MX1 Nearest Airports Function

[LaneRM]

So far the MX1 doesn't see nearby airports. When I press NAV and then go to nearest airports, I'm given some airports that are about 115 nm away. It doesn't see the airport I'm sitting at, it doesn't see the airport a couple miles away, or anything else nearby. When I fly over another airport it doesn't see that airport either. There is a filter button at the bottom where I've ensured that the airports category is checked.

I don't mind typing in destinations on the ground, but in flight it is inconvenient. It also prevents me from using the nearest airports function to plug frequencies into COM 1. It gives an error like "no airport with frequency data found" or something like that.

I downloaded the newest navidata and installed that. Is there something else I need to load? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Bill Hertzel]

It sounds like a GPS problem.
If it doesn't know where you are, it can't tell you what's nearby.
Are you tracking at least 4 satellites; Ideally 5 to 9
This is not going to work inside a hangar.
The GPS ITEM should be displaying RAIM: PRECISION.
When displaying the MOVING MAP page, is the location correct and tracking?
Where in the world are you located?

[LaneRM]

I thought it sounded like a GPS problem too, but the MX1 is tracking me properly on the chart and my location and groundspeed line up with what Foreflight is saying. I want to say that it's saying RAIM NON-PRECISION, but I can't remember. I'll be out at the airport in the morning and will take a picture of what it's saying.

Also I'd like to say thanks to you specifically Mr. Bill Hertzel! Your post history on Rotax Owner and CT Fliers has helped me tremendously in tracking down and correcting engine issues when I was building the plane.

Rob

Edit:

I don't think it has ever said anything but Raim Non-Prec. What would cause that? I do have an SP-12 GPS on the CAN bus, and I have CAN set as the main GPS source because this is what my GPS antenna is plugged into and part of my ADSB out. There is no GPS antenna plugged into the port on the back of the MX1.

Here's a couple pictures from this morning, one from the MX1 and one from the Stratux. The Stratux location is correct, so the MX1 is about 12nm off in lat/long as well as being low by about 60 feet. The accuracy never got any better in flight. The airplane is a Rans S-20 and the GPS puck is mounted centrally on the dash with a clear view of the sky. If I touch an airport on the screen, it says "No airport at touch" or something similar. It works for airspaces though.

IMG-2076.jpg (94.2 KiB) Viewed 9755 times

IMG-2077.jpg (98.51 KiB) Viewed 9755 times

[Bill Hertzel]

I am just guessing here, but, The MX1 may try to use its internal GPS for the airport functions.
I would connect the GPS antenna to the MX1 and see if that cures the problem.
Also, have a look at your settings in ...
MENU > System Setup Menu > Setup GPS and NMEA Port Ops

[LaneRM]

Update:

So I'm piecing together info from different manuals, looking at different things, tabbing through the sim, and something dawned on me.

My transponder interface says ALT C RF RF, which means it's receiving signal from two GPS's. The first RF is the MX1 and the second is the SP12. ModeS_ADSB.pdf says that "The Trig interface SHALL use the position and accuracy data from the SP-12 if it has a valid fix. The Trig interface SHALL default to the position and accuracy data from the EFIS as backup should the position from the SP-12 not be valid."

The SP12 documentation says that the SP12 and the Trig talk directly to each other and bypass the EFIS, so that accounts for my accurate ADSB reporting. My MX1 currently has no antenna plugged into the back of it. My current theory is that the incorrect information I'm seeing up in the GPS block is a result of this.

It's just super weird because my position on the moving map is correct, manually entered waypoints and HITS navigation works... Next attempt is to supply an antenna to the MX1 and see if that changes anything.

Will this have any effect on nearest airports or anything? I can't imagine how, but I hope so! I will keep this thread updated in case anyone else has this issue.

[LaneRM]

I am just guessing here, but, The MX1 may try to use its internal GPS for the airport functions.
I would connect the GPS antenna to the MX1 and see if that cures the problem.
Also, have a look at your settings in ...
MENU > System Setup Menu > Setup GPS and NMEA Port Ops

Thanks Bill, I was typing an update as you were typing your reply. I've been in the documentation all day. I'll be out at the airport again in the morning and I'll post what happens after moving antennas around...

Many places in the documentation says to use the internal as primary unless you have a reason not to. Since the SP12 an the Trig talk without EFIS involvement, I will try setting the primary as internal EFIS and give it an antenna to use.

[LaneRM]

Here's a video showing my nearest airports/map functions woes: https://youtu.be/DjcEZB4BWwM

As you can see in the video, the MX1 doesn't show airports or waypoints (but it will show airspace) on the map until I press the PAN button. I try the same thing at a couple zoom settings and eventually get the MX1 to recognize an airport. Anyone got any ideas? I suppose a better test would have been to try the same airport at different zoom levels, but I have a feeling it's not going to acknowledge something closer than 117nm away, since that's what it does when I press the nearest airports function. My next test is to actually find an airport on the map that has CTAF/AWOS data and lets me select it and then fly there and see if everything works as intended... which would be interesting but not actually explain why local airports don't show up on the map.

As far as the GPS issue goes, I'm just an idiot. I was mixing formats.

[Bill Hertzel]

In looking at the video, it appears you are not tapping close enough to the airports.
You may need to be spot-on for it to work.
I do not have an MX1, but an Explorer, but both use the G3 operating system.

This is how I do it ...
Instead of tapping on the Map and PANing, tap on NAV, and then NEAREST AIRPORT.
Select your Airport from the list or enter its ID directly.
If you have ADSB IN, Airports with WX-TAFs or NOTAMS will be highlighted.

[LaneRM]

Bill,

I'd like to use the method you laid out, but unfortunately it doesn't work and is what led to me trying to pan and tap. When I try NAV > NEAREST function, the closest airport listed is 117nm away, and nearby airports aren't even displayed on the map unless I enter PAN mode.

Interestingly, if I go FPLAN > Create a new Flightplan, all nearby waypoints are visible and selectable.

The end goal is ultimately to be able to pull up local frequencies for nearby airports without having to fat finger the COM1 widget.

I did update yesterday to the FlightOps version 0001007 and iEFIS MX1 application version 16, but that had no effect.

[LaneRM]

Here's a couple videos I made this morning using the simulator. The sim is reproducing what happens in the plane, which makes me think the problem doesn't have to do with my installation. The first video is about 10 minutes, the second is maybe two.

Any help is greatly appreciated... I'm really at a loss here.

This video recreates the troubles I'm having with the moving map in the sim: https://youtu.be/V9Q9dVi2EV0

This video shows the flight plan tool working correctly in the sim, it also works correctly in the plane: https://youtu.be/xrFbDBNJ-ws