What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Blue Mountain Avionics Ceases Production

Open sourcing the software is always a cool idea, however, eventually the ahrdware will die...then what?

Based on my observations of his behavior, I also suspect Greg's price for the IP would be rather..."proud". Can't hurt to ask though.

Would be interesting to opensource both the hardware spec and software. If you could convince Greg that it is also a possible business model (ie. sell both completed units without the software and build it yourself kits...) and otherwise be the business "sponsor" like in OS software elsewhere.

Of course, someone will fork your code, start their own project...and you have to be ready to deal with that.
 
I don't think Greg would want the liability issues. If kitbuilt structures are a liability problem, imagine how kitbuilt systems would be. I've discussed the software on the BMA forums and I wouldn't want to take on the task, even for my own airplane, much less for others.
 
Using BMA servos

Is there a way to use the BMA servos with any other EFIS hardware out there?

They seem to work fine. It seems a real shame to have to rip them out along with everything else to upgrade to hardware from a company that looks like they will stay in business.

I must say that the Dynon offer to rebate $1000 for ordering their new system is a motivator. Are any of the other companies offering anything similar?

Randy C
RV7A with BMA EFIS 1 and EFIS lite.
 
I am giving them a call right now, I paid for my autopilot over a year ago and they still have not shipped it. I asked for a refund a week and a half ago and haven't recieved it yet. Big surprise:rolleyes:

Not sure if this was mentioned in another reply but, If you had paid with a credit card, you may be able to get a refund.
 
I wish I or someone else did but sadly no..

Originally BMA announced cessation of production not bankruptcy. The website remains up and those with current database subscriptions can still down load them. Every attempt to contact BMA by anyone has so far failed.

If you follow their website there is a former tech offering what advice and assistance he can but this is limited.

My projection is...

No repair or new updates will be available. Buying someone elses failed uniys and swapping parts does not appear to be a viable option due to calibration issues.

No manufacturer of other products will be willing to assume the liability of pairing a BMA servo with their product.

Most of us who currently have BMAs will probably fly them till they go TU and then toss them.

If you have just servos I would put them on e bay and hopefully someone with an EFIS and controller will need them.

Cut your losses now and do not throw good money after bad.

The only good news on the BMA front is that if you have an installed system and it has been functioning correctly it should continue to do so for a good while.
 
Last edited:
Tumbling BM Sport

I have a BM Sport and Dynon D 100. The Sport does not have any dampening
in the config file and in a steep turn, the artifical horizon tumbles. Since the factory help line is dead, does anyone have info that will help me configure the dampening config file to minimize this. I am looking for a place to start, or numbers to put in mine to move forward.

THanks

S S Anderson
RV 7A Flying
 
Check the BMA forums (the website is still active) and one of the former techs may be able to help you; he still keeps track of what's going on there.
 
Just an update: I just found out directly from Jeppesen that they are no longer supplying updates for Blue Mountain systems. This is not just to Greg but to anyone, so the dream of being able to keep them running has just dimmed some more. Good of Jepp to stick the knife in a little further... :(

Their response to my query about buying the data:
Code:
Greetings from Jeppesen

Thank you for contacting us.

At this time, we no longer support raw data for Blue Mountain Avionics EFIS. 

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

Best Regards,

Jeppesen Customer Service/Sales Team-te
Aviation
 
BMA

There is actually new contact info for BMA- All they seem to be able to get any monies owed to you, and will figure a way to get owed product as well.

G. Richter
25 College St.
Ellijay, GA 30540-3585

or:
1434 Cornet Drive
Ellijay, GA 30540-2344

Phone #: 706-636-5537
 
Last edited:
If anyone has a BMA unit that goes TU and would otherwise get trashed, I'd be interested in buying the AHRS.
 
Need Database Update

I placed an order at BMA for a one time database update but it remains in "pending status" now for over a week. Greg is supposedly working on getting them available, but that may or may not ever happen.

Would anyone out there be willing to help me with a fairly recent database update for an EFIS One Goldbox unit? The database I have is so old that too many frequencies and identifiers have changed for it to be usefull for navigation.

Randy Crothers
rnvcrothers at comcast dot net
 
For those BMA owners that have given up cruising the BMA forum............................................................

It looks like there may be a SLIGHT possibility that the US Jepp databases will become available.

One of the members is negotiating with (I assume Greg) to form a new company not owned by BMA soley for the purpose of database distribution.

There is a REMOTE possibility that repair services might also become available. (not sure by who or owned by who).

