Transponder Fail

[Mark_Dickens]

I am getting a warning message that the transponder has failed. Everything has been updated to the latest release. I've restarted the system with no change. I've attached photos of the set up screens for the transponder. It is on and is drawing current, but apparently not connected to the rest of the Dynon Skyview system.  Any ideas?

 

[Raymo]

Check serial connectivity. In the Skyview, you should see data flowing (counters), along with errors.

 

[Mark_Dickens]

Check serial connectivity. In the Skyview, you should see data flowing (counters), along with errors.

I will do that, but it was working fine in the past and hasn't been touched since. I was wondering if some sort of software update was needed.

 

[airguy]

It's more likely you've experienced a wire break.

 

[dynonsupport]

There is no software update needed. Based on what we see, the transponder is not sending us any data, which means it either has no power, some power or data wire is broken, or the transponder is broken.

 

[Mark_Dickens]

Thanks, I'll check it out...

 

[Mark_Dickens]

I had forgotten this, but the last thing I did before the transponder went off line was to install new firmware. If the wires were damaged, then how was it able to install new software? I think I want to have this thing tested. Please let me know what I need to do to accomplish this. Better to spend a few bucks to prove the unit is good or bad before tearing into potentially perfectly good wiring.

 

[dynonsupport]

Well, that kind of changes everything!

Your firmware update went wrong somehow. We'll need to see that transponder here at Dynon to fix it. Contact our support team to get an RMA. Sorry for the hassle.

 

[Dynon]

Did you install new transponder firmware, or SkyView system software? If the former, and it was the next time after a restart that you had this issue, we'd probably want to have your transponder here. If the SkyView-based updater failed for some reason, we'll need to update the transponder's software for you.

 

[Mark_Dickens]

I should have been paying more attention, but I remember being prompted to install an update for the transponder and I did that. The update was for the transponder because the update apparently was already on the Skyview system. I did install the latest Skyview update after I updated the transponder hoping that would fix the issue, but it didn't.

 

[woodmanrog]

Mark,
I just went through the same scenario and posted it about a week ago. Yesterday I flew up to our builder assist (2 Bums Aviation, Inc.) and Nathan found the fault in about 10 seconds. This was after I chased every connection with a multimeter. It turned out to be a pin that wasn't seated in the Molex connector that goes into the XPNDR. I had taken the connector off and on and didn't solve the problem. All Nate did was push FIRMLY on the wire bundle and the connection was remade and, wala, the transponder immediately came online. A lesson learned-if it was working previously (in our case for 10 hours) and then failed, it was probably a simple connection failure due to vibration.
Cheers,
Woodmanrog

 

[woodmanrog]

Well, we went back and checked all of our wires and nothing looked bad. All connections were solid and the unit failed again. We have sent it to Dynon to have it checked out. I'll keep you all posted as to the outcome.

 

[woodmanrog]

As I reported in a previous post, my xpndr did indeed fail. We sent it back to Dynon and after a little tussel, they replaced it with a new unit. We did a quick reinstallation of the hardware and the unit works perfectly. As a side note, I did notice on the first flight that I had a "no adsb out" message displayed. That also went away with the new unit.