RC Electronics FenixN, User Manual

Page 1: ...FenixN user s manual Revision 1 5 B50 RC Electronics d o o January 2022 ...

Page 2: ...enixN user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 Contact Information Publisher and producer RC Electronics d o o Otemna 1c 3201 Šmartno v Rožni dolini Slovenia Email support rc electronics eu 1 ...

Page 3: ...N user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 Revision History The following table shows full description of changes made in this document DATE DESCRIPTION January 2022 Initial release of document 2 ...

Page 4: ...tor unit push rotary knob 11 2 5 Software update 12 2 6 System shutdown 13 2 6 1 Loss of main input power 13 2 6 2 Manual shutdown 13 2 6 3 Hard shutdown 13 2 6 4 Shutdown during ongoing flight mode 14 3 Page overview 14 3 1 Indicator main page 15 3 1 1 Indicator digital numeric navigation information 16 3 1 2 Flight mode 17 3 1 3 Needle unit s 17 3 1 4 Wind and connectivity status 17 3 1 5 Batter...

Page 5: ...ce page 40 3 10 Setup page 41 3 10 1 User settings 41 3 10 2 System settings 50 4 Rear of unit 59 4 1 Data 1 data 2 port pinout 60 5 Bluetooth connectivity 61 5 1 Pairing 61 5 2 Supported data transfers 61 6 Physical properties 62 6 1 Electrical properties 62 7 Installation of the unit 63 7 1 Mechanical installation 63 7 2 Pneumatic connections 63 7 3 External switch installation 64 8 Flight Recor...

Page 6: ...Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 9 3 During flight 65 9 3 1 Set QNH 65 9 3 2 Wind calculation 65 9 3 3 Influence of wind in final glide 66 9 3 4 Event function 66 9 3 5 Task start 66 9 4 After landing 66 9 4 1 Downloading flights 66 5 ...

Page 7: ...the short list of the system functionality IGC certified by latest security requirements 3072 bit unique signature Bluetooth module GNSS receiver supporting GPS Galileo Glonass and BeiDou Extension port for input switches and other extension peripheries Internal beeper Integrated voice module Internal solid state 32GB memory 380 000 h of logging with 1s logging interval Two data ports for 3rd part...

Page 8: ...sign may be completely or in separate segments subject to property rights Any use of this document by way of reproduction modification or third party use without the written permission of RC Electronics is prohibited This document can be only updated or modified by RC Electronics This document may be revised by RC Electronics at any time For more additional info please visit our website https www ...

Page 9: ...ar on main display FenixN intro screen Basic initial setup screen where user will set next options Select Pilot select pilot from internal database Set Elevation set take off elevation Set QNH set current air pressure Info screen Pilot that is currently set Glider that is currently set Reserve set value for reserve value for final glide FGmc final glide MacCready value set value TP set file for tu...

Page 10: ...nt Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 2 2 Front view 80 mm unit Reference front view of device Also the FenixN intro screen 1 4 3 2 5 1 Main screen 2 Left push rotary knob 3 Additional screen 4 Micro SD card slot 5 Right side screen 9 ...

Page 11: ...FenixN user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 2 3 Front view 57 mm unit Reference front view of indicator 1 2 1 Main screen 2 Push rotary knob 10 ...

Page 12: ...ss for confirmation entering sub menus and confirming edit values 2 seconds press will offer pilot to set navboxes on page 2 4 2 Main unit left push rotary knob Following functions are possible Changing volume zoom on primary pages depends on page type Short press will exit sub menus 4 seconds press will show turn off dialogue 8 seconds press will make hard shutdown 2 4 3 Indicator unit push rotar...

Page 13: ...e revision of the FenixN system In a short time our staff will provide you with software update file All required device info can be obtained in Setup Info page After receiving update file copy it to dedicated micro SD card and use Setup Transfer Update option to update the unit 12 NOTE Before and during software update keep external main input power present If shutdown state is occurred during so...

