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uAvionix Echo UAT/GRT - Install Experience

echoUAT + skyFYX-EXT

I?m in the process of installing ADS-B in my early SN RV-12. I have purchased uAvionix echoUAT + skyFYX-EXT + 24" Antenna Coax with connectors. Installation is very clean. The new WAAS GPS antenna mounts next to the Garmin GPS antenna on the double-wide bracket under the engine cowling. The echoUAT mounts on the rear baggage bulkhead with wire and coax fed through grommets in the floor. Power wire and signal wire from the WAAS GPS to the echo are routed under the pilot side armrest.

Test flight for Public ADS-B Performance Report will happen in a few days when weather improves?
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Another uAvionix Echo UAT Install

Happy to add another Echo UAT success story to the list.
Installed in my RV4, performance flight was this afternoon,, beautiful day over the Puget Sound, just west of SEATAC, below Class B.

No failures.

FlyQ EFB performed well with the new toy,, only complaint (which has been previously reported) is the constant flashing red ADSB Battery icon.

I'll submit a ticket to Seattle Avionics,,

Fairly easy install, only tough part was fishing the power supply cable to the rear of the airframe,, the conduit I installed back in the mid 90's is pretty much full!!
 
Jim, thanks for posting your experience and good pictures. I have been procrastinating since I started this thread, but I will have to get to addressing this pretty soon.

One question, why did you mount the little box way back there in the baggage area? Why not just find a spot in the avionics bay where the wiring would be easier?
 
John

uAvionix tells you to have good separation (>6’) between transponder antenna and new ADS-B antenna. Therefore, new antenna has to go behind rear bulkhead. Also best to max distance from comm antenna. My new ADS-B antenna is about 18” behind the rear bulkhead.

So, to answer your question… either the echo had to mount in the rear with short coax or mount in the instrument bay and run a long coax. I chose the former so coax loss would be minimal. Easier to run two flexible Tefzel wires as opposed to stiff coax. Also part of the planning are two status lights on the face of the echo that I’d like to be able to see occasionally.

I’ll finish installation today and do initial power up. The echo gets programmed via Bluetooth from phone or iPad app to set N number and a half dozen other items.

Weather is gorgeous today but we have a big POTUS TFR so might test fly tomorrow or Monday.

Install manuals here:

http://uavionix.com/downloads/echo-uat/echoUAT-User-and-Installation-Guide.pdf
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https://uavionix.com/downloads/skyfyx/skyFYX-EXT-User-and-Installation-Guide.pdf
 
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Follow up to my posts above... Flew plane this morning and passed PAPR Report with no RED. Easy installation...
 
Follow up to my posts above... Flew plane this morning and passed PAPR Report with no RED. Easy installation...
Jim,

That's great!
Thank you for the follow up.
A good friend and I plan on installing the same system in our airplanes.
Can you provide any suggestions or things to watch out for, regarding the installation?:)
 
THank You

Many Van's members do not post photos, as they have to be hosted offsite. Thanks for putting these pictures up. It helps others think in advance about installation choices and options. We will all be at Oshkosh this year. Shane will be missed. I am jealous of his height and hair. And beyond that, he was smart and helpful. I suppose I can achieve those... and just forget about the hair.
 
Jim,

That's great!
Thank you for the follow up.
A good friend and I plan on installing the same system in our airplanes.
Can you provide any suggestions or things to watch out for, regarding the installation?:)

Installation is very simple and uAvionix is very helpful answering all questions/concerns promptly. I powered both the echoUAT and skyFYX-EXT GPS antenna from 12 volt buss using a shared 3 amp fuse per uAvionix suggestion.
 
Installation is very simple and uAvionix is very helpful answering all questions/concerns promptly. I powered both the echoUAT and skyFYX-EXT GPS antenna from 12 volt buss using a shared 3 amp fuse per uAvionix suggestion.
Thank you.
 
I just installed the echoUAT/SafeFly combo from GRT today. Installation was straightforward and took about 4 hours, counting a trip to Lowes to buy some 8-32 flush head screws for mounting. That also included building two RG400 antenna cables since I messed up the length of the first one. The ADS-B antenna was mounted by the left gear mount, withe GPS antenna on the glareshield.

Took another 30 minutes of looking at both GRT and uAvionix instructions to get all the settings properly configured. I have a single Sport SX EFIS.

