GPS Setup for Navigating an Ultralight
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1. must be Normal Do not use any other mode or you may have problems with your tracking WAAS EGNOS should be Enabled for the greatest accuracy c Proximity Alarms must be ON if you want to be notified when you touch a proximity radius Do NOT forget to press enter to clear the message For additional and important info see 7 below d Other options do not matter 7 Waypoints Learn how to download them from a computer into your GPS as this will save a great amount of time Creating the waypoints and setting the proximity radii is a tedious and time consuming task if not done on a computer BaseCamp free by Garmin is the consummate software for both PC s and MAC s for doing this easily and quickly GPSDump can translate tracks for all different kinds of units A free download can be found here http fs fai org Get these tools and learn how to use them a To access check your waypoints press the Find button highlight Waypoints and press enter to enter a waypoint and then quit to highlight and then access your existing waypoints All of your waypoints should be visible If they are not you do not have any b It always best to upload your waypoints often as they can change from day to day 8 Proximity to check change press Menu twice highlight Proximity and press enter You will see all of the waypoints that have a proximity cylinder set Proximity Alarms2. changing direction rapidly Ship pilots are particularly aware of this shortcoming of all GPS units Fly safely Had had southwestairsports com
3. or Automatic and sadly had no record when they briefly entered a proximity cylinder and left iii Interval should be 3 5 sec Less than this the log may fill quite fast More than this see i above iv Data Card Setup Purchase a data card In case you delete your track log a backup will be stored here A 125 mb card will store hundreds of hours of tracks Scorekeepers for comps may know how to retrieve your saved tracks in case you have a disaster 2 Routing Go to Menu Setup Routing and press enter You must be intimately familiar with adding deleting and changing routes in your GPS Thoroughly practice this beforehand a b Guidance Method is Off Road You may not want to follow roads while flying Other options on the page do not matter 3 Units Go to Menu Setup Units and press enter a b C Position Format is hddd ddddd This is known as decimal degrees It is far less confusing to enter degrees longitude and latitude in this manner Any other method increases your chances of entering the wrong coordinates Map Datum should always be set to WGS 84 Distance Speed is Metric as most comps are done in this manner d Elevation can be metric or feet whatever the pilot prefers e Other options do not matter 4 Time Go to Menu Setup Time and press enter Be sure to set the corre
4. GPS Setup for Navigating an Ultralight For Garmin 60 76 78 96 series others similar Note This is particularly for competitions but applies generally as well By Had Robinson Copyright 2014 Southwest Airsports LLC www southwestairsports com 1 Track Log Go to Menu Tracks and press enter a Note Track log should be on Note It is very easy to turn it off FORGET that it is off and then fly in a competition and then have NO TRACKS It is better to turn off the receiver in the GPS if you do not want to clutter up your track log with track points while on the ground If you forget to turn on the receiver you will know right away that your GPS is not receiving a signal e g a blinking question mark on top of your location ion Check your doc on how to turn the receiver on and Off Clearing the Log Highlight Clear and press enter Be SURE you CLEAR your track log BEFORE the comp begins The scorekeepers do not appreciate filtering through dozens of tracklogs in your GPS The ONLY data that should be in your GPS before a comp are the waypoints and that day s routes Track log setup highlight Setup and press enter i Uncheck Wrap when full If for some reason your track log fills up you will have the beginning of your track log and then some rather than get a zero when scored by the comp software ii Record Method is Time Pilots have chosen Distance
5. a the Page and Quit keys as you may have to go back and forth between the screens often Active Route screen After you start navigating press Page one time and the Active Route screen will appear most models The waypoint you should go to will be flashing the distance to it displayed in the lower left and the direction towards it in the lower right if you set things up per b above There are other screens that will give this info but they will not let you advance your route to the next waypoint Read the appropriate sections in your manual To advance waypoints press the Out key To go back for some reason press the In key Compass screen If you use it set the pointer to Course See your manual for more info on this feature Be sure to turn off your electronic compass if you have one as it draws a considerable amount of power To do this press the Page button twice If nothing happens you do not have an electronic compass Notes Some of the above options and configurations may not be available on all models or there may be some differences in the access sequence The author has extensive marine experience with a GPS and its challenges of fog and night travel Always carry a compass for safety because it is essential if you get caught in a cloud A GPS can be disorienting as most cannot accurately display a course or point north if the pilot aircraft ship is
