SIERRA 6.5 Flight-planning and Real-Time Navigation Software for PSION S E R I E S 3a Palmtop Computer Version....SERIES 3a - GPS ....DEMO PLEASE READ BEFORE RUNNING THE PROGRAM: Set the internal clock to ZULU time (or local) and select all sound on and beeps loud from the control menu in system screen. The SSD can be used in slot A or B of the Series3a You should have about 65k of Internal memory free in order to run SIERRA 6.5 successfully. Set Printer Config from System Menu(*Y) Read DISCLAIMER on last page In the following instructions any word within brackets thus: means press that key. After placing SSD in slot, go to the system screen and move highlight to position required. Select Install application from 'Apps' menu. Select Disk A/B, position 'current' and File name 'Sierra6.opa' To run SIERRA 6.5 select a database name from under the icon in the System screen and press . The main screen is now displayed. Press to display Menu options or use designated hot key to start option from main screen. (The symbol and letter to the right of menu item is the short cut selection, Press Psion key [optional] plus letter) If you select an option in error you can exit by pressing By default Rhumb lines and Lat/Long coordinates are calculated, for Great Circle and OS NGR calculations select 'Defaults' and change at prompt. Some dialogs have context sensitive Help for data entry Route/ Database: (D) Calculates Trk and distance for a sector using data stored in database. Enter the name of your departure Airfield at the From: prompt. (use a minimum of four letters...or actual ident if a navaid) to select or for the next nearest match. (You can also find an Airfield just by entering its ICAO code) If the Airfield or w/pt is not found (ie.not in database) you can elect to enter its coordinates. At the relevant prompts type the full name,Latitude,Longitude (or OS NGR) and variation (see Database/Add: for correct formats) Now enter the name of 1st waypoint at W/pt: prompt Now using the cursor arrows to move between lines, Enter airspeed (knots) or mach no., define type of speed input (RAS/TAS or Mach), enter altitude (1000's of feet) or Flight level (e.g. FL60 -no spaces), Fuel flow(per/hr) & fuel units, wind velocity (use standard format e.g. 165/15 , 010/05 etc.) and OAT (degrees C). [When first run,standard defaults are used..See 'Database/Defaults' to edit these] The w/pt name, true track and distance, Heading(m), Rectified airspeed-RAS, True airspeed-TAS, Mach no., groundspeed, Sector fuel and time is displayed. To plan subsequent sectors using 'Database' you need only enter from the W/pt: prompt as above. If TAS/RAS/Mach, wind vel etc. are the same as last sector just press to confirm, or edit as necessary. After each planned sector the main screen is updated with the plan so far including fuel calculations and any relevant waypoint frequencies are automatically added to the frequency window. use up and down cursor arrows to scroll through sectors, use psion key plus up and down cursor arrows to scroll Frequencies toggle ‘0’ [zero] key to enlarge/reduce text in frequency window press to see more information about displayed sector press to toggle enlargement of sector window Trk/Dis: (T) Calculates a sector if you enter measured Track and distance from last planned wpt or as an offset from a known wpt in database. Enter as prompted then continue as above. You can freely move between 'Database' and 'Trk/Dis' options while building a plan. Alternate: (-) Designates the next planned wpt as an Alternate... Database option can only be used for this item. The maximum no. of sectors is 25. Do not exit (Psion-Esc) SIERRA 6.5 if you wish to keep the plan current but want to use other Series 3a applications,simply press system button. Reselect the highlighted database under SIERRA icon to return to the program. You can also turn off(Psion-off) without losing the plan. Return: (,) Calculates the return journey of the current plan (which is erased, so you may wish to store it first). Press to input w/v etc. for individual sectors, or for Global w/v. Proceed as prompted. Store/del: (S) Stores current plan on selected disk. Choose a name which must start with a letter and have a maximum of 8 characters with no spaces ......... or Deletes a previously stored plan. Select from dialog. Recall: (R) Recalls a stored plan. Use cursor arrows to select name and disk. ( If a plan exists you will be warned before it is overwritten.). 