Tested Hardware
What hardware do you need to run Cumulus?
Cumulus is extensively tested on the Sharp Zaurus SL-5000D, SL-5500 and SL-5500G, and SL-5600, both with the standard Qtopia environment as well as with alternative sytems using OPIE. Cumulus will also work on iPaq devices with Familiar Linux and OPIE installed.
All the above listed devices are no longer supported by Cumulus due to the have reached their end of live.
New hardware devices for Cumulus are the Nokia Internet Tablets N800/N810 with OS2008 since 2008. Cumulus can be installed on these devices without flashing the Maemo OS against another one.
You also need a GPS unit to take full advange of Cumulus. This can be an external GPS receiver connected with your PDA via a serial link, a Compact Flash GPS unit, a bluetooth mouse or a logger or other soaring instrument that provides NMEA data records. The Nokia Internet Tablet N810 has already included a GPS receiver.
Normal GPS devices
All normal GPS devices that can provide a NMEA formatted data stream via a serial or a bluetooth connection are compatible with Cumulus. Almost all GPS devices can do this. We have no information on using USB GPS units with Cumulus but we would be interested in hearing from you if you have such a combination.
Cumulus takes advantage of the pressure altitude NMEA sentences that some Garmin GPS models provide.
Compact Flash GPS devices
Generally, a Compact Flash unit that provides a serial connection and doesn't require a special driver (or for which a serial driver is available) is compatible. Most devices will work with a standard serial driver.
FAI loggers and advanced instruments
Most FAI loggers and advanced instruments can be used with Cumulus as they output a NMEA formatted data stream just like a normal GPS does. Simply hook them up to the serial port of your PDA, just like you would with a classic GPS.
Cumulus can take advantage of the pressure altitude information these devices supply, but currently does not use other special information (such as airspeed, lift and wind information) these devices may supply. Support for this is planned though.
Confirmed to work with Cumulus are:
- Filser LX20
Other hardware?
If you have successfully ran Cumulus on other hardware than listed here, please let us know!
Altitude errors & correction
Not all GPS devices use geoid correction. That is, they do not provide an MSL altitude when they should, but an altitude above an elipsiod that is an approximation to the real curvature of the earth. This introduces errors, that will show up as a relatively fixed error in the altitude Cumulus will return. Some devices do have this information, but don't take it into account when returning altitudes. See if the error goes away if you choose "HAE" (Heigt Above Elipsoid) instead of "MSL" (Mean Sea Level) for the altitude mode on the GPS tab of the settings dialog.
If this doesn't work, your device does not supply any correction information. If you have such a device, you can use this website to calculate the error for your region. Then, in settings dialog on the GPS page, choose the "user" setting for altitude and input the error calculated above as the "Altitude Correction". Cumulus should now report the correct altitude. Note that this error is dependent on your location, so don't assume it is accurate if you travel far away from the location the error was calculated for.
Note that making sure the altitudes are approximatly correct is important. If the altitudes are off, the arrival altitudes and thus the airfields in reach are not accurate for use!