New EMS and system in 5.1

[preid]

I see that there is a version 2 data in 5.1 for SYSTEM and EMS (Updated Serial Data Output Format Specifications. SYSTEM and EMS formats have changed for 5.1.)
If I had serial devices working with the previously version will there be an issue now? I have a VP-200 that relies on this data to switch modes.
What was updated?
Thx

 

[dynonsupport]

We added things like the position of the servos and percent power on the EMS based on some customer requests.

This does likely break the VP-200 if they were using our stream, depending on how and what they parsed out of it. You'll have to ask them to look and see if our changes break that compatibility.

 

[Werner_Schneider]

until he detected:

Original Matt
"Turns out, that the VP-200 sync's up on the data stream, but mis-interprets most if not all of the data objects."

so it fails and he contemplates, that he can not go back to 5.0 again to get it working.

I guess it would be a wise thing, when people relaying on the serial straem would let Dynon know so tehy could in advance inform these people, that teh stream changes and update their SW as well.

Werner

 

[preid]

This is a real disappointment!! I spent over 1 year drilling Robert and Michael about the compatibility 2 years ago. They did a great job getting it released finally, only to put us in the situation again now. To make matters worse it will be a few months before VP can catch up and release a "fix" for this " upgrade"
Unless we find a way to revert to 5.0 that means the tester will actually have been downgraded.
Hopefully there is a lesson learned here, hardware is only as good as it's full potential, thus far Dynon has done a great job making it better with each software release, except when it won't work with another 3rd party vendor that in the past was a big deal to make compatible.

 

[dynonsupport]

We updated the serial stream because we had some important customers that asked for specific elements to be added to the stream. We knew this was a possibility since day one, and even put a version number in the serial stream so an application can tell that the stream has been changed. We would always prefer to not change the format, but at some point you need to balance the needs of a variety of customers, and we had a clear business case to support customers asking for new features in the serial stream.

One of the issues here is that the VP-200 is not a product we "support." While we have official support for the VP-X,
Vertical Power used our serial stream for the VP-200 on their own accord without any input from us. This is fine and in fact the whole reason that we created a documented serial stream, but this means we didn't even really know they were using it so it's hard for us to realize that we were going to break anything. Compatibility is something that we test every release for products we support, but isn't something that we can promise for arbitrary 3rd party devices that few of our customers use.

We only moved a few parameters around in the new serial stream, so it's unfortunate that it will take them months to fix this as it's likely just a few constants in their code to make it work again.

It is possible to revert to 5.0 without much hassle. Contact support via email or phone and we can send you instructions.

 

[Dw1oakes]

My question is this: is it only the VP-200 affected or all of VP products. Ie... I have the VP-Sport?
I have not updated to the 5.1 as of yet.
Thanks
Dave

 

[dynonsupport]

I assume you mean VP-X Sport. That is a product we fully support and test against every release. There will be no issues going to 5.1 with that product.

If it's something other than a VP-X Sport you'll need to ask Vertical Power.

 

[Dw1oakes]

I mean't VPX-Sport.
Thanks
Dave

 

[K._Metzler]

Dynon, I noticed in the first responce you posted that you added "servo position". Can this work as work as a control surface position indicator (trim indicator) or does it only log the info when the autopilot is engaged, and can it be displayed on the EFIS real time? I have read the release notes and do not see this feature in them.

 

[dynonsupport]

Trim position is not aircraft control surface position. This is a measure of where the whole elevator is, not just the trim tab.

But, it is output all the time, even when the AP is not engaged. It is not displayed on the EFIS in any way as it's not particularly useful to a normal pilot, it's there for people that want to log this when doing flight testing.

The serial output format is fully documented in the install guide.

 

[chinaone]

Any chance in the near future there will be a 9 cyl. EMS box? :

 

[dynonsupport]

This is on the list of desired features but is not in any near term timeline for our products.

We do already support 14 total EGT's and CHT's, so you can monitor 9 CHT's and 5 EGT's, 9 EGT's and 5 CHT's, or any mix that might make sense to you.