Van's Air Force
Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.
Garmin GHA 15 Height Advisor - New Product Announcement
- Thread starter g3xpert
- Start date
USB Connection
The GHA 15 communicates with the G3X Touch solely via CAN bus, so this USB harness is not required. At the time of install, it is not a bad idea to go ahead and provision for a connection via USB should the need ever arise to collect additional diagnostic data from the unit.
Thanks,
Justin
The GHA 15 communicates with the G3X Touch solely via CAN bus, so this USB harness is not required. At the time of install, it is not a bad idea to go ahead and provision for a connection via USB should the need ever arise to collect additional diagnostic data from the unit.
Thanks,
Justin
anyone one of use flying one yet?
curious what your impressions are of it. I was given a great demos in the BGT (big garmin tent) which included a nice chat with a guy who said he was software engineer on the project. I recently flew with a guy that flared a tad too soon and had a little dropped in landing when it stalled couple or so feet up. Was thinking to myself this might have helped.
curious what your impressions are of it. I was given a great demos in the BGT (big garmin tent) which included a nice chat with a guy who said he was software engineer on the project. I recently flew with a guy that flared a tad too soon and had a little dropped in landing when it stalled couple or so feet up. Was thinking to myself this might have helped.
jandetlefsen
Member
Do you plan to support display of radar height on the GI275? I did not see any mention in the updated install manual.
Does anyone have this working yet? I was told at Oshkosh that the audio alerts stop at 5 feet, do not include any below 5. Is it true or false?
I have a LIDAR system now, and those very small number announcements are the most useful for the best touchdowns, especially at night. It would be a real shame if they actually stop at 5 feet. And in any case the audio alerts are the key - numbers or markers on a screen are not great right before and at touchdown.
I have a LIDAR system now, and those very small number announcements are the most useful for the best touchdowns, especially at night. It would be a real shame if they actually stop at 5 feet. And in any case the audio alerts are the key - numbers or markers on a screen are not great right before and at touchdown.
Great! Strange, the guy in the Garmin big tent was insistent! Didn't think he could be right...Thanks!
Longez
Well Known Member
Here is a link to a video where you can hear it counting down to 1 ft.
https://youtu.be/NnZdJJH0Y6k?t=500
Steve
No pictures, I located it under the removable passenger seat pan in the bay next to the center section control tunnel. Placed it as far aft as possible to still be able to install it and service the unit without having to drill out the aft portion on the seat pan. I wanted it as far aft as possible to be inline with the mains for accuracy but its about 6-8" forward. Close enough for me. The doubler, .032" aluminum fits between the seat ribs and is 2" longer the the antenna itself. 8 AN-3 flush rivets around the perimeter of the doubler...The four mounting screws do the rest. I used nuts instead of plate nuts to save me some time. My A/P roll servo CAN Bus was tapped to tie it all together. I just clipped it long enough with some service length, then replaced the short piece that goes to the servo a longer one to the D-sub connector.
Thanks for the detailed reply. That matches my plan almost exactly. However, I was thinking it would need to be as far forward as possible in that bay (just behind the spar) rather than aft. I'll have to take another look next time I'm at the hangar. It may be that my mental picture of the gear geometry is off.
Mounting location
I just got mine from Sarasota Avionics (quick shipping!).
For my aircraft, a good location is in the tunnel just forward of the spar. It meets all of the mounting requirements, which include level with the airframe, centered on pitch and roll, has good forward visibility, and provides 20 cm clearance from people.
I just got mine from Sarasota Avionics (quick shipping!).
For my aircraft, a good location is in the tunnel just forward of the spar. It meets all of the mounting requirements, which include level with the airframe, centered on pitch and roll, has good forward visibility, and provides 20 cm clearance from people.
That is what I ended up doing as well after chatting with Garmin.
I also measured the resistance from that terminal to unit ground and the doubler plater. All was zero ohm.
The biggest learning, I had installing is to check twice that all cables are pulled through the connector back shell before pinning them.
On that note: I had an extremely challenging time de-pinning. Anybody found a tool that makes it easier? The included plastic one did not work and the metal green one barely did.
Those plastic tools are useless. The ones Stein sells work but bend easily. I splurged and bought a couple high quality pin tools and they work great. I used the tool to release the pin, then used the chuck end of a .040 drill bit to push the pin and tool out.
Can you please share more details on the tools? I am ready to spend some money on the proper tools.
