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GRT Safe Fly/Echo Pirep request

Mike S

Senior Curmudgeon
Looking for input from folks flying the GRT Safe Fly and uAvionix Echo ADSB package.

echo-uat-2020-gps-313x335.png


I am wondering if anyone is actually flying with it, and how is is working for you?

I have seen a thread or two about issues with the Echo-----would like to hear some good reports also.

Thanks in Advance.
 
Have been flying with mine for several months and am very pleased. I do occasionally note the dropped targets, however I am confident they will resolve the issue. I also fly in such a congested area that keeping my head on a swivel is really the only way to operate, anyways. I may also upgrade my sport to an hxr to take advantage of the ifr approach capabilities that the safefly gps allows. Wifi connection to foreflight is always seamless and automatic. My only gripe was lack of clear setup instructions, and in some cases, conflicting instructions. Still, I had it installed and working properly in one day.

Chris
 
Looking for input from folks flying the GRT Safe Fly and uAvionix Echo ADSB package.

I am wondering if anyone is actually flying with it, and how is is working for you?

I have seen a thread or two about issues with the Echo-----would like to hear some good reports also.

Thanks in Advance.

Mike, I've been flying with one for about 8 months/150 hours in my RV-7; it replaced my perfectly functional but FAA banned Navworx 600EXP. Both units feeding my GRT Sport SX.

Bad business practices aside, Navworx set a high bar with the EXP. My Echo suffers from disappearing targets as mentioned in other threads here. It also doesn't seem to pick up as many towers as the EXP did, though that's mostly an issue for my daily low level flying (below 2500' betwixt DWA and O88). Both my EXP and the couple of revised Dynon ADSB-472 units I've flown with seemed to perform better in that environment and they both did a better job of filtering and prioritizing traffic. My understanding is that the Echo is marginal on power which may have something to do with that. I tried moving the UAT antenna around and making the coax cable as short as possible, which made absolutely no difference. As for filtering, it is also my understanding that uAvionix is working to improve that and will be releasing a software update in the not so distant future that will help.

The EXP did a nicer job IMHO of depicting targets as well; within a certain distance (don't recall exactly, probably less than 5 miles) targets changed from a diamond shape on the PFD to a yellow dot that got progressively larger as the target got closer. Difficult to ignore. That's a minor quibble though.

I haven't flown near enough weather (there hasn't been much) with the Echo to get a sense of how well it paints Nexrad signals. The EXP worked well enough in that department, and while I haven't had a lot of need for weather depiction, it's been handy when I did. I wish GRT would get around to enabling winds aloft data but that has nothing to do with the Echo's capability.

Would I buy it again? Yeah, probably. If uAvionix improves filtering, then that would go to almost definitely. The integration with my GRT displays, not to mention the serial port combiner function, along with the low price makes the combo pretty attractive. The GPS is a WAAS/RAIM unit, another nice feature that will be nice to have if/when I upgrade my Sport SX to an HXr with the optional approach software. Someday...

Hope that helps.
 
Another +1

I installed the Safe Fly/Echo package in my -4 with a GRT Sport EX. I agree with YellowJacket that the set up instructions could have been a little more clear and a few emails with GRT had to help that along. I also called uAvionix and one of their guys ran though the set up right with me on there on the phone. Only took about 10 minutes when you're talking to someone who really knows the thing.

Can't complain about performance for me. Targets show up about 99%, the only times they don't is when their altitude is several thousand feet different (ATC: Not a Factor). Weather is fun. I've used it several times now to run around systems. I might paint the colors a bit more extreme than they really are but that might not be a SafeFly/Echo thing, might just be the data coming in. It's only been since April and about 70 hours but the ADS-B IN has been working great. I also use ForeFlight on the iPad and having it connect to the wireless next work automatically and provide data to ForeFlight is really nice. Overall, +1 on that system.

GPS antenna is mounted up under the cowl, forward of the firewall. The UAT antenna is mounted on the belly under the backseater.

Footnote.... I have had some issues with my GRT Sport EX freezing on me. Yes, freezing completely. Sometimes for 5-7 seconds at a time. I BELIEVE that's a separate issue, but not for certain. In some emails with GRT, I was told they once had problems with one random ADS-B tower in Tennessee giving them issues between their products. It was suggested that maybe that's happening to me in Michigan. I don't know, I'm not a software guy. But I thought I should put that in there. If anyone else has had GRT EFIS freezing issues though, please contact me.
 
