FlyBeeper
FlyBeeper SunVario — solar audio variometer with a capacitor instead of a battery
FlyBeeper SunVario — first printed batch, black and white bodies

FlyBeeper SunVario

Solar audio vario with a capacitor instead of a battery. Nothing to charge, nothing to wear out — and 60 seconds on USB-C is enough for a flying day.

€84.15€99 −15% Free shipping

Sale price until 1 October·Previous lowest price in the last 30 days: €99

Manual About the device
Ships from Slovenia
Cards · Apple Pay · Google Pay
Built in batches · in stock or ~3 weeks
Pilots in 20+ countries

What's in the box

FlyBeeper SunVario and a quick-start card.

Charges from any USB-C cable — or from the sun, which is the point

QR code on the label opens the manual — EN / DE

Key features

No battery

A 10 F lithium-ion capacitor stores the energy. No cell to age out, no charge controller, no swelling after two seasons.

18 h

Beeping on its own without sun, measured on hardware. 8.5 h in a real flight with the phone connected.

60 s

That much USB-C is enough for a flying day. From completely flat, half an hour of sun fills it — and in normal use the sun keeps up on its own.

9.8 g

One of the lightest varios with a solar panel — and it needs no battery to be that light. 29 × 34 × 12 mm, one button, panel across the whole top face.

Sixty seconds, filmed on the desk

The bar and the stopwatch follow the real charge curve, not an animation. The beeping at the end is the device itself. Sound on.

Full specifications

Vario

Sensor
SPL07-003 barometer, polled 62 times a second
Sensitivity
±2 cm — same class of sensor as the whole FlyBeeper line
Audio
Piezo in a tuned resonator cavity (~1.1 kHz)
Volume
3 levels + silent, cycled with the button

Power

Energy storage
10 F lithium-ion capacitor — no battery
Solar panel
Across the whole top face, feeding an energy harvester into the capacitor
Runtime
~18 h beeping unconnected · 8.5 h flying with the phone · 52 h idle
Charging
60 s on USB-C is enough for a flying day · 30 min of sun from flat empty
Working window
3.8 → 2.7 V, 3.1 mAh — hardware cut-off protects the capacitor
Operating temperature
Designed for −5 °C and above; very probably works colder, with sun

Controls

Button
One — hold to power on/off, press to change volume
Auto power-off
On inactivity, and at the low-voltage cut-off

Mechanical

Body
Three printed parts — tray, outer frame over the panel, separate button strip
Dimensions
29 × 34 × 12.1 mm
Weight
9.8 g — panel, capacitor and enclosure included
Water resistance
None — keep it dry

Software

Firmware updates
Over the air via Bluetooth
Configurator
config.flybeeper.com — from the browser, nothing to install
BLE telemetry
Pressure 10 Hz as a standard characteristic · battery level
Vario source for
xcTrack · SeeYou Navigator · LK8000 · FlySkyHy

Works with

The device publishes barometric pressure over Bluetooth LE as a standard characteristic, so flight apps pick it up as an external sensor — xcTrack, SeeYou Navigator, LK8000, FlySkyHy. Everything is configured from the browser at config.flybeeper.com; no app to install and no drivers.

Manual →

How ordering works here

Devices are built in batches

If your order lands on a unit that is already built, flashed and tested, it goes out within 1–3 business days.

If the batch is gone, yours is in the next one

Boards come from the factory, enclosures are printed and assembled here in Slovenia. Three to four weeks from payment — usually three.

You will know which one you are

I email you within a day of your order with the real date, and you can cancel for a full refund at any point before your device ships. No reason needed.

Payment is taken once, at checkout — there is no second charge later. This is a small workshop, not a warehouse: I would rather name a longer date and beat it than promise 1–3 days and go quiet.

FAQ

Do I ever have to charge it?
In normal use, no. The panel covers a flying day outright, and the capacitor carries it through glides in shadow and the evening. If the device sat in a dark bag for months, 60 seconds on USB-C is enough to fly on — no waiting around for a charge to finish.
Why a capacitor instead of a battery?
A small lithium cell under a solar panel lives a hard life: permanently topped up, thousands of shallow cycles, cold in winter and hot in the sun. It fades in two seasons. A lithium-ion capacitor does not care how many times it is charged and has no chemistry quietly degrading while it sits full. The trade is that it self-discharges, so a device stored for months will be flat — put it on the windowsill while you pack.
What if there is no sun — an overcast week, or winter?
Charge it over USB-C before you go, same as any other instrument. Measured runtime without any sun is about 18 hours of beeping on its own, or 8.5 hours in a real flight with the phone connected at the first volume level.
How is it different from the mini BT?
The mini BT is the proven one: a replaceable CR2032, years in the air, and in winter it is the simpler of the two. The SunVario is louder — the same piezo driver, but fed from a charged capacitor at a higher voltage — and it never needs a battery at all: solar panel, one button, nothing to buy again. In frost it still works, but it must not charge below 0 °C, so it wants an inside pocket rather than a spot on the cockpit.
Does it have GPS or FANET?
No. It is a variometer and a pressure source for your phone. If you want to appear on the live map and see other pilots, that is the FANET Vario.
How cold can it go?
The design target is −5 °C and above, which covers about 95 % of real flying. It will very probably keep working below that — the cold end is about how the capacitor behaves, not the electronics — but colder days are exactly when the sun has to do more of the work, so I would rather promise less and let you find out it does more.
Is it waterproof?
No. The barometer needs open access to outside air and the buzzer needs a path for sound. Keep it away from rain.
When will it actually ship?
Devices are built in batches. If one from the current batch is already built, flashed and tested, it ships within 1–3 business days; otherwise yours goes into the next batch — three to four weeks from payment, usually three. You get an email within a day of ordering with your real date, and you can cancel for a full refund any time before it ships.
How much is shipping and how long does it take?
Shipping is free — it is already in the price. What varies is the build: a unit in stock ships in 1–3 business days, otherwise three to four weeks from payment, usually three. Transit after that is typically 3–10 days in the EU, 5–14 days for the UK, Switzerland and Norway.
What's the return policy?
EU consumer law: 14 days to return for any reason, refund within 14 days of receiving the device back. If you simply changed your mind, the return postage is yours; if the device is faulty, it is mine.
How long is the warranty?
2 years under Slovenian and EU law (ZVPot-1, Directive (EU) 2019/771). A faulty device is repaired or replaced free of charge, and “free” includes the postage both ways — that is the law, not goodwill. What it does not cover is damage you caused: a crushed case, water, a lost device. I will still repair those, but the parts and the postage are yours, and I name the price before I start.
Will I get an invoice? What about VAT?
Yes — a PDF invoice is generated automatically and emailed to you. We're a small Slovenian business not registered for VAT (Article 94(1) ZDDV-1), so no VAT is charged.

Pre-order your SunVario

A few units in hand, the rest built to order. Ships from Slovenia. PDF invoice by email.

€84.15€99 −15% Free shipping

Sale price until 1 October·Previous lowest price in the last 30 days: €99

Ships from Slovenia

How it's built

Long technical write-ups from the workshop blog: measurements, dead ends and the reasoning behind the design.