Just a point of reference, following on with Martin's comments:

I took 4th place in the US Std Class Nationals last year (my first
nats) with a Vertica PNA running LK8000, and an EW MicroRecorder as
the GPS source for the PNA (and as my main logger). I had a
PowerFLARM and an SNAV; but the PF was just for anti-collision (not
plumbed into anything else), and I don't really use the SNAV except to
cross-check my altimeter and other varios (Tasman and a B400).

This is not me trying to crow about my skills - I'm just a Joe-blow
pilot with only about 500 hours in gliders and 6 Regionals under my
belt; so its not like I was bringing decades of wisdom to the cockpit
(other than all the information I've been vacuuming up from
experienced competitors the last few years... again with thanks to
their generosity and patience)!

This is me saying that the free glide software and inexpensive devices
out there can do a perfectly good job of helping you get around the
course quickly, once you set them up correctly!

--Noel


On Feb 12, 12:29*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

Don't forget that both LK8000 and XCSoar are free to download and both
have versions that run on a standard Windows PC, so you can play with
them both and see if you like their look and feel before buying any
hardware to run them.