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ABOUT TO THE END OF MY ROPE!!

Lizard Lips

Active Member
If I sound frustrated, it's because I am! I have a RV-14A that I finished in almost exactly 24 months. It's ready to fly pending the Airworthiness Insopection AND getting the avionics squared away
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I have a Dynon Skyview HDX, dual 10" screens and have been trying to get the Advanced Flight Systems Quick Panel up and running for the past 14 months and I'm still not there. :confused:

For the most part, some things work and some don't. I've tried to calibrate the fuel tank senders, but no luck there. The setup menu says I have 5 volts output which does not change regardless of how much fuel is in the tank. So ? I thought maybe I had installed the senders upside down. Spent about 4 hours today removing and re-installing one of the senders. It was installed correctly and my ohm meter responded as expected. The other sensor was installed the same way so I did not remove it. Any suggestions?

I've been unable to get a position reading from my pitch and roll trims and no reading on flap position. All work as expected (motors run in correct direction) but no indication on the EFIS about their position. Sure would like to know my pitch trim position before my first flight.

Autopilot servos appear to have calibrated correctly.

Not sure about the GPS since I haven't had the plane outside long enough for it to detect the satellites.

Keep getting a "ACM Offline" caution message, but don't know what that means. Anybody know what this is?

I think my ADAHRS is working OK, but I don't trust it! I'm taking my cell phone GPS with me on the first flight as a speed backup. I know GPS speed does not translate into indicated airspeed, but it's better then nothing if the airspeed indication go South. The altimeter and outside air temp seem to be OK.

Being at a small airport (07F) we have no instrument shop. There's probably one in Shreveport, LA but I can't fly in Class B airspace to have someone look at it after I get the plane certified airworthy.

Does anyone know somebody who might be willing to travel to Gladewater, Texas to help me sort all this out? I would be more than willing to pay a daily rate plus travel expenses just to get another pair of eyes on my installation.

Joe
Longview, TX

RV-14A 99% Complete (except avionics)

Arion Lightning LS-1 Flying regularly

2020 Dues Paid
 
I'll be the first one to ask. Advanced couldn't help you with any of these problems? I plan on getting a quick panel and hope that if i have issues the advanced guys will help me figure them out.
 
Joe, in re the fuel sensor issue, make sure that you have selected the right kind of sensor in the Dynon set up menu. See page 7-59 and 7-60 in the install manual. As I don't have the Advanced Control Module (ACM) I can't really help there but the one thing I'd try in the Dynon setup is to go to the Network Set up function and look at the Network Status. I can't remember the exact words used, but there is a network discovery function which should go out and poll every Dynon device. The Advanced Control Module is offline and I'd bet that is the cause of most of your other issues. Assuming it's powered on, it may not be communicating with the rest of the Skyview system.
 
Make sure the base of the sender unit is grounded, I see lots of fuel qty issues caused by bad ground at the sender.
 
I'll be the first one to ask. Advanced couldn't help you with any of these problems? I plan on getting a quick panel and hope that if i have issues the advanced guys will help me figure them out.

Advanced has been very helpful, Rob Hickman in particular. I reached out to VAF because I feel that Advanced is growing weary of answering my questions.
Joe
Longview, TX
 
Just looked in my ACM manual and don't even see an "ACM offline" message. Other Offlines like EFIS, CO, etc, but nothing ACM only unless I missed it.

on ADHARS have you done the calibration yet? I am guessing you still need to do this since you said you haven't had the plane our of the hangar long enough to acquire GPS signal yet, but you should do this before your first flight for sure.

As others have said, Rob is awesome and can help you out. If he doesn't see this, reach out to their team and I bet you are up and running quickly.

Good luck
 
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Joe, in re the fuel sensor issue, make sure that you have selected the right kind of sensor in the Dynon set up menu. See page 7-59 and 7-60 in the install manual. As I don't have the Advanced Control Module (ACM) I can't really help there but the one thing I'd try in the Dynon setup is to go to the Network Set up function and look at the Network Status. I can't remember the exact words used, but there is a network discovery function which should go out and poll every Dynon device. The Advanced Control Module is offline and I'd bet that is the cause of most of your other issues. Assuming it's powered on, it may not be communicating with the rest of the Skyview system.

Excellent suggestion. I'll check it out tomorrow when I go to the airport.

I still don't know how to handle the "ACM Offline" message. lf the ACM is not communicating with the Skyview system how could any of it be working? Maybe someone will have a clue about this.
Joe
Longview, Texas
 
Just looked in my ACM manual and don't even see an "ACM offline" message. Other Offlines like EFIC, CO, etc, but nothing ACM only unless I missed it.

on ADHARS have you done the calibration yet? I am guessing you still need to do this since you said you haven't had the plane our of the hangar long enough to acquire GPS signal yet, but you should do this before your first flight for sure.

As others have said, Rob is awesome and can help you out. If he doesn't see this, reach out to their team and I bet you are up and running quickly.

Good luck

I couldn't find any reference to "ACM Offline" either. May Rob will know. I'm going to call him tomorrow.

Joe
Longview, Texas
 
If the ACM seems to be the source of your trouble, why not remove it from the system for a couple of items, and connect them directly to the SV or SV-EMS as a test?
 
There are DIP switches on the back of the ACM that are set up differently between Dynon and AFS systems. Are they set correctly?
 
One thing I noticed with my HDX/ACM system is the components have to be plugged-in in series a very specific way. i had many gremlins initially until I followed exactly the way each component interfaced with the ACM.
 
Hopefully this will help with anyone else having problems in the future:

1. "I've tried to calibrate the fuel tank senders, but no luck there. The setup menu says I have 5 volts output which does not change regardless of how much fuel is in the tank. So … I thought maybe I had installed the senders upside down. Spent about 4 hours today removing and re-installing one of the senders."

Fuel tank sending units are actually very simple devices, they change resistance from about 30 Ohms to 240 Ohms as the arm moves up and down. The first thing you should do is disconnect the harness connector from the EMS module and measure the resistance between the tank pin and ground. Make sure you know how to use your volt/ohm meter to measure resistance in the 0-500 ohm range. If you get an open circuit you need to verify that the wire going from the pin is wired to the probe. In this case the SV-EMS tank 1 and tank 2 wires were never connected. If you do get 30-240 ohms the next step is to verify that the resistance changes as you change the fuel level. It is common for people to use way too much Pro Seal and the arm gets glued and will not move or sticks.

2. "I've been unable to get a position reading from my pitch and roll trims and no reading on flap position. All work as expected (motors run in correct direction) but no indication on the EFIS about their position. Sure would like to know my pitch trim position before my first flight."

When you have an ACM the Trim and Flap sensors are read by the ACM and then sent over the serial port to the EFIS screens. Serial Port #1 on the Skyview must be configured as Advanced Control Module.


"Not sure about the GPS since I haven't had the plane outside long enough for it to detect the satellites."
Skyview has a GPS status page that will show if it is getting data from the GPS and how many satellites.

"Keep getting a "ACM Offline" caution message, but don't know what that means. Anybody know what this is?"
It means the EFIS is not talking to the ACM, Serial Port #1 on the Skyview must be configured as Advanced Control Module.

"I think my ADAHRS is working OK, but I don't trust it!"
I would have someone gently blow in the pitot tube to verify that the airspeed works and the altimeter does not change.
Before you fly it you should also do a Pitot/Static/Transponder test, this will verify that the altimeter, airspeed and transponder are all working before you fly with a Mode S ES transponder turned on.



Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
 
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