Lynx NGT 9000+ pireps wanted

[Steve Melton]

good tips, thanks.

[Steve Melton]

I have been advised there is a 4 wk backlog on Lynx.

[grubbat]

My L3 has not been able to display weather for past several weeks due to "software glitch" from the recent GPS date issue. L3 is working on it but may take a while to resolve. If you are considering purchasing an L3, buyer beware. L3 is understandably very quiet about this problem. I wrote to them but no response and they don't seem to want to talk to end user but rather dealers only. Recent job cuts and other downsizing news doesn't sound encouraging. Hope they are able to fix the glitch soon with the reduced manpower.

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

I have been advised there is a 4 wk backlog on Lynx.

[Flybipe]

Originally Posted by grubbat

Recent job cuts and other downsizing news doesn't sound encouraging. Hope they are able to fix the glitch soon with the reduced manpower.

Can't help but wonder if the Garmin GNX 375 will kill this product. It appears to do everything the Lynx does with the huge benefit of being an IFR GPS...

[TimO]

The sky is falling!

I'm not sure why the pessimism and needless concern.

I'm subscribed to the technical publications and software updates, since I installed 2 of them in my experimentals. Shortly after April 6, I received an email informing me of the issue. It wasn't kept quiet, but emailed right to me. It stated that a fix was forthcoming. Friday I got another email, saying technical publication 0040-17001-01-RevR-TR-01 was out that is an insert for the install manual to make sure to document the issue, and what software versions it affects. Nothing was kept quiet, and I was informed.

So today, while I was thinking of it, at 8:30am I called their tech support, since both pre and post-sales they had been very helpful, and within a couple of phone rings I was talking to someone who was very willing to share much more information than I even asked for. He himself has been flying fixed software for a week. The whole problem was caused by their aggressive validation of input data...too much validation. When the EPOCH rollover happened, they stopped putting data on screen that didn't have the year matching. Well, weather data being uplinked isn't years old, so it just needs to ignore the year. A simple fix. I had been confused, because ever since getting the notification after April 6, I've still be seeing weather info on my MFD just fine. Turns out it only affects some of the METAR/TAF info and data displayed on it's own screen.

I was told that all that's holding up the software is the approval of the FAA to release it, and that I should expect about mid-May that it'll be available. I'm on version 3.2, and it'll be a minor release 3.2.1.

So to me, it's a just a hiccup, and I see nothing dark an ominous about it. (I believe in a round earth, too, so I'm not generally into conspiracy theories. )

L3 is one of the largest multi-billion dollar companies there is. I saw articles last fall about them having a merger that made them I believe one of the largest military companies in the world. Google tells me $33.5 billion. So I'm not sure I'm too worried about "Recent job cuts and other downsizing news". We fly behind experimental systems in our planes where the whole company has less than 10 employees...sometimes only 1 employee. I think with L-3, or Garmin for that matter, you're going to be OK.

The GNX 375 does look intriguing, but the NGT-9000 was a pretty good deal as far as I'm concerned, especially for a diversity capable and even active traffic upgradeable box. As long as the buyer doesn't have the common propensity of people to dive for the utter low-end systems these days to save a few bucks, I'd say it's still a box worth getting a quote on before you pass on it.

[TimO]

Just an update to the thread. I got notifications today that there were updates to the tech publications, and I checked and they listed this:

FIS-B Weather Restoration (version 3.2.1) ? Projected availability on or before May 15, 2019.
? Resolves the issue with NGT-9000 panel mounted Lynx units where weather
product data has not been available since the GPS Epoch roll over on April 6, 2019.


Traffic Display Improvement software update (version 3.2.2) ? Projected availability on or before June 20, 2019.
? Includes Weather product update above (3.2.1)
? Addresses traffic fail symptom seen intermittently, primarily in New Jersey region.
? Low speed heading availability update, addressing some Alaska operators with
no external heading source

They were both things I heard over the phone, but now that it's printed, it's easy to quote.

At the bottom of the letter, it says:
If you have any questions, please contact ACSS Customer Support at (623) 445-7070 option 3 or crc.acss@l3t.com

If you're an NGT-9000 owner, I'd suggest getting set up with an account so you can be aware of any publication releases like I am.

[grubbat]

Thanks for the info Tim. I?ll give them a call to see if they will add me to the list for updates.
Craig

[TimO]

One last update on this. I got an email today that 3.2.1 was released. I went to download it but had to call because my account had an issue and I couldn't see the release. Once they fixed that, I was able to download it and it's now installed. Easy process.

[Steve Melton]

I received a Lynx transponder yesterday and thinking about the install. what about mounting on a plastic printed bracket at the wingtip. any problems with that approach?

[Steve Melton]

maybe something like this?