AIR³ XCT Addon manual

In the main screen, you combine a trigger event with a task. This is what we will call an automation rule.

With an AIR³, you can create as many automation rules as you like. This app can be used with any other Android device, but then it is limited to one automation rule. For example, with a regular phone, you can use a Bluetooth remote button to communicate with XCTrack running in the foreground via Zello (see below for more details on how to use Zello), or you can use the Safe Landing Reporting feature to ensure that people are notified if you do not land safely, or you can define a server to which you want to send your tracklog. However, you cannot do all of these things unless you use an AIR³.

When you open the app, the first thing you will see is the Settings and Tasks setup button, as well as the different groups of automation rules. Vario, Play sound, App Launch, Telegram, Zello, Safe Landing Reporting and Export tracklog. The automation rules will be sorted according to group. In other words, automation rules related to Telegram will be in the Telegram group, those related to Vario will be in the Vario group, and so on. To create a new automation rule, first click on the relevant group, then click on the ‘+’ sign. To return to the main screen, click on the arrow in the top left or click the ‘Main Screen’ button.

The first thing to do is open ‘Settings and Tasks Setup’ to determine which features you want to access through the app.

One of the AIR³ XCT add-on’s key features is its instant lift detection, which is based on accelerometers, as well as its special handling of weak lift detection. The vario sound is produced by combining data from the pressure sensor and the accelerometer. This allows pilots to identify the start of lift immediately, recognise weak lift zones more easily and enjoy a clear vario sound when reaching higher vertical speeds.

Enabling most of the features will create the related automation rule. For example, enabling the vario will create four automation rules so that the vario starts when you take off and stops when you land. Another example: you can define the server to which to send your tracklog once you land. As soon as you have defined this server, an automation rule will be created with a landing trigger. However, some task creation will not be associated with a trigger in an automation rule, as it may not be obvious what you want to do with it. For instance, you can set up a rule to send a specific message to a Telegram group. However, this action could be linked to many potential situations: upon take-off, upon landing or upon clicking on a widget. In this case, therefore, you will need to define the automation rule yourself after creating the task.

One of the AIR³ XCT add-on’s key features is its instant lift detection, which is based on accelerometers, as well as its special handling of weak lifts. The vario sound is produced by combining data from the pressure sensor and the accelerometer. This allows pilots to identify the start of lift immediately, recognise weak lift zones more easily and enjoy a clear vario sound when reaching higher vertical speeds.

How to use the new acoustic vario with Weak Lift and Instant Lift features ? Check this FAQ.

To use this feature, go to Settings & Tasks setup > Vario and enable the tickbox “Enable Instant Lift and Vario Sound”.

Enabling Instant Lift and Vario Sound creates new automation rules: one that is triggered by XCTrack when taking off to start the instant vario, and one that is triggered by XCTrack when landing to stop the instant vario.

Disable the XCTrack acoustic vario to avoid both apps generating the vario sound.

The vario will start and stop based on the automation rules, but you can also start and stop it manually by clicking on either the AIR³ XCT add-on notification or a dedicated widget in XCTrack. If you do not want to manually add such a widget to XCTrack, use the latest version of AIR³ Manager to reset the XCTrack interface or select the Expert profile. This will reconfigure XCTrack with the correct widgets.

To configure the vario, click the Sound Config button.

You can select your preferred sound type and choose whether to use the vario based on pressure sensor data, the lift detection based on accelerometers, or a combination of both.

You can also adjust the volume, thresholds and averaging intervals.

If you are using Zello, you can reduce the volume of the vario sound while speaking through Zello.

The initial averaging interval determines the initial vario sound based on pressure data. Increasing this value too much will generate more lag before the first vario sound is heard. The following averaging interval allows you to adjust the vertical speed noise just before the next vario sound. Therefore, this value can be higher without generating more lag.

By scrolling down, you can use a cursor to simulate the vertical speed, enabling you to hear what you would hear during a real flight.

The sound configuration table enables you to adjust the frequency, cycle duration and duty for each vertical speed step. If you have a custom sound file generated by XCTrack, you can import it by clicking the ‘Import custom sound (.xcvsp)’ button.

You have the opportunity to select your preferred sound type. Depending on your selection, you will be able to enable dynamic frequency or not. Dynamic frequency provides additional acoustic information relating to changes in vertical speed. Some sound types cannot enable dynamic frequency, some allow you to choose whether to enable it or not, and the Triplet sound type can only work with dynamic frequency.

Enabling Weaklift causes the acoustic variometer to emit three beeps while your vertical speed remains between the Weak Lift Low Threshold and the Climb Threshold. This indicates that the air is rising slightly. If your altitude is not changing (i.e. the lift is strong enough to compensate for your negative vertical speed), you will hear three beeps at the same frequency. If your altitude is decreasing (the lift is not strong enough to compensate for your negative vertical speed), you will hear two beeps at the same frequency and a third beep at a lower frequency. If your altitude increases (the lift is stronger, compensating for more than your negative vertical speed), you will hear two beeps at the same frequency and a third beep at a higher frequency. As soon as strong acceleration is perceived, Weaklift will stop and the Lift Beep will take over instantly, most probably followed by the Vario Beeps.

You can set a different volume for the weak lift beeps.

Click the ‘Instant Lift Detection Config’ button to configure the lift detection settings.

To change the sensitivity of the detection, set the slider to one of the five positions and click Apply.

You can also select whether to use the default ideal IMU values or custom values based on the calibration data. Unless you are experiencing a specific issue with the accelerometers, it is not recommended to use specific calibration data.

By default, without any specific configuration, you can combine an existing XCTrack event with a sound.

You can use either the existing sound files or your own. If you want to use your own sound, add the file to the AIR³ XCT Addon sounds folder.
Once selected, you can adjust the volume and specify how many times the sound should play.

Click on the triangle to play the sound.

XCTrack already contains a lot of predefined events.
Within XCTrack, you can also add a new widget based on “Intent launcher” widget to add a new event to XCTrack events list.

Name it using “\n” if you want to display the different words on mulitple lines.

In the Action section, add the name of the custom event you want to use without any space or special character. Pay attention to the case.

As described here below, Zello PTT is one of the possible use of these “custom” widgets. You can use AIR³ Manager with the Expert-zello profile to directly configure the expert profile with Zello widgets.

Within AIR³ XCT Addon, go to settings and click on “Add a new trigger event”, then “Add new XCTrack event”. Select the category to sort the event easily and type the event that you have set in the XCTrack custom widget. After confirming, the new event will be monitored by AIR³ XCT Addon if you select it in an automation rule.

If your goal is to use Zello PTT, see below how Zello events can be automatically generated within Zello configuration (you don’t need to create these XCTrack events within AIR³ XCT Addon).

In the Settings menu, click the ‘Launch an app’ button. For example, you may want to launch an app in the foreground or background when taking off or when clicking on a specific XCTrack widget.

Then create a new automation rule, select your new XCTrack trigger event and combine it with the task you have created.