LX Navigation ERA Variometer

The LX Era is an "all–in one" standalone speed–to–fly variometer, flight recorder, final glide calculator and navigation system with an internal backup battery, audio warnings, vario beeps and voice messages. The unit is capable of providing APT (airport), TP (turnpoint) and TSK (task) navigation on three dedicated navigational pages. Navigation pages feature Navboxes showing bearing to point, track, distance and final glide with airspace shown graphically, airports and turnpoints.

The vario is designed to fit a standard 57mm or 80mm aviation cut–out hole. It is able to supply PDA/PNA units with 5 V/500 mA and 3.3 V/100 mA output on User output connector.

LX Era has built–in high precision digital sensors based on latest MEMS technology for altitude, vario, speed, 3–axis gyro and 3–axis accelerometer sensors. A minimum sampling rate of 100 Hz is applied to all sensors.

The digital needle can be assigned to show one of multiple parameters (vario, netto, g–force, speed command etc.). By default, it is shows vario value.

As an integral part, it has a 2.5" (57mm) or 3.5" (80mm) sunshine readable transflective LCD display to show all user defined data during flight. For accessing all system options, two rotary/push knobs are used. A voice module is also built in for audio warnings.

A double seater installation is possible by installing an LX Era Repeater and connecting it to the system via a CAN bus.

An integral IGC approved flight recorder with ENL level detector will record flight to internal solid–state memory (8GB). All flights can be copied to an external SD card after flight.

For backup and safety reasons, it has an internal battery which will provide power to the Era for three to five hours after the main power supply is disconnected. The integral charger will charge the backup battery when external power supply is connected (12V).

LX Navigation Era is a special order item and may take up to four weeks for delivery.

LX Navigation is one of the oldest glider navigation brands. Its founders started experimenting with glider computers way back in the 70's and the Company has been working on improving your flight performance ever since.

Throughout the last 40 years or so it has been working on instruments that most pilots will have used at some time. In fact our equipment can be found in almost any gliding club!

LX Navigation equipment has always been ground–breaking.

LX Navigation motto?

Be the first. Be the best. Be different.

Because Era is the latest breakthrough in the world of electronic variometers. The transflective LCD display will show you the way when flying tasks, cross–country flights, or just plain airfield soaring.

With the Wi–Fi/Bluetooth module inside, you are stepping into the age of connectivity. The Era of connectivity, if you will.

Always know your position and heading, with clearly visible lift or sink, thanks to our gradient digital needle.

The ERA is a miniature package that includes everything a glider pilot needs, from navigation, to statistics, AHRS, G–meter, up to the very root of this device – the vario function. All this comes with a backup battery and IGC certified logger. What more do you need?

• Transflective technology sunlight readable display
• Integrated G–meter (g–forces recorder)
• 3–axis gyroscope
• 3–axis accelerometers
• 50ch GPS receiver as an integral part of the system
• Completely new design using latest pressure transducers technology
• Extremely fast vario data acquisition
• Rotary knob with push function, for simple and effective handling
• Nearly unlimited memory space for flight recorder
• ENL (Environment Noise Level) sensor
• 5 user defined status inputs (SC, VP, gear, brakes and ballast)
• OAT probe input (outside air temperature)
• Internal beeper (for Flarm warning)
• Flarm port (input of Flarm data)
• User port for PDA/PNA/Radio/transponder, supplies navigation and Flarm data to PNA/PDA
• Bluetooth interface
• Voice module as an integrated part of the system – CAN Bus, for connection to LX Zeus or other LX devices.
• External SD Card interface, for firmware updates, flight downloads and TP/TSK/APT/Airspace transfers
• Standard 80/57 mm size
• The unit can be used as stand–alone, or as a part of LX Zeus system
• Built–in rechargeable battery provides three to five hours of autonomy
• Internal battery (charged from the instrument power supply)
• Pre–loaded polar database

• Variometer, TE compensation (TE probe or electronic compensation).
• Seed–to–fly function
• Final glide calculator based on GPS data (for TP and TSK) • Complete TP/APT/TSK navigation with airspace information and warnings
• High level IGC approved flight recorder
• Flarm radar screen
• Thermal assistant screen
• System extensions: Second seat configuration, Remote control operation (LX Joy)
• Logbook
• Flight information with Barograph
• Multi pilot support
• Accurate wind calculation in straight flight and circling
• Voice alerts
• User warnings

