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MGL altimeter

Paul Austin

Paul Austin

Active Member
Gday
looking for a 2.25 backup altimetre for my panel there dosent seem to many avalible in this size for a resonable price .Anyone used the 2.25 Mgl alitmeter what are your experiences with it ?? Are there any others suppliers avalible??:confused:
 
Paul,
I had a Falcon altimeter which broke and I replaced it with the MGL Velocity Alt 3 (3 1/8"). Overall I am happy with it. The display is large and easy to read and the temperature and density altitude function are useful. I have had the MGL tested against a calibrated altimeter as part of the transponder check and it was accurate. Negatives, the VSI display seems to be a bit too sensitive to be useful and I find myself using my original VSI instead. The knob to adjust the sub scale requires a light touch that takes a little getting used to. The barbed fitting on the back is recessed and smaller than standard. If you get one I suggest you ask the supplier how best to connect to this fitting. I ended up using rubber hose and an inline plastic barbed reducer fitting from an auto supply shop.

Fin 9A
Australia
 
Last edited:
Finley Atherton said:
Paul,
I had a Falcon altimeter which broke and I replaced it with the MGL. Overall I am happy with it. The display is large and easy to read and the temperature and density altitude function are useful. Negatives, the VSI display seems to be a bit too sensitive and I find myself using my original VSI instead. The knob to adjust the sub scale requires a light touch that takes a little getting used to. The barbed fitting on the back is recessed and smaller than standard. If you get one I suggest you ask the supplier how best to connect to this fitting.

Fin 9A
Australia (Guyra)
Click to expand...
I've got the 2 1/4 version and use it as our VSI and temp probe. I agree that as it lacks any sort of buffer the VSI is hard to follow, but my biggest complaint is with the very weak backlight that makes it hard to read with a quick glance.
 
Low n Slow said:
I've got the 2 1/4 version and use it as our VSI and temp probe. I agree that as it lacks any sort of buffer the VSI is hard to follow, but my biggest complaint is with the very weak backlight that makes it hard to read with a quick glance.
Click to expand...

Tom,
As I stated in post #2, I find the display easy to read. Maybe the 3 1/8" I have has a brighter display than your 2 1/4"? My altimeter is located pretty much in front of the pilot. If I sit in the passenger seat then the display is much weaker although I can't see this would be an issue in your RV 4. I am trying to be tactful here, but you definitely have the backlight turned on? Have you tried adjusting the contrast? Possibly you have an earlier software version. I see that revision 1.09 changed the default contrast level.

Fin
9A
 
....or you could make your own.

100_5103.jpg


This is my first prototype just to see if I can get it to function. The main components are a pressure sensor, microcontroller and LCD display. A second pressure sensor will allow me to add airspeed to the display. I should be able to compute vertical speed using the altitude info. I might also add a dual-axis magnetic sensor which will serve as a digital compass.

These are planned as a cheap backup to my EFIS. I can crank the brightness up as needed although I might look for a different display, especially if I want to add more info to it.
 
nice.

Nice Mike. I've been working on something like this of my own. Which pressure sensor are you using? I'm playing with the Freescale MPXV5004G.

What microcrontoller are you using there? I have been using pic and avr is the past. But now I'm moving onto using ARM and running embedded linux because I get alot more IO pins, more memory, more processing power. And the boards don't cost that much more.

Chris.
 
Hi Chris,

I'm using a couple of Freescale MPX4115A sensors and a PICAXE 28X2 controller. I've done a little programming in various languages in the past, but never played with microcontrollers. The programming editor lets you write code in simple BASIC, so the learning curve isn't too steep for a first-timer.

This could be another addicting hobby.

Mike
 
Micro Tim digital altimeter

I'm using the above as a backup altimeter/VSI, albeit with cabin static/alt air. Runs on self contained battery for months, auto shutoff, etc.. Comes with either internal static port or male static hose connector on back (mine). This and more models on micro Tim site:

http://www.microtim.com/

Works as advertised, for those of us with no time to build one of these. Shipping was a bit slow direct from company, otherwise no complaints.
 
Finley Atherton said:
Tom,
As I stated in post #2, I find the display easy to read. Maybe the 3 1/8" I have has a brighter display than your 2 1/4"? My altimeter is located pretty much in front of the pilot. If I sit in the passenger seat then the display is much weaker although I can't see this would be an issue in your RV 4. I am trying to be tactful here, but you definitely have the backlight turned on? Have you tried adjusting the contrast? Possibly you have an earlier software version. I see that revision 1.09 changed the default contrast level.

Fin
9A
Click to expand...
Yes, the backlights on and adjusting the contrast was the first thing we did. We bought it around six months ago now, so maybe there is a software update that we need, I'll check.

We also have E.I.'s digital tach and the difference in brightness between the two is like night and day...
 
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