Source Switch(es)

[NoahF]

Planning an installation with 2 4500's, AFS Pilot, 430W, an AFS GPS and an ADI backup. Currently laying out the panel.

What switches (other than power switches) are required in this installation? The schematic shows a DPDT autopilot source switch. It seems to me that I have also seen a NAV source switch on some panels? Is this necessary? What about a source switch for the ADI - is this recommended? Any other switches I should be considering / planning?

Thanks!

[kbehrent]

Noah,

I have have the same setup as you except I have a 530 and the AFS-Pilot autopilot. I'm connecting the AFS-GPS to the EFIS and also splitting off to connect to the ADI. The reason being is that the 4500 will power the gps so it will be able to give the ADI a gps signal in a power-off situation. I also have a batt backup on the ADI.

For source switches for the AP, I have one switch for selecting either the AFS-GPS or 530. This is not necessary but possibly useful for in case the 530 fails. The output to this runs into a DPDT switch for selecting GPS or EFIS.

[NoahF]

Thanks Kevin-

So the DPDT switch you mention is the switch identified in the AFS schematic, right? And I assume that the 4500 selects its GPS input (430W -or- AFS GPS) via internal menu pick instead of an external switch?

[kbehrent]

Noah,
Yes, the DPDT is the switch as shown in the drawing. However, I'm also using another external switch for selecting which GPS signal feeds into the DPDT.
Within the 4500, I will configure the 530 to drive the EFIS and the AFS-GPS will drive the MAP. This way, I can have 2 separate flight plans going, One with the 530, the other with the AFS-GPS. The external GPS switch allows me to select which one feeds the AP. This does take some splitting of the serial connections.

I know this is confusing, but after some several call to AFS and talking others, this is the route that I'm going. Hopefully it will work like others have said it would.

[NoahF]

Kevin, would you care to share your schematic? I'd be interested in seeing how you are wiring this up. If so, my email is nofor(at)coxdotnet.

Thanks,

[wooody10]

Kevin, I would be interested in a schematic also if you care to share.

Thanks

wooody10@gmail.com

[kbehrent]

I have a master drawing that details all the connections/interfaces between my GNS-530, SL-40, GTX-330, SL-40, PSE-9000EX, AFS-4500 EFIS, AFS-4500 EM, AFS-GPS, AFS-ARINC, AFS-AP with AutoTrim module, Trutrak ADI and a NavWorx's ADS600-B receiver. The first edition of this master drawing came from Stein which he gave to me as a Visio file with the conditions that I wouldn't share with others. Since than, I've added/changed some hardware, including adding/changing some of the interfaces after many phone calls between the guys at Stein, AFS, and Bill at NavWorx's. Everybody was extremely helpful and I think we all learned something new through all the exchanges. I know I certainly did. Time permitting, I will try to put together an abbreviated version, including the source switching, so not to break my promise to Stein while hopefully being useful to others so they don't have to ask all the same questions that I had to when I was trying to make sense of it all. I will also give Stein a copy of my new master drawing so he can share with anyone he wants. I will also share with AFS the interface between the AFS 4500's and the ADS600-B when you have a Garmin 430/530 along with a GTX-330 and you want to support composite TIS through the ADS600-B. NavWorx's does have a drawing showing the interface with AFS for TIS-B, but not for composite TIS A&B. It also doesn't show what pins to use for the encoder.

[john_stark]

Noah,
Yes, the DPDT is the switch as shown in the drawing. However, I'm also using another external switch for selecting which GPS signal feeds into the DPDT.
Within the 4500, I will configure the 530 to drive the EFIS and the AFS-GPS will drive the MAP. This way, I can have 2 separate flight plans going, One with the 530, the other with the AFS-GPS. The external GPS switch allows me to select which one feeds the AP. This does take some splitting of the serial connections.

I know this is confusing, but after some several call to AFS and talking others, this is the route that I'm going. Hopefully it will work like others have said it would.

The below information is meant to be helpful NOT argumentative.

I just got off the phone with AFS tech support. They say none of that is accurate. First off the AF-GPS is an RS-232 output only GPS. You can’t make any flight plans with it so I don’t know how you would get 2 flight plans loaded from 2 separate GPS receivers. The tech told me that the AF-4500 will not allow you to make a flight plan with the data in from the AF-GPS. You can make one in a Gns-430W/530w and it will go to the AF-4500 but the tech says that it gets the flight plan info from ARINC 429 and not RS-232, although he didn’t sound positive about that. Most importantly if you have a switch that is external that allows the AF-4500 port 1 input to switch between receiving Gns-530w and AF-GPS RS-232 then you have to reconfigure the AF-4500 in the air every time you throw the switch. The AF-GPS sends out NMEA and the Gns-530w sends out “aviation out” which are totally different formats.

[Trevor Conroy]

Talking to one of the software engineers here, I confirmed that we use RS-232 for flight planning information rather than ARINC. ARINC and 232 output a lot of the same info, but we do use ARINC for roll-steering. Either way, the configuration above will not work because the GNS-530 232 output is 'Aviation Out' and the AFS GPS is NMEA @ 9600 baud. So if you tried switching between the two using a switch, you would also have to change the Serial Port settings in the Calibration menu of the EFIS to select the correct data format.