1. for Global w/v with Speed,Altitude and fuel flow as originally stored 2. to edit w/v and other variables for individual sectors. Exit: (X) Exits the program with option to save plan if not yet saved. Load/ Fuel: (F) The fuel units are as set in ‘Defaults’ Enter any holding fuel required plus a percentage figure for contingency calculations. The display shows quantity required for planned route, Alternate sector (if planned), holding, contingency and total. The associated Endurance is also shown. (Endurance does not include contingency) [if using an aircraft that is already fuelled, enter the difference between calculated route fuel and fuel in tanks as Holding fuel] Wt & Bal: (W) The sub-menu is displayed. Before you can calculate wt & bal you must store details of at least 1 aircraft. To change the Disk to which you wish to store or recall, use ‘Disk in Use/Select’ and select disk. Use 'Registrations/New' to enter the registration and details of your aircraft as prompted. You can use Imperial (Lbs and inches) or Metric (Kg and m/cm) units by setting the 'Units' selector. Use the auxiliary arms for extra seats,forward baggage hold etc. Enter 0 for auxiliary arms if not required.(use minus sign for stations forward of datum). Select a Wt & Bal envelope from picklist or 'none' if not listed (see 'Envelope/Create') Use 'Registrations/Edit', to alter stored data. select the registration and alter any details as necessary. For wt & bal: Use 'Wt & Bal/Calculate' and select the registration - enter the weights as prompted. The fuel weight is shown and can be edited to adjust your W&B calculations. (If the fuel was planned using volume units, it is automatically converted to weight taking into account the default Avgas/Avtur selection.) The fuel weight units are automatically converted to suit the units of a stored registration The weight, moment and centre of gravity is shown for take-off and landing and if an envelope was selected when storing w&b details, a graph is plotted. Use 'Envelope/Create' to define a w&b envelope for any aircraft. Refer to the W&b graph in your aircrafts operating manual. First enter the name e.g. 'Cessna 172N' ,then select units to be used and designate the y-axis to show 'Moment' or 'Centre of Gravity'. Now enter the Limits of x and y axis. Now enter the first coordinate as wt and moment/c of g. Continue until the envelope is described. (max 10 coordinates) N.B. the last coordinate is always the same as the first so the software knows when the envelope is complete. This envelope can now be selected when adding a Registration. Log/ Edit: (G) When your plan has a min.of 2 sectors, use this option for editing. Select 'Change a Sector' followed by Sector no., to change any values (including wpt.). .(Not available for Sector no. 1) Select 'Insert a Sector' to add a new wpt or reporting point to Plan Select 'Delete a Sector' to delete any Sector (except no. 1) The new Trk & dist to any following wpt's in plan is auto-updated after editing. New w/v: (;) To re-calculate Plan with a new wind velocity. Press for Global w/v or Press for individual sectors. (Also can be used to edit TAS/RAS/Mach, f/flow, altitude and Temp for each sector of current plan) Clear: (Z) Erases current plan. Print SetUp: (Y) Select suitable parameters for printer type, margins, font etc. (Printer Configuration must be set from System Menu) N.B. for correct printing a mono-spaced font must be used. If you use the print facility in PSIWIN then you must press system icon and turn on remote link (psion/L) then return to SIERRA to commence printing. Print: (P) Select Preview from dialog to check margins, no. of pages etc. Select Print from dialog to start printout of your planned flight. This includes fuel,wt & bal and frequency details. Nav/GPS Module: In order to use this facility the S3a must be connected to a GPS receiver. (See Appendix A) The first time after planning or editing a route, a map of the immediate area around the planned flight is built and stored in memory and a Menu is presented. Display CDI: With this option a CDI display is shown enabling you to navigate your planned flight. As soon as valid GPS data is being received, the display shows the following: No. & Name of w/pt, Hdg(m) to maintain a centred needle Range to w/pt, Groundspeed, Current Trk(m) CDI display with To/From flag showing off track error Sensitivity, which is toggled with the space bar,each dot can represent 1nm or .25nm ...ENR/APP OBS, which is automatically set to Trk(m) to w/pt but can be adjusted with cursor arrows(Psion+arrow for 10 deg steps) Real time clock, ETE (elapsed time to w/pt), ETA to wpt Lat/Long position Adjust your Hdg to keep the needle centred and you will be on track. If at any point you manually centre the needle (cursor keys) with TO flag showing, the OBS reading