	Eos 57	Eos 80	Era 57	Era 80	Helios
Vario Indicator	Analog	Analog	Digital	Digital	Analog
Size	60x60 x95mm	82x82 x52mm	62x62 x52mm	82x82 x52mm	82x82 x52mm
Display	1.8″	2.7″	2.5″	3.5″	1.8″
Battery	Up to 3h	Up to 3h	Up to 3h	Up to 3h	Up to 3h
IGC Flight Recorder
MOP Sensor	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional
AHRS	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional	Optional
Bluetooth
WiFi
AIRPORT Navigation
TASK Navigation
TURNPOINT Navigation
AIRSPACE Support
PNA/PDA connectivity
FLARM input					Optional

LX Era can be used in two different configurations:
• As a standalone: LX Era provides a vario navigation system and has all its options active. The unit will turn on when the enter push/rotary knob is pressed.
• LX Zeus configuration: LX Era serves as the vario system controlled from LX Zeus. The unit will turn on automatically when the main switch (Zeus) is turned on. Flarm radar settings and thermal assistant settings are set on LX Era while all other settings are controlled by settings on the LX Zeus. Some options are disabled on the LX Era (setup, task edit) but all options become active when backup mode is detected.

A large 3.5" (for the Era 80) or 2.5″(for the Era 57) transflective LCD display shows all flight–relevant information to the pilot. The Era boasts a digital needle, which clearly shows current lift, SpeedToFly or other flight parameter. Two push/rotary knobs and two push buttons are used for all pilot to Era communication.

The Era features 6 status indicators described below in their respective order:

• Flarm indicator – appears only when a Flarm device is connected to the Flarm port and communicating with the Era.
• Bluetooth indicator – appears only when a Bluetooth device is connected and communicating with the Era.
• Wi–Fi indicator – appears only when a Wi–Fi device is connected and communicating with the Era.
• GPS indicator – is always displayed, a green arrow indicates good GPS signal, and a red one indicates bad GPS signal.
• Circling/SC mode indicator – indicates whether Era is in Speed Command (SC) or Vario mode.
• Battery status indicator – shows the current state of the glider`s battery. White battery outline indicates it is using the glider`s battery. A red battery outline indicates it is using its built–in battery.

Use of rotary switches

To move around and access all functions of the unit, two rotary knobs with push buttons are used. The upper push/rotary knob serves the function of Cancel and from now on will be referred to as "Cancel". Pressing the upper push/rotary knob will exit from a menu and cancel the settings. Turning the rotary knob in most pages will change the volume.

In situations when you are choosing a value (e.g. QNH and altitude in the initial setup) it will change the value by 10–fold.

The lower push/rotary knob serves the function of Enter and from now on will be referred to as "Enter". Pressing the lower push/rotary knob will enter a menu, or enter a value, or open a hidden menu. Turning the rotary knob will swipe through pages, menus, or change values by 1, depending on the situation.

To change the value of a parameter, enter must be pressed to activate the rotary keyboard (appears on the left).
Use the lower rotary knob to input the desired value and confirm it by pressing enter.

To exit edit mode, fill out all of the fields (when a number is in question) or simply choose the enter sign (⏎). For quick change (multiplication by 10 steps) press enter button and while holding it pressed, rotate the rotary switch.

The upper push knob is used for zooming in on all navigation pages. When choosing a value, it will behave the same as the upper push/rotary knob – it will increase the value by 10–fold.

The lower push knob is used for zooming out on all navigation pages. When choosing a value, it will behave the same as the upper push/rotary knob – it will decrease the value by 10–fold.

To get the best out of the LX Era, it is important that some preparation is done prior to the flight – trying to configure the instrument or set up a task while flying the glider may spoil your whole day! Pre–flight preparation will ensure that the flight will be both successful and enjoyable.