I got them on Amazon but do not see the exact ones I bought now. Mine have a black plastic handle and a black steel insert tip. I am sure you can find a quality tool there.
Initial Installation
Good Morning,
Yes as part of the initial installation, you perform an on ground, zero foot offset to compensate for the distance from the GHA antenna to the ground. This is included in the G3X Touch installation manual, among the installation guidance specific to the GHA 15 (Chapter 8).
Thanks,
Justin
Good Morning,
Yes as part of the initial installation, you perform an on ground, zero foot offset to compensate for the distance from the GHA antenna to the ground. This is included in the G3X Touch installation manual, among the installation guidance specific to the GHA 15 (Chapter 8).
Thanks,
Justin
Today is the last day of August. Are we getting the update today?
I had to disconnect mine testing my can bus communication. Wasn’t happy with it connected and no software update for it.
Yeah. I spent many hours taking apart all the can bus shells and checking the can buss pins per the trouble shooting guide, then checking each one again after putting the shells back together. It all should work, but it doesn't! It helped when i disconnected the GHA 15. I am at my wits end on this system and will need to get one on one help from one of the G3xperts.!
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
Stand-alone Indicator Needed
I would respectfully submit that some, perhaps many aircraft will not have a G3X suite installed in them thus are not candidates for GHA15 installation.
I would also respectfully submit that a device like the GHA15 has the potential to provide a very substantial improvement in flight safety for many aircraft - fixed wing land aircraft, float planes, amphibs and rotorcraft.
The development and marketing of a stand-alone indicator head for use with the GHA15 is something that Garmin should do in the very near term. Aviation needs this safety enhancement.
Since Garmin's product decisions are business decisions, the business justification for development of a stand-alone display device for the GHA15 is very simple. It's the "gateway drug" for G3X sales. Get the aircraft owner into the Garmin ecosystem by having them install a simple and inexpensive but high-value safety system in the aircraft. When that aircraft owner considers the next step in the evolution of avionics in their aircraft, Garmin's G3X will be the logical stepping stone that allows most efficient use of panel space by turfing the inexpensive stand-alone GHA15 indicator and integrating its data into a G3X display. Simple vertical integration marketing - works every time.
With respect to the safety benefit, please take a moment to read this recently-released Transportation Safety Board report and consider the safety impact of the accident aircraft having had a GHA15 and stand-alone indicator installed.
https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/aviation/2021/a21q0097/a21q0097.html
The need for this product is very real!
I would respectfully submit that some, perhaps many aircraft will not have a G3X suite installed in them thus are not candidates for GHA15 installation.
I would also respectfully submit that a device like the GHA15 has the potential to provide a very substantial improvement in flight safety for many aircraft - fixed wing land aircraft, float planes, amphibs and rotorcraft.
The development and marketing of a stand-alone indicator head for use with the GHA15 is something that Garmin should do in the very near term. Aviation needs this safety enhancement.
Since Garmin's product decisions are business decisions, the business justification for development of a stand-alone display device for the GHA15 is very simple. It's the "gateway drug" for G3X sales. Get the aircraft owner into the Garmin ecosystem by having them install a simple and inexpensive but high-value safety system in the aircraft. When that aircraft owner considers the next step in the evolution of avionics in their aircraft, Garmin's G3X will be the logical stepping stone that allows most efficient use of panel space by turfing the inexpensive stand-alone GHA15 indicator and integrating its data into a G3X display. Simple vertical integration marketing - works every time.
With respect to the safety benefit, please take a moment to read this recently-released Transportation Safety Board report and consider the safety impact of the accident aircraft having had a GHA15 and stand-alone indicator installed.
https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/aviation/2021/a21q0097/a21q0097.html
The need for this product is very real!
jandetlefsen
Member
The problem is if Garmin offered a standalone display they would charge you 3K for it
Updated the G3x Touch firmware yesterday to 9.31 to make the GHA 15 work.
The unit did initially not show up in the config menu overview page and I started to already think about checking wiring etc... until I went to the LRU page and found the option to enable it.
So, make sure to enable it under the LRU page as well.
The unit did initially not show up in the config menu overview page and I started to already think about checking wiring etc... until I went to the LRU page and found the option to enable it.
So, make sure to enable it under the LRU page as well.
Brantel
Well Known Member
The problem is if Garmin offered a standalone display they would charge you 3K for it
It would be possible to build such a diy display with a few super sleuthing skills and knowledge of how can bus works, assuming Garmin does not encrypt the data. If I were young and ambitious again, I might try it but I have got to get this airplane built!