is then your QDM direct to the waypoint. As you pass each wpt the next one is auto-selected You can advance to the next wpt at any time by pressing If you need to divert or go directly to any wpt press , then enter the name.The GPS plan is cancelled, the CDI needle is centred and the OBS reads the QDM direct to new wpt, enabling you to navigate direct to this position. To resume planned route, Press to quit and select Refresh from GPS/Special Menu. Display Map: This option maps your planned trk(t), all airfields (in database) along planned trk, all navaids, all UK class D airspace, UK coastline, UK towns, and your present position(flashing cursor) as received from GPS data. (see Preferences to turn on/off features) The righthand side of display shows: Wpt no. & Name, Trk(m), Range to wpt, Left or right cross track error (xte), QDM direct to wpt, Groundspeed, UTC time, ETE & ETA to wpt,mini CDI display (1nm dots), Lat/Lon position, graphic display of number of satellites in use. Press <* > for Go_To function (as in CDI option). Press to adjust Zoom level of Map (15-256nm across screen). NM scale shown at base of map. Press to advance to next wpt. Press to return to GPS Menu. Press < Menu > to toggle ICAO Airfield names/Full names. Press to see more of map in direction of arrow). Press to centre aircraft in map. Press for en-route ETA,s Preferences: To set which features you want displayed on the map (the fewer features selected - the quicker the map is redrawn and updated) Special/Record To log incoming GPS data while using CDI or map Set interval, filename and disk. Select CDI or Moving-Map to start recording. (N.B. if set to continuous and GPS data is updated every 2 seconds then the file will grow to about 130k in 1 hour) Special/Replay To replay recorded GPS data using CDI or Map Select 'On' and choose filename You can move between CDI and Map while replaying but if you exit the GPS menu the file will be closed. A 'invalid GPS data' flag indicates end of recorded data. Special/Simulator Flies the planned route in CDI or Map display. Select ‘Real Time’ to ‘No’ for faster simulation. (if OS NGR is set, ‘Real Time’ may drift due to the time of complex calculations) To return to flightplan mode select EXIT from menu or . The GPS details are held so long as the current plan is not erased or changed or you do not exit SIERRA 6.5. ( You can switch off without losing any data) The other utilities of SIERRA 6.5 are as follows: Garmin Link: (.) If you have stored some routes you can send them to Garmin GPS units. Select name of route from dialog and enter a route number (0-19). Connect to Garmin via 3-Link and set Garmin to receive using GRMN/GRMN protocol. Press to send Search: (B) Enter name of an airfield or navaid ident and range(nm)- max 60nm. A list of all navaids within that range together with their distance and frequency is shown. Fix/divert: (K) This option gives your lat/long position and RNAV coordinate from a VOR/DME, VOR/VOR or VOR/NDB fix. Input ident VOR1. Input QDR ( centred VOR needle with FROM flag). If using DME Input now and press . [If you leave DME at 0 and press you can select a second VOR for crosscut.] RNAV co-ordinate and Lat/Lon (or OS NGR) Position is shown. To plan a diversion select 'Nearest Airfield' or 'Choose Airfield'. If you select 'Choose Airfield' enter name..min 4 letters and when it is found. The QDM, dist and freq are shown. to return to position dialog or to access the planning section where you can enter TAS,Wind vel. etc. in order to get Hdg(m) & time to the diversion. (N.B. By selecting the current plan is replaced by the diversion. This enables you to use the 'GPS' option to navigate to the diversion.) If you select 'nearest airfield' the QDM, distance and frequency(s) to the nearest airfield within 50nm is shown. Continue as above . (NB. if using database on program disk, the search may be accelerated by pre-using Database/Reduce:) Hold: (H) Enter TAS,wind vel(m) and inbound Trk(m) as prompted to get inbound Hdg(m) and outbound Hdg(m) & time for a standard 4 min holding pattern. The outbound heading is computed as 3 times the drift of inbound heading (max. 30 deg).If this is within 30 deg of wind direction this is reduced to 2 times drift. The outbound time is reduced/increased by 1 sec/knot of headwind/tailwind. for stopwatch function or for menu Conversions: (C) Select a group from the menu and enter a value in any unit , press to get a simultaneous conversion. For volume to weight conversions, first enter a specific gravity ( default 0.72 ) Morse: (M) Enter a letter or ident for a visual/aural morse code check. Frequency: (Q) Enter name