The above applies only to Gen 4 units so if you have a Gen 1,2, or 3 you are still toast.

The gen 4 units are currently running version 3.19 software which (I think) makes all of the originally advertised features functional. The software can stilll be downloaded from the BMA website.

This all depends on enough owners participating in the purchase of the databases at a price that does not sound unreasonable. If you are a gen 4 owner and interested go to the BMA forum and express your interest or lack of to the folks doing this. (Yes I know you already probably paid for a database and didn't get it and shouldn't have to pay again, but that ain't gonna happen)

http://bluemountainavionics.com/talk/index.php


This post is informational only, it is not an invitation to repeat all of the gory criticisms of BMA.
 
As a technology guy and a programmer, I can't imagine getting new data into the Blue Mountains can be that complicated. Yeah, things like approaches, etc are far more complicated but frequency data, runway headings, airport identifiers and locations, etc. are all freely available from FAA servers in delimited files. Yeah, it would not be *official* data but who cares?

I do not have a Blue Mountain unit, but I understand that they are updated with a flash memory card through the front bezel, right? Then it's a simple matter of generating the proper file format with the necessary data. There are quite a few of us programmer types here on VAF and I'm sure if Greg would publish the file format a group of us could probably help out our Blue Mountain friends.
 
The gen 4 units are updated through a USB stick. The flash card was used on older units. You can also use FTP to update.

The programming/technology/formatting to get Jep data into them is available it is just a matter of BMA letting it go to new ownership.
 
Blue mountain engine pod question

I wanted to see if anyone has any wiring drawings for the engine pod? I need to wire up the engine pod to the EFIS. I can not seem to find anything online. I guess Greg really made alot of people mad doing this. any help would be great!!
 
The pinout for the Pod is on page 22 of the downloadable Pod manual. Only one wire goes to the EFIS; on my G4 it goes to pin 9 of the 26 pin HD connector but it may be different on whichever version you have. There should be a connector diagram in your EFIS installation manual.
 
I wanted to see if anyone has any wiring drawings for the engine pod? I need to wire up the engine pod to the EFIS. I can not seem to find anything online. I guess Greg really made alot of people mad doing this. any help would be great!!

Greg made a lot of people mad for a lot of things. So did Sheila..Grrrrr
 
The website is paid up ,I believe, for the next year or so. There is just nobody minding the store.

One individual is working with Greg to take over distribution of databases.

It will be ,as always, a matter of cash flow and at the moment the question is, will there be enough subscribers to fund the project?
 
That 'For Sale' notice has been there quite awhile now, nothing new or sudden. I get the impression Greg is exploring options to keep BMA alive, Anyway, as mentioned above, someone is at least attempting to pick up the database support and has mentioned that they might be interested in going further depending on how things go.
 
It will be ,as always, a matter of cash flow and at the moment the question is, will there be enough subscribers to fund the project?

That could have an easy solution.
Make the database available for other EFIS systems and GPS navigators. That way you instantly expand the membership - most likely many times over.

It would not be the first "garage operation" to suddenly become viable...

Rainier
CEO MGL Avionics
 
Just to resurrect this thread from the dead, I have an almost-new G-4 EFIS in the 80% size which has come out of my RV-8. It would be a great, cheap, VFR setup. It's for sale for those so-inclined to keep on keeping on with BMA.

Right now, my target market is for those planning to buy a Dynon EFIS so they can use it for the rebate. But if anyone wants it for the unit, (I'll also throw in the engine monitor and probes if you're going to put it in an airplane) it's yours for a grand.


[email protected]
 
For those with Gen 4 units there is actually a new software update available on the download page of the BMA website. V3.19P2

http://bluemountainavionics.com/talk/showthread.php?t=1963 (view first post)

http://bluemountainavionics.com/download.php#syssoft (download page)

There may also ,before OSH, be new database downloads for all models.

http://bluemountainavionics.com/talk/showthread.php?t=1931 (thread discussing database development)

Don't get all excited there is nothing to suggest that repairs or support of any type other than as noted above will ever become available.
 
For those contemplating pulling their units and trading in on a Dynon, you should try selling on e bay 1st.

While bringing no where near purchase value some BMA units sold on e bay are going for considerably more than the $1000 trade in from Dynon especially the newer G4 E1s.

This doesn't preclude buying a Dynon but it may make it cheaper.
 
Last edited:
For those with Gen 4 units there is actually a new software update available on the download page of the BMA website. V3.19P2

Well I guess this is a good news/bad news thing.

The good news is someone went to the trouble of making and posting an update.

