New RV owner with legacy EFIS - faulty ARINC interface?

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09-19-2020, 05:08 AM
MacCool

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New RV owner with legacy EFIS - faulty ARINC interface?

I recently purchased a nice RV-9A with an AFS 4500s, 3500, and a Garmin 430W. Also a TruTrak and recently installed EchoUAT. I’m sure avionics upgrades are in my future, but for the time being I’d like to learn to fly the plane. It’s currently in avionics limbo as my CFI/avionics wrangler is trying to sort out interface issues. Main problem is that the 430W doesn’t appear to be getting GPS data to the EFIS (GPS INT). The individual components all appear to be functional but they’re not working well together. With the aid of Rob Hickman (amazing customer support), and some folks at uAVionix, he’s assured that the software configurations are appropriate. He spent several hours under the panel yesterday and found that all the pins, connectors, and wires are OK. The serial port allotment is appropriate. At this point, his tentative conclusion is that the ARINC interface box is bad.

Any other suggestions? If the ARINC interface module is shot, are they available for these legacy systems? Will the ARINC 429 interface box work with the AFS 4500/3500 EFIS?

Thanks for any help. I’ve been a pilot for several decades but this is my first foray into glass and I know nothing. My buddy is quite knowledgeable, however, and has been able to keep the thing out of the avionics shop, which is good, but I would like to actually start flying this plane. I appreciate any help any of you might have. Thanks.
09-19-2020, 06:05 AM
Lagonia

I have a 9 with dual AFS 4500 system. Last year we installed the Garmin GPS175. We also purchased the ARINC 429 module. All works without any problems. So yes, the ARINC module does work with a 4500 AFS.
We, I helped Tom Berge in Crystal, do a major panel upgrade. Bought all the units from Stein. Great experience with Tom and Stein.
09-19-2020, 06:45 AM
MacCool

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Lagonia

I have a 9 with dual AFS 4500 system. Last year we installed the Garmin GPS175. We also purchased the ARINC 429 module. All works without any problems. So yes, the ARINC module does work with a 4500 AFS.
We, I helped Tom Berge in Crystal, do a major panel upgrade. Bought all the units from Stein. Great experience with Tom and Stein.

Thank you for the helpful tip. My buddy is waiting on a call back from AFS about this, but I thought I'd jump ahead and ask the Hive Mind about it.

I had a nice email conversation with Tom a couple of weeks ago. He's about 100 miles south of me and offered to fly up here and do transition training in my plane. He has a great reputation in the RV community.

The funny part was our respective airplanes...my RV-9A (which I bought from a guy in St. Louis) and Tom's RV-7A. As the story goes, the original builder of my -9A (in Georgia a decade ago) saw Tom's airplane somewhere and called Tom for permission to copy the paint scheme. If we have a Minnesota RV fly-in some day, I want the parking spot next to his...(my plane on the left)
09-21-2020, 09:18 AM
Lagonia

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacCool

Thank you for the helpful tip. My buddy is waiting on a call back from AFS about this, but I thought I'd jump ahead and ask the Hive Mind about it.

I had a nice email conversation with Tom a couple of weeks ago. He's about 100 miles south of me and offered to fly up here and do transition training in my plane. He has a great reputation in the RV community.

The funny part was our respective airplanes...my RV-9A (which I bought from a guy in St. Louis) and Tom's RV-7A. As the story goes, the original builder of my -9A (in Georgia a decade ago) saw Tom's airplane somewhere and called Tom for permission to copy the paint scheme. If we have a Minnesota RV fly-in some day, I want the parking spot next to his...(my plane on the left)

But you have a slider. That’s what I have and prefer.
09-21-2020, 02:47 PM
Rob Hickman

The AF-4500 to 430W interface is fixed, when the new ADSB was installed they took out the connectors on the 430W tray and one of the connectors was loose and not making full contact with the 430W pins.
09-21-2020, 04:23 PM
MacCool

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Hickman

The AF-4500 to 430W interface is fixed, when the new ADSB was installed they took out the connectors on the 430W tray and one of the connectors was loose and not making full contact with the 430W pins.

Jay and I both really appreciate your help Rob. In the end, it was just that simple. He did replace the one too-short connector screw, should solve the problem and prevent recurrence.