Page 14: ...6 2 Manual shutdown To do so press and hold left rotary knob for 4 seconds until Turn off dialogue pops up Confirm turn off by clicking the right rotary knob Turn off dialogue 2 6 3 Hard shutdown By holding left rotary knob for 8 second the system will shut down with no graphical indication This is also known as hard shutdown 13 WARNING By choosing hard shutdown procedure some data can be lost or ...

Page 15: ...ishes to shut down device he must use manual shutdown procedure 3 Page overview Each page was designed in such a way as to give best user experience to be clear to read and offer help to user with help icons on additional bottom displays for extra options Main pages are selected changed with rotation of right rotary knob Some pages also have sub menus This is presented with a special help icon on ...

Page 16: ...onnectivity battery level GPS reception Flarm connectivity and device current flight mode 1 Reference view of main page 2 8 3 4 5 9 6 7 10 Description 1 Vario SC Netto Relative needle depends on setting 2 Average vario indicator blue circle 3 MacCready setting indicator yellow circle 4 Speed to fly indicator 5 Thermal vario indicator green circle 6 Wind Flarm GPS and BT module status 7 Vario scale...

Page 17: ...ixN user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 3 1 1 Indicator digital numeric navigation information Large view area of the main screen is used to display digital numeric information The pilot can set up to four digital numeric values at the same time on the main screen Type of them can be set by user for each flying mode thermal glide 16 ...

Page 18: ... of the main screen is used to constantly display wind information and the status icons For the pilot wind information includes values of wind direction and speed These values are represented graphically and numerically in a small half circle on the left side center of the main screen Wind indication features Wind direction pointer to show wind direction relative to current track Wind speed displa...

Page 19: ...that the system is currently using internal integrated battery STATIC MODE indicates that the system is currently using external battery power of the glider Internal battery of the system will be automatically charged during this mode Different color of indicator shows different current charge state of battery RED will indicate near empty battery YELLOW will indicate half empty battery GREEN will ...

Page 20: ...ct navbox is where pilot can set number of navboxes on indicator main screen for each flight mode type of needle for each flight mode and type of navbox displayed To enter Select navbox sub menu pilot must use long press function while on main page Page Select navbox Needle can show Vario SC Netto Relative 19 ...

Page 21: ...ed navigational data Option for change navigational informational Main page ready for customization Once on main customization page first position of navbox data will be colored yellow This gives indication of current selected navbox position ready to be customized Pilot can scroll this indicator through displayed navbox data by rotating rotary knob With the indicator position set confirm selected...

Page 22: ...left Altitude Alt QNH ft Flight level Thermal gain Flarm alt Distance Tp Distance Apt Distance Tsk Distance Nrst Flarm dist Final glide Tp Final glide Apt Final glide Tsk Final glide Nrst TAS IAS Ground speed Speed to fly Vario Vario avg Vario netto Vario relative Thermal avg Thermal max FLARM vario Track Bearing Tp Bearing Tsk Bearing Apt Bearing Nrst OAT ENL G force F ID Efficiency L D Tp req L ...

Page 23: ...January 2022 3 1 7 Indicator main page sub menu To access sub menu for adjusting Volume MacCready Ballast Bugs QNH and Brightness press on knob Volume settings Volume will be set for current flight mode Vario SC MacCready settings Ballast setting 22 ...

Page 24: ...FenixN user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 Bugs setting QNH setting Brightness setting 23 ...

Page 25: ...ction Current vario average and thermal average vario are always shown as colored dots on vario scale Thermal assistant page contains following layout On the middle of the screen graphical and numerical wind indicators can be seen inside thermal assistant Main purpose of displaying thermal assistant circuit is to show the pilot a map of the thermal strength in the last full circuit This will prese...

Page 26: ...splay glider on the left side To enter the Thermal assistant sub menu the pilot must short press on rotary knob Thermal assistant sub menu holds the following functions which can be enabled or disabled Auto switch enabled will automatically switch to thermal assistant page when circling is detected MacCready colors will represent climb stronger than 1 2 MC with red dots Between 1 2 MC and 0 8 MC t...

Page 27: ... middle of the screen Colored arrows will represent nearby gliders Blue arrows show objects which are higher brown the ones which are lower and white the ones which are the same altitude 20m Short press on rotary knob will allow pilot to select different object from radar Selected object is colored in yellow color Switch will also refresh selected glider information s on side screens Screen will s...