Flight preparation on ground
• Check if you have desired TP, APT and Airspace database uploaded.
• Prepare a task.
• Check pilot information (this information is written into the flight declaration)
• Check logger settings

Before take off
• Switch the unit ON at least 3 minutes before take–off (this will ensure sufficient GPS reception and will create a base line of the baro trace).
• Select correct pilot (many settings belongs to pilot) on initial setup or create new.
• Check if the task is correct using the Task setup menu.
• During take–off the task will automatically be declared in the flight recorder.

During flight
The LX Era HW and SW concept is optimized so that the pilot doesn’t spend too much time to operating the unit during flight. A helpful that shows that the unit has changed to flying mode is the Logbook page being replaced by the statistics page.

Set QNH
The pilot should input actual QNH value of the airport used for take–off. This action should be carried out on ground, after take–off, change of QNH in Setup/QNH Res menu will adjust altitude reading to actual QNH setting if there is a change.

Wind calculation
LX Era is able to measure wind using two different methods. Wind calculation results are shown on main vario page and on thermal assistant page. LX Era will switch between straight and circling method automatically and history of wind will be counted in new measurements.

Circling:
Wind calculation is based on ground speed (GS) oscillations due to wind influence during circling. The method is active only during circling. The process starts automatically after circling is detected. The calculation is based on fact that the ground speed is affected by wind with GS is at a maximum with a tailwind and minimum with a head wind. This GS difference is used to calculate the wind.

Straight Flight:
During straight flight, wind is calculated using an iterative method that is based on IAS, GS and TRK measurements.

Influence of wind in final glide
The actual wind data (speed and direction) influences the final glide calculation. In task mode, the final glide indication is based on remaining distance over all TP until finish (not over already flown turn points). Wind influence for individual legs is based on current wind data.

Event function
User has the option to set one of the user inputs to Event. If event switch is pressed during flight, it will enable faster record interval in flight recorder (recording in shorter intervals as default for a limited time). Event parameters can be set in Setup/Logger on LX Era unit. The action is accompanied with a clear message.

Task start
A task is started automatically when glider leaves the start TP observation zone. Navigation to the next point will then start. If the pilot wishes to navigate back to starting point, he must simply use “Goto” option in task setup menu. Please refer to Task page chapter.
No task statistics are available on LX Era.

After landing
It is recommended that the instrument be left turned ON for a few minutes after landing. This will ensure that a base line of baro trace is recorded.
10s after the landing is detected, the statistics page will be shown automatically where the 10min countdown will also be shown.
The pilot should wait for 10min before pressing enter to end the flight. The “Calculating Security” message will follow and the logbook page will be displayed. At this point the unit can be switched OFF or the flight downloaded.

Downloading flights
Insert the micro SD card into the external micro SD card holder. Select logbook page and search for a flight that you wish to download. Press enter on that flight and select Copy option. Progress window will inform pilot when the flight has been copied to the external SD card. File format of the flight will be .IGC.

LX navigation Era price varies depending on selection.
Use above dropdown box for selection and final price.

To switch between main pages use left/right rotation of the lower rotary switch. The complete structure of the main pages can be seen in the figure below.

The Vario page is used for displaying a wide spectrum of flight-relevant information.

There are four indicator fields available on the vario page when in thermal mode, and another when in SC mode. Two are above the middle row and two below. All of them (apart from the middle row) can be set to user preferences. In the middle row, different status icons are shown:
•Main Battery Indicator (outline of symbol is white):
3 green bars – more than 12.0V
2 yellow bars – more than 10.8V
1 red bar – less than 10.8V
•Backup Battery Indicator (outline of symbol is red)
3 green bars – more than 80% left
2 yellow bars – between 20% and 80% left
1 red bar – less than 20% left
•SC/Thermal Icon:
Straight arrow – SC mode
Spiral arrow – thermal mode
•GPS Status:
Green arrow – GPS ok (3D)
Red arrow – GPS bad
•Bluetooth Icon:
Is visible when Bluetooth connection is active
•FLARM Icon
Is visible when Flarm is detected on the system
• Green arc is the SC bar which will move according to the MacCready setting, IAS and movement of the airmass around the glider • Wind is shown with three parameters:
º Wind arrow shows wind direction relative to the glider
º The upper number (on the right side of the wind arrow) shows the wind direction
º Below the wind direction the wind speed is shown with the units displayed beside it
• Below the GPS signal indicator, one of the following is shown, informing the pilot what is the digital needle currently indicating:
º VAR – vario
º NET – Netto
º SC – Speed command
º REL – Relative
º G – Force

The thermal assistant page is used to help the pilot better understand the current thermal. The thermal itself is represented with dots of different sizes and colors.

