I am somewhat confused wether the IFD can even be a source for position data for the gtx330 at all. It may require changing it.
I am trying to understand this..
The GTX330 doesn’t need position data, unless you want to use it to radiate ADS-B. And then you need a specific version of the GTX330. Mine is from 2005 and I don’t know if it can be upgraded, but I am not bothered.
I know mine could radiate Enhanced Mode S (GPS position, etc) if it was fed from a “compatible” GPS which probably means a GNS or GTN box, via RS232 or via ARINC429. This is probably identical in its effect to ADS-B in terms of your visibility to the traffic spotting sites like FR24 (because they extract the GPS position from the Mode S returns) but no TAS box will use it.
The only thing which a GTX330 needs is a pressure altitude, which can be supplied to it via
The IFD540 is certified but they aren’t shipping it, due to some hardware problem.
After that, they will be fulfilling the pipeline of those who put down deposits. There is some system whereby the shipment goes to the dealer (like most certified gear, this is – in theory at least – a dealer-only-install item) and the dealer will be paid some money equivalent to the dealer discount he would have got on a full price unit. That’s if I have understood it correctly.
The GTX-330 can use GPS information to determine if the aircraft is airborne or not, and automatically switch between GND and ALT mode. It also start en stops the flight timer, as an alterative to the squat switch.
The GTX-330 can also be used to share this GPS information to multiple receivers, without overloading the GPS serial output.
Peter,
ADS-B Position output will also feed data to anti collision devices like Power Flarm.
I got the output enabled when I installed a Trigg TT31 Transponder a while ago as I also needed it for the function Jesse describes (Air Ground) which is mandiatory in Switzerland.
Personally, I look at it as best use of equipment. If it can do something, then why not enable it. Certainly here, there is not much of a problem with this.
Yes – I think one should radiate all data that one can radiate.
I tried this with the KLN94 years ago, only to blow away 500 quid discovering that Garmin’s IM showing the interconnection is bogus and it doesn’t work at all. I guess it works with Garmin GPSs, and nobody has an IFD box yet to test it with.
This was “illegal” a few years ago, with one of UK’s two biggest avionics shops saying they had to modify hundreds of GTX330 installations to cut the GPS connection, on aircraft that did not require Enhanced Mode S. Totally perverse, and it set the scene back years.
Mine is from 2005 and I don’t know if it can be upgraded, but I am not bothered.
GTX330 and GTX33 can all be upgraded to ES versions which outputs ADS-B on 1090. I am currently having one of my transponders upgraded while I am flying on the other. The challenge with the 330 as you say is for ADS-B it really needs a WAAS GPS source. The 33 is fed WAAS from the G1000.
GTX330 and GTX33 can all be upgraded to ES versions which outputs ADS-B on 1090.
It is a firmware upgrade (potentially free) or a hardware upgrade like the GNS to GNS-W which is a completely new internals and costs four figures?
I am not installing anything until the IFD540 has been out for a year or two, and then I would put in two of them. I have no room for 2x GTN750, and a GTN650 is really good only as a keypad. Also the UK avionics shop options are absolutely dire so I would do a self install under the AML STC. I have found somebody in the USA who will sell me two of these “off the books” i.e. without a bundled installation.
It is a hardware modification Peter. Costs about $1200.
Feedback from the USA is that the IFD540 will not work as an ADS-B compatible source for a GTX330.
However I doubt anybody has actually tested it, simply because almost nobody has a real working IFD540.
It does seem outrageous because surely it is a standard ARINC429 “flight plan” data stream?
