Skview/Garmin GNS 480 setup

rick789pb

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I just installed my new Skyview system and set up the Garmin pins according to the installation Manual but get a blank screen with the airplane icon and a ? mark. Can anyone help?? Also, the synthetic vision doesn't seem to appear on the PDF!
Thanks,
Rick
 

dynonsupport

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So this means you don't have a valid GPS signal coming into the system at all. Let's start with the basics. Do you have the Dynon SV-GPS-250 module as well? Or only the 480 for providing GPS position?
 

dynonsupport

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Well, the "?" means that we are getting data from the 480, but the data says it has no GPS lock. Is the 480 showing a lock on it's own screen?
 

dynonsupport

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So that's problem number one. If the 480 doesn't have a GPS lock and is showing its own map/position, it can't possibly provide position to SkyView.
 

rick789pb

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I finally have GPS lock and the HSI is working but I still have a blank map screen with the airplane and ? mark flashing. Also when I went to the nearest airport on the Skyview it showed that I was in Washington State 2,326 miles from my position. The HSI was correct as I had the GPS direct to Ft. Lauderdale and it pointed there and had the proper 6.2 nm distance.

Any ideas what wrong?
 

dynonsupport

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Nothing is wrong. The ? still means you don't have a lock. We need a full 3D lock before we'll display anything. You may only have a 2D lock. You should be able to look on the 480 and determine this.

The last place SkyView knew where it was located was in out factory in Seattle. So all the NRST will be near there until it gets a valid, strong 3D lock. Then it will work near you.

Are you connected to the 480 via serial or ARINC-429?

By the way, these types of issues are why we suggest always using the GPS-250. It will lock on almost anywhere, is a good 3D source, and has a 5Hz update rate. With the 480 you'll find that it takes a lot more to get a lock, and when you are flying you'll only get Synthetic vision updates at 1Hz instead of 5Hz.
 

dynonsupport

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There is a chance the issue is that the 480 will never output altitude. the GX60 from Apollo doesn't report altitude over serial, so we can't use it as a position source. I was pretty sure that the 480 did, but maybe it doesn't. Verify that there is a solid 3D lock shown on the 480 and let us know.

The GX60, 480, 430, and new GTN devices all use "aviation" format serial data, and we know for sure that the 430 and GTNs work, so that format does work. You wouldn't be getting a "?" if the data format was wrong, you'd be getting an "X".
 

rick789pb

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Today the HSI nor the map would not work with the 480! It's really strange as yesterday it worked fine only the map page wouldn't work.  It's connected via ARINC 429!!
 

rvator51

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Are there additional gps sentences that you can enable on the 480? On the Garmin 496, I had to go into the advanced NMEA setup menu and enable one of the additional sentences to get skyview to work with it. Same symptoms as yours. I forget which sentence I enabled but will look tonight at the hanger.
 

dynonsupport

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The 480 does not have configurations like a 296. The 480 uses "aviation" format, while the 296 uses NMEA. This isn't the issue. It is possible that the whole serial port on the 480 is not configured right.

Rickker, I think your best bet is to give us a call while you are at your airplane. We can take you through some of the debug menus and figure out what is going on. You should make sure the 480 is showing a full 3D lock before you do this or we won't be able to help you.
 

rick789pb

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I have GPS lock but how do I know I have a 3 D lock? The unit itself is working fine and the installer and I re- checked pin for pin according to  the ARINC 429/Garmin 480 most recent wiring diagram! We spoke with Steve in Tech this past Friday and configured the settings as he told us but still nothing worked! What I don't understand is the HSI was working and now nothing is working! VERY FRUSTRATING!
 

dynonsupport

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Do you have the serial wire connected from the 480 out to the ARINC module? You will get this behavior if that wire wasn't connected or if you had the serial port on the 480 mis-configured.

"3D" lock means altitude. At least on the 430's, the satellite status page shows if it's a 2D or 3D lock. Not as familiar with the 480.
 

rick789pb

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Yes the serial wire is connected from the 480 out to the ARINC and the 480 has Lat/Long position accuracy: <1 meter RMS typical with WAAS (horizontal/vertical) and 3D lock!
 

rick789pb

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If the HSI is now properly working shouldn't the map page work? I still get a blank screen with and airplane icon and flashing ?

I wonder if I need to re-install the firmware and then the software? Any thoughts?
 

dynonsupport

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The HSI is sent from the 480 independent of the position. We don't need position to display an HSI. The 480 is saying "display a CDI needle that is deflected 1.8 dots to the left" and we're doing that. Since the 480 has a lock, it's willing and able to do this. We'll display an HSI off a NAV radio which can never tell us position.

Your ARINC connection is apparently fine. We're getting CDI deflection over ARINC-429, so we're probably getting almost everything else. We are also getting enough data to know the 480 is a GPS, but not enough to call it a valid position source for SkyView.

Here's the issue: ARINC-429 doesn't support GPS altitude. Weird, but true. SkyView HAS to have GPS altitude, since this is what is used to determine your altitude for Synthetic Vision.

Serial data does support altitude, which is why we need the serial connection. That's literally all we read over serial is the GPS altitude.

So I went and looked at the 480 install guide, and sure enough, the 480 DOES NOT output GPS altitude anywhere. The 430 install manual specifically says this is sent out over aviation, sentence "z". The 480 doesn't list sentence z, so it isn't there.

Unfortunately, this means the 480 won't work as a position source for SkyView. You need a device that can send us altitude if you want SynVis and the moving map. We can fly the AP and HSI off the 480 no problem, but you need another GPS connected to do more.

Sorry we didn't see this earlier. I guess you're the first one to ever try and use just a 480 with your SkyView.
 

rick789pb

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If I purchased your SV-GPS- 250 would it work together with the 480 so I can use the 480 for my flight planning and HSI and if I want to fly a GPS or ILS approach with the 480 would I still be able to see at the same time the Map page and Synthetic Vision on the screen?
 

dynonsupport

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Yes, with a SV-GPS-250 you can do all flight planning and navigation via the 480 and we'll display everything from it.
 
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