Activating Atmo 3D on your Era

Atmo is part of the Era firmware and is switched on by a licence file made for one instrument. On the Era 57 Gen 2 that licence is installed at the factory; on a first-generation Era you buy it and load it yourself. This article covers which instruments can run Atmo, how to buy and install the licence, and how to check that Atmo is working. For what Atmo actually measures, see Atmo 3D wind: what it measures and how it works.

Which instruments can run Atmo

Instrument	Atmo
Era 57 Gen 2	Built in — the licence is installed at the factory, nothing to do
Era 80 and Era 57 (first generation)	With the Atmo 3D wind licence
Era essential 80 and 57 (first generation)	With the same licence
Era essential 57 Gen 2	With the same licence

If the licence on an Era 57 Gen 2 is ever erased — a service code can do that — contact us and we will send the file again.

Every Era carries the motion sensors Atmo needs, so no hardware is added and nothing in the panel changes. What the instrument does need is what it needs anyway:

its own GPS receiver, with the antenna connected and a clear view of the sky — an Era that takes its position from a FLARM unit instead cannot run Atmo
pitot and static connected and leak-free — Atmo works from the instrument's own pressure sensors
the instrument fixed firmly in the panel
current firmware

If your glider has an LX AHRS module. With Atmo running, the Era's AHRS page shows Atmo's own attitude estimate instead of the module's; an iLevil or gMicro connected to the Era still takes precedence. If you use the AHRS page, compare the two on the ground and in your first flights after installing the licence.

Buying the licence

The licence is made for one instrument: the file is computed from that Era's serial number, works on that unit only and cannot be moved to another one.

Find the serial number. It is on the label on the back of the instrument, on the start-up screen, and under Setup › Service › Device Info. The shop asks for six digits — if your Era shows a shorter number, add leading zeros (34123 becomes 034123).
Order the Atmo 3D wind licence and enter the serial number at checkout. You can also leave the field empty and enter it later: the e-mail you receive after payment carries a link for that.
Download the file. As soon as the serial number is known, the licence file is generated and ready to download, and you can download it again from your account at any time. Its name is Fusion.lic.

Your dealer can order the licence for you in the same way.

Installing it

Update the Era to the current firmware first. The update file is in the download centre and the steps are in the Era user manual (Setup › Service › Software update). Leave the instrument switched on until the update has finished — including the CAN devices it updates afterwards.
Copy Fusion.lic to the root of the micro SD card — not into a folder. Keep the file name exactly as it is. If your computer saved a second download as Fusion (1).lic, rename it back to Fusion.lic, because the Era looks for that exact name.
Insert the card into the Era and go to Setup › Service › Load license.
Select the Fusion licence file and confirm. The Era copies it into its internal memory.
Switch the Era off and on again (Setup › Shutdown, or cut the power). The GPS receiver is set up for Atmo only when the instrument starts, so Atmo comes to life on the next power-up, not the moment the file is loaded.

Loading the licence needs no password. Do not type anything under Setup › Service › Password unless LX support gives you a code: codes there delete flights and settings, erase licences or change the instrument's identity.

Give Atmo a good level reference

Atmo takes its level reference each time the Era is switched on, from the way the glider stands while the GPS is still searching. A glider resting on its wheel and tail is rarely in its flight attitude, and the difference shows up as a steady offset of the smart vario in straight flight.

For the best reference — and certainly for your first flights with Atmo — switch the Era on with the glider in flight attitude: wings level and the tail raised on a trestle to the attitude the glider manual gives for levelling. Keep it still until the GPS has a fix, then move it as you like. Calibration, accuracy and troubleshooting explains how much this matters and what else to expect.

Checking that it works

On the ground Atmo shows nothing, and that is correct: it has no airflow to work with. The proof is in the air.

Before takeoff the Wind page reads No data. It is one of the pages you turn through with the PAGES knob, next to the G-force page; if you do not see it, switch it on under Setup › Pages.
A few seconds after takeoff the Wind page fills in: the current wind first (the bottom value, with a blue arrow), the average a little later (the grey value at the top). A second, cyan needle appears on the vario scale beside the familiar one.
If you use a flight app connected over NMEA with the LXWPx output enabled, the $LXBC,FUSION sentence carries wind and vario values about once a second once Atmo is running.

If the Wind page stays empty in flight, work through the troubleshooting table — the most common causes are a licence loaded without the restart that follows, and a file that was renamed on the way to the card.

Moving the instrument

The licence belongs to the instrument, not to the glider: if the Era moves to another glider, Atmo moves with it.