Version 01/97
GPS FLIGHT DATA RECORDER
ZANDER GP 940
MANUAL
content:
1. Introduction
2. Installation into glider
3. Turning on the GP940
4. Connecting GP940 to PC
5. Charging internal battery of GP940
6. Entering data from glider computer SR940
7. Preparing waypoints and routes for SR940 / GP940
8. How to use GP940
9. Technical data
10. Wiring diagrams
11. Pin assignments of connectors
12. Calibration chart for altimeter of GP940
Annex: IGC approval of GNSS Flight Data Recorder ZANDER GP940
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Warning:
The recorder box must not be opened! A security feature will inhibit any valid recording after
box was opened! The standard two year warranty is expired when box was opened!
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1. Introduction:
The flight data recorder consists of one housing with these functions inside:
GPS receiver
barometric altitude sensor
clock
electronics for recording and storing data
vibration sensor (for glider with engines)
one rechargeable battery for data transfer between recorder and IBM compatible PC, to cover
short supply power breaks and for data retention.
one Lithium battery for data retention, if rechargeable battery is empty.
Connections to the outside are: GPS antenna, power supply 12Volt / 170mA, marker push button,
data connection to glider computer SR940 or SR820D.
The GP940 is intended to be used as an option for glider computer SR940; together with this glider
computer the GP940 has these additional features:
GPS data transfer to SR940
automatic photo sector signal to GP940
declare and transfer a task from SR940 to GP940
waypoint lists and routes can be entered into recorder and brought to the glider, where these
informations can be transferred to SR940
transfer of nearest airfields from a large list in GP940 to SR940 (not yet ready)
saving and restoring configuration data of SR940
transfer of additional data from SR940 to recorder which are included in the stored flight data:
indicated airspeed, wind information, next waypoint selected.
If the glider computer SR820D is used together with the GP940, there will be only a display of GPS
information. All other functions mentioned for the SR940 are not available with SR820D.
The GP940 also can also be used as a stand alone system without any glider computer connected.
But then the only information the pilot gets is if the GPS receiver has reception or not (by external
light emitting diode (LED) or by audio signal when pressing the marker button). There is no information on reaching waypoints.
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2. Installation into glider:
The GP940 recorder should be mounted removable; a mounting fixture is delivered with the recorder.
It is recommended to locate the recorder at a place where the audio signals of the recorder can be
noticed. When the recorder is used in connection with a glider computer SR940 or SR820, the audio
signals are not that important.
If the recorder has the option accelerometer / G meter, then the box must be mounted horizontally
(the label with serial number upwards).
If the recorder is used in a glider with engine, the recorder box must be mounted using the original
fixture which must have a good mechanical contact to the fuselage to recognize the running of the
engine. Besides this the recorder should be mounted in a place which does not allow the pilot to remove the recorder in flight.
The power supply to the recorder is switched by a safety switch which must be lifted when changing
between on and off.
To enter a special mark into data recording (to remember a special position) there is a marker
pushbutton in the instrument panel; pressing this button must make a connection to minus of supply
power. If the standard recording rate of 4 seconds per sample is accepted as sufficient, the marker
button can be left out.
To make the power supply for the recorder safe, it is recommended to use always two batteries with a
switch to change from one battery to the other. The batteries mostly used in gliders can fail or deteriorate at any time without warning. Besides this you should expect during competitions or when travelling, that the main power may break down during night which leaves you with partly charged batteries
in the morning.
Important for motor gliders:
There are motor glider models which use only one battery for both engine and avionics. In this case
the GP940 and all other avionics like glider computer and radio must be switched off while extending,
starting or retracing the engine. Otherwise electronic parts of GP940 and avionics may be damaged.
The GPS antenna is mounted horizontally (connector downwards). The antenna must have a undisturbed view all around. Metal, carbon parts and human body will hold off GPS signals from the satellites, glas fiber and acryl glas will not. A good place for the antenna is ontop of the hood of the instrument panel.
