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G3X altitude Alerts - help

Flyyak

Well Known Member
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I previously had a dual Non Touch G3X which was wired so I received an aural beep alert as I approach assigned altitude*at 1000'*+/- and then again at 200' +/- and would also alert when passing outside 200'*+/- As described on page 78 of the pilots guide for the G3X Touch (same for non touch).* I received these alerts on the non touch but I do not receive these alerts on the touch.

I have a GMA 240 and it was essentially plug and play to the touch (P4X02/P3701) from the non touch. I have checked to make sure the wiring matches the attached diagram and that the pins/wires are not broken or disconnected at the J1 of the 240 at pins 31, 32 and the P4X02 of the G3X at pins 1, 18. Wiring and connections are good.* Also I checked the sound configuration page on the G3X so that the Alert Source is configured to PFD only and the Alert Output is set to Mono only.

I get all the audio alerts (I think generated by the 650xi) such as traffic, terrain, 500', obstacles, minimums, just no aural tones at the altitudes.
I spoke with g3xperts a few times and they suggested checking the Sound configuration*then next time they thought that my G3X may not have been connected to the GMA240. I have verified all is correctly set but still no aural alert tones.

Can you think of anything further that I may check or configure.
 

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  • G3X install manual aural alerts pg 27-46 Mar 2021.pdf
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G3X aural altitude alerts

Trying again on the wiring diagram attachment
 

Attachments

  • G3X install manual aural alerts pg 27-46 Mar 2021.pdf
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Neil,

Enable Altitude Alerts on the PFD Sound Configuration page and raise the Altitude Alert Volume on that page until you can hear the altitude alert tones when you press the Altitude Alert Volume Test button.

Steve

Altitude Alerts.png
 
I checked the Sound configuration and it is set to 100%, PFD and Mono only. After checking the configuration, I checked the wiring pin to plug between J1 on the 240 and the G3X P4X02 plugs. Wiring is correct and wiring continuity is valid.

It worked perfectly in the non touch and I just plugged it into the Touch and configured the Sound as set forth in the installation manual but no luck.
 
I previously had a dual Non Touch G3X which was wired so I received an aural beep alert as I approach assigned altitude*at 1000'*+/- and then again at 200' +/- and would also alert when passing outside 200'*+/- As described on page 78 of the pilots guide for the G3X Touch (same for non touch).* I received these alerts on the non touch but I do not receive these alerts on the touch.

I have a GMA 240 and it was essentially plug and play to the touch (P4X02/P3701) from the non touch. I have checked to make sure the wiring matches the attached diagram and that the pins/wires are not broken or disconnected at the J1 of the 240 at pins 31, 32 and the P4X02 of the G3X at pins 1, 18. Wiring and connections are good.* Also I checked the sound configuration page on the G3X so that the Alert Source is configured to PFD only and the Alert Output is set to Mono only.

I get all the audio alerts (I think generated by the 650xi) such as traffic, terrain, 500', obstacles, minimums, just no aural tones at the altitudes.
I spoke with g3xperts a few times and they suggested checking the Sound configuration*then next time they thought that my G3X may not have been connected to the GMA240. I have verified all is correctly set but still no aural alert tones.

Can you think of anything further that I may check or configure.

Do you get any of the other alerts from the G3X, such as AOA tones, EMS warnings, etc.? If not and the wiring wasn't touched, I would be asking Garmin about a potential problem with the PFD. The fact that you just swapped boxes from a unit that worked in the same wiring setup would point to a HW or SW issue in the new PFD. If you get all of the other G3X alerts, you must be missing something in the SW configuration. Can't help, as mine are turned off and never tried them.

The G3X has various test tones that can be sent from the config menus, so you can do further testing.
 
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Neil,

According to the wiring diagrams you provided me, the only audio between the GTN and the GMA 240 is Nav Ident (Morse Code) audio, so it is impossible for the GTN to be providing aural alert warnings.

All of this evidence suggests that your GDU 460 Mono alert audio output is working fine and providing all the alert audio you report hearing in your aircraft (traffic, terrain, 500', obstacles, minimums), but something is not properly configured with respect to the Altitude Alerts.

I did some testing this morning with a V9.00 G3X Touch system using a GMA 240 and the Sound Configuration page and observed this:

  1. The Altitude Alert enable/disable and volume is totally independent of the Alert Volume and Message Volume settings. You can completely disable Alert Volume and Message Volume and still enable and use the Altitude Alert feature and set the volume to any level from 10% to 100%.
  2. I could set the Altitude Alert volume all the way down to 30% and still hear the altitude alert audio test in a headset connected to the GMA 240. If I set the Altitude Alert volume below 30%, the output signal is no longer large enough to exceed the Alert 1 audio input threshold on the GMA 240 I was testing with, and I no longer heard the Altitude Alert.
  3. The above tests were done in configuration mode using the Sound Configuration page. I left the Altitude Alert volume set to 30% and started the system up in simulator mode to further test the Altitude Alert function. I engaged the autopilot, selected a target altitude 1500’ above present altitude and climbed to capture the new selected altitude. I clearly heard both 1000’ before and 200’ before altitude alert tones just as I did when using the Sound Configuration page. I descended 200’ below the selected altitude, and heard the 200’ altitude deviation tone.
The above testing verified the GDU 4XX mono alert audio output (hardware and software) and the GMA 240 alert audio input without ever leaving the ground. You can repeat this testing with your aircraft. Additionally, I know that the aural/visual altitude alert feature is also working in normal mode when flying my G3X Touch aircraft.

Keep in mind that the 30% Altitude Alert volume that worked reliably on this GMA 240 could be higher or lower on a different GMA 240, especially if someone has adjusted the GMA 240 potentiometers which control the Alert 1 Volume and/or MASQ (Master Avionics Squelch) Mute Level away from factory settings.

GMA 240 Pots.png

Steve
 
It is good news that apparently both the 240 and the 460 appear to be working properly and hopefully it is my errors in setting up the alert functions. I believe that It also appears that the wiring is OK and I just need to learn how to properly configure the alert functions.

I am not sure I have ever seen the simulator function and if you could tell me how to use that function it will probably be valuable to try to correct and to properly configure the alert functions. Thanks very much.
 
Installed the 240 new out of the box and no one has every fooled with it but me. All I did was wire the plugs, install the tray and then install the unit. Whatever settings that are in the unit are the same that we’re set from the factory.
 
I am not sure I have ever seen the simulator function and if you could tell me how to use that function it will probably be valuable to try to correct and to properly configure the alert functions. Thanks very much.
Neil,

Here is a link to a previous posting explaining how to activate and use the G3X Touch simulator on power-up.

Steve
 
Steve's suggestions are all right on. You ought to be able to get this worked out on the ground without burning avgas. The only other thing I'd add, since this is a new GDU 4xx installation, is to verify you have updated your display software to the latest version, which will include the correct audio database.
 
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Thanks guys. I plan to sit in front of my hangar in simulator mode to try to resolve this issue and learn the Touch system. I am sure that I was looking in the wrong place but I could not find “simulator mode” in the G3X install manual or pilots guide or this forum.

The post that Steve showed will probably be very helpful for others as they complete their installations of the G3X systems. I am so thankful for this forum and the spirit of this vansairforce community.

I am pretty sure that there are many of us that would not have completed our projects without the help of this forum.
 
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