![]() |
Manuals
"Go to the FAA website and pull up your N number, the hex and octal codes are both listed."
Just a BTW: the procedure for finding and entering the hex code for your mode S assignment is in the GRT transponder supplement manual. It's disappointing if the tech's didn't know that. I know that reading these manuals is like reading a dictionary, but there is a lot of useful information there - you just have to persevere through it all. |
Well, the latest is that Stein has reached the limits of their ability to provide support, and their tech has advised me to contact GRT for proper configuration of the Horizon Hxr so that it can drive the TruTrack Digiflight II.
I've got to say this is fairly disappointing, but not unexpected. These are basically computers they are selling, and our connectivity problem is apparently a software configuration issue. So, not unlike when you buy a computer at Best Buy, the techs aren't going to be able to help you run Microsoft Office. Still, I'm surprised that something so common is presenting Stein with such problems. After all, I'm not trying to daisy chain ten screens together -- I'm simply trying to run a VERY common autopilot with a very common EFIS. After multiple phone calls, their tech admitted that he didn't even have an Hxr on his bench, and was unfamiliar with its configuration and buttonology. And that, in a nutshell, is why they don't know how to program it so that it works. They simply haven't played with what they're selling enough to provide set-up support. Sadly, GRT's configuration documentation is so sparse as to be basically worthless. In fact, I can find nothing in writing about configuring the EFIS which, given the awesome complexity of the task -- we're talking a hundred or more programmable parameters -- is pretty crazy. After multiple fruitless phone calls to GRT, I finally got a hold of someone via email. I've now got an "appointment" to talk to Ben at GRT on Monday about this problem. Hopefully the guys who invented this thing can make it talk the TruTrack lingo? :( Man, this is starting to gripe my cookies. It's a really cool system, but... |
Quote:
I don't know what I was doing when Mary snapped that pic, but I was obviously tense. It's weird flying -- it's almost like a new plane! Even the start procedure is different, as we added a separate starter button and split master switch. |
It is indeed difficult to troubleshoot something we didn't wire up (nor do any harnesses for), we didn't install, we didn't configure, hooked to an autopilot we also didn't install, and contrary to what you think isn't that common of a setup. The HxR screens are relatively new and not terribly numerous in actual flying planes (there are a number of them, just certainly not as many as other setups), and most all of them we've done are running the GRT proprietary autopilot and servos.
Were it an older screen with the standard interfaces, and a known software level in your autopilot, and we had actually wired it up, it woulda been a much different task. Without knowing all of the details of the installation it's incredibly difficult without being there in person to troubleshoot the configurations, wiring, interfaces, etc... that someone else did. Normally, we try to wire the stuff up on the bench here in our shop and run it all, then ensure the configurations are working and then ship it off to you. In that case the setup/configuration is much easier. Also, it is true that we don't happen to have an HxR coupled to a DIIVSGV with a GNC300XL (I'm betting not many of my colleagues do either) on the bench at this time (we normally setup the actual customer unit when we do this wiring, but that was not the case here).. We're doing what we can to try and get this working for you, but GRT would be the best ones to assist you with the details (or the folks who installed and wired it up for you on site). We often claim to be miracle workers, but I'm afraid this reached the limits of our miracles! Sorry for your frustrations...hopefully we'll see to it that GRT gets you going asap. To be fair, we are still answering the phone and continue to expend a good number of hours so far trying to troubleshoot an installation and wiring that we didn't even do in order to try and get you taken care of. I'm confident that one way or another it'll all get worked out! :) Cheers, Stein |
Jay,
The HXr is, internally, similar to the HX. Download the HX installation and set up manuals. Most of the programming is the same. E.g., most likely you'll want the same settings described for the TT in the HX documents. Program the serial output to the TT per the TT documentation (maybe, 9600 and NMEA?? It will need to be the same as the G300 output). Then put the TT in the mode where it accepts external ARINC commands, and it should be working. (this is one thing where the Trio has got it right - it always defaults to ARINC commands) Also, to comment on a previous post - I do not know about TT but Trio explicitly states that a serial line must be connected, and it must come from the same source, as the ARINC data. |
Post number 26 was deleted by me (and replaced with this one), poster notified. Not appropriate for public forum, if you must send this type of message please do so off line. Thank you and have a nice day :).
|
Hi Jay
I have an HXr and my Digiflight II flies the entered flight plan perfectly using only the single wire NMEA serial from the HXr. I don't have a second Nav source like you and of course you'll want an AP source select switch. A brief Google search turned up this diagram which includes the ARINC lines and shows what I think you are trying to accomplish. http://3limafoxtrot.com/image/Wiring...m_image001.gif |
Update: I spent an hour of quality time with Ben from GRT, trouble shooting our autopilot steering problem, after emailing him a copy of the wiring diagram for our new panel.
