The Unofficial XCSoar Manual

From XCSoar

Indicators are icons drawn on the map area to indicate system status.

Flight modes

XCSoar automatically detects the difference between thermal (circling) flight and cruising flight. After about 30 seconds of circling flight the software will switch from cruise to climb mode. After about 30 seconds of straight line flight the software will switch from climb to cruise mode.

The cruise modes are further divided into final glide and normal cruise. Final glide is active when the last waypoint in the task is active, or when the task is in abort mode.

The symbols used to indicate these modes are shown below:

• Climb
• Cruise
• Final glide

If there is no task active, then no flight mode symbol is shown.

GPS status

Normally, XCSoar requires a 3D GPS fix for its navigation functions. GPS status icons and text may appear on the bottom edge of the map display to indicate:

Waiting for GPS fix

The GPS may have a 2D fix, better reception or additional time to search for satelites is required.

GPS not connected

No communication with the GPS is received. This indicates an error in the Comm port settings or the GPS device may be disconnected or switched off.

When the GPS is not connected for more than one minute, XCSoar automatically attempts to restart communication with the device and will then resume waiting. This method has shown to provide the most reliable way of recovering from communication errors.

Flight logger

A flight logger conforming to the IGC file specification can be used to record flights. The logger can be turned on and off automatically or manually. When the logger is active, a small diamond in the lower right corner of the map area flashes once per second.