Element Track:Acoustic settings
Like most all varios, the Element beeps when you climb and sounds a low tone when you sink. But the vario acoustics are slightly more sophisticated than that. In addition to the familiar climb and sink tones, your Element also features a Near-thermal Tone to help you find weak thermals and it sounds a Sink Alarm if you are sinking rapidly.
Audio volume level
Adjust your Element's audio volume using the key. Pressing it repeatedly allows you to cycle through five audio levels. Audio level is indicated at the top of the display screen with the Audio Symbol.
Under this menu are numerous fine-tune adjustments you can make to your beeping climb tones. This section will explain them briefly. First, navigate to the Climb audio menu.
Press and hold MENU, then to select Climb audio.
Press OK.
From here, you will be given several items to adjust.
Climb threshold (default is 10 cm/s or 20 ft/min x 100)
This value sets how fast you must climb to start hearing climb tones. The Element is so sensitive that on some days, such as when strong thermal cycles are coming up the hill, it may sound climb tones even while you are standing around preparing to launch. You can raise this value to prevent this.
Audio mode (default is "Always")
Choose between two settings: Always or In flight. When in the default mode of Always, the Element will emit vario tones whenever it is switched on (and you have the audio volume level above "mute"). It can be inconvenient to hear tones when preparing your gear for flight or if you want to use your Element to record hike-and-fly adventures, for instance, because you won't want to hear vario tones while you walk through nature. Selecting In Flight ensures that the Element will only emit vario tones after it detects your take-off.
When your vario is set to In flight audio mode, you can still get a vario sound by briefly pressing the loudspeaker key. You will have vario sound for the next 20 seconds, then your Element will be silent again until it detects a take-off.
Climb frequency (default is 800 Hz)
You can raise or lower the frequency of the lowest climb tone to hear overall higher or lower pitched beeps.
Frequency adjustment (default is 2)
The Element climb tones are set to raise in frequency the faster you climb. Some pilots enjoy hearing very excited, high-pitched tones from their varios—in which case they should choose a higher number for this setting. If you want a calmer vario in strong climbs, choose a lower value.
Pitch adjustment (default is 2)
The Element also beeps at a faster rate when you are climbing faster. Just like the frequency adjustment, if you want your vario to beep wildly, choose a higher number for this setting. If you want a calmer vario in strong climbs, choose a lower value.
Pitch mode (default is linear)
Choose linear or exponential for this setting, which matches the number of beeps per second to the rate of climb. Exponential will give a rapidly changing pitch from 0.0 - 2.0 m/s, then gradually increasing pitch in climbs from 2.0 - 10.0 m/s.
Near-thermal threshold (default is -0.5 m/s or -1.0 ft/min x 100)
This tone can be set from -1.0 to 0.0 m/s (or -2.0 to 0 ft/min x 100) and gives you notice that you are approaching a thermal. See the vario settings to adjust the threshold for this value. The near thermal tone is set as follows shown below. When the Near-thermal Tone is activated, the symbol ^ appears in the upper right corner of the display. This function is useful when conditions are weak and you are searching for weak thermals with very slow climb rates that might not activate a climb tone. Turn on the Near-thermal Tone and you will hear an indication whenever the Element senses the slight sink indicating you are near a weak thermal.
Press and hold ALARM.
Use the arrow keys to select PreTherm.
Confirm activating/deactivating the Near-thermal Tone by pressing F1.
Press OK.
This menu lets you adjust your sink tones. Sink Alarm is also located in this menu. Navigate to the Sink audio menu:
Press and hold MENU, then use the arrow keys select Sink audio.
Press OK.
From here, you will see three items to adjust.
Sink threshold (default is -0.5 m/s or -1.0 ft/min x 100)
This value sets how quickly you must be sinking in order to activate a sink tone.
Sink frequency (default is 600 Hz)
Adjust the frequency of the highest sink tone to hear overall lower or higher pitched sink tone.
Sink alarm threshold
Adjust the vario value at which your Element will sound the Sink Alarm, letting you know you are rapidly losing altitude. The Sink Alarm is a continuous tone telling you that you are sinking rapidly. When activated, the symbol v appears in the upper right corner of the display. To activate or deactivate the Sink Alarm:
Press and hold ALARM.
Use the arrow keys to select Sink.
Confirm activating/deactivating the Sink Alarm by pressing F1.
Press OK.
Stall alarm
Stall Alarm only functions when your Element is connected to an external sensor that provides it with airspeed data. When the Stall Alarm feature is activated, your Element will sound a loud tone if your airspeed drops below the Stall Alarm threshold. To activate or deactivate the Stall Alarm:
Press and hold ALARM.
Select Stall.
Confirm activating/deactivating the Stall Alarm by pressing F1.
Press OK.