MGL Avionics User Forum

My v6 radio was having weak transmit and I did a firmware update (120816) but now there’s no display and the radio is not working.
Any suggestions, I’ve tried updating via IEFIS and computer harness.

After 4 attempts at installing different firmware the V6 radio is operational again. Thanks Adam OConner for all the firmware versions you sent, it seems the firmware is very specific to the serial number or batch of radio you have. Thanks also to Stuart at Sparxfly.

Andrewmoir wrote: Thu May 18, 2023 1:46 am After 4 attempts at installing different firmware the V6 radio is operational again. Thanks Adam OConner for all the firmware versions you sent, it seems the firmware is very specific to the serial number or batch of radio you have. Thanks also to Stuart at Sparxfly.

Hi. How can i update firmware for my V6?

Why do you need to update your firmware ? Is there a specific issue you need an update to fix ?

Yes there are several firmware versions around - Adam likely has them all. Note that MGL only has relatively early versions of this firmware. The V6 is not manufactured by MGL but by a company named South West Electronics. We have not been selling this radio since about 2018 and have no access to firmware versions they released subsequently. The original V10 was based on a design I did in 2004 but never put into production. The V6 was then based on the V10 and fully designed by South West Electronics. I assisted with the firmware for the first versions but this has then been taken over by them.

We then designed the V16 so we could be in full control of production and not dependent on third parties which proved to be a problem at times.

I want to update the firmware because the radio has excitation and noise on certain frequencies, for example on 131.100, but on 135.100 everything works fine.

I would be very grateful if you could help me contact Adam.

Firmware update certainly will not solve a problem related to receiving noise at certain frequencies.
You need to isolate the noise sources - usually things like electronic items that can radiate signals right up to a few GHZ. Anything with a LCD screen, strobe lights and anything that has an internal switch mode power supply right down to phone chargers are the usual culprits. You cannot prevent the radio from receiving the signals as this is what it is designed to do - you need to elliminate or dampen the transmitter. Usually noise is coupled onto wires that act as antennas - power supply and ground are normally the problem ones. It can get really bad if a signal is allowed to couple onto an airframe made up of metal pipes - that then turns the entire airframe into a rather effective antenna.
There are many suggestions on the web on how to go about finding and solving these kind of issues.

Usually what I do is first take a SWR reading of the radios antenna match and ensure the antenna is positioned well away from potential noise sources and has a proper ground plane (piece of aluminium foil is NOT a proper ground plane). If the SWR is bad the antenna does not do much - it's your cable that does the receiving and transmitting - the cable gets close to interference sources so before you do anything else make sure the antenna installation is good. No point doing anything else if this is not done.
Next I use my hand and clamp it tightly around wires and wire bundles wherever I can get to it while listening to the noise. My body capacity will dampen or increase the noise. This way I can trace the source. If I can't do anything about the source itself I will start placing a ferrite on the cable(s) and find a location for it where it has the most effect. One of those clip-on ferrites is useful for that. Make sure your ferrite is formulated to be effective at 100-150Mhz. Many intended for HAM radio uses only go to about 30Mhz and are useless at higher frequencies.
In bad cases assuming you identified the offending wires you may need to loop the wire(s) through the ferrite several times to increase its effectiveness.

You can contact Adam at Michigan Avionics - he runs the place. Google contact information on their website.