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From the author 

I started flying the paraglider  pretty  long  time ago, somewhere  in  the  beginning of 2008. 

And quite quickly I understood that I need a variometer. But at that time it was unrealizable, 
as  prices  were  heavily  biting  (however,  since  that  moment  the  situation  with  prices  has  not 
changed at all). Several years passed, I graduated  the University, changed couple of jobs and 
again lit up with this device, however, this time I planned to create it myself on the basis of the 
bare  ATmega  controller.  There  were  already  projects  for  assembling  from  other  guys,  but  I 
wanted  to make the device myself. However, I had a bad try, because I did not  have enough 
knowledge  and  skills  in  microcontroller  programming.  And  now,  a  few  years  later,  I  first 
touched  the  platform Arduino  and  realized  that  this  is  my  chance.  In  January  2017,  I  started 
the  development,  and  in  mid-March  of  the  same  year,  the  beta  version  of  the  device  was 
ready and already tested in the air a couple of times. I tried to put in this device a maximum of 
useful functions that may be needed in different flight modes and situations. 

If you, dear sky fellow, want to repeat this device, then here's a list of necessary elements: 

1.

 

Arduino Nano (necessarily on a 328 chip, 168 is not suitable - not enough memory); 

2.

 

LCD screen 16x2 (that would not change either the connection diagram, or the firmware 
code, the screen should be with a soldered I2C adapter; 

3.

 

BMP180  sensor  (I  wrapped  my  with  soft  foam  that  it  would  calmly  bear  sharp  noisy 
pressure surges); 

4.

 

Piezo buzzer (I got my from the old PC, it’s pretty loud); 

5.

 

Red and green super-bright LEDs; 

6.

 

Couple of 220 Ohm resistors for LEDs; 

7.

 

Three buttons without fixation; 

8.

 

Three 10K resistors for buttons; 

9.

 

One button with fixation (or any switch); 

10.

 

About a meter of a thin wire for connecting the elements together; 

11.

 

The case (here for  your fantasy full expanse, I used an electric  box from the hardware 
store, it fit perfectly in size); 

12.

 

 A  9V  Brick  Battery  and  a  connector  for  it  (you  can  make  one  from  the  old  9V  Brick 
Battery); 
 

 

 

Summary of Contents for NX-Vario

Page 1: ...DIGITAL VARIOMETER NX Vario User s manual It s rough but it works J Device its firmware and this manual made by Iliushenko Andrei nuclear_XONIX ...

Page 2: ...one battery is not less than 10 hours of continuous operation with the backlight ON with backlight OFF up to 20 hours The case is equipped with a leg fastener Velcro 5 cm wide Also the case has two lugs for securing the safety rope Functions Altimeters 3 Pressure setup QNH Climb threshold setup for vario indication Descent threshold setup for vario indication Light indication for climb descent Mut...

Page 3: ...uracy up to 1 10 C Front panel USB port The USB port is on the right side of the front of the device It is required for the vario firmware update It can also be used to supply power in case of energy exhaustion by the main battery To power the device via USB port you need to have the external power supply PowerBank which has Mini USB Type B Male plug WARNING The use of external power is possible b...

Page 4: ...art point relative additional Long press zero the selected altitude In MENU screen Short press switching between menu items Long press Enable disable pressure at sea level QNH input mode MENU 1 Button 3 In the main screen Short press switch between the main screen the maximum altitude screen and the vario max min screen Long press enable disable the vario sound In MENU screen Short press setting a...

Page 5: ... If the sensor is defective or the communication line is broken the inscription Sensor error appears on the screen After loading the device you ll see the main screen which will display information about the current value of the variometer the selected altitude air temperature and also the flight time the flight timer automatically starts after the device is turned on Main screen In this case read...

Page 6: ...ow indicator mentioned above is that the indicator has the ability to adjust the threshold as well as light and sound indication For details refer to MENU 2 and MENU 3 Next to the right in the top line is displayed the vario sound ON OFF indicator Button 3 long press to change the state The last in the top line is the indicator of flight time measured in minutes The time starts counting when the d...

Page 7: ...pressing Button 3 Max and min vario screen Switching to the MAX MIN variometer value screen is made by short pressing Button 3 in the Max altitudes screen Zeroing of MAX MIN variometer values can be done by long pressing of Button 3 Absolute altitude value Additional relative altitude Altitude relative to the start point Maximal vario value Minimal vario value ...

Page 8: ...hen briefly press Button 2 the symbol will switch to the next digit Similarly enter all the remaining digits After the input is completed to save the entered value hold down Button 2 until the device beeps In case of incorrect input repeat the procedure To set the pressure to the initial value hold down Button 3 until the beep sounds The pressure value can also be determined by zeroing the absolut...

Page 9: ...s option will help to detect the falling in a timely manner and warn the pilot about it If the flight altitude is more than 100 meters the following warning will be displayed on the screen ALARM FALLING The first line as well as the relative height above the start level at the moment second line In addition a two tone audio signal will be output and simultaneously the red and green vario indicator...

Page 10: ...ime by selecting the pressure at sea level QNH to set the altitude When the device is turned on this option is disabled MENU 8 Turning ON OFF the long beep function when passing through a threshold altitude on descent The value is selected from the list OFF 20 30 50 100 150 200 250 by pressing the Button 3 for a short time The initial value after switching on the device is OFF The sound signal is ...

Page 11: ... situations including free flights in dynamic flows motor flights etc However in thermal flows when a rapid response of the variometer is required it is recommended to set the Thermal mode WARNING The Thermal mode is in the testing stage and in real thermal flows at the time of writing this instruction was not checked MENU 11 Turn ON OFF the LCD backlight The ON OFF value is selected by briefly pr...

Page 12: ...vice was ready and already tested in the air a couple of times I tried to put in this device a maximum of useful functions that may be needed in different flight modes and situations If you dear sky fellow want to repeat this device then here s a list of necessary elements 1 Arduino Nano necessarily on a 328 chip 168 is not suitable not enough memory 2 LCD screen 16x2 that would not change either ...

Page 13: ...13 The assembly of elements looks like this ...

Page 14: ... 3 5 degrees but it s understandable the sensor is hidden deep in the case personally I m glad with the device s work at the moment Next on the list is a vario in a much more compact case based on Arduino Pro Mini with OLED display BMP280 sensor and reduced current consumption I hope this idea will not be put on hold Px3 S I have to honestly admit this is my first serious project on Arduino and th...

Page 15: ...15 Bug records ...

Page 16: ...16 Changes in firmware ...

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