of airfield or navaid ident to check the frequency Press to add to Frequency Window. X/wnd: (/) Enter runway heading (2 digit e.g. 21, 03, etc.) and wind direction(3 digit) and speed.The crosswind and headwind components are displayed (a minus indicates a tailwind) Stopwatch: (I) to start/stop. for lap time. Exits while timer is running, zero’s display while timer is stopped. More Utilities: (+) Select to display a menu with additional utilities. Cost: Enter operating cost per nm or per hr to get cost of current plan (The currency is as set in ‘Number Formats’ in system menu) Sunrise/set: Input the name of an airfield and the LAT/LONG (OS NGR) coordinates and todays date are shown.Now enter the UTC offset (e.g. in the UK this will be 0 in winter and 1 in summer) The sunrise, sunset, Civil dawn and Civil dusk times are displayed. If you wish to calculate these times for a particular LAT/LONG (OS NGR), enter the nearest airfield and then edit the displayed LAT/LONG (OS NGR) . The date can also be edited to a future date if required. Press/Dens alt: Input Area QNH(mb) and your altitude or airfield elevation(ft) The pressure altitude is displayed.Now enter the outside air temperature (C) to show the density altitude. ROD/TOD: Input current altitude (ft), desired altitude (ft) and groundspeed (kts). Now input either Rate of Descent(fpm) or Top of Descent(nm), and the other is calculated. Critical Point: The critical point is the point where it takes equal time to fly to the destination or back to the point of departure. Enter total distance (nm), Track (t), Wind direction and speed, and Full Power TAS (kts). This will give the critical point assuming there is no engine failure. (leave Reduced Pwr TAS set at 0) To calculate the critical point in the event of an engine failure on multi engine aircraft, proceed as above but enter the Reduced Pwr TAS. (the engine failure is assumed to occur at the worst possible time i.e. not until the critical point is reached) Point of no Return: The point of no return is the furthest point that an aircraft can fly away from a given airfield and return to that airfield, having consumed a specified amount of fuel. Enter endurance (mins) minus any reserve required at return to point of departure. Enter track (t), wind direction (t), wind speed (kts) and normal TAS (kts). The time and distance to PNR is calculated when you press To calculate the PNR in the event of an engine failure, proceed as above and set the `Failed engine` line in dialog to `Yes`.(it is not necessary to enter Endurance in this instance) Now enter Reduced Pwr TAS (kts), Normal Pwr fuel flow (lbs or kg per hour), Reduced Pwr fuel flow and Total fuel (lbs,kg) minus any reserve. Press to show time and distance to PNR. Database/ All database operations are directed to the current Disk in use. (N.B. before editing the database supplied on ROM SSD you must use ‘Reduce’ or ‘New’ to build an editable database on ‘Internal’ or another SSD) This is not necessary if you copy the whole SSD to ‘Internal’ or another SSD and run SIERRA from that location. To copy the supplied database to any device exit SIERRA, now highlight the database under icon and press ‘psion/C’ , select A, Internal or B from disk prompt and press ‘Enter’ Open: (O) Select from dialog a SIERRA database to open Now all database operations as described above, and the database used for flightplanning etc. , will be directed to that disk. The European database has aprox. 1800 airfields and navaids, and covers: U.K.,Ireland,Channel Islands, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden. New: (N) To create a new SIERRA database Add: (A) To make additions to the database enter the following data: >Name or ident: (max 25 letters inc. spaces.) >Lat: Latitude: Use N/S followed by 5 figures e.g. N51199 = 51 degrees 19.9 minutes North >Lon: Longitude: Use E/W followed by 6 figures e.g. E001359 = 1 degree 35.9 minutes East (Airfields within 99 deg E/W of 000 Meridian can use a short format e.g. N5110 E0306 = 51 deg 10 min North 3 deg 6 min East) If using OS NGR then enter 8 characters e.g. TQ605211 Do not mix formats between Lat and Long. Do not use any other format. >Frq: Enter frequency(s)- max 35 characters including spaces >Var: Magnetic variation e.g. W1, E11 >Type: use cursor arrow to select type of data you are storing Wpt,VOR/DME,VOR or NDB [Wpt = airfield or user defined waypoint] to store the data. Edit: (E) Enter the name or ident of database entry to edit. (you can enter the first few letters and until correct match is found) After editing the data (as in Add: above) to save it. If you wish to delete the entry, or copy