Default color scheme:
White colored dots show maximum climb detected in last turn.
Dot thickness represents strength of climb/sink.
Red dots represent climb.
Blue dots represent sink.

MC color scheme: White colored dots show maximum climb detected in last turn.
Dot thickness represents strength of climb.
Red dots represent climb which is stronger than 1.2*MC setting.
Yellow dots represent climb in range of 0.8*MC and 1.2*MC setting.
Blue dots represent climb less than 0.8*MC setting.

If MC setting is less than 0.5m/s (1kt), default color scheme is used!

In the middle of the TA circle, wind is shown as a blue arrow with numerical indication for direction and speed. Wind arrow is orientated track up. Other marks on this page:
• T AVG: Average of thermal from start of circling until “now”
• AVG: Integrator value of vario
• MAX: Maximum value in thermal – white dot
• GAIN: Altitude gain from start of circling until “now”

To access TA setup, press enter on this page.

Auto TA: It is possible to enable automatic switch to thermal assistant from any other page when circling is detected.

Max. beep: Position of max thermal (white dot) can be reported as a beep. If thermal beep is enabled, LX Era will generate beep always when you are at the position of maximum climb (white dot).

The graphic display is divided into 2 or 3 circles (depends on zoom setting). The outer circle represents zoom distance. The blue glider symbol is always positioned in the middle of the screen.

Near gliders are displayed as yellow. All gliders located in radio range will be shown simultaneously on the display.

ADSB objects that have been detected will be shown as green triangles with the triangle, pointing in the direction the object is tracking.

Non–directional objects are represented as red circles about the center of the screen. The size of the circle represents the relative distance to that target. No bearing to the target is provided.
Current zoom is displayed in the top part of the largest circle. Relative altitude and current vario of a selected Flarm object is shown in yellow, next to the object itself.

The graphic display orientation is always track up. To improve orientation, N, E, W and S are added to the display.

Note! Gliders presented as a dot on the screen, are gliders where pilots have intentionally activated the PRIVACY mode on their Flarm unit. Gliders in privacy mode send limited data strings and can’t be visualized completely. However, all warnings will appear regardless of privacy mode.

To select a new Flarm object, press enter on the Flarm radar page and use the “Select” option. An opaque yellow circle will be visible around the selected Flarm object, indicating that you are in selection mode.

Use the rotary switch to select new Flarm object.

Pressing enter will finish the selection operation and return the display to the Flarm radar page.

When a Flarm warning is detected, Era will show a Flarm warning page with direction to the target provided by the red radar arcs, an above/below indication on the left of the screen, numerical information for horizontal distance at the top of the screen and relative altitude at the bottom of the screen.

Flarm warning setting:
• enabled, this page will override any Era menu / page
• disabled, then this page will be seen only on Flarm radar page

In order to use this page to its maximum extent, the user should first import turnpoint, and airfield files. For more information on this subject, please refer to Setup/SD Card/Load TP. If LX Era is used in LX Zeus configuration, TP database selected under TP/Task/Era list on LX Zeus is automatically transferred (unlimited number of TP’s). TP is displayed as a white dot with a "W" written inside (Waypoint). Navigation is always "track up".

On the top of this page the name of the selected turnpoint is written. On the bottom side of the screen, Final glide (FG), Bearing (BG), Track (TRK) and Distance (DIST) to the selected point are written.

Below the TP name, a steering symbol will inform the pilot how many degrees (°) does he needs to correct his track by in order to fly towards the selected turnpoint.

In the left part of the screen, standard wind information can be read. The Arrow shows the wind direction relative to the glider, its direction relative to North; the speed is shown below.

Pressing the enter button whilst on TP page will open a TP settings menu. This menu can be used for selecting the desired point.

