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comancheguy View Drop Down
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    Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 12:08pm
I have now flown with my IFD-540 twice.  Home from the shop and a nice, long, cross country on Saturday.
 
I have a few questions:
1)  When I departed on the first two flights (but not the trip home, after only a brief shutdown):  The 540 would show that it had acquired almost all the satellites (on the GPS status page - almost all green bars), no warnings or alerts.  I did not check the GPS STATE field.    When I took off and for several minutes after, the airplane symbol was not "tracking heading"  i.e.:  It appeared to be moving sideways, over the map.  The GPS knew where it was, as the airplane moved across the map, but did not point, in the direction that I was going.   The GPS also knew it's altitude, leading me to believe that it "saw enough satellites" to compute a very accurate fix.  This would be MONSTROUSLY distracting in IFR.  After, something like 5 minutes, it resolved itself and when I turned the airplane, the little airplane would show the turn.   Is this something that is fixed in 10.0.3?  Know issue?  Somthing not configured correctly?
 
2) I attempted to add a com3 and or com4 "slot" to the left data block, but they were grayed out.  After a re-read of the pilot's manual, it appears that maybe I need to delete some other stuff below it to free up the space?   I shall try that next flight.
 
3)  My XM weather from my Garmin GDL-69/A is not coming in.  It seems to know about my subscription, etc, but the data never updates.  I will be working with my shop on this one.   They know about the issue.   The status page shows signal "very strong, or something" Service level:  Aviator lite.  So, it seems that it is communicating with the XM box in the airplane and with the XM satellites(?).    Any thoughts, here?
 
4) It seems that the "Chart" approach plate loads the departure airport?    After a 1.5 hour flight, with the destiantion airport loaded, and approach loaded and activated, I had to manually load the arrival plate.  Could this not be auto loaded / defaulted when you load/activate the approach.
 
5)  I flew a practice GPS approach, and everthing worked well, except that there was no "ownship" position displayed on the chart.  i.e.:  No airplane symbol showed up on the chart page.  I have not yet attempted to pay Jeppeson the "vig" for the chart updates.  (The amount, of which, BTW, would pay for an ipad, a data subscription to Foreflight, and a stratus reciever)... So, maybe the lack of current charts is why?    Am I correct, to understand, that the chart will display a geo-referenced position on the approach plate?   Then switch to the taxi diagram with position displayed once on the ground?
 
6)  I didn't see any indication, that was my storm scope data was / was not being displayed.  The 530W had a dedicated page for this.   Is there some sort of indiaction that strikes are / are not being displayed?
 
 
I DID really start to like the box on the flight home (third flight).  It is easy to use, and intuative.  Once I get a few little glitches cleaned up (XM WX), and get a bit more used to it, I think that I will  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  Right now, it's a serious, cautious, LIKE!   Once I get my second 540 installed (waiting on shop availability), it'll be extra sweet. 
 
Thanks,
Ken
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviJake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 12:26pm
Hi Ken,

Good stuff.

1.  That's a new one to me.   Any chance you were inadvertently in North Up map orientation?  (Sorry for the likely silly question).  In any case, I'd be VERY interested in getting the data logs.   Is that something you can send?  sjacobson@avidyne.com

2.  Yes, should just be a matter of freeing up the space.  Did you have traffic thumbnail selected for that slot?   Take a look at page 4-16 of the PG.  That page talks about the datablock presets.     Have a go and if still no-joy, give a shout.

3.  Should work just fine.  Maybe take a picture of the Datalink Status page (shows each product by age) to see if the data products are even coming in.  The only other thing I can think of is that non-standard selections are made on the Wx Overlay page.  Check out page 3-16 of the Pilot Guide if you need some help on that one.

4.  There are some nuances here to get used to.  It is true the system does not autoload the airport/chart but.......you do have hot links to the selected chart (see page 3-30 of the pilot guide) and a Paste capability.  The paste line select key will be presented on the Chart tab and then the Select Chart lsk along the left side - see page 3-28 of the pilot guide for a brief explanation.   By design, we persist the last airport/chart you had selected at power down - the reasoning being that's the field you'll start up at and will want airport diagram taxi charts readily available for.

5.  Yes, if charts are not current, we don't overlay the ownship symbol and active flight plan route on the chart.  See page 3-32 of the pilot guide for a brief explanation of that.

6.  We take a "no news is good news" approach.   We didn't want to clutter up the display with sensor status symbols.  If you lose a sensor, you get a CAS message.     We don't have a dedicated page for this or other types of data.    To ensure you've turned on lightning for display on the map, check out the settings on Wx Overlay page per page 3-16 of the pilot guide.
Steve Jacobson
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comancheguy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 2:08pm
Steve -

Thanks for the quick reply.
 
1)  I'll try and download the logs, that'll be a good practice exercise.  If I had been in North up (I thought maybe it was something like this...), it still should slide the map around as I turn, and the little airplane should move.   For instance, I took off and turned crosswind, and the map / airplane wasn't following. 
After about five minutes, it "caught up" and started working.   Not saying that there is an issue.   But, I want to understand what is/is not going on.
2)  I'll give that a shot.
 
