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Can't get GTN 650 to crossfill from G3xTouch after a day of us fiddling.

thordehr

I'm New Here
Basic info: Newish to us RV7A
GTN 650 has current system ( >6.6)
G3XTouch has current system ( >6.6)
iPad running Foreflight.


We can:
Push flight plan from Foreflight via Bluetooth to the G3X.
Operate the G3X internal and external nav.
Tune frequencies on either G3X or 650 and have them mirrored in the other.

This tells me that they are communicating with each other the way they should. I think.


We CAN'T:
Get the flight plan from the G3X to the 650.



What we've tried:


From the Garmin G3X Touch Pilot's Guide for Certified Aircraft, in section 6.3 AUTOMATIC SHARING OF G3X TOUCH FLIGHT PLANS WITH EXTERNAL IFR NAVIGATORS, it says this:

"The G3X Touch system has the ability to share (crossfill) flight plans created/edited on the G3X Touch (using internal flight planning) with compatible external IFR navigators. The IFR navigator must be correctly configured and wired to perform this function."
"Once configured/wired correctly, when an internal flight plan is created using the G3X Touch, that flight plan is automatically shared (crossfilled) to the external IFR navigator."


Following the directions after that, we got mostly there in changing settings in the 650. Instructions for that are:

"EXTERNAL IFR NAVIGATOR CROSSFILL CONFIGURATION (GPS 175, GNC 355, GNX 375, AND GTN 6XX/7XX (VERSION 6.62 AND NEWER ONLY))

Two configuration changes are required to enable the crossfill function:
1) In normal mode, External FPL Crossfill must be enabled on the System Setup page.

2)In configuration mode, External FPL must be enabled on the Main System
configuration page."


We found the ‘external FPL enable” in the 650 main system configuration page. "Also enabled the crossfill alert." With that enabled, we saved and power cycled and looked again to ensure it kept the settings.

*Now when powering on we get the crossfill disabled alert and are unable to select ‘External FPL Crossfill”. The button is grey and cannot be selected.*


We were stumped but then tried a few things to get the "External FPL Crossfill" button to be selectable, and we did manage that, but it gave an error...


We got there by doing this:
In the 650 we went to:
Configuration mode
GTN setup
Interfaced equipment
Here ALL selections read ‘is not present’. This seems odd to me.
Should all the installed equipment such as TCAS etc be selected present?

One selection we looked at was the cross side navigator selection options. We started thinking that the GTN650 is looking for the G3X to be the cross-side navigator before it would allow the crossfill button to be selectable?

However, when we pushed present and were presented options, there was no G3X option, so we experimented by making the selection "GTN"
(The options were: GTN Xi, GTN , gps175, gnc 355, gnx375)


This DID activate the crossfill button but gave the error when attempting a crossfill.


So, that's where we're stuck.
Are we looking at a wiring issue? We are getting a lot of back and forth communication otherwise.
A setting we're missing?

Thanks all,
Thor
N318RT
 
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Hopefully somebody else has had the same exact problem here and can jump in and give some more specific advice than the following:
Do you have a schematic of how the GTN is wired to the G3X or GAD 29? If you do then you could cross-check the G3X Touch installation manual schematics and see if anything was left out like an RS232 pair or one of the ARINC connections. If the harness of whole panel was done by a commercial shop they usually provide schematics and channel interconnect notes. If you don't have the schematic then perhaps you have a copy of the sheet in the install manual where the installer writes down what channels are connected to what device. Last resort would be to pin out he harness and create your own schematic. All this would help rule out missing connections and give you what channels in the GTN were assigned to different functions and their pin numbers.
 
We have very little wiring information. My fear is that we will have to check it wire by wire. My hope is that since it is communicating properly in other ways that this is a setting/configuration issue that we're missing rather than a wiring issue.
 
We have very little wiring information. My fear is that we will have to check it wire by wire. My hope is that since it is communicating properly in other ways that this is a setting/configuration issue that we're missing rather than a wiring issue.
It will be pretty valuable going forward and as long as you own the airplane to have a wiring schematic for your airplane. I would expect it just about impossible to build these advanced panels without a detailed schematic to go by. Perhaps you can contact the person you bought it from and see what he knows about schematics. If he had an avionics shop build the panel it will have copies of the schematic. Starting with the schematic for your airplane will be the fastest way to understanding what is going on with your airplane.

I hope you find the issue soon. Keep us updated on what you find.
 
You have the same revision of the databases in both units, right? When I had a 750 and 650, they would not crossfill if the databases did not match. Same in another plane when I had a 750 and 430W.
 
Thanks Steve, Walt and all, we managed to get a wiring diagram from SteinAir, they did the initial diagram, panel and wiring and then the revised diagram.

Looks like the ConNext 232 wiring was not done at that time during the conversion to a G3X. Have a plan in the works to wire it as we now need.

The diagram from SteinAir and their customer service was amazing. I went from not knowing the wiring diagram at all to zipping back and forth with him on it by the end of the call.

It's ungodly hot in the hanger right now so it might take a bit, but when we do get it sorted, we will report back.
 
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