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SWooding View Drop Down
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    Posted: 31 May 2018 at 11:25pm
Has anybody out in Avidyne world installed the Trutrak Vizion Autopilot? We’ve been having trouble interfacing the two together. We’ve done all the configurations, checked and rechecked wiring but still cannot get communication between the units. Any suggestions?

Edited by SWooding - 31 May 2018 at 11:30pm
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CubedRoot View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CubedRoot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2018 at 12:24am
oh no.  I am just about to pull the trigger on buying a TruTrak vizion for my Cardinal.  It has a 540 in it.  I’d like to hear something official as well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SWooding Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2018 at 9:32am
FYI, not trying to bash the product, just trying to see if we are missing something in the configuration or setup. I spoke to TruTrak and they had paperwork from someone with an avidyne 540 which works just fine. The unit works fine, just need the gps tracking and steering.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SWooding Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2018 at 11:05pm
Ok folks,
We’ve got it all figured out!
Make sure it (TT) is put on a output RS232 Channel that has no other inputs on the channel. 
My issue was the altitude encoder resided on the input of channel 1 and we are guessing it was not wanting anything on the output, even though the pin at the connector had no pin.
So we added the additional 78 pin connector for the aux I/O P1050 connector and used pin 62 and configured RS232 channel #6 output to (Input/Off)(Output/Aviation) and . . . 
- GPS OK - GPSS ON! 
So there you have it! 
Simple if you know this upfront, and now you know. 
Will be flight testing over the weekend.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chflyer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 3:22am
Do you fly mostly GPS approaches these days, given that you're installing the TT which is a GPS-only AP and ILSs will (continue to) be flown by hand?

Vince
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 8:52am
Originally posted by chflyer chflyer wrote:

Do you fly mostly GPS approaches these days, given that you're installing the TT which is a GPS-only AP and ILSs will (continue to) be flown by hand?


Not so if you have an ASPEN, ASPEN and TT are working together to allow both heading bug and normal deviation signals to drive the A/P, and to provide annunciations, and preset alt/VS etc. With an ASPEN/TT install, the TT head becomes little more than an on/off switch.

TT is also reverse engineering the G5 interface, to be able to do some of that with the G* units as well.

* Orest
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CubedRoot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 12:51pm
Originally posted by oskrypuch oskrypuch wrote:

Originally posted by chflyer chflyer wrote:

Do you fly mostly GPS approaches these days, given that you're installing the TT which is a GPS-only AP and ILSs will (continue to) be flown by hand?


Not so if you have an ASPEN, ASPEN and TT are working together to allow both heading bug and normal deviation signals to drive the A/P, and to provide annunciations, and preset alt/VS etc. With an ASPEN/TT install, the TT head becomes little more than an on/off switch.

TT is also reverse engineering the G5 interface, to be able to do some of that with the G* units as well.

* Orest
 

Swooding, glad you got it working! My Cardinal goes in the shop in mid June to have the TruTrak installed.

Orest, 
I am also getting an Aspen E5 installed in my airplane as soon as they are released (Maybe July-ish?), and I am going to wire it up to the TruTrak Vizion as well.  So it sounds like the Aspen will be the device I use the most to control the TruTrak?   
By having the NAV outputs from the IFD540 wired to the ASPEN E5, I will (should) be able to drive the TruTrak from the NAV sources using the Aspen right?  I should be able to track a VOR, an ILS, etc with the NAV radio in the IFD540, and letting the Aspen be the "interpolator" to the Trutrak?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chflyer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 1:33pm
That's really cool if an Aspen can do essentially the reverse for a digital AP like TT of what GPSS does for an analog AP, converting the analog signals to digital instead of digital to analog.
Vince
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 4:16pm
Originally posted by CubedRoot CubedRoot wrote:

I am also getting an Aspen E5 installed in my airplane as soon as they are released (Maybe July-ish?), and I am going to wire it up to the TruTrak Vizion as well.  So it sounds like the Aspen will be the device I use the most to control the TruTrak?   
By having the NAV outputs from the IFD540 wired to the ASPEN E5, I will (should) be able to drive the TruTrak from the NAV sources using the Aspen right?  I should be able to track a VOR, an ILS, etc with the NAV radio in the IFD540, and letting the Aspen be the "interpolator" to the Trutrak?

Correct on both counts, that is what has been announced. The TT head becomes just an on/off switch. All your controls for mode, heading, altitude preset and VS, are from the ASPEN. HDG and NAV/VLOC are available as an input to TT, you just select it in the ASPEN, the TT can't tell the difference between an LPV & ILS deviation signal.

Very slick. Now, the E5 is not released yet, and there can be many a slip, betwixt the spoon and the lip, but if that capability is not available in the initial release version, I expect it will be available very soon afterwards.

And, there is NO unlock cost on the ASPEN for TT interworkability, unlike the unlock for the ASPEN/STEC A/Ps.

* Orest



Edited by oskrypuch - 02 Jun 2018 at 4:21pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CubedRoot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 4:37pm
Originally posted by oskrypuch oskrypuch wrote:

Originally posted by CubedRoot CubedRoot wrote:

I am also getting an Aspen E5 installed in my airplane as soon as they are released (Maybe July-ish?), and I am going to wire it up to the TruTrak Vizion as well.  So it sounds like the Aspen will be the device I use the most to control the TruTrak?   
By having the NAV outputs from the IFD540 wired to the ASPEN E5, I will (should) be able to drive the TruTrak from the NAV sources using the Aspen right?  I should be able to track a VOR, an ILS, etc with the NAV radio in the IFD540, and letting the Aspen be the "interpolator" to the Trutrak?

Correct on both counts, that is what has been announced. The TT head becomes just an on/off switch. All your controls for mode, heading, altitude preset and VS, are from the ASPEN. HDG and NAV/VLOC are available as an input to TT, you just select it in the ASPEN, the TT can't tell the difference between an LPV & ILS deviation signal.

Very slick. Now, the E5 is not released yet, and there can be many a slip, betwixt the spoon and the lip, but if that capability is not available in the initial release version, I expect it will be available very soon afterwards.

And, there is NO unlock cost on the ASPEN for TT interworkability, unlike the unlock for the ASPEN/STEC A/Ps.

* Orest



This is going to be AWESOME for me.  In particular, I am having a hard time deciding which form factor and where to put the TruTrak in my airplane.  I had considered the flat-pak, to get it in my radio stack, but that would take away room for an engine monitor in the future.  

If I can control the TruTrak using the Aspen, then I can just stick it over on the right side of the panel and not worry.  To give an idea, here is a picture of what I originally planned:




Now, moving that hobbs down from the upper right of the panel and installing the TruTrak there seems like a good idea.  I was concerned it would be way out of the way but if the Aspen is able to control it then it doesn't make it so inconvenient.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 10:33pm
What is to the left of your TC?

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CubedRoot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2018 at 10:56pm
Originally posted by oskrypuch oskrypuch wrote:

What is to the left of your TC?

* Orest


Its the OAT/Volts/Clock:




This is a 1973 Cardinal, which has the 3/4 panels in it, so panel space is pretty tight unfortunately.  I'll be getting the Aspen E5 installed as soon as its released, and it'll go in the Attitude and DG holes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SWooding Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Jun 2018 at 5:02pm
Main deal getting AP was for long XC’s.
Simple GPS and GPSS steering to follow the course.
I actually enjoy hand flying my approaches, GPS, Loc, ILs or otherwise. The 540 is awesome.
So because it can do that, (approaches) that is a plus, we’ll see.
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