EMS D120 Fuel Computer/GPS Interface

[Rsather]

I have a D120 connected to a Garmin 496 and I am not getting all of the fuel computer information through the D120. I get the calculations the D120 makes (fuel used, gals. remaining, etc.) but the information that uses course data (fuel to waypoint, fuel at waypoint, etc. is zero).

I suspect my Garmin 496 set up is wrong and I'm not sending required GPS data to the D120. Any help here would be appreciated.

 

[dynonsupport]

See this thread for the setting you need to change on your Garmin.

 

[PilotKris]

My 496 RS232 input is being used by my GTX330 for traffic.

As the 496 only has one RS232 input (and I have no desire to loose TIS), is there anyway to get the fuel flow data to the 496?

 

[dynonsupport]

Fuel flow data is not currently outputted in a 496-consumable format.

 

[PilotKris]

Even if it were, since the 496 only has one input and mine is used for TIS, I still couldn't get the FF data. Is that correct?

Would the HS34 be able to combine the FF stream and TIS stream and send it to the 496?

 

[lucaberta]

There's something fundamentally broken in this discussion, IMHO.

As far as I know, any GPS produces data that the Dynon gear consumes for many different reasons, one of which is the distance to the next waypoint. And it's down to the Dynon unit to match the DTW and time to waypoint and relate that figure to fuel consumption. And it's the Dynon EFIS that does this, not the EMS. The EMS will provide the fuel consumption rate either via DSAB or the serial link, for those who don't have a D180.

I don't quite get the reference to the FF information being sent to a GPS with whatever protocol... unless you're referring to what a Shadin ADC can do, but in this case we're really talking about products which fit in very different scenarios.

Or am I completely wrong and miss the obvious details here?

Ciao, Luca

 

[dynonsupport]

PilotKris,

Yes, that would be a limiting factor as well.

So far, we haven't done too much around device interfacing outside of HSI-centric capabilities (which we're still working on with the HS34). This would include things like exporting fuel flow and recombining similar serial streams as you've mentioned. There are some neat possibilities here for sure - some units can make use of air data if it's available (I think the 430 series in particular).

Broadly speaking, this sort of capability is something we'd like to add some day, but it's definitely behind developing and refining the core capabilities of our products.

 

[dynonsupport]

Luca,

Yes, PilotKris is referring to the theoretically possible capability for Dynon units to output alternative serial streams formatted so that other devices (mostly GPSes) can make sure of data like fuel flow, air data, and so on.

 

[PilotKris]

And, the advantage of sending the FF data to the GPS is that it could calculate the fuel required for the entire flight plan (or each segment), not just to the active waypoint.

Some of us do more than fly "direct to".

 

[lucaberta]

Thanks Kris for the clarification.

I too very much use the Flight Planning page rather than Direct to...

Is there a specific protocol already available which should be implemented, say, by Garmin on their units? Or this would be a fully proprietary solution?

Thanks, Luca