3)  I will take a pic of the Datalink status page, next time.
 
4)  Makes sense.  I don't wanna be a weinie and ask for more complexity and features.   (At least, not yet.) :)
 
5)  Page 3-32 doesn't exactly say that...   It says,

Water Marking/Expired Data

Charts that have been expired for 60 or more days will still be displayed and readable indefinitely but a watermark "Not for Navigation" will be depicted on each chart.

6)  Ok.  Good enough. 
 
I'll be in touch with the logs.

Ken
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviJake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 2:13pm
1.  Definitely sounds wrong and  I'll need the datalogs to sniff this out.   You're right that even in N-up, you should see logical movement.

5.  Hhmm.  In my copy of the pilot guide, the very next sentence says "Expired charts will not display the flight plan overlay."   I think I'm looking at the released version of Rev 00 of the PG for that too.
Steve Jacobson
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pburger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 6:28pm
Originally posted by comancheguy comancheguy wrote:

Steve -

 I don't wanna be a weinie and ask for more complexity and features.  

Ken
  

Did you just call Orest a weenie?   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Feb 2015 at 7:17pm
Hey, if I get that Boeing Banana and FIX page, you can call me what you wish.

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Feb 2015 at 11:20am
Absolutely NOT.  I didn't mean to call anyone anything!
 
I am just starting to figure out what these boxes CAN do.  Many smart folks spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it best, and I don't want to ssecond guess that.... (yet..). :)
 
I see things like this, sorta like MS word.   WORD now has SO many features, that I can't find the two that I need to use everyday.  I think that Avidyne has done a good job on the UI/featureset.  I was fairly comfortable after two flights.  Mostly, the 540 has done what I expected, when I pushed a button or turned a knob.
 
 
Ken
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Feb 2015 at 11:24am
Steve -
 
Sent the logs (email) yesterday morning. 
Please let me know if you did NOT receive them.
 
Kudos to Avidyne for allowing access to these logs!!  Very interesting reading.
I can already see a few uses for the data.   If one had fuel flow and and airdata computer wired up...  even more uses come to mind.
 
Ken
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 210 Driver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Feb 2015 at 4:24am
When I took off and for several minutes after, the airplane symbol was not "tracking heading"  i.e.:  It appeared to be moving sideways, over the map.  The GPS knew where it was, as the airplane moved across the map, but did not point, in the direction that I was going.   The GPS also knew it's altitude, leading me to believe that it "saw enough satellites" to compute a very accurate fix.  This would be MONSTROUSLY distracting in IFR.  After, something like 5 minutes, it resolved itself and when I turned the airplane, the little airplane would show the turn.   Is this something that is fixed in 10.0.3? 

I'm wondering if you mean the different page views ComancheGuy? If you see the MAP in North up, try pressing the button right dial. It cycles through three "views" Own ship bottom, own ship centered, and North up. Even though I had set it for heading up, it still required my cycling through the views. Keep pressing the lower dial until you get heading up.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Feb 2015 at 8:56am
Originally posted by 210 Driver 210 Driver wrote:

When I took off and for several minutes after, the airplane symbol was not "tracking heading"  i.e.: ....

I'm wondering if you mean the different page views ComancheGuy? If you see the MAP in North up, try pressing the button right dial. ....

I find the same thing, sometimes it gets stuck in North view at bootup, even after GPS triangulation, regardless of what mode it was at power down.

Do as 210 Driver suggests. That only works in MAP view, not the FMS view.

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Feb 2015 at 10:13am
...Innnnnntersting.   

I will try that, and see if that is what is happening.  I don't see how "North up" should freeze the ship like that.  I mean, if I turn, my position relative to North "changes somewhat...".

When I had this happen, the second time, I had time to study it a bit.  My heading was South (basically).  The map was, now that you mention it... maybe in North up.  Which is ok.  North up or heading up are ok with me.  But, my ship was sliding thru the air sideways down the map.  (basically a heading os W)  Turning my airplane didn't move the map.  (I don't think).   The map was gliding up the screen as I flew along.   The ship icon was in the middle of the map/screen.

I am hoping that Steve will find something in the logs... 

Ken


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviJake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Feb 2015 at 10:56am
Here is a related note I added to the Rel 10.1 update to the Pilot Guide that seems to address this last wave of posts:

Note

Map Orientation Without GPS                                              The map orientation will auto-switch from track-up orientation to north-up orientation when GPS is lost.  Pilots who leave the map orientation in track-up during shutdown may notice the map will start up in north-up until a GPS position fix is available, at which time the map will auto-switch back to track-up.



Edited by AviJake - 16 Feb 2015 at 10:57am
Steve Jacobson
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Feb 2015 at 9:02pm
Steve - 

Did you receive my logs? 