I went for a test flight and the report showed all good except 100% Fail for Flight ID. The instructions had stated that this should be left blank, however the FAA seems to want this to be the same as the N-number for GA aircraft. I will make this change tomorrow and see how it works.

The IN portion works great and I have traffic and weather on both my EFIS and foreflight. An added bonus was that it supplies position data to the iPad so I can ditch my bluetooth GPS unit.

Chris
 
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I just installed the echoUAT/SafeFly combo from GRT today. Installation was straightforward and took about 4 hours, counting a trip to Lowes to buy some 8-32 flush head screws for mounting. That also included building two RG400 antenna cables since I messed up the length of the first one. The ADS-B antenna was mounted by the left gear mount, withe GPS antenna on the glareshield.

Took another 30 minutes of looking at both GRT and uAvionix instructions to get all the settings properly configured. I have a single Sport SX EFIS.

I went for a test flight and the report showed all good except 100% Fail for Flight ID. The instructions had stated that this should be left blank, however the FAA seems to want this to be the same as the N-number for GA aircraft. I will make this change tomorrow and see how it works.

The IN portion works great and I have traffic and weather on both my EFIS and foreflight. An added bonus was that it supplies position data to the iPad so I can ditch my bluetooth GPS unit.

Chris
Great!
Thank you Chris, for the writeup.
 
Finally got my install done!

Since I started this thread it seems to have generated quite bit of interest! I thought it only fair that I give some feedback on my own install experience. I mounted the echoUAT unit on the baggage compartment aft bulkhead, so that the little indicator lights are visible. The UAT antenna went on the belly directly below, and the GPS unit went above. I ran a single wire from the avionics bay down through the tunnel for power. The power wire was spliced into the feed to the transponder. So far the 7.5 amp fuse for the avionics is holding up just fine with the extra load.

First flight was today, in a marginal ADS-B area, and the performance report was good in all respects except for a high failure rate in baro-altitude. Next flight will be Friday and I will make it a point to do it in a better coverage area. If baro-altitude is still problematic I will have to contact tech support for help. More after Friday?s flight.
 
I did a 90nm cross-country this morning with the full intension of returning by noon. T-storms were forecast for the afternoon. Plans got altered and I returned mid-day. I recently installed ADS-B in/out in my RV-12 and the iPad running ForeFlight lit up like a Christmas tree. See pics below taken poorly with a cell phone camera.

Who would have imagined, even just a few years ago, that we?d have real-time weather and traffic displayed on a color screen? Just amazing technology?

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Struggling to get a good report.

After trying a range of Transponder Threshold settings I was still getting Baro Alt errors too high to pass the test. Tech support sent me a replacement unit and now Baro Alt and Mode 3A are both showing 100% error rates. Since these are both supposed to be “sniffed” from the existing transponder it seems the echoUAT is not “hearing” that signal.

Has anyone else had this problem?

One theory I have is that the problem is due to the way I mounted the unit to the bulkhead, by Velcro, without a direct case to ground connection, depending on the grounding via Pin 1 and the coax shield. Anyone else mount their unit this way?

I will be continuing to work with uAvionix this week to try and resolve this problem, but if anyone else has any bright ideas I would welcome them.

BTW, all other functions of the box are working fine.
 
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Work with UAvionics to get it hardwired for the stuff currently sniffed. Way better solution and it doesnt require your xpdr to get pinged for the Echo to do its job.
 
What are you using as an encoder? I had a similar problem. I?m using a GRT Sport SX EFIS with a GRT a Safefly 2020/Uavionix Echo UAT combo. Best I could do was a 49% baro alt fail.

Visited the GRT as well as Uavionix booths at Airventure and thankfully talked to a Ryan (did not get his last name) who also asked me what I was using as an encoder. When I said GRT, he immediately said, ?I think I know what the problem is. Is your airplane on the field here at the show??

Yup. Just flew in the day before.

So he the says, ?Let?s go out and fix it.?

Holly Ads-b, Batman!! I coulda kissed the guy! So we went out to the airplane and turned out I hadn?t downloaded the current update that addresses the trouble with GRT playing nice with the Echo. Also the setup page was not showing my ICAOnumber that I thought I had entered.

Once he says it?s all fixed, then he asked if I got my free t-shirt yet. So back to the booth for a freebie. I love you, man!!