The bad news is that after several attempts by several people no one has been able to load the update.

I would suggest not attempting the upload until this is resolved.
 
BMA-Specific EGT Probe Replacement????

Anyone experience having to replace one of these? What vendor was used to supply the units specifically used for the BMA engine monitoring? In the BMA FAQs, it specifically states that the EI units are not compatible, but they look almost identical.

Problem is that I had an EGT probe act funky on me and then, right after start up, the temp for that cyclinder went to 1800+ deg F.

Thanks...

Frank
 
Anyone experience having to replace one of these? What vendor was used to supply the units specifically used for the BMA engine monitoring? In the BMA FAQs, it specifically states that the EI units are not compatible, but they look almost identical.

Problem is that I had an EGT probe act funky on me and then, right after start up, the temp for that cyclinder went to 1800+ deg F.

Thanks...

Frank

You might want to contact Greg directly and see if he has any probes left on the shelf he might be willing to sell, or at least he can point you in the right direction. He is still providing some support for the units out there if he is able. He just repaired an EFIS One early last fall for my buddies Cozy MKIV. It required a new screen and the repair cost was very reasonable.
 
You might want to contact Greg directly and see if he has any probes left on the shelf he might be willing to sell, or at least he can point you in the right direction. He is still providing some support for the units out there if he is able. He just repaired an EFIS One early last fall for my buddies Cozy MKIV. It required a new screen and the repair cost was very reasonable.

Do you have any contact information for him?
 
Anyone experience having to replace one of these? What vendor was used to supply the units specifically used for the BMA engine monitoring? In the BMA FAQs, it specifically states that the EI units are not compatible, but they look almost identical.

Problem is that I had an EGT probe act funky on me and then, right after start up, the temp for that cyclinder went to 1800+ deg F.

Thanks...

Frank

There is nothing different or exotic about any of the BMA probes, with the possible exception of the Aerosance resistance probes used for CHT. The EGT sensors are garden-variety thermocouples. Parts is parts.

The later boxes were more constrained in their sensor choices (i.e. fewer calibration curves preloaded) but the gold boxes could use anything that produced a voltage between 0-10 volts (which is pretty much anything if you're willing to build a voltage divider). They were limited to 6 thermocouple channels though.
 
Blue Mountain Terrain/Database

Hello guys!

I have with me a BMA G4 Lite Efis and I need to find a Terrain/Airports database update files issued by BMA.

Te unit database was dated 2008 and I decided to update it to a 2014 that I found. Big mistake, because this newer database, issued by Craig, does not contain any Map, Terrain or Airport data from my region (Brazil). Now the Map page does not open and there is not any airport nearby.

If someone has a database update file from 2010 or older, please send it to me by email: [email protected]

Thank you,

Fabricio
 
Hi guys,

Anyone has the latest firmware for the G3?

Also looking for terrain and maps files for the G4. If someone have a old copy I would appreciate a lot,

Thanks
Filipe
 
Blue Mountain, any hope

Ok guys and girls (am I still allowed to say that?!?!?!),

I just committed to buy a 2006 RV-6. The primary flight display is a Blue Mountain EFIS /lite sport G4. Obviously way out of date/production. Not too worried about the database being out of date. I can use ForeFlight on an IPAD to get the info that I need. Is there any issue with using the AHARS/GPS as a PFD? Seems to work just fine right now. I know that if it fails Illl have to replace it with something else. Considered that when I committed to buy it. Are the any other issues that I haven’t thought about?

Thanks,
Danno
 
Ok guys and girls (am I still allowed to say that?!?!?!),

I just committed to buy a 2006 RV-6. The primary flight display is a Blue Mountain EFIS /lite sport G4. Obviously way out of date/production. Not too worried about the database being out of date. I can use ForeFlight on an IPAD to get the info that I need. Is there any issue with using the AHARS/GPS as a PFD? Seems to work just fine right now. I know that if it fails Illl have to replace it with something else. Considered that when I committed to buy it. Are the any other issues that I haven’t thought about?

Thanks,
Danno

Having had one roll inverted in IMC, I would advise against using it outside of good VMC.
 
I replaced mine after about a year of flight with a Dynon D10. It was an easy conversion. The BM autopilot was “spooky”. I ended up pulling the AP and never put anything back.
I gave all of the BM stuff to Stein a few years later. He wanted the parts to help those other lost souls who were trying to keep flying behind it.

It’s too bad. They had a feature set that was unparalleled for the price but the stuff just didn’t work.
 
Back
Top