Page 28: ...etails selecting will display all information of the currently selected glider If a glider with the unknown details is selected the pilot can manually insert parameters in the indicator unit Parameters will then be saved Exit will return back to Flarm radar page 1 Figure 1 Reference view of Flarm radar page 2 3 5 4 6 Description 1 Displayed type of the selected glider 2 Currently selected glider m...

Page 29: ...rees and the name of turn point Since the steering course is calculated from your track and bearing to the target the wind component is already calculated into this value When relative bearing is displayed with zero degrees and blue line is aligned with red line you are in fact moving in the direction of the desired turn point In addition the wind direction can be always seen on indicator display ...

Page 30: ... Once entered current selected navbox position will be displayed with yellow color Pilot can scroll this indicator through displayed navbox positions by rotating right rotary knob With selected position another short press of bottom rotary knob displays a list of all available navigation data Customization mode for navbox indicators at TP page reference figure Navbox data list reference figure To ...

Page 31: ...previous section for additional information With short press on the right rotary knob Select airport sub page will be displayed with the full list of all saved airports For the desired airport search can be done manually or with the use of quick search function which can be selected in first line of list In the quick search the airport can be quickly sorted by entering ICAO Name or Distance To cha...

Page 32: ...h this sub paragraph please check previous section for additional information Once the tasks are set task indicator can display current status STANDBY displayed yellow when task is in standby mode If you cross the start line the task navigation will not start ARMED displayed green when the task is armed Once start line is crossed task navigation page will start To Arm task use Task Options menu FI...

Page 33: ...rent task from the Fenix Reverse will reverse order of points inside task including start and finish point Arm confirmation will arm the task Restart confirmation will restart the task to start and new crossing of start line is needed Next point will change the navigation point to the next one in line Previous point will change the navigation to the previous one 32 Task edit sub page reference fig...

Page 34: ... any of these points will display edit menu sub page Following options for editing navigation points are available o Goto will display direction and set currently selected point as navigation point o Select TP gives option to change current selected point from turn point list o Select APT gives option to change current selected point from airports list o Insert TP will add point from selection in ...

Page 35: ...FenixN user s manual Document Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 34 Task edit sub page with navigation points Edit menu sub page for navigation point View of turn point zone ...

Page 36: ...w their properties Displayed navboxes can be change by making a long press on the bottom rotary knob For more information on how to change navbox type and view please see Main unit turn point navigation page sub paragraph To view the list of land able points that are in close proximity the pilot must press right rotary knob Once performed the list will be displayed The pilot can then select any po...

Page 37: ...selected land able point additional properties can be viewed by pressing upper rotary knob Frequency of the airport for radio contact Runway will display numbers of the runways Type of runways o Grass o Paved Elevation of the airport 36 Properties of the selected airport ...

Page 38: ...e on GPS info page following information can be seen Fix Quality Satellite number displaying receiving signal quality and number of satellites that are being received Latitude displays GPS latitude Longitude displays GPS longitude Time UTC time Date current UTC date GPS Info page 37 ...

Page 39: ...hts the pilot can scroll through the list by rotating the bottom rotary knob On a list pilot name date of takeoff time of takeoff and flight time can be seen To transfer selected saved flight the pilot must insert SD Card into the front slot and short press the right rotary knob for confirmation If a flight requires to be erased from the logbook long press on the right rotary knob will perform del...

Page 40: ...stics The Fenix will auto jump in to the flight mode once the flight is detected The Logbook page will then change in to the Flight Statistics page The page will display properties about an ongoing flight Information that can be viewed is displayed graphically and numerically 39 ...

Page 41: ...irspace page allow quick insight into the current flying airspace The pilot can see a fully displayed shape of the airspace currently known location inside the airspace and all additional airspace info With rotation of left knob pilot can view all nearest airspaces 40 Airspace page view ...

Page 42: ...ice power up stage and it will reload all user settings System settings do not relate to pilot profile but to settings of the glider device internals periphery external connected segments to the device etc System settings are common for all pilot based settings Setup page view 3 10 1 User settings User settings or pilot profile settings includes following sub menus Pilot Vario SC Units Logger Warn...