Sure enough, flight home 0% fail. Life is good.
 
Visited the GRT as well as Uavionix booths at Airventure and thankfully talked to a Ryan (did not get his last name)

turned out I hadn’t downloaded the current update that addresses the trouble with GRT playing nice with the Echo.

Ryan--------GRT or uAvionix guy?

Software update from GRT or uAvionix?
 
Responses:

Piper J3 - Yeah, I thought of that, even better to screw it right to the bulkhead, which I plan to do next.

Maniago - That would be an obvious choice if it was easy. However the way things are located in my airplane pulling those wires is a real bear, something I would really like to avoid, unless it proves to be the only choice. Exhausting all other options first.

Painless - my configuration includes a D-180 and Garmin GTX-327. No GRT. I believe it is the same Ryan I am currently working with at uAvionix. He is very helpful and trying hard for a tesolution.

Mike S - I think we are talking about Ryan at uAvionix. Good guy I think. Software in the echoUAT should be up to date, they just sent me the unit.

Anyone - who has had success with the non-wired pickup from the transponder? Particularly the GTX-327. And what transponder threshold value worked for you?
 
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BigJohn

I'm running uAvionix echoUAT + skyFYX-EXT + 24" Antenna Coax with 327 transponder. Echo antenna is located about 18" aft of rear baggage bulkhead. I have ~ 50 good PAPR's. I didn't have to change any settings in the 327, so can't help you there...
 
Ryan--------GRT or uAvionix guy?

Software update from GRT or uAvionix?

Ryan was with Uavionix, update was for the Uavionix Echo UAT. After I flew home, I drove back to OSH to pick up my camper (kind of a local boy, live 80nm away) and made it a point to go back to the Uavionix booth and thank Ryan. He wasn’t there, but the boss was and told him to give Ryan a raise! Thing is, I guess there were/are a couple of Ryans working at Uavionix.

I’m sniffing a Garmin GTX 327. I had my threshold set at 1450, not sure if Ryan set it back to 1600. I’m out of town now, will check when I return this week.
 
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Troubleshooting uAvionix Echo sniffing

BigJohn - We have slightly different equipment than you, but some overlaps...

Maniago - That would be an obvious choice if it was easy. However the way things are located in my airplane pulling those wires is a real bear, something I would really like to avoid, unless it proves to be the only choice. Exhausting all other options first.
Same with us - in our 9A with the Echo behind the bulkhead, more wire pulling (and potentially fabricating new connectors) is something we'd like to avoid.

Painless - my configuration includes a D-180 and Garmin GTX-327. No GRT. I believe it is the same Ryan I am currently working with at uAvionix. He is very helpful and trying hard for a tesolution.
We have the MGL Odyssey G2 EFIS and the Garmin GTX-327 - we are also working with Ryan at uAvionix, and I agree - he's trying hard to help. (We are tiring of removing and replacing the baggage bulkhead so many times, though.)

Mike S - I think we are talking about Ryan at uAvionix. Good guy I think. Software in the echoUAT should be up to date, they just sent me the unit.
Ryan sent us a new box, too - he did warn me that some of the new/replacement boxes that went out were set up differently than the older ones, and he said not to try to update the software/firmware on one of the new ones (?) using the same software/firmware we had uploaded to the original box. He said they were working to update the website to avoid this problem.

Anyone - who has had success with the non-wired pickup from the transponder? Particularly the GTX-327. And what transponder threshold value worked for you?
Our sniffing with the GTX-327 seems OK (just tested on one flight) - our threshold value is 1350. Before getting the replacement box, our sniffing wasn't pickup up pressure altitude at all - now, that's OK, but we are not picking up any ADS-B towers (so our troubleshooting continues).

Doug
 
Don't understand why many resist hardwiring to the rear connector on the GTX-327 transponder. Eliminates any errors or problems associated with sniffing. It is NOT hard to do. Albeit, you have to remove the VHF radio and transponder cases.
 
Don't understand why many resist hardwiring to the rear connector on the GTX-327 transponder. Eliminates any errors or problems associated with sniffing. It is NOT hard to do. Albeit, you have to remove the VHF radio and transponder cases.

Marty, I resist because I am (much) older than you, and can?t contort myself like I used to. And, I just finished the CI where I had eveything apart, and am not anxious to do it again.