After some head-scratching and bewilderment at the complexity of the source selector switch, he allowed that it should work as designed. So, there are just two options remaining. Either: 1. The GRT is not sending out steering information to the TruTrack autopilot. 2. There is an error in the wiring. It is not possible to test the unit for this functionality without plugging in a doohickey (that's a real technical term) that connects a couple of pins together. Ben is making this doohickey, and mailing it to me. We will then plug it in the back of the GRT unit, and check some magic setting that will verify to Ben that it's working...or not. Given the likelihood that the unit is operating normally, the odds point to an error in wiring. To that end, Tom has assembled a "Care Package" of stuff for me that includes a pin-removal tool, crimp on connectors, etc. I should receive it in a few days. Then, the fun begins. Luckily, Ben has narrowed the potential problem down to the pin outs on just two wires, so finding/fixing this shouldn't be the end of the world. Sadly, we are about to experience the 10-days of madness called "Spring Break" on the island, with 100,000 college kids headed to our beach. Thus, I won't have any more time to mess with this for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I've managed to fly with this awesome panel a couple more times. The HITS approaches are just effing AMAZING, as are all the other functions and features. I have created/uploaded our checklists into the EFIS, which is a really, really nice feature, and the Bluetooth connection to the backseat Nexus 7 has given us a real EFIS for the back cockpit! Here's a pic of me rolling onto Rwy 12, after flying through the Highway in the Sky boxes, taken yesterday as I landed on the island. ![]() |
I hesitate to post this here, since it seems that if everything isn't all duckies and doodles, it gets deleted. But here goes
In my previous posts, we were struggling to make our new GRT Horizon Hxr talk to our Trutrack Digiflight II autopilot. Complicating the process was that during our panel re-do we installed a complex source select switch (allowing us to switch the autopilot steering source between our old Garmin GNC-300XL and the GRT Horizon EFIS's own GPS) that turned out to be unnecessary. The EFIS could do the source select internally, rendering the separate switch redundant. Well, we've got everything (or 99% of everything) resolved, and it turns out that we wired everything 100% to spec. Here's the deal: The GRT Horizon works quite differently than most GPS-to-Autopilot arrangements. Two things happen that are unlike anything I've ever worked with: 1. When you activate the autopilot, the autopilot tries to fly you back to the magenta course line that you may have programmed in an hour ago. That line might be 40 miles off your right side, for example. Thus, when you activate the autopilot, it might not steer you directly to your destination, as expected. In fact, it might steer you up to 90 degrees AWAY from your destination. 2. The EFIS controls for the autopilot are counter-intuitive, in my opinion. Specifically, to activate the autopilot, you MUST press the "EXIT" button from the autopilot screen to make it go. In other words, "Exit" performs the same function as "Enter" on other GPS units. Either of these separately would be bad enough. Combine these two idiosyncratic traits, and you have created the perfect storm for complete confusion. When I was lucky enough to activate the autopilot -- something that was not happening regularly, since I would not have thought to press the "exit" key to turn on the autopilot -- it was seemingly steering me in random directions. And if I didn't hit the "Exit" key -- an act that I would not do intentionally, since in my world to "exit" is to "leave", not "activate" -- the autopilot wouldn't even do THAT. Thus, it seemed to be behaving randomly, pointing to a wiring and/or configuration problem. After endless hours of experimentation, I now know to REPROGRAM my destination from my current position in flight, and THEN activate the autopilot by hitting "Exit". This redraws the course line from my current position, and all is well. When these two things are done, the unit works perfectly, tracking to the target unerringly. This whole problem stems from the fact that the GRT Horizon came with NO documentation, and no training in its use. The instructions that are available are on-line, and are quite piece-meal. With no training in how to use this VERY complex computer system, we were basically left to fend for ourselves. Thus, we wasted untold hours, trying to track down what we thought were problems with the unit and/or wiring. In fact, we simply did not know how to make the unit work. This has been very, very frustrating, to say the least. I am thankful that it now works as we intended it to all along, but the manufacturer (or salespeople) needs to develop some sort of training regime that will walk users through these scenarios. Better yet, a computer-based simulator would be terrific. |
Quote:
[quote]2. The EFIS controls for the autopilot are counter-intuitive, in my opinion. Specifically, to activate the autopilot, you MUST press the "EXIT" button from the autopilot screen to make it go. In other words, "Exit" performs the same function as "Enter" on other GPS units. Either of these separately would be bad enough. Combine these two idiosyncratic traits, and you have created the perfect storm for complete confusion. When I was lucky enough to activate the autopilot -- something that was not happening regularly, since I would not have thought to press the "exit" key to turn on the autopilot -- it was seemingly steering me in random directions. And if I didn't hit the "Exit" key -- an act that I would not do intentionally, since in my world to "exit" is to "leave", not "activate" -- the autopilot wouldn't even do THAT. Thus, it seemed to be behaving randomly, pointing to a wiring and/or configuration problem. After endless hours of experimentation, I now know to REPROGRAM my destination from my current position in flight, and THEN activate the autopilot by hitting "Exit". This redraws the course line from my current position, and all is well. When these two things are done, the unit works perfectly, tracking to the target unerringly. [\QUOTE] This is not consistent with my experience. Typically, the GRT waits for "exit" if you haven't completed an input. For example, when setting the altitude, you press the right knob, rotate to adjust the setting, then press and rotate to set the VS/AS, then press again to complete the entry. No need to hit "exit" afterward. If you fail to press the knob, you really haven't completed the process, and the "EXIT" menu option will remain displayed. Also, I think the GRT is essentially always sending the autopilot commands to the tru-trak.. I specifically engage/disengage the AP thru the tru-trak head unit. I think this part is a bit different when using GRT's AP, however. Quote:
Skylor RV8 (GRT Horizon HX/HS in the panel) |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:59 AM. |