Blake,

I help a number of my club-mates to set up the XCSoar on their tablets/phones. The default setup using 8 boxes and the "auto" function that changes the boxes based on the flight category: climb, glide, final glide, etc.

My advice is a little different: Set up two or three "Map" pages and do not select the "Auto" boxes, but use the "Climb" "Glide" and "Final" boxes on individual pages. You can "swipe" between them in-flight and see their individual values.

My initial problem was the transition from one "auto" info boxes to another was not quite clear and so by separating them I can learn what they mean. You can also change the boxes in-flight to see the differences (away from the gaggle, please).

Probably the number of boxes, for the first attempts should be limited to 8 as that seems pretty easy to work and not too much information at the start.

I have found that the longer I use the program, the less information I want to see! I think that may be due to gaining confidence in the program and getting a feel for what I personally need to know.

Tobias' TE version may be a good place to start if you really want a good starting setup that will not overwhelm you.

These programs are not systems that you can learn in a few minutes and it will/may/probably take many flights to begin to feel competent.

I have used Condor with several different connections to learn the program (Serial/USB, Bluetooth, WIreless, all described in the XCSoar forums). I think it's a good way to gain the experience, but you have to think "reality" on Condor to get the value. Don't just "fly around a few minutes but really ste a task or practice an OCL type flight.

Good luck, have fun!

Mike