button for approximately 1 minute. The
battery will then get disconnected from the electronics. After that you can restart XC Tracer Mini II
GPS in flight mode, and the device will be functional again.
Warranty
XC Tracer grants a 24 month warranty for material and workmanship. Unsuitable or improper use
(for example strong impact, water landing, opened enclosure, software modification, ripped off USB
connector etc.) and normal wear and tear (battery, scratched solar cell, scratched enclosure etc)
are excluded from the warranty.

User Manual XC Tracer Mini II GPS Rev 02 21.10.2018
Technical Data
Time-lag free indication of climb / sink rate
Data transmission to cell phone / tablet / e-reader using BLE 4.2 and/or USB
Many compatible Apps for Android / iOS
IGC / KML Logger
Extremely easy operation
Firmware update by Drag & Drop
User configurable acoustics / tone setting with tone simulator at www.xctracer.com
State of the arte electronics including a 9-DOF IMU, GPS, BLE and mems pressure sensor
Solar cell with 22.5% efficiency
Runtime with fully charged battery min. 20h (no sunlight)
Size: 44.5 x 44.5 x 17.0 mm
Weight 34g