6. amount set for each waypoint by those in charge of the competition On the Route screen press Menu Off Road Transitions is the default so press enter Set this value to Manual This means that when on the Active Route screen see below you will have to press the Out key to advance to the next waypoint on the route There is no method by which it will automatically advance when you touch the edge of a proximity cylinder If you choose Distance and choose a distance from the waypoint you can have the GPS automatically advance to the next waypoint but it is a set distance from ALL waypoints which may be too much or too little depending on how the proximity cylinders are set for each waypoint by those in charge of the competition It would be really helpful to have a fourth option like Proximity with a plus outside cylinder or a minus value inside cylinder for each waypoint but nothing like this exists yet Route screen this is a useful screen but must be setup properly When a route is active this becomes the Active Route screen see e below and tells the pilot which waypoint he is going to how far it is and the relative direction towards it Note Some models and versions do not have all of these features To setup highlight the route and press enter Press Menu and go to Change Data Fields Change the lower left screen to Dist To Pt and t
7. ct time zone for the region you are flying in All GPS units use satellite time and record in GMT Zulu time so it will not affect your scoring However if you have the wrong time zone set and use your GPS as a clock you could get confused as to when the meet starts closes etc 5 Map Go to Menu Setup Map and press enter a Orientation should be North Up If you have Track Up it may be difficult to follow your route as the GPS will be re drawing full screens rather than just your moving icon Most who have aviation and marine pilot experience choose North Up If you are thermalling for example you will have no idea what your course direction is This is a personal preference The author of this FAQ thinks it is best to get used to North Up in the long run Auto Zoom is off Detail is least When flying do you want to see picnic areas displayed on your GPS and other irrelevant detail All you need to see are your tracks waypoints route and enough detail that is viewable from the air such as major highways Map errors If you fail to see your proximity circles or other aspects of your map are incorrect while in Map press Menu highlight Restore All Map Defaults and press enter This will fix most problems Other options do not matter 6 System Go to Menu Setup System and press enter a b GPS
8. he lower right screen to Pointer You want to know how far it is to the next waypoint in the route and what direction it is To advance to the next waypoint when navigating press the Out button to go back to the previous press the In button Note These buttons only work if the GPS knows where you are and you have an active route There are other screens that will give this info but they will not let you advance your route to the next waypoint Remember that you just set up your GPS to only advance to the next waypoint manually To Navigate Highlight the route you created and press enter The default is Navigate so press enter again You don t have to navigate but having an active route will i Highlight the route on the map ii Help you know which waypoint is next iii Tell you the direction you should go iv Indicate how far the next waypoint is if you setup the appropriate data fields in the windows that are active while navigating v Note Following the route only works if it is a relatively straight course If the route makes a sharp turn then you want to navigate to the edge of the relevant proximity cylinder and touch it This will give you the shortest distance to goal You could always add another waypoint just inside the proximity cylinder and navigate to it Map Screen when you start navigating you will go the Map screen You must get a feel for where your screens are vi
9. must also be set in Systmem see 5c above Highlight the actual value and change as necessary Proximity Alarm Tones must be checked highlight this and press enter to see options The tones can all be off as you cannot hear the tones when flying anyway Note The Proximity firmware in the GPS may be somewhat buggy on some models Be sure to test your proximity settings with a practice waypoint before flying Note Proximity Alarms must also be set in System see 5c above 9 Routes Go to Menu Routes and press enter Do your homework You will have to go to the user manual for details on setting up routes with waypoints and how to change as needed It is not particularly difficult but should be practiced before you get to the comp you will have enough mental overload as it is This is a task that may be required to perform anytime Please don t waste other pilots time learning stuff you should have acquired at home However most will be happy to help if you can t remember some detail a Off Road Transition Note This must be setup properly or the GPS will not advance through the waypoints in a way suitable for pilots The purpose of proximity cylinders is so that you do not have to fly to a settable but unfortunately the same for all waypoints distance from every waypoint This distance can vary widely With proximity cylinders you can fly close to a waypoint by a reasonable
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