And, you have Adam to climb in there and run wires for you!😉
 
Jeff,
What transponder do you have? Did you hardwire it to the echo?
Mark

Skid, it’s a Garmin GTX 327, and no, it is not hardwired. I was ready to dive under my panel...again (just updated it) to hard wire it, so I was very pleased the “sniff mode” is working for me.
 
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.......went for a test flight and the report showed all good except 100% Fail for Flight ID. The instructions had stated that this should be left blank, however the FAA seems to want this to be the same as the N-number for GA aircraft. I will make this change tomorrow and see how it works. ..........

Chris, did you ever get this resolved? Which setting made it work, blank or N number?
 
Don't understand why many resist hardwiring to the rear connector on the GTX-327 transponder. Eliminates any errors or problems associated with sniffing. It is NOT hard to do. Albeit, you have to remove the VHF radio and transponder cases.

Marty, can you expound on your hardwire solution? The 327 does not pass altitude on any of its serial out ports, so you have to get that from somewhere else and the Echo doesnt have enough serial to input a separate alt feed. I believe thats why for the Navworx folks, the mux exists....

I'm interested in a hardwire-only solution for the 327+Echo, but have yet to hear anyone explain how they wired it and how well it works.....
 
I have a 327 and that's the same reason why I am depending on the sniffer. So far so good, I used the default settings and it's been working very well.
 
Success!

Solved last two problems today.

Ryan had discovered from the screenshots I sent him that the ICAO code that I had entered did not ?take? and was still incorrect. More than likely I had entered the correct number but not hit the ?Update? button. Fixed that and entered the recommended transponder threshold value of 1550, and flew a one hour cross-country. At destination submitted report request, 100% error rate once again.

Then on a whim I changed the threshold value to 1350 based on the success someone else here on the forum had with that number, and departed for home. I had never gone that low before. Got home and requested a report, all ZERO error rates! Woo hoo!

If my final settings would be of value to someone send me a PM and I will send screen shots of my final settings.

This certainly wasn?t the easiest of installs for me, but the support from uAvionix was outstanding.
 
Setting please

Don't understand why many resist hardwiring to the rear connector on the GTX-327 transponder. Eliminates any errors or problems associated with sniffing. It is NOT hard to do. Albeit, you have to remove the VHF radio and transponder cases.

Please tell me your settings Marty. For the 327 input and outputs as well as your efis and the Echo. I have the mux cable that was supposed to mimic the navworx box but I haven’t hit on the right settings yet. Their manual and their software is no help and all worked flawlessly with the EXP.
 
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Yes, the MUX cable (with the chip heatshrinked on the connector), available from uAvionix, is required to hardwire the altitude signal from the Dynon and the transponder info from 327 to feed the UAT. I will verify the following settings the next time I get to the airport and connect the app to the UAT.

Looking at the app (not connected), I believe my settings are as follows:

Setup Source - SEE POST 139 in THIS THREAD
Control Source -
Traffic Uplink Output -
COM1 Rate -
COM1 Data -
COM1 PHY -
COM1 Protocol -
COM2 Rate -
COM2 Input Protocol -

Hopefully you do not have the very first MUX cable that uAvionix supplied. It was miswired. The second MUX cable they sent worked. The 3rd MUX cable that they sent me also worked and had an I/O chip heatshrinked at the connector (to improve overall performance). All three of the cables were intended to seamlessly connect my existing Navworx wiring to the uAvionix Echo UAT. It works, but, as others have described, I periodically see targets that disappear. Hoping uAvionix will solve with a firmware upgrade. OR will install Tim's solution.
 
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I would be curious about the serial port settings in your 327, both in and out on serial one.

Also, I believe your control source setting is sniffing the transponder rather than using the hardwire connection. The manual isnt clear to me about this. Is it in any of the documentation?

Yes, the MUX cable (with the chip heatshrinked on the connector), available from uAvionix, is required to hardwire the altitude signal from the Dynon and the transponder info from 327 to feed the UAT. I will verify the following settings the next time I get to the airport and connect the app to the UAT.

