jthocker

jthocker

Well Known Member
I just got my D180 back from Dynon, and it now talks to the AP74 and the servo's. Initial test flight verified autopilot works, Alt. hold and heading bugs work. WoooHooo! I now have a problem with the HSI, before the AP or firmware 5.0, I could select a "direct to" waypoint on the 496 and the magenta CDI needle would "slew" to the new bearing to the waypoint and begin showing deviations on the CDI scale.
Now the needle is stuck on 000, and does not show deviations.
Anybody else have this problem?
 
What are your serial port settings on the 496? What are your setting in the Advanced NMEA setup on the 496?

How do you have your 496 connected to the Dynon..Serial ports on the screens or HS34?

Do you have the latest firmware in the 496? Dynon has reported that the latest firmware with the 496 fixes some issues with their system.
 
Brian
Thanks for the prompt response. I kinda expected you to respond quickly.
The settings have not been changed,since I installed the AP74 and servo's.
Everything was working great before that. The 496 firmware was updated in June after I recieved it so I would assume it to be up to date, but I'll check anyway.
NOW GET BACK OUT TO THE GARAGE AND GET TO WORK ON YOUR PLANE!:D
 
The latest I think is 3.6 out on June 26th.

I have been warming up the garage this morning, it was about 22?F this morning here....

Hope it is something simple.

Good luck!
 
I'ts cold here in Cincinnati too! I'll drive out to the airport and check the firmware on the 496. I hope it's something simple like baud rates, NMEA, etc.
I've had ongoing issues with a Gateway laptop that hates the Dynon Support Program. It occasionally freezes up when I open the program up without the Dynon unit connected to it. That, coupled with balky serial to usb converters has led me to sometimes question my choice of an EFIS.
Being tied to a PC for flight hardware/software upgrades for a not so savy computer guy is a pain. For that reason I went away from AnywhereMap and to the 496 for XM weather.
I understand the next generation Dynons will use USB for updating, might be worth the wait!
Of course without these little problems to overcome I'd be completely bored and be contemplating building again.;)
 
jthocker said:
Now the needle is stuck on 000, and does not show deviations.
Anybody else have this problem?
Click to expand...

This sounds like your Garmin 496 advanced NMEA settings is set to "FAST" mode. If it is, you can change it to "NORMAL" mode and it should work. In "FAST" mode, the course will stay at "360" because "FAST" mode in the 496 doesn't output the GPBOD or GPAPB? sentence that Dynon requires.
 
NMEA output

Right you were Tom.
I just got back from the airport. Sat in the plane with the hangar door open so the gps could see some satellites, fired up the 496 and Dynon D180/AP74, and began messing with the Garmin Serial Interface. I switched it from "FAST" to "NORMAL", and enabled a bunch of other things, and low and behold the Dynon HSI is back to normal.
On another note, the AP74 "ROCKS", in the past I've never bothered with any of the Dynon "Bugs" before because it was just to cumbersome to go thru the menus and using the + or - to adjust things was a pain.
I now have a knob for that stuff, cool!:D
 
Jon,

Glad you got it going...That is why I was asking about the settings earlier. I bet at some time between when you had it working and now you must have reset defaults or something like that on your 496 and got the "fast" mode turned back on... It is the default I think.

One thing, In that advanced menu, there are a bunch of other switches for turning on additional stuff you may not need. If you turn all of that stuff on, it will lengthen the time between transmissions from the 496. I would turn off anything that you can and still get the Dynon to work. There is no reason to be transmitting stuff that you are not using.
 
Brian
I never messed with the advanced 496 settings until this afternoon, so I think the Dynon was working ok in the FAST mode with V4.0 firmware.
It works now in the normal mode, and yes I'll go and turn off that other stuff,now that I have the manual in front of me and can see what it all is/does.
Oh, and the 496 was already at V3.60
Brian, you've got a great handle on all these electronic interfaces. I'm looking forward to your flight experiences with all your toys.:D
 
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jthocker said:
I'm looking forward to your flight experiences with all your toys.:D
Click to expand...

Me too :) If I ever get that far :eek:. Today was one of them stand there and stare at the plane and scratch your head wondering what to do next days.....:(

I need some avionics but I am waiting till after the new year to see what is going to happen at my work :confused:

I did however spend allot of time with the fine details of the panel design to get all the cuttouts exact etc. so it was not a complete loss.....
 
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