D10a problem after upgrade to 5.0.0

[gianmarko]

today i have finally completed the installation of the two AP servos and the AP74 controller; these are connected to a D10a with NO remote compass. i have been using this D10a without compass for some time without any problem.

however, after upgrading to firmware 5.0.0. the D10a starts complaining with a "remote compass not detected"message.

going into the magnetic calibration menu the internal compass is enabled again, but shortly after the "remote compass not detected" messages reappears.

i have reflashed the D10a to 3.0 firmware and the problem disappears.

i have 2 remote compasses, probably on older firmware levels, but the EFIS doesnt seem able to detect them. i have tried to connect remote compasses under EFIS firmware 3 and 5 with no result.

i have checked wires and everything is ok. AP works fine (havent tested it in flight yet) until the "remote compass not detected" problem generates an AP error on roll axis.

both remote compasses are EDC10A
i have tried to upload firmware to the D10A with both compasses connected but i get an error saying that no EDC10A is connected to the EFIS. havent been able to get the firmware version of the EDC either.

i have built the harness myself. it is around 6 feet long, with all signals except power travelling across a 10 conductors shielded cable.

i occasionally got also a network configuration error. see screenshots below, but i was tinkering with firmware so maybe the network was not configured.

this compass problem is quite annoying because obviously i wont be able to use the AP?

regards

gmr

 

[rvmills]

Gianmarko

I'm no pro, so this may be the blind leading the blind...and I'll defer to Dynon for the bottom line...but if this helps, all the better.

I would recommend starting with a "Detect Firmware" in the Dynon Support Program on the selection "D-10A/Autopilot". You should see results pop up in a small window that lists each component along with its current firmware. If you don't see the EDC-10 listed, the wiring to the EDC-10 may be suspect (did you confirm that connection was OK, and how?) Here's my recent experience which makes me think the above:

I have a D100 bus master, D-10A, EDC-10 (connected to the D-100), AP-74 and two AP servos. Since your bus master is your D-10A, the comments below on my D100 may relate to your D-10A.

I recently had the D100 upgraded to 5.0 at the factory, after a problem with my own upgrade attempt. After re-installing the D100 in the plane, I did a "Detect Firmware" of the "D100/Autopilot" selection, and saw that the D100, AP-74 and servos were all at 5.0, but my EDC-10 was still at 4.0. I could not find any options to select the EDC-10 for upgrade by itself to 5.0. So I re-installed 4.0 in the D100 by uploading the 4.0 backup file, and then I did a fresh "Upgrade to FW 5.0" on the "D100/Autopilot" option. When I did this, the EDC-10 was apparently upgraded "behind the scenes" during the process. There was no menu selections shown during the process to upgrade the EDC-10, and there were no messages that the EDC-10 was being upgraded to 5.0, but when I did another "Detect Firmware", the EDC-10 had been upgraded. Therefore, I think the upgrade happens on the EDC-10 when the bus master (to which the EDC-10 should be connected) is upgraded.

I know you are not just trying to upgrade the EDC-10, you are actually trying to find it! So I'd recommend that you re-check the EDC-10 wiring, then make sure the network is configured, and then do the "detect firmware". If the EDC-10 is on a different firmware update than your D-10A, you can try doing the same process as I used to go back to a previous firmware on the D-10A, then upgrade back to 5.0, and the EDC-10 should upgrade with it. Then you should be good to go. If you can't see the EDC-10 on either 3.0, 4.0 or 5.0, then I'm stumped, other than wiring.

One note: once you find the EDC-10, and get all the DSAB items on the same firmware, you will have to reconfigure the DSAB network, and do a new autopilot servo calibration and servo test for the AP to work. I'd also recommend doing a new compass calibration, as that made a big difference in how my roll servo worked.

Long post, and hope it wasn't confusing...but hope it helps!

Cheers,
Bob

 

[gianmarko]

HI Bob, thatnks for the help anyway.

however, the main point is that i had no EDC connected to the DA10A, and still dont have one when i get the no compass message.....

i have checked the wiring and it is correct, voltage arrives to the remote compass and actually i can feel it slighly warming up.

i have tried uploading the firmware with the EDC connected but the support sw says no edc found. cant get the firmware level of the edc either.
but main point remains that i had no edc installed in my a/c and the error pops up despite this.

ciao

gm

 

[rvmills]

GM,

In looking at your second photo, it shows a heading bar at the top. I'm not sure, but that may only appear when the remote compass is working (not sure if it shows up when the D-10A is on it's internal compass, but it might). This could mean that the connection to the EDC-10 is intermittent...not sure.