The desired point can be chosen either by scrolling to it, or by using a filter. Three different filters are available for narrowing down your search: Name, Code and Distance. After confirming the desired filter, a filtered list will appear.

These options are valid only when used without a Zeus. Otherwise, Zeus’ turnpoint selection should be used. Selected point is saved after a power reset.

In order to use this page to its maximum extent, the user should first import airspace and airfield files. For more information on this subject, please refer to Setup/SD Card/Load TP. If LX Era is used in LX Zeus configuration, APT database selected under TP/Task/Era list on LX Zeus will be automatically (unlimited number of APT’s). TP is displayed as a white dot with a "W" written inside (Waypoint). Navigation is always "track up".

On the top of this page the name of the selected airport is written. On the bottom side of the screen, Final glide (FG), Bearing (BG), Track (TRK) and Distance (DIST) to the selected point are written.

Below the ATP name, a steering symbol will inform the pilot how many degrees (°) are needed to correct track in order to fly towards the selected APT.

In the left part of the screen, standard wind information will be displayed. The Arrow shows the wind direction relative to the glider, its direction relative to North, with the wind speed being shown below.

Pressing the enter button whilst on APT page will open an APT settings menu. This menu can be used for selecting the desired point.

The desired point can be chosen either by scrolling to it, or by using a filter. Three different filters are available for narrowing down your search: Name, Code and Distance. After confirming the desired filter, a filtered list will appear.

These options are valid only when used without a Zeus. Otherwise, Zeus’ turnpoint selection should be used. Selected point will be saved after a power reset.

This page should be used for navigation when flying tasks. There are two ways of entering a task. Either by selecting a. CUP file, which contains a task inside, or by creating it by hand.
For more information on how to import TPs please refer to section Setup/SD Card/Load TP. Navigated task TP is displayed as observation zone and a white line from zone to the glider shows the direction in which the pilot should fly. A white line from center of observation zone will show next leg of task. Navigation is always “track up”.

On the top of this page pilot can find the name of navigated TSK turnpoint. On the bottom part of the page, navboxes show final glide (FG), bearing (BRG), track (TRK) and distance (DIST) to the navigated point.

Under the TSK name, steering symbol information will inform the pilot how many degrees (°) he needs to correct his track by in order to fly directly to the selected turnpoint.

In the left part of the screen, standard wind information is displayed. The Arrow shows the wind direction relative to the glider, its direction relative to North, with the wind speed being shown below.

Pressing enter, "TSK SETUP" will be activated allowing a task to be created or edited. Additional TP’s can be added, removed, zones changed etc.

Additional options are offered to the pilot only in standalone configuration or in backup mode. In LX Zeus configuration, TSK TP options can be set on LX Zeus, and LX Era will receive task information from the Zeus. Additional options:
• Go to: Navigate to that point on task
• Select turnpoint
• Select airport
• Insert turnpoint
• Insert airport
• Edit zone
• Delete

During flight, statistics of the flight are shown on this page. Take–off time is shown at the bottom of the page and flight duration at the top. A barograph line shows flight altitude for the last hour. Pressing enter on this page will offer the pilot an option to end flight immediately on demand.

If “Yes” option is selected, message "Calculating security" will be visible. Selecting "No" will do nothing and statistics page will be visible again.

After the pilot has landed the flight recorder will start a 5–minute countdown after which the before the flight will be finished automatically. The finish flight page will be shown automatically after 10 second of countdown to alert the pilot that flight will end in 5 minutes. The pilot can either wait until the 5minute countdown is complete or press enter to end the flight immediately.

On the ground (flight recorder is not running) the logbook can be accessed by pressing enter on the logbook page. Pilot can copy take–off / landing time to personal logbook and transfer flight to external SD card for OLC upload.

The last 50 flights are listed. Any older flights will be erased from the logbook list. Press enter on selected flight to open the flight info, where "copy" option is available to transfer flight to external SD card.

Flight is copied to external SD card into LX/FLIGHT folder After the flight has been transferred, “Copy OK” will be displayed. Press enter to continue.

In LX Zeus configuration, flight can be downloaded from LX Zeus logbook page to the LX Zeus USB key.