Ken
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviJake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2015 at 9:50am

Ken,

Yes, we did.  I just shot you an update email on the topic a few minutes ago.

Steve

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2015 at 3:21pm
Originally posted by comancheguy comancheguy wrote:

I have now flown with my IFD-540 twice.  Home from the shop and a nice, long, cross country on Saturday.
 
I have a few questions:
1)  When I departed on the first two flights (but not the trip home, after only a brief shutdown):  The 540 would show that it had acquired almost all the satellites (on the GPS status page - almost all green bars), no warnings or alerts.  I did not check the GPS STATE field.    When I took off and for several minutes after, the airplane symbol was not "tracking heading"  i.e.:  It appeared to be moving sideways, over the map.  The GPS knew where it was, as the airplane moved across the map, but did not point, in the direction that I was going.   The GPS also knew it's altitude, leading me to believe that it "saw enough satellites" to compute a very accurate fix.  This would be MONSTROUSLY distracting in IFR.  After, something like 5 minutes, it resolved itself and when I turned the airplane, the little airplane would show the turn.   Is this something that is fixed in 10.0.3?  Know issue?  Somthing not configured correctly?
 
2) I attempted to add a com3 and or com4 "slot" to the left data block, but they were grayed out.  After a re-read of the pilot's manual, it appears that maybe I need to delete some other stuff below it to free up the space?   I shall try that next flight.
 
3)  My XM weather from my Garmin GDL-69/A is not coming in.  It seems to know about my subscription, etc, but the data never updates.  I will be working with my shop on this one.   They know about the issue.   The status page shows signal "very strong, or something" Service level:  Aviator lite.  So, it seems that it is communicating with the XM box in the airplane and with the XM satellites(?).    Any thoughts, here?
 
4) It seems that the "Chart" approach plate loads the departure airport?    After a 1.5 hour flight, with the destiantion airport loaded, and approach loaded and activated, I had to manually load the arrival plate.  Could this not be auto loaded / defaulted when you load/activate the approach.
 
5)  I flew a practice GPS approach, and everthing worked well, except that there was no "ownship" position displayed on the chart.  i.e.:  No airplane symbol showed up on the chart page.  I have not yet attempted to pay Jeppeson the "vig" for the chart updates.  (The amount, of which, BTW, would pay for an ipad, a data subscription to Foreflight, and a stratus reciever)... So, maybe the lack of current charts is why?    Am I correct, to understand, that the chart will display a geo-referenced position on the approach plate?   Then switch to the taxi diagram with position displayed once on the ground?
 
6)  I didn't see any indication, that was my storm scope data was / was not being displayed.  The 530W had a dedicated page for this.   Is there some sort of indiaction that strikes are / are not being displayed?
 
 
I DID really start to like the box on the flight home (third flight).  It is easy to use, and intuative.  Once I get a few little glitches cleaned up (XM WX), and get a bit more used to it, I think that I will  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  Right now, it's a serious, cautious, LIKE!   Once I get my second 540 installed (waiting on shop availability), it'll be extra sweet. 
 
Thanks,
Ken


I want to provide a status on this.  

1)  "Heading issue":   Sergio, Steve and Simpson worked on this, and got to the bottom of it.  Not really a 540 issue.  My DG has a bootstrap output to provide heading info.  So, the DG sends whatever heading it's set too, to the 540.  When the pilot has the DG not set properly...   Well, there you are.  This output is usually an HSI thing.   VERY good info if you have a stormscope.    We DID have one issue where the setup had magnetic for 540 #1 and true for 540 #2.  This was adding to the weirdness. 

FIXED!

2)  Third com radio slot:       Need to try this again.   

Not a big deal - likely operator error

3)  Apparently, GDL-69 requires firmware update to work with 540, when shop tried to update via the 540 (as you can with the 540), there is no way to do it.  They pulled the 69, and tried to update on the bench and it died.  $650 to Gramin - works like a charm, now.    Kinda pissed that I had to pay for this, cause it was working... 

FIXED!

4)  Chart shows dept vs arrival airport - this feature would be nice.  Steve has already replied, I think.  

Nice to have - no biggie.


5)  That was the issue.  I have current Jepp charts and all works well.  Now to get a charting option that doesn't cost $1000 per.  Grrr....

No issue - expired Jepp subscription.

6)  Stormscope data is appearing.  Will probably get to test thoroughly this week enroute to OSH and back. 

No issue. 



So, all is well, here.  Assuming that 10.1 fixed the GPS issues once and for all.  

Thanks guys!
Ken




Edited by comancheguy - 16 Jul 2015 at 3:26pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote comancheguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2015 at 3:48pm
Anyone know how to: 

1)  see metar/taf info for an airport not necessarily one on my Flight plan? 

Nevermind - just figured it out on the sim. 
FMS -> INFO tab - type identifier in top box.   DONE!


Like the PC sim, a LOT, BTW.  Still needs some work, but getting there!

Ken
 
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