Avionics How-To Guide

Hello,

I'm interested in learning more about making harnesses and such to make
products like garmin 430/530 talk with a MFD or a EHSI or Auto Pilot.
I'm pretty technical and i'm just interested to see if I can get a
couple products like the above from ebay and just make them talk back
and forth. Can anyone point in the the right direction for any help?
(ie: diagrams, requirements, etc. anything really).

Thanks,

-dr

Hello,

I'm interested in learning more about making harnesses and such to make
products like garmin 430/530 talk with a MFD or a EHSI or Auto Pilot.
I'm pretty technical and i'm just interested to see if I can get a
couple products like the above from ebay and just make them talk back
and forth. Can anyone point in the the right direction for any help?
(ie: diagrams, requirements, etc. anything really).

Thanks,

-dr


That's a really expensive way to experiment with RS-232 serial
communications. Or you can go purchase an Arinc 429 card for your PC for
$1,000 or more and make it even more expensive. Start with a cheap handheld
GPS, run its serial port into your PC, and parse its NMEA 0183 serial output
to make a homebrew moving map, store track logs, all kinds of things.
There's a plug-in available for MS Flight Sim to output NMEA serial data.

For real avionics, your first step should be to purchase or download the
avionics installation manual to see what they speak and how to wire it up.
The 430/530 transmits King/Aviation serial format and Arinc 429 / GAMA 429.
Basically every certified modern general aviation GPS transmits serial and
429, so that an MFD or autopilot can make use of it. Every piece of
avionics I've ever written software for has undocumented features not in the
installation manual or interface control document, but you'll have fun
discovering them if you get that far. See AC43.13 Chapter 11 for some
wiring help.

Here's an experiment for you.... get a VHF Nav receiver that will output
bearing from station and allow you to remotely command a Nav frequency
change. Using a database of VORs in your area, make a poor man's direct-to
random waypoint area navigator with it and your notebook computer. The
Garmin/AT SL-30 Nav/Com is a good choice. The 430/530 won't let you
remotely do anything to it except tell it what the course pointer is set to,
but it transmits lots of interesting data like all the waypoints of an
instrument approach.

Let us know how it all works out.

Thanks Mark,

Thats a good place to start. Is the AC43.13 documentation available
for download (PDF or otherwise) online?

Are the undocumented features of "cool" variety? You've got me
curious now. What language do you write your software in?

Whats the difference between arnic 429 and serial? Arnic digital and
serial not? Or is it speed?

Thanks for your help! This is some interesting stuff.

-dr


Mark wrote:
Hello,

I'm interested in learning more about making harnesses and such to make
products like garmin 430/530 talk with a MFD or a EHSI or Auto Pilot.
I'm pretty technical and i'm just interested to see if I can get a
couple products like the above from ebay and just make them talk back
and forth. Can anyone point in the the right direction for any help?
(ie: diagrams, requirements, etc. anything really).

Thanks,

-dr


That's a really expensive way to experiment with RS-232 serial
communications. Or you can go purchase an Arinc 429 card for your PC for
$1,000 or more and make it even more expensive. Start with a cheap handheld
GPS, run its serial port into your PC, and parse its NMEA 0183 serial output
to make a homebrew moving map, store track logs, all kinds of things.
There's a plug-in available for MS Flight Sim to output NMEA serial data.

For real avionics, your first step should be to purchase or download the
avionics installation manual to see what they speak and how to wire it up.
The 430/530 transmits King/Aviation serial format and Arinc 429 / GAMA 429.
Basically every certified modern general aviation GPS transmits serial and
429, so that an MFD or autopilot can make use of it. Every piece of
avionics I've ever written software for has undocumented features not in the
installation manual or interface control document, but you'll have fun
discovering them if you get that far. See AC43.13 Chapter 11 for some
wiring help.

Here's an experiment for you.... get a VHF Nav receiver that will output
bearing from station and allow you to remotely command a Nav frequency
change. Using a database of VORs in your area, make a poor man's direct-to
random waypoint area navigator with it and your notebook computer. The
Garmin/AT SL-30 Nav/Com is a good choice. The 430/530 won't let you
remotely do anything to it except tell it what the course pointer is set to,
but it transmits lots of interesting data like all the waypoints of an
instrument approach.

Let us know how it all works out.

Thanks Mark,

Thats a good place to start. Is the AC43.13 documentation available
for download (PDF or otherwise) online?

Are the undocumented features of "cool" variety?

Not really. More like stuff you can only learn by experimenting because the
manual isn't detailed enough.

What language do you write your software in?

Asm, C, C++, Ada, VB, and others, but the language is mostly irrelevant


Whats the difference between arnic 429 and serial? Arnic digital and
serial not? Or is it speed?

Arinc 429 and RS-232 are both serial data in the sense that data bits are
transmitted and received one at a time sequentially. That's where the
similarity ends.

You'll have to go google and study on your own from here.