Last edited:
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
The problem is if Garmin offered a standalone display they would charge you 3K for it
I look at the number of flexible display products on the market in the "several hundreds of dollars" price range... My comment was aimed at the customer who isn't yet ready to spend for a full G3X... A stand-alone indicator would set the hook for more Garmin products in their next upgrade cycle.
Examples may be found here:
https://www.kanardia.eu/product/indu-round-indicators/
rcarsey
Well Known Member
Now that I've had a few landings under my belt.. I can answer some questions I saw in this forum previously..
1. Yes, the radar altimeter readouts are in the .CSV file (column BP "Radar Altitude (ft)". Column BO ("Height Above Ground (ft)") is still there.. giving you AGL based upon altimeter/gps and the terrain map.
2. The fly.garmin.com site does not give you the option to display it on the map at this time. I think it's an easy enough feature for them to add though.
3. Audio alerts down to 1 ft.
4. I've seen it display 550' occasionally, but 500' is usually where it picks up reliably.
5. Performs very good over water. To keep the legal 500' from vessels, I set the AP to an altitude that would give me 510' RA. The RA was in lockstep with any slight barometric altimeter changes (ie. from the aircraft wandering a bit before the AP would correct). The average difference between altimeter and RA was about +/- 5'. This is from analyzing the .csv post-flight.
6. If you do a go-around (or balloon up), it will give some audio callouts as you climb. For instance, if it calls out 30 and you start to climb (or balloon), it will call out 40 and maybe 50.. but at that point, it figures you aren't trying to land anymore.. so it quits bothering you. No callouts on take-off.
7. AGL is displayed whenever the RA has reliable data to display. However, I am not certain what number is displayed as the AGL number in the databar (in pink at the top of the screen, if you chose to have that displayed) -- I'll have to pay attention next time.
8. Some demo flights I took: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1KuhIFVjQ
1. Yes, the radar altimeter readouts are in the .CSV file (column BP "Radar Altitude (ft)". Column BO ("Height Above Ground (ft)") is still there.. giving you AGL based upon altimeter/gps and the terrain map.
2. The fly.garmin.com site does not give you the option to display it on the map at this time. I think it's an easy enough feature for them to add though.
3. Audio alerts down to 1 ft.
4. I've seen it display 550' occasionally, but 500' is usually where it picks up reliably.
5. Performs very good over water. To keep the legal 500' from vessels, I set the AP to an altitude that would give me 510' RA. The RA was in lockstep with any slight barometric altimeter changes (ie. from the aircraft wandering a bit before the AP would correct). The average difference between altimeter and RA was about +/- 5'. This is from analyzing the .csv post-flight.
6. If you do a go-around (or balloon up), it will give some audio callouts as you climb. For instance, if it calls out 30 and you start to climb (or balloon), it will call out 40 and maybe 50.. but at that point, it figures you aren't trying to land anymore.. so it quits bothering you. No callouts on take-off.
7. AGL is displayed whenever the RA has reliable data to display. However, I am not certain what number is displayed as the AGL number in the databar (in pink at the top of the screen, if you chose to have that displayed) -- I'll have to pay attention next time.
8. Some demo flights I took: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1KuhIFVjQ
vlittle
Well Known Member
The open-source www.huvver.tech huVVer-AVI MFD instruments that we developed for MakerPlane are more than capable of interpreting the GHA 15 data, without modification.
Unfortunately, Garmin's implementation of the CAN interface is proprietary, so unless they provide us with the specification, we cannot move forward.
The huVVer-AVI MFD already uses Garmin, Dynon, uAvionix, and OnSpeed serial protocols, which are openly available. It also has a CAN bus. Should Garmin choose to release the protocol for the GHA 15, we would be able to provide a stand-alone indicator within a few weeks.
However, for the last few feet on approach, an audio callout is more appropriate, so even the display portion of the huVVer-AVI is redundant. Since we also have an audio output on our MFD we could do this.
Vern
jliltd
Well Known Member
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
I couldn't agree more with this statement. My AOA instrument is flown the say way - entirely on aural cues in the most critical phases of flight. This allows for the eyeballs to be outside the airplane.
I wonder, from a human factors engineering standpoint, how best to integrate two critical aural warning tones, AOA and radar altimeter? Hmmm this could make a very interesting study for a human factors engineering student.
