Borgelt GCD2 for B800 Vario
General Description
Borgelt GCD2 for B800 Vario is a small unit 30mm high by 82mm wide and only 30mm deep, which is designed to mount under, over, in the lip of the instrument panel cover or mounted on the front of it.
The controls are closer to the pilot and the display is very close to his/her line of sight, assisting with orientation and lookout. By separating it from the variometer the variometer pointer does not obscure its displays.It is supplied with a 0.5m cable with plug, which connects to the B800 variometer unit by plugging it in to a socket on the back of the instrument.
IT IS WELL WORTH TAKING THE SMALL AMOUNT OF EXTRA TROUBLE TO MOUNT THIS UNITAS SUGGESTED.(see B800manual for details)
Mounting the GCD is no more difficult than mounting an instrument in a panel hole and has the advantages of being easier to reach and the GCD display is just below the pilot’s external line of sight. Even when changing Macready, bugs, ballast, volume etc the pilot’s peripheral vision is still effective outside the cockpit.
Note the mini SD card slot under the GCD. This is for card access and you should allow for the card to be present in your installation as the database is always read from the card. While the GCD will work without a card present you will be unable to navigate using the B800 as there will not be a database.
The B800GCD receives GPS and air data from the B800 variometer unit/B800HP–GPS and in addition to the display of the average rates of climb the B800 is controlled by the GCD. The pilot can enter MacCready, bugs contamination, ballast state, control B800audio volume and balance and in addition a simple but complete GPS navigation display with turnpoint database, wind and final glide computer is included (requires HP_GPS also) This makes the instrument ideal for club gliders and as a backup while the B800 also supplies RS 232serial air and GPS data to any desired full function glide and navigation computer such as the BorgeltB2000/B2500 or any of the PDA/PNA type devices
While the B800 can be controlled by a PDA/PNA, using the GCD keeps the variometer “housekeeping” functions separate from the glide computer which simply picks up these changes in the serial data stream going to it from the B800. This simplifies both the control of the variometer and of the glide computer and provides the advantages of the near line of sight display. It also declutters the glide computer display by putting variometer “housekeeping” functions on the GCD instead of the glide computer screen.
The B800GCD has a mini SD card slot under the display to hold the databases. GCD program upgrades and system EE prom changes may be handled by writing files to the card using a PC with card reader
A small high performance 16 channel GPS unit is an optional part of the B800 and plugs in to a connector at the rear of the B800. This GPS uses the latest low power technology and draws less than 30mA at 12 volts as wel las providing genuine 4Hz (4 times a second) fixes. This unit provides GPS navigational data to the B800 and enables the navigation, wind and final glide functions on the GCD. It also ensures that GPS navigational data is available in the serial data stream from the RS232 port to drive PDA/PNA type glide computers.
Total energy is by probe. TE probes provide by far the best and most reliable TE compensation with the least setting up and tuning. Borgelt Instruments manufactures and recommends a suitable two hole TE probe of the modified Irving type in both fuselage and fin mount varieties. Feedback from users is that these provide excellent total energy with no setup required.The B800 has an Outside Air Temperature probe (OAT) and the temperature is displayed on one of the GCD pages and when fitted the temperature is used in the internal calculations.
The B800 allows for optional expansion to a Glide Computer (e.g. Borgelt B2000/B2500, various PDA/PNA type devices ) by transmitting serial data, GPS and air data from the B800in the form of serial messages at 1 Hzin the same manner as done by the B50. The decode of this message is available on the Borgelt Instruments website under *“manuals – B50 – DDM”. See www.borgeltinstruments.com
When a GCD is not fitted the B800 will accept bugs, ballast and MacCready information in CAI 302 format.