For cabling see cabling diagrams at the end of this manual.
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3. Turning on the GP940:
After turning on supply power to the recorder there is an acoustic signal from the recorder to show
that it is operating:
= flight data recorder active
The red light (light emitting diode) shows:
... = no GPS reception
After about 2 minutes (glider away from buildings, GPS antenna unobstructed) the light emitting diode
changes to:
... = GPS reception
Checking the GPS mode of the recorder can also be done by pressing the marker button:
press marker button; reply: = no GPS reception
press marker button; reply: = GPS reception
With a glider computer connected, the checking of GPS operation is done by watching the displayed
GPS information: if GPS information is present then the recorder is functioning properly.
As soon as the recorder is supplied with power, data recording is activated. Every four seconds a
point is stored with GPS position (if GPS is operating), altitude, airspeed and engine vibration. So
even without GPS reception, information is stored continuously.
There is no recording during PC operation and during charging with the charger.
Recording within the GP940 is done in that way that the last 40 hours of recording time are always
kept in the recorder. If flights are overwritten, these are always the oldest flights which are deleted.
Begin and end of any recording are stored in a separate list within the GP940. This list will keep the
last 200 records. With GPS reception, times for takeoff and landing are automatically inserted into
this list. This list can be read as flight log from the recorder to PC.
If recorder power is turned off, there is a beep after 8 seconds (= turn off beep):
= recorder turned off
The recorder is supplied by an internal battery for several seconds continuing operation before really
turning off to cover short breaks of the supply power.
Important:
When GP940 is turned off, there must always be the turn off beep! If there is no turn off
beep then recorded flight data are unvalid for FAI purposes. The turn off beep may be missing when the internal rechargeable battery is faulty.
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4. Connecting GP940 to PC:
Before the GP940 is used for flight data recording, personal information like name, type of glider and
so on should be entered into the recorder by PC.
The PC must be an IBM compatible Personal Computer (DOS 3.0 or higher, minimum 512 KB of
memory).
Connection between GP940 and PC is provided by program ZANxxE.EXE (xx = version number
00...99, E = English). To get this program, selfunpacking file GP940EN.EXE is copied from diskette to
a new, empty directory and started. Now several files are created together with ZANxxE.EXE. After
unpacking, GP940EN.EXE may be deleted to save space on hard disk.
Now connect GP940 with the 9-pin extension cable to serial port COM1 at the PC. At GP940 use the
9-pin socket on the front plate besides the red light. The cable used for this is a standard extension
cable and is normally called monitor extension cable.
Important:
Use only a standard 9-pin extension cable between GP940 and PC!
The data cable used to connect SR940 to PC cannot be used!
During PC operation the GP940 power is supplied by the internal battery of the recorder. This battery
allows PC operation for about 2 hours. If this battery is empty, the charger or the power supply of the
glider can be used as well.
To enter personal information into the recorder, select FDR functions from the ZANxxE.EXE main
menue, then select write personal information.
The recorder will answer with an audio signal:
= PC operation active
Every two seconds the red light of the recorder shows:
... = PC operation active
Now you can enter name, type of glider and other information. To be sure, read back the information
you have entered.
To read flights, select FDR functions and then read flight data from the menue. On screen the
latest 10 recordings are shown. If the last line shows the flight which you want to read then press the
ENTER key. If you want to read an older flight then use CSR keys before pressing ENTER.
Flights can be read as often as you want. Flight data will only be deleted by new records after 40
hours of operation. Records which do not show takeoff and landing times are no flights; the recorder
was turned on on the ground and was turned off again before a flight occured.
Each flight read from GP940 is written into a file with extension *.ZAN . The file name consists of
date, FDR serial number and the flight number of the day:
67AZB251.ZAN means: 1996 / July / 10 / ZANDER / B25 / flight number 1
(numbering system: 1...9,A...Z)
To avoid that flight data files are changed later for cheating, there is a safety feature included in every
flight data file from GP940. At the end of the flight data there are some additional informations, which
are related to all flight data since the record starts. With a safety check the flight data are checked
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against this additional information; this shows the validity of the recorded data. By the way, only a part
of the control information is used for this check on the PC, another part can be used at authorized
places to perform another safety check.