Looking at the app (not connected), I believe my settings are as follows:

Setup Source - App (Wif-Fi, stored)
Control Source - Transponder Monitor
GPS Source - External GPS (COM2)
Traffic Uplink Output - MFD (COM2)
COM1 Rate - 38400
COM1 Data - 81O
COM1 PHY - RS-485 Terminated
COM1 Protocol - TMAP
COM2 Rate - 115200
COM2 Input Protocol - NMEA

Hopefully you do not have the very first MUX cable that uAvionix supplied. It was miswired. The second MUX cable they sent worked. The 3rd MUX cable that they sent me also worked and had an I/O chip heatshrinked at the connector (to improve overall performance). All three of the cables were intended to seamlessly connect my existing Navworx wiring to the uAvionix Echo UAT. It works, but, as others have described, I periodically see targets that disappear. Hoping uAvionix will solve with a firmware upgrade. OR will install Tim's solution.
 
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Also, I believe your control source setting is sniffing the transponder rather than using the hardwire connection. The manual isnt clear to me about this. Is it in any of the documentation?

That?s also how I read the documentation on ?Control Source?.
 
I would be curious about the serial port settings in your 327, both in and out on serial one.

Think the 327 RS-232 IN is set to ICARUS ALT, RS-232 OUT is set to REMOTE. Does your 327 show Pressure Altitude? If so, your RS-232 IN set correctly.
 
Ignore my previous post with my Echo UAT settings. I went to the hangar, attached the app and read my settings. These are for the echoUATmux harness for Navworx with the heatshrinked I/O chip near the harness connector.

Looking at the app (now CONNECTED to the Echo UAT), my settings are as follows:

Setup Source - App (Wif-Fi, stored)
Control Source - EFIS/Panel COM1
GPS Source - External GPS (COM2)
Traffic Uplink Output - None
COM1 Rate - 115200
COM1 Data - 81N
COM1 PHY - RS-232
COM1 Protocol - GDL Control
COM2 Rate - 115200
COM2 Input Protocol - NMEA

Sorry for any confusion.
 
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Ignore my previous post with my Echo UAT settings. I went to the hangar, attached the app and read my settings. These are for the echoUATmux harness for Navworx with the heatshrinked I/O chip near the harness connector.

Looking at the app (now CONNECTED to the Echo UAT), my settings are as follows:

Setup Source - App (Wif-Fi, stored)
Control Source - EFIS/Panel COM1
GPS Source - External GPS (COM2)
Traffic Uplink Output - None
COM1 Rate - 115200
COM1 Data - 81N
COM1 PHY - RS-232
COM1 Protocol - GDL Control
COM2 Rate - 115200
COM2 Input Protocol - NMEA

Sorry for any confusion.

Marty, what data is being muxed by the cable, and what boxes is it coming from?
 
Transponder info (squawk code, IDENT and mode info) from the Garmin GTX-327 transponder and altitude info from the Dynon D-180.
 
I bought an echoUAT + skyFYX a while ago that's been sitting in a box waiting for annual (which I just started) on my D180+GTX327 equipped 12 and was curious what ya'll are talking about regarding a mux cable.

I looked at the updated installation last night and see it mentions an "echoUATmux" harness that combines the output of the 327 and a serial altitude encoder (ie from the D180) into the echoUAT's COM1 input. Curious, I looked at their website and also searched Google for the term but couldn't find really any other reference to the thing. I emailed them last night to ask about it and they're sending one to me for free. Great service. Looking forward to the install.

Hope this note helps anyone in the future searching for "echoUATmux"!

Btw - to those who have installed the echoUAT in the tail behind the bulkhead, have you had any problems with a WiFi connection to it?
 
I know this is an old thread, but Dallas Avionics has the echoUAT on sale for $799 instead of the usual $999 with the SkyFYX for an additional $400. I have a Garmin 430W so I just bought the echoUAT alone and plan to install it in the baggage compartment when I tear everything out to do my Condition Inspection in November.
 
I'm just getting to the point of setting up my ADS-B system and I'm having problems.
My system is a GTX327 + GRT Sport EX + uAvionics EchoUAT.
Setting it up according to GRTs instructions hasn't been successful, yet.
After reading through most of the information on this thread, the GRT manual and the uAvionics manual I'm confused.

Per GRT, I should use the APP settings they show for the UAT box. They said to select, for Control Source, EFIS/Panel (COM1), instead of Transponder Monitor. If I am sniffing the GTX 327, shouldn't I select the Transponder Monitor instead since I am selecting the squak code on the TXP?

What is Transponder Threshold value and where do I set it if I need to?

Thanks in advance
 
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