Dangerous software error. The autopilot switches off during flight!

Mike Linckels

New Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Luxembourg
Please, Dynon team, fix this immediately.
This error is a good reason for customers to choose an alternative product.

It took me a long time to identify the error and during that time I completely lost confidence in the system, especially when the AP switched off during MVFR flights.

Description of the problem:

During flight, at any given moment, the message ‘Autopilot disconnect’ appears and the AP switches itself of . It is possible to switch it back on. Sometimes it stays on for the rest of the flight, but sometimes it switches off again after a few seconds. During the switch-off, I could sometimes see a red ‘X’ on the side of the PFI for a fraction of a second.

I connected a camera via the USB module and noticed that the problem only occurs when I display the camera image on the HDX. Even if it disappears again after the first display and the map is shown instead, for example, the problem still reappears. Even, when the camera is disconnected from the power bus, the problem still reappears. So, for the error to occur, it is sufficient to display the camera image just once briefly.

The camera image has a very low refresh rate and is sometimes distorted (horizontal line errors).

So far, the error has never occurred when the camera was not displayed and still connected and powered.


My amateur diagnosis:

I think that the camera is sending too much information to the HDX processor and overloading it, so that it briefly stops receiving information from the ADAHRS module and then switches off the AP due to not getting position information.

Or, if the problem only occurs on my system, it could be a memory problem, but I have heard from another user with the same problem.

I trust the Dynon team and hope for a quick update.

Kind regards,
Mike
 

vlittle

Active Member
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
546
Mike, you should check your datalogs. The AP dropping off line can be caused by more than one problem, such as loss of gps signal, an intermittent autopilot button or even a flakey power connection.

Dynon will probably be able to help when you submit a diagnostics file.

Years ago, I had a Trutrack autopilot that would drop offline without warning. Turned out that the extended GPS sentences it was receiving would cause an internal timeout. Working with Trutrack, we indentified a workaround, and a follow on software upgrade to fix this problem.

The key here is 'working with’. Good luck.
 

Mike Linckels

New Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Luxembourg
Mike, you should check your datalogs. The AP dropping off line can be caused by more than one problem, such as loss of gps signal, an intermittent autopilot button or even a flakey power connection.

Dynon will probably be able to help when you submit a diagnostics file.

Years ago, I had a Trutrack autopilot that would drop offline without warning. Turned out that the extended GPS sentences it was receiving would cause an internal timeout. Working with Trutrack, we indentified a workaround, and a follow on software upgrade to fix this problem.

The key here is 'working with’. Good luck.
Hi Vlittle,
thanks for replying,
AP only turns off when Camera is displayed. No Harware issue!
Mike
 
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