To view a flight on the screen, program WinFDR must be installed. This is a WINDOWS program
which requires W IN 3.1 or later. Installation is done automatically by running WINSETUP.EXE from
WINDOWS. Then start WinFDR and open the desired flight data file. With Options you can select
the display mode, with Help you get information if you need.
Other evaluation programs (like program CAL.EXE) require a special format as described by the FAI /
IGC. After reading flight data in GP940 format (extension *.ZAN), these data can be converted to IGC
format (extension *.IGC). As this format needs about 10 times more data and 10 times more transfer
time from GP940 to PC, the GP940 uses ist own format.
The GP940 has some special functions for glider computer SR940. Waypoint lists and routes can be
loaded into the recorder and can be retrieved at the glider by SR940.
A data base with up to 4500 airports can be loaded into the recorder; a selection of the nearest airports can be transfered into SR940.
All SR940 configuration settings can be saved from SR940 to the recorder and can be restored back.
So several pilots sharing a glider may load their own settings before takeoff.
Important: all these inputs to GP940 have no influence to the recorder part of GP940! None of the
waypoints or routes entered into GP940 are used for task declaration or for recording.
5. Charging internal battery of GP940:
The recorder has a rechargeable battery inside. This battery is used for two functions: first this battery
covers short supply power breaks (to avoid that a flight record is cut into parts) and second to supply
power for GP940 during PC operation.
During flight this battery is continuously recharged by glider supply power; so this battery always
should be in a loaded state.
But before first use and before the gliding season starts or after longer periods with no flying (after
periods of more than two months without recharging), the internal battery should be charged once
with the GP940 charger. Instead of the original charger any other charger, which is normally used for
12 Volt glider batteries, can be used too (output voltage 13...15 Volt / >60mA). The charging program
is controlled by GP940.
Important:
Normal charging or recharging works only if the outside temperature is more than +10°C! Between +10°C and 0°C charging and recharging is done only by half of the normal charging
current, under 0°C charging is turned off!
The 9-pin plug of the charger is plugged into the connector at the rear side of GP940 (besides the
antenna plug). The charging program has several steps:
When charging starts, the recorder delivers this audio signal:
= charging program starts
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The light emitting diode informs about the actual charging program step (every 2 seconds):
= charging battery (for 14 hours)
= battery was charged for 14 hours without interruption;
charging battery continues
The older FDR version 1.16 has two additional steps in the beginning when charging starts:
= charging battery (for one minute)
= discharging battery (for about one hour)
Charging also should be done if the internal battery was discharged by other means.
The battery will be discharged:
- if PC operation is done for a too long time
- if the glider power was not turned off overnight by mistake: when external supply voltage
drops below 6 Volt, the internal battery of the GP940 will be discharged.
Important:
When GP940 is turned off, there must always be the turn off beep! This shows that the internal battery is o.k. . If turn off beep is missing, recorded flight data are unvalid for FAI use!
If there is no turn off beep after charging, then the internal battery is faulty and must be replaced by
the manufacturer.
Producing turn off beep in spite of faulty internal battery:
1. After landing do not turn off glider power; recording of FDR continues.
2. Supervised by OO (oficial observer) connect a laptop to FDR with glider power still on and select
any FDR function (like read flight data). The FDR will produce a turn off beep after 8 seconds
and
will switch to PC mode.
3. Disconnect laptop and turn off glider power.
6. Entering data from glider computer SR940:
If the recorder is connected to glider computer SR940 and if the SR940 has the latest program version to allow this (version 9606 or later), data can be exchanged between recorder and SR940. The
recorder power supply must be turned on.
The SR940 has a special text page to communicate with the GP940; this text page has several submenues:
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