MGL Avionics User Forum

Hi,
I recently purchased a V16 as a remote second radio. I have a grt HXr Efis. I don't have an MGL radio control head of any kind. I thought since the V16 had an RS232 with SL30 control and the GRT has an RS232 with SL30 capability, I should be able to connect them and have it work out of the box. I set the GRT up at 9600 baud and SL30, but I can't control the V16. The GRT has a packet counter, so I can see something coming through the RS232, so I'm pretty sure the connection is correct.
What am I missing? Do I need to do something to reconfigure the RS232 to be compatible? Is my assumption that I can use the V16 without a control head incorrect?

You have to use a control head for SL30 or SL40 communication. I'm using a Razor head with a V16 radio and communicating SL40 to a GRT Sport EX.
The control head is connected via serial to the GRT and via CAN bus to the V16. You can only communicate headless with an MGL EFIS using their protocol. In my case I wanted the control head anyhow. It provides redundancy and Nav display when I add an N16.

The V16 can receive frequency information from another brand of equipment, but the GRT won't be able to control all of the functions and do the setup. For this you'll need a MGL control head or EFIS. I have the Vega control head and it is very easy to see and doesn't take up much panel space.

Thanks for replying, but this is not helpful. I know I won't get "all" the functionality. But I should be able to change the frequency, which I can't do now. Which is really all I want to do.

Mike tailwind....that is what I feared. Their documentation is badly misleading. This is my first MGL purchase, and probably my last. I feel I have been duped. I will probably be selling the V16 for a loss because of their misleading advertising.

jprock,
Apart from wanting to change the frequency, wouldn't you also need to at least adjust the volume and squelch settings and also turn on/off dual frequency scanning?
If you have space in your panel for a 2.25" Vega control head then that will be less costly to add, rather than having to buy another brand of radio.
Otherwise, GRT may be able to advise you what is a compatible radio to purchase for use with the HXR EFIS.

jprock wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:39 am Mike tailwind....that is what I feared. Their documentation is badly misleading. This is my first MGL purchase, and probably my last. I feel I have been duped. I will probably be selling the V16 for a loss because of their misleading advertising.

You have purchased a remote radio module like several others on the market. It's something that needs some form of user control panel - like on any radio you will need to do certain adjustments and setups. We provide the means to this in three forms - Vega or Razor control head or one of our EFIS models.

Nowhere do we say that the V16 has a built in SL30 interface (which clearly would not help as the SL30 interface can only be used to set frequencies, nothing else). I think the manuals are pretty clear on what is needed to gain SL30 connectivity and why.

If you want to use a radio with SL30 connectivity you need a "front panel" to do the rest. That's why the Vega or Razor control head provides this functionality - you need a "front panel" anyway in this case so the heads do that task as well.

It is only in the case where you use the V16 connected to our EFIS systems where you do not need a head as the EFIS provides that functionality. This does not use the SL30 or any other Garmin based protocol as none of those protocols can do this. So we have our own that caters for the required functionality and even publish it for anybody to use. If GRT would implement it you would be able to use a GRT EFIS to control the radio directly. But there is little hope they would do this.

Where would I get the protocol information to build my own device to communicate to the V16