Autopilot Warning Horn

[SuperCub]

Here in Germany our authorities now demand a warning horn when the autopilot is disengaged.
So question for Dynon Support is: Can I somehow trigger a warning horn additionally to Miss Dynon saying "Autopilot" ?? Even a wire pulled down for lets say two seconds to Ground could help to activate a tone generator.
This could also be a suggestion to add this feature in a future firmware.

 

[preid]

I use the flight stick. If I needed a warning I would put the horn on the wire I press for CWS/ turning on and off the autopilot.
So you would get a horn when the button was pressed.

 

[SuperCub]

This is one approach for a solution.
But if it is required to have a horn for lets say two seconds it involves additional hardware. If it is kind of directly wired it would sound all the time when the CWS function is programed to hold the A/P targets as long as the CWS button is pressed.
However it should be possible to trigger a horn for two seconds each time the CWS button is pressed.
Best would be a separate trigger signal only for disconnecting the A/P. And this signal could come one when the A/P is disconnected for other reasons as switching it off intentionally - the main reason I believe it is required in the first place.

 

[Dynon]

So there's actually already an "Autopilot Disconnect" audio warning that's in the system. Are you not hearing it?

 

[SuperCub]

Yes I hear it, although sometimes no audio is coming through before I restart the displays.
But the point is our "FAA" requires a warning horn and I don´t know they accept the present warning. I just want to be preparerd just in case.

 

[dynonsupport]

Currently in SkyView hardware and firmware, there is no capability to trigger an external indicator (or relay) for anything other than Engine warnings.

Yes I hear it, although sometimes no audio is coming through before I restart the displays.
But the point is our "FAA" requires a warning horn and I don´t know they accept the present warning. I just want to be preparerd just in case.

 

[swatson999]

Yes I hear it, although sometimes no audio is coming through before I restart the displays.
But the point is our "FAA" requires a warning horn and I don´t know they accept the present warning. I just want to be preparerd just in case.

I'd just ask them, maybe demo it or let them hear it, before I went to a bunch of extra work...have you asked them outright?

 

[SuperCub]

One good way would be the possibility to select the kind of audio warning - voice or tone (horn).
And yes, let them hear might work to make them approve the warning. One argument for voice is that it says "Autopilot" and so it is not misleading for other warnings.

 

[skysailor]

I would second Steve W.'s suggestion to ask them. Bear in mind regulations written to require a "warning horn" on disengage were written long ago when everything was analog. There was no synthetic digital voice to tell you a specific event occurred. It is likely the voice will meet the requirement.

Warning horns in airliners once were required to be different for different events to help the pilot with problem isolation. This is largely no longer true since the event usually triggers a generic warning tone followed by a voice alert of the actual problem.