Page 43: ...uts at the bottom of the settings list allows the pilot to Import Export or Delete the user of the internal memory Delete option will delete the currently selected user from the list After erasing the user profile this action can not be undone To recreate the profile the pilot must manually insert the setting and then save it to the new named user profile 42 NOTE Pilot and Copilot name and surname...

Page 44: ...profile will display Info with the message Exported To Import the user profile the pilot must perform an export routine of the user profile to an external SD Card from a 2nd FenixN unit The same SD Card is inserted into the new FenixN unit Once the SD Card is detected the shortcut command Import is selected to display a list of all available user profiles in the external SD Card To finish user pro...

Page 45: ...er response A smaller value will make the variometer more responsive to small changes while a larger value will do the opposite TE level will affect the Total Energy compensation With the integrated Total Energy compensation TE probe is not required to be connected on instrument for instrument to be compensated Integration time interval for calculating average vario Vario silence the sound of vari...

Page 46: ...of time will change the logging interval from the regular interval value to the Event interval value which is more frequent The following settings can be adjusted in Logger sub menu Log interval Registration number Competition id Glider class Event fixes Triggering the event function can be done with dedicated external switch connected to the extension input interface When the switch is pressed ev...

Page 47: ...n In sub menu the pilot can overview and select deselect warnings for the display during device operation Airbrakes Low battery Stall Vne Airspace Gear For the warning references please see pictures below Airbrake warning will be displayed when glider airbrakes are engaged Airbrake warning view Low battery warning will indicate a low external voltage Low battery warning view 46 ...

Page 48: ...arning Stall warning view Vne warning that will indicate when airspeed is higher than Vne setting Vne warning view Gear warning will pop up 5min after takeoff if gear is still not in and 200m above takeoff altitude if gear is not out before landing Gear warning view 47 ...

Page 49: ...er setting for voice warnings Sub menu also includes setting for additional voice alerts which can be left disabled or enabled for use during a flight The Voice sub menu includes following settings Volume Range 0 to 100 Mix vario voice Range 0 to 100 Flarm traffic Options o Enable o Disable Flarm warnings Options o Enable o Disable Flarm obstacle Options o Enable o Disable Flarm h distance Options...

Page 50: ...h the bottom rotary knob the pilot must scroll down to the selected page number for customization To change the displayed type of page simply press the bottom rotary knob and sub menu of all pages will be displayed on the screen The pilot can then select a different page by simply confirming it with the bottom rotary knob List of primary pages First half of the sub menu list Nearest Turn point Air...

Page 51: ...polar properties of glider type will be defined with variables in sub menu Polar A variable to set polar A parameter of glider Polar B variable to set polar B parameter of glider Polar C variable to set polar C parameter of glider Empty mass variable to set empty mass of glider Reference mass variable to set reference mass of glider Max mass variable to set maximal mass of the glider Wing area var...

Page 52: ...of parameters is displayed Turn point cannot be modified and is set as default Type describes zones specifications or directions o Symmetrical o Fixed o To next o To previous o To start A21 angle between leg and rotation of observer zone A1 will determine the zone angle R1 will determine the zone radius A2 will add secondary angle to zone R2 will add secondary radius to zone Line will enable featu...

Page 53: ...e from internal memory To copy new files the pilot must have the files saved to the external SD card Once the SD card is inserted to front slot please perform the following steps Current reference steps are for copying Airspace file but the process is valid for all file types 52 Altitude Optional units o ft o m Climb rate Optional units o m s o m Speed Optional units o km h o mph o kts Wind speed ...

Page 54: ...desired file transfer In this case we selected Airspace Airspace file copy To copy new file to the device select Load Load external SD files External SD card Airspace files will be displayed Once file is selected process of copying file will be performed Selecting Airspace file 53 ...

Page 55: ...d New copied file in sub menu Selected 3 10 2 5 Inputs The Inputs sub menu sets inputs specific external plane events Detection is made on 4 external inputs and every input can support the following types SC VP event gear airbrakes ballast inv SC inv gear inv VP inv airbrakes inv event inv ballast Inputs sub menu reference 54 ...

