We have had two Phoenix owners report that upon loading the 11.0 software, the ADAHRS failed. One ADAHRS has been replaced by Dynon (overnight! - what great service!) and we are just beginning to troubleshoot the other one. Is there a relationship here, or not?
Does software version 11.0 crash the ADAHRS
- Thread starter Jim_Lee
- Start date
Were you getting the "multiple sensors"? Basically, we added some additional checks that validate the sensors in the ADAHRS at boot. So the "failure" means one of two things: either there was something up previous to v11 with the ADAHRS and you never noticed it. Or - and we're looking into this too - there's something up with the feature that's causing SkyView to react to strongly to ADAHRS that actually don't have issues. One reason we're looking into the ladder possibility is that the checks it is doing are for pretty bad things that you'd probably notice.
jdubner
Member
In my experience, yes.
My ADAHRS had performed flawlessly for the 12 months and 93.6 flying hours since I finished my RV-8A (and for the year or two before that when it was sitting in my hangar). But now after upgrading to v11.0 this is what I sometimes see halfway through the EFIS startup:
Occasionally it will pass this new ADAHRS test and operate for the whole flight. Other times it fails over and over and I'm dead in the water. My gut feeling is that this is temperature-based.
I'm bummed that I updated the software two weeks before a cross-country departure that I had planned since last winter. But I'm really disappointed with Dynon for inserting this new test with no option to accept degraded results for day VFR -- just shutdown the whole PFD.
Even an ADAHRS swap is not an option at this late date and no fun in the tailcone of an RV-8A anyway :-( Wish there was a software migration path back to 10.1. Or better yet, a 10.2 that fixes all the v10.0 bugs and doesn't add any new features.
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Joe
Don't know about the "multiple sensors". These were my customer's Phoenix aircraft. I have not updated my Skyview software yet because I am gunshy of new software in general. I tend to let others go first. In the first case, the ADAHRS unit was swapped out overnight and the owner was on his way from NM to SD to CA and back to NM so he was very happy to have the quick response from Dynon. Customer #2 is waiting for the replacement ADAHRS but left on his trip anyway. I don't know if the autopilot works without the ADAHRS, that would be the only major item not to have on the flight. He has mechanical ASI and ALT. 5 other Phoenix owners have reported no problems with the 11.0 software.
So we're looking into other possible root causes, but one thing that could definitely cause this: One of the checks we're doing here is the AOA sensor against the Pitot sensor. Ostensibly they should be the same at rest, but if you don't have AOA installed, and do have a dust cap on the AOA port that is completely sealed, you might have some pressure on the AOA port that is causing the system to think that there's an air data sensor problem. The dust cap that comes pre-installed from the factory is drilled for venting, so we don't think they ship in that sealed configuration. So one thing to check (again, if you don't have the AOA pitot installed) would be whether or not there's something completely sealing the AOA port on the ADAHRS. If you do have the AOA/Pitot installed, this wouldn't be an issue because both the pitot and AOA lines would be vented to atmosphere.
One of my buddies was just describing this problem to me. The failure message happens AFTER the database loading step. Note that he only updated the high res database, not the low and very low. Seems suspicious to me.
Note this aircraft has NO AOA, and that port is firmly sealed off. I know because I installed it.
Note this aircraft has NO AOA, and that port is firmly sealed off. I know because I installed it.
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The ADAHRS sensor testing runs for about the same amount of time as it takes to load the databases. There's no correlation between the two other than that.
The conclusive statement is that you "firmly sealed off the AOA port". We test the Pitot port against the AOA port. If the AOA port is sealed, the sensor test (in v11.0) will fail.
To fix this error message, you can either:
* Temporarily remove the "firmly sealed off" plug from the AOA port
* Wait for v11.1 to be formally released
* Contact Dynon Avionics Tech Support (support@dynonavionics.com) for a link to the pre-release (not fully tested) v11.1
The conclusive statement is that you "firmly sealed off the AOA port". We test the Pitot port against the AOA port. If the AOA port is sealed, the sensor test (in v11.0) will fail.
To fix this error message, you can either:
* Temporarily remove the "firmly sealed off" plug from the AOA port
* Wait for v11.1 to be formally released
* Contact Dynon Avionics Tech Support (support@dynonavionics.com) for a link to the pre-release (not fully tested) v11.1
I have had several complete PFD Skyview crashes since the new update. 2 were in IMC. I start to notice the auto pilot lock up and airplane loose attitude. Shortly there after the whole display goes dead and starts to reboot on its own. Sometimes it comes back and other times it doesn't. I loose transponder, engine instruments, auto pilot etc. Sometimes it comes back and I get errors like GPS 1 fail or check altimeter settings. Battery back up didn't do anything to prevent the complete shut down. I performed a back up battery test with that passing. Please help! I am at a loss. 2 phone calls in to tech support no response yet. Has anyone experienced this?
Jim
Jim
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- Mar 23, 2005
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- 13,226
Jim:
Dynon Tech Support did return your call and is working directly with you on this issue. Please check your email for correspondence from Dynon Tech Support. Bottom line - we believe your unit is one of those units affected by our Service Bulletin of March, 2013 about a defective circuit board. Details are in the email message.
Dynon Tech Support did return your call and is working directly with you on this issue. Please check your email for correspondence from Dynon Tech Support. Bottom line - we believe your unit is one of those units affected by our Service Bulletin of March, 2013 about a defective circuit board. Details are in the email message.