Help me understand which component it is that does the filtering or is it both. In my situation it is my understanding that the uAvonics Echo receives the ADS B in signal and in my case wifi's it to the display component which is an iFly 740b . I set up the filtering in the iFly for distance and altitude. . I do have some targets disappear but it is always when they go beyond the filter limits I have set. Do others handle this filtering differently in that filtering can be set up in the ECHO ADS B unit ? I do see targets beyond my filter limits quit often but they are usually direct Mode ES targets and not those ground transmitted back to me.
 
Mike:

I have just recently installed the Echo /SafeFly unit and am finishing off the configuration through the EFIS setup menu and over wifi using the uAvionix app. One thing I just became aware of through a phone call to GRT:
Whereas I previously only got weather and traffic on my primary display using a SkyRadar ADS-B in unit, with the new uAvionix unit I will be able to also get weather and traffic on my secondary Sport SX screen by splitting the blue wire from the serial combiner and wiring the two ends into serial ports on both screens. Nice

erich
 
Mike:

I have just recently installed the Echo /SafeFly unit and am finishing off the configuration through the EFIS setup menu and over wifi using the uAvionix app. One thing I just became aware of through a phone call to GRT:
Whereas I previously only got weather and traffic on my primary display using a SkyRadar ADS-B in unit, with the new uAvionix unit I will be able to also get weather and traffic on my secondary Sport SX screen by splitting the blue wire from the serial combiner and wiring the two ends into serial ports on both screens. Nice

erich

Good point. My primary display is a GRT Sport SX, my secondary is a GRT Mini AP. The Mini doesn't have enough serial ports to do a hookup like that. But, traffic still gets ported through the interdisplay link, though weather does not. So far, since the only weather we've been getting in NorCal during the last several months is smoke, it hasn't been an issue. And I can always display weather on the Sport SX in the event some actually appears.
 
Both my EXP and the couple of revised Dynon ADSB-472 units I've flown with seemed to perform better in that environment and they both did a better job of filtering and prioritizing traffic. My understanding is that the Echo is marginal on power which may have something to do with that. I tried moving the UAT antenna around and making the coax cable as short as possible, which made absolutely no difference. As for filtering, it is also my understanding that uAvionix is working to improve that and will be releasing a software update in the not so distant future that will help.

The GPS is a WAAS/RAIM unit, another nice feature that will be nice to have if/when I upgrade my Sport SX to an HXr with the optional approach software.

I have GRT's Sport SX and have now installed and flown with the Echo/SafeFly GPS. Everything is working great. Filtering of traffic to within a specified altiitude interval above and below you, as well as within a specified distance, is done through the EFIS set up controls (not the Echo configuration) and works perfectly. There is also an additional "Traffic Alert Window" setting available from the Set Menu, Moving Map, that when enabled, will alert you when traffic is within 2nmi. The PFD page doesn't have such a pop-up window, but it will show traffic in the Synthetic Vision view when enabled using "Traffic in view" in SET MENU, Primary Flight Display. Your EFIS must have the Synthetic Vision option for this to work.

Im not saying the issue doesnt exist, but the only disappearing traffic that I have seen are when the traffic drifts above/below/outside of my filter range, or maybe drops below radar coverage.

Regards,

Erich
 
Is there any reason you guys went with the GRT Safe-fly instead of uAvionix's SkyFyx(EXT)? It seems like they achieve the same thing....
 
Is there any reason you guys went with the GRT Safe-fly instead of uAvionix's SkyFyx(EXT)? It seems like they achieve the same thing....

For those with GRT EFIS?s, it also provides extra serial ports.
Also, as noted in previous posts, GRT is quietly working on adding gps approach capability to HXr/HX efis units, using this gps (currently no TSO).
 
For those with GRT EFIS?s, it also provides extra serial ports.
Also, as noted in previous posts, GRT is quietly working on adding gps approach capability to HXr/HX efis units, using this gps (currently no TSO).

That would be a lot of extra value.
 
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