Page 56: ... communication speed between the FenixN data port 2 and the externally connected device The following speeds can be chosen o BR9600 o BR19200 o BR38400 o BR57600 o BR115200 Radio selecting radio on the list will set the same communication baud rate of the data port 1 as is for the connected radio GPGGA enabling this parameter the GPS GPGGA sentence will be sent every second through data port 1 GPR...

Page 57: ...me zone for local time 3 10 2 8 Info Unique device identifiers can be seen in sub menu Info Displayed list shows following identifiers Serial nr serial number of main FenixN unit IGC nr three letter IGC serial number Firmware current version of running firmware Hardware version of hardware used inside main FenixN unit Voltage displays measured voltage at the power main input Backup battery display...

Page 58: ... password With setting a password all current settings are used then as admin settings Any new user added or imported later will have admin settings During the on time user can change all settings but next power on it will load admin settings again If reset happens during the flight then last settings by users are still active ones 57 ...

Page 59: ...Revision 1 5 B50 January 2022 3 10 2 9 Password Special function passwords can be used 46486 will set FenixN to factory default state all settings are cleared and default are used 99999 will empty logbook Password page reference 58 ...

Page 60: ...al power supply of glider system Data 1 and Data 2 which is used to connect devices with RS232 communication protocol Indicator is connected to main 80mm unit on Data 1 port and FenixN port on indicator Input OAT to connect extension board for OAT and Inputs peripheral Audio output for speaker GPS SMA connector for external active antenna Pst Ptot and Pte pressure connections Rear of the system 59...

Page 61: ... 2022 4 1 Data 1 data 2 port pinout Pin number Pin description 1 Power output same voltage as on power cable 9 32V 2 Not used 3 Not used 4 RS232 data input unit receives data 5 RS232 data output unit transmits data 6 GND 60 Figure 2 Data connectors pinout ...

Page 62: ...en in range and turned on Pair code will be requested to start communication with PDA PNA and Fenix Just confirm the pair code being offered and devices will be successfully paired After successful pair you can connect to system with different applications Oudie LK8000 XcSoar When application connect to it bluetooth icon will be visible on main vario page 5 2 Supported data transfers Data transfer...

Page 63: ...ions Main 82 mm x 82 mm x 27 mm Indicator 65 mm x 62 mm x 30 mm Weight 225g 120g 6 1 Electrical properties POWER USAGES Input voltage 9V Vdc to 17V Vdc Input current 210mA 13V Vdc AUDIO POWER DELIVERY Output power 1W RMS 8Ω DATA PORTS POWER DELIVERY Output voltage Same as Input voltage of power connector Output current MAX 500 mA 9V Vdc to 17 Vdc per port 62 ...

Page 64: ...e instrumental panel and first screw in the two black screws and then mounting nuts for rotary switches After that put back the knobs on the rotary switches Don t forget to screw the knob in place and put the press in cover back on 7 2 Pneumatic connections Three pressure intake ports are fitted on the back of the unit Their function is described by the label next to each port Ptot Pitot or Total ...

Page 65: ...hout pilot assistance All the pilot should do is to adapt the logger settings under Setup Logger menu chapter 8 1 Start and stop of flight recording The unit will start recording immediately after start conditions are met Start conditions are based on ground speed and altitude change so even if the GPS status is bad during takeoff the unit will start recording It is recommended to switch the unit ...

Page 66: ... doesn t spend too much time to operate the unit during flight A very significant indication that shows that the unit has changed to flying mode is Logbook replacement with statistics page 9 3 1 Set QNH The pilot should input actual QNH value of the airport where he will take off This action should be carried out on ground after take off change of QNH in main page quick setup menu will ad just alt...

Page 67: ...he action is accompanied with a clear message 9 3 5 Task start Pilot has to ARM first the unit under task page options After start line is armed next crossing of the line will start navigation to the next point Task can always be restarted and pilot has also option to always select point to which he would like to navigate 9 4 After landing It is recommended to keep the instrument on for a few minu...