Not to be a wise-guy, but have you checked the continuity of all the wires from to/from the EDC-10. Maybe you have good power and ground, but the communications wiring to the D10A is not completly correct...just a thought. Here's a pic of the wiring diagram:

If that pic didn't work, it can be found on page 2-4 of the D10A install guide. Section 3 of that guide also discusses the EDC-10 wiring. That guide can be found here:

http://www.dynonavionics.com/downloads/Install_Guides/EFIS-D10A%20Installation%20Guide.pdf

You may have already seen all of this, but thought I'd post it, just in case. Not sure why you can't see your EDC-10, when connected. You say you have 2 remote compasses...are they both wired in to the D10A at the same time? Not sure if that could cause issues...just scratching my head and thinking out loud.

It's Monday morning here now, so I'll bet Dynon will chime in on this with ideas as well. Good luck with the set-up, and hope it all comes together!

Cheers,
Bob

 

[gianmarko]

the no compass message comes with no compass connected. but things dont change connecting a remote compass, of which i have two;

i have checked many times all the wires and they are correct.

the D10A has an interal compass and works also with no remote compass connected. in fact, i have used the D10A without remote compass for over a year on 3.0 software, and as you can see here, it gives a heading no problem. the message comes after upgrade to 5.0 and disappears if i upload 3.0 software.

the below snapshot is taken last summer, with NO remote compass installed

the panel is quite messy, and you dont really want to look behind it going to rebuild the whole thing this summer

 

[dynonsupport]

Try going into the magcal menu, then hold the CANCEL button to back out of it. Does that change anything?

 

[gianmarko]

yes, internal compass starts working for a few seconds or minutes then the remote compass error reappears

this without remote compass connected, tried also connecting it but no difference.

Try going into the magcal menu, then hold the CANCEL button to back out of it. Does that change anything?

 

[dynonsupport]

Try the last again (cancel out of the magcal menu), and before you get the not detected message again, do a DSAB detection routine. That help?

 

[gianmarko]

tried that but doesnt help

without remote compass connected if i run the dsab configuration right after having attempted a magcal, the feature compass for the bus master initially appears but then disappears like there is no compass capability.

no change if i try the same operation with EDC10 connected.

the behaviour is quite erratic. sometimes the message "remote compass not detected" appears stable, at times it alternates with a heading indication.

these are all tests i ran during the weekend, unfortunately the a/c is quite far away and wont be able to go and do more tests before 10 days

Try the last again (cancel out of the magcal menu), and before you get the not detected message again, do a DSAB detection routine. That help?

 

[gianmarko]

today i called dynon tech support and spoke to a guy called maybe Bob or Rob, he promised to email me but he might have misunderstood my email address

it is like my name here, at gmail.com

 

[gianmarko]

so here how it ended up

i have found out that the pre-AP harness had a short inside the remote compass cable, +16V cable was shorted to data A cable. so i suspect damage to the remote compass interface. however i never used remote compass with old harness.

i have built a new harness for the AP installation. after upgrade to 5.0 firmware the EFIS started giving errors on the remote compass (even though no remote compass was installed)
installing a remote compass wouldnt solve the problem.

reloading 3.0 firmware the error disappeared.

i have reloaded 5.0 firmware (i need it for the AP) and the error is back, disabling the roll axis.

i have then connected the two remote compass data wires  to ground via 2200 ohm resistors, after this the EFIS stops reporting a remote compass error and starts using correctly the internal compass.

i suspect then that some sort of electric noise gets to the EFIS, which things there is a remote compass connected but then gives an error because it cant interpret the data.

for some reason the firmware 3.0 doesnt suffer from this problem, but 5.0 does.

the EFIS is now working properly, AP works fine, i couldnt fly a lot due to bad WX but things look good. i had to up the sensitivity to 15 on both axis and now AP is quite stable. i will do more experiments with good weather.

everything works as advertised, good work Dynon!

i have now bought a second D10A and will fit it in place of the current one which will go in for repair and tests

EDIT: i have attempted the grounding of remote compass data wires because i reckon the EFIS interface is damaged anyway, so i advise NOT to try this workaround if you have similar problems unless approved by Dynon tech staff.