Flight computer

17Vario and sound

The vario audio, the custom tone profile, connecting a Bluetooth vario, and choosing which sensors the app trusts.

Works offline

Vario sound#

The vario tone is how you feel lift without looking at anything. The app can produce it from the phone's own sensors, or pass through the sound from a connected Bluetooth vario.

Where Settings › Vario › Audio
Vario sound
On or off Default: Off
Enables or disables vario audio completely. Turn it on. It is off by default so the app is silent until you decide otherwise.
Volume
0 to 100 percent Default: 70 percent
How loud the tone is. Set it against wind noise at speed, not in a quiet room.

Tip

Vario sound can also be toggled from the flight menu in the air, so you can silence it in a long glide without opening settings.

The tone profile#

The relationship between climb rate and the sound you hear is fully configurable. The app accepts a tone profile in the format used by the original tone simulator by Thomas Ruf, so a profile you already like can be pasted straight in.

Where Settings › Vario › Audio › Custom vario tone configuration
  1. Open Custom vario tone configuration.
  2. Paste or edit the profile.
  3. Open Tone preview and drag the slider to simulate climb and sink. It uses your current profile and thresholds.
  4. If you want to start again, press Restore default profile. The app confirms with Vario tone profile reset to default.
Fig. 17.1The tone preview. Drag the slider to hear what a given climb rate will sound like.

Caution

The preview only works with Vario sound enabled. With it off the app tells you Enable "Vario sound" above to preview tones.

Tip

Tune the profile on the ground with the preview, not in the air. Pay attention to the sink alarm threshold in particular, since that is the sound you want to recognize instantly.

Connecting a Bluetooth vario#

A dedicated vario has a real pressure sensor with much better response than a phone. The app can use one over Bluetooth Low Energy for data and audio, described as When enabled, SkyTrackPro will try to use a paired Bluetooth vario for data and audio.

Where Settings › Vario › Bluetooth vario
  1. Turn the vario on and make sure it is in range.
  2. Turn on Use external Bluetooth vario.
  3. Press Choose device. The app scans and shows what it finds.
  4. Pick your vario. The app confirms with Paired vario set to: <name>.
  5. In flight, the External vario status chip shows the connection.
Change device
Pair a different vario.
Unpair
Forget the current one. Confirmed with External vario unpaired.
Open Bluetooth vario logger
Shows the raw data arriving from the vario, for diagnosing a connection that is not behaving.

Caution

If scanning finds nothing, work through the message the app gives you. It distinguishes between Bluetooth being off, permissions not granted, location services disabled, and the device not supporting Bluetooth Low Energy at all.

Which sensors the app trusts#

When both the phone and a connected vario can supply the same data, these settings decide which one wins. They only matter if you fly with an external vario.

Where Settings › Vario › Data source preferences
Use device pressure sensor
On or off Default: On
Uses the phone's barometer for vario calculations if it has one. Leave it on when flying without an external vario. Not every phone has a barometer, in which case the vario is derived from GPS altitude and responds more slowly.
Use device GPS
On or off Default: Off
Uses the phone GPS even when a Bluetooth vario is providing GPS. Turn it on if your vario's GPS is worse than your phone's, which is common with older varios.
Use device baro
On or off Default: Off
Prefers the phone barometer over the vario barometer when both exist. Leave it off. A dedicated vario's sensor is normally the better one, which is why you bought it.
Show FLARM and FANET traffic
On or off Default: On
Shows aircraft your vario receives over FLARM or FANET on the flight map. Leave it on. It only has an effect while a traffic capable vario, such as an XC Tracer, is connected. Details in the traffic section below.

Note

Altitude handling is subtle. What you see is the barometric source while one is live and GPS otherwise, bridged across a swap, and a phone that reports no altitude at all is treated as missing rather than as sea level. Underneath that, the app records the raw GNSS altitude and the true 1013.25 hPa pressure altitude as two independent references, neither derived from the other. A connected vario is aligned once onto the same scale as the phone barometer, or onto GPS when there is no phone barometer, so the trace no longer steps when the Bluetooth link stalls and the fix falls back to another source. The alignment is only redone when you pair a different instrument, not when the same one reconnects.

Traffic on the map#

Varios with a FLARM or FANET radio, such as the XC Tracer models with the built in module, report nearby aircraft to the app over Bluetooth. While such a vario is connected, SkyTrackPro shows every received aircraft live on the flight map.

  • A black dot marks each aircraft. The label under it shows the aircraft's id, its altitude, and its speed.
  • When the absolute altitude is not known, the label shows the height above or below you, for example +120 m.
  • Tap a dot for more details: altitude above ground, height difference to you, speed, climb, distance, and the last radio contact.
  • In a crowded gaggle, aircraft close together merge into one dot with a count. Tap it to list them and pick one.
  • A collision warning from the vario turns the dot red.
  • An aircraft disappears from the map about twelve seconds after its last radio contact.
Where Settings › Vario › Show FLARM and FANET traffic

Caution

The positions come from the vario's radio receiver. Range depends on terrain and antennas, and aircraft without FLARM or FANET never appear. The traffic overlay supports your lookout, it does not replace it.