an entry to a database on another Disk , select Psion-# . (NB. every time you edit data on a Flash SSD some memory is used) If you enter '*' for the name and then repeatedly you can view the entire database sequentially Add: (A) To make additions to the database enter the following data: >Name or ident: (max 25 letters inc. spaces.) >Lat: Latitude: Use N/S followed by 5 figures e.g. N51199 = 51 degrees 19.9 minutes North >Lon: Longitude: Use E/W followed by 6 figures e.g. E001359 = 1 degree 35.9 minutes East (Airfields within 99 deg E/W of 000 Meridian can use a short format e.g. N5110 E0306 = 51 deg 10 min North 3 deg 6 min East) If using OS NGR then enter 8 characters e.g. TQ605211 Do not mix formats between Lat and Long. Do not use any other format. >Frq: Enter frequency(s)- max 35 characters including spaces >Var: Magnetic variation e.g. W1, E11 >Type: use cursor arrow to select type of data you are storing Wpt,VOR/DME,VOR or NDB [Wpt = airfield or user defined waypoint] to store the data. Edit: (E) Enter the name or ident of database entry to edit. (you can enter the first few letters and until correct match is found) After editing the data (as in Add: above) to save it. If you wish to delete the entry, or copy an entry to a database on another Disk , select Psion-# . (NB. every time you edit data on a Flash SSD some memory is used) If you enter '*' for the name and then repeatedly you can view the entire database sequentially Reduce: (J) A copy of the database can be reduced and saved to ‘Internal’ or another SSD, this has the effect of considerably speeding up search functions such as used in Fix/divert option. You can target a particular Country or area as follows: Enter the upper left coordinates Latitude (N/S degrees only) e.g. N53 Longitude(E/W degrees only) e.g. E008 Enter the lower right coordinates similarly. (If using OS NGR enter 8 characters e.g. TQ601211) Select destination disk to be stored This new database is now the current one in use. To Reselect original database use ‘Open’ option. (if you attempt to store to the disk that is currently in use, a warning is given) Defaults: (L) Enter your preferred default values at the relevant prompts. These will now be stored until you re-edit them. NB. In order to preserve valid fuel calculations,it is not possible to change default fuel units whilst in the middle of a plan . DISCLAIMER: Although every effort has been made to keep the database error free, and the code bug free,NavTech Software and C.R.Porteous accept NO LIABILITY for any loss,injury or any circumstance as a result of use of this software., or for any false information given,howsoever it may arise, be it user induced (rubbish in = rubbish out) , or due to an unknown program error giving erroneous results. In line with general CAA directives- SIERRA 6.5 should not be used as your primary navigational aid. NavTech Software 229 Devonshire Rd, London SE23 3NJ Phone/Fax +44 (0)181-291-5475 E-Mail navtech@avnet.co.uk Internet Pages: http://www.avnet.co.uk/navtech/ Appendix A: To use the GPS option of SIERRA 6.5, you must connect a suitable GPS receiver via the Psion 3 Link RS232 interface. The remote link option in system Special menu must be set to OFF (This is auto turned off when starting SIERRA) The ‘Comms’ application must not be running. Settings: Set your GPS to give NMEA 0183 output with RMC sentences (if possible turn off all other sentences except GGA) This standard dictates a baud rate of 4800 Connection: It is only necessary to make 2 connections to the mini 9pin din socket of the Psion 3link if using CDI & map functions only Pin 5 is the ground Pin 2 is the signal from GPS (if sending routes to GPS then Pin 3 should also be connected to data input to GPS) Appendix B: For convenient Flight-planning, rhumb lines are usually computed by default in SIERRA 6.5, this ensures reciprocals agree over long distances. However, in the GPS section all tracks are Great Circles, ensuring the shortest distance for long sectors. (for distances up to about 60nm, rhumb lines and great circles are the same) The moving-map compensates for earth convergency and tracks closely resemble a straight line drawn on a Lambert Project map. (for sectors of 200nm +, add at least 1 intermediate wpt to avoid map portrayal error...does not apply to CDI display) Psion and the Psion Logo are registered trademarks and Psion Series 3a, 3Link and Psion SSD are trademarks of Psion PLC Psion Patents Pending: EP No.0419112 US No.07/582492 JP No.249925/90 Psion Patents: US No.5247657 NavTech Software acknowledges the registered trademarks of all other companies referred to in this manual