HS-34

[DougR]

We had an ice & snowstorm today so I took the entire day and installed my HS-34.   I have a Garmin 430 and I hooked up the GPS 429 wires, but I have not gotten the NAV -429 wires hooked up yet.  That will take some professional assistance to get into the back of the -430.

I did the firmware update without incident, configured the DSAB, and everything seems to work as advertised except the heading knob.  It will turn the Hdg bug on and off, but it will not rotate it.  Is this a configuration error, or a Hardware problem?

FWIW,  I was in the hangar and never got the GPS to lock on but that should not make any difference to the Heading knob.  I also assume that the HS-34 has version 4.0 software in it, so I did not update it.  Do I need to do that?

I have a TruTrak hooked to the same GPS -429 output.  Is that a problem? If not The Tru Trak calls for Low on the -429 setup and the HS -34 calls for High. Which one should I choose? Does it matter?  If they can't be on the same line, then I have another whole new set of problems and questions.

What value should the pot be in audio line?  I am running the audio thru a PS-6000 audio panel. (I think I solved this one too, I had a supply of resistors and started experimenting with them.  I tried several configurations and a 1k in the line without the ground leg seemed to give me about the right level)
I also have some questions about the Nav -429 interface. Will the HS-34 work with the G-106 indicator or do I have to unhook it? If I can use both, How does the OBS knob on the G-106 and the course knob on the HS-34 work together?  Is choosing that a G-430 setup option, if so where is it?

The documentation is really sketchy about the option configuration in the -430 and I am not sure I have it set up correctly, anybody that has some better info on that would be appreciated. (Note, I have found the answers to this question on the Wiki.)

After a few minutes playing with it, I have some ideas for some simple improvements.

When I adjust the Alt bug with the Value knob it changes the whole number, not just the digit selected.  Is that the way it is supposed to work?  That is fine for hdg, but I dont think that is acceptable for Alt.  At a minimum it should adjust thousands and hundreds, but not tens.

Here is the way I believe the value knob should work.  when you push and hold it, it should toggle the Alt alerter on and open the Alerter window. ( better yet, the alt alerter window should be displayed by the baro window and pushing the value knob would simply highlight it) the thousands should be highlighted  spin the knob to change the thousands push it momentarily to select the hundreds digit to change that.  It times out in a few seconds back to normal operations.   Another acceptable solution is that Value knob would highlight the thousands and hundreds initially and then pushing it again moves the selection to the 10s.

The 29.92 function is or no use to anyone except those who fly above FL 180 and that is use once on each flight.  the Alt Alerter is used numerous times on each flight.  


Tailwinds,
Doug Rozendaal
F-1 EVO Rocket

 

[dynonsupport]

Unfortunately, it sounds like that heading bug issue might be hardware. Give us a call at 425-402-0433 for tech support on that aspect.

We can do ARINC-429 high or low, just make sure the settings match one the HS34 and the 430.

Interesting thoughts on the altitude bug - thanks for the feedback!

 

[DougR]

OK,  I finally went flying yesterday.  I have the GPS -429 interface, the Marker Beacons, and the audio, hooked up, not the Nav yet.

It all works great!!!!!!, except, now my TruTrak won't work now.  Problem solved, I pulled the RS-232 pin out of the connector on the Tru Track when I was splicing onto the ARINC 429 lines


Doug Rozendaal

 

[dynonsupport]

If putting it back to ARINC-429 didn't fix it, it is clearly a wiring problem. ARINC is designed to be split up to 30 times, so there should be zero problems with having the HS34 hooked up at the same time, even if the format is wrong for the HS34. If the HS34 was messing up the wiring, it wouldn't work to get any data from the 430, so it appears the HS34 is fine and no messing with the receive line.

I know TT uses "low" speed. Did you put it back to low as well? We can support low and high speed, so this isn't a problem. You just need to set up the HS34 to be low speed.

We didn't choose GAMA-429 because we wanted to mess up people that had a TT. ARINC-429 doesn't include all the data you need to do an HSI, so they came up with the GAMA format. GAMA is a superset of ARINC, so pretty much all the ARINC-429 commands that the TT would need are in the GAMA sentence as well. We actually expect that the TT will work fine on GAMA. There is no way for us to do the HS34 without the GAMA standard, so this wasn't a choice we made, it was the only way to go.

As for all the comments about us supporting other autopilots. You guys all assume we're much more evil than we are. While we may not have done extra work to make an other AP work, we never do things just to make them not work. Unless it involves lots of extra work, we do our best to support the standards that are out there.

 

[DougR]

OK,

I got it all sorted out and it works wonderfully.  We have a King EHSI in a Cheyenne that I fly and this is everybit as good and maybe better.  

I have a couple questions however,

The voice or the tone alert don't seem to have a voice or tone alert 500 ft prior to reaching the selected alt.  Is changing back to the tone audio off the D100 an option?

I will reiterate how useful having the alt knob set the alt alerter.

Is there a GS needle for the horizon like the lateral guidance needle?  Not a big deal, but with it, you could switch off the HSI at the FAF and fly the big screen very precisely to the Missed App Point

I was not giging you about the A/P, it will be tough not to install your system and have it all integrated when it comes out, but my old friend Jim Y. would never speak to me again if I did that, and like I said, A separate A/P to keep the wings level is an excellent B/U if I had a failure.

This is an incredible tool, I am very impressed.  

Tailwinds,

Doug Rozendaal

 

[dynonsupport]

Glad it's all working!

Changing back to the tone off the D100 isn't an option, but all the old alerts should be there. We'll look into this and see if there's a bug. We've got a item on our list of things to discuss on using the value knob more directly for the altitude bug as well.

There is a GS needle like the CDI needle on the PFD screen. Go into your clutter items and turn on "CDI+GS". You probably have it set as just "CDI". Be aware that if you do this, you lose your left info item when in 2/3 screen. The GS will only show up when it is flagged as valid.

As for backup autopilots, people need not worry. We believe in APs as a backup to your other equipment too. If you want your AP as a backup, we'll have options for you and we'll still save you money as well. Of course, the TT stuff is great and we know lots of people will go (or stay) that way too. Options are good for everyone.

 

[aceflyingservice]

I like DougR's ideas about the use of the value knob. Using it to set 29.92 is not very useful.

Roger Johnson
LongEZ N34JR

 

[dynonsupport]

Not too long before his post, we'd thought about adding some functionality to the knob as well. Currently, a simple tap from the un-activated state does not do anything. Our tentative plan is to have that toggle through the available bugs for quicker access to them. We'll be looking at what other tweaks we can easily make as well (without removing functionality, creating angry customers, etc)