Kevin Horton
Well Known Member
I'm debugging my recently installed Trio Pro Pilot autopilot, and have a question about its behaviour when connected to a Garmin GNS 430W for anyone else who has this combination.
On my aircraft, the Trio is not showing any GPS info until I have put a flight plan in the GNS 430W. If there is no flight plan in the GPS, the Trio shows a "No GPS" message, and will not work in CRS mode. It starts working as soon as I enter a flight plan.
I just checked the serial (originally I called this NMEA, but that was a misuse of the term) data that I recorded on one of my test flights, and I see that the GPS does put out track and ground speed even if there is no flight plan, so that data should be available to the Trio. I'm wondering if something is messed up in the serial (was NMEA) communication from the GPS to the Trio, either a wiring problem or a GPS serial port configuration issue.
For anyone who has a Garmin GNS 430W and a Trio Pro Pilot - please confirm that your Trio shows a connection to the GPS even if there is no flight plan. It should work in CRS mode.
If someone else confirms their system works with no GPS flight plan, then I'll experiment with different serial port options, and check the wiring if that doesn't do it.
On my aircraft, the Trio is not showing any GPS info until I have put a flight plan in the GNS 430W. If there is no flight plan in the GPS, the Trio shows a "No GPS" message, and will not work in CRS mode. It starts working as soon as I enter a flight plan.
I just checked the serial (originally I called this NMEA, but that was a misuse of the term) data that I recorded on one of my test flights, and I see that the GPS does put out track and ground speed even if there is no flight plan, so that data should be available to the Trio. I'm wondering if something is messed up in the serial (was NMEA) communication from the GPS to the Trio, either a wiring problem or a GPS serial port configuration issue.
For anyone who has a Garmin GNS 430W and a Trio Pro Pilot - please confirm that your Trio shows a connection to the GPS even if there is no flight plan. It should work in CRS mode.
If someone else confirms their system works with no GPS flight plan, then I'll experiment with different serial port options, and check the wiring if that doesn't do it.
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