LX 9070 Miscellaneous bugs

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Andy Blackburn

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Jun 29, 2023, 3:14:16 PM6/29/23
to LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
I've got a 2019 LX 9070 with V8 installed by the factory in a JS3. Last summer I started having problems with getting a GPS fix. It sometimes took more than an hour. I installed a new GPS antenna but the problem persisted. Sometime resetting the unit would fix the issue, but sometimes not.

I have two questions:

1) Has anybody had a similar problem and if so what was the resolution? Is the GPS in the antenna or in the unit? Could it be a bad/failing GPS chip? I've got a Flarm, the 9070, an S10 and ADS-B Out, so that's a good number of GPS antennas under the glare shield, but they are reasonably well placed and I didn't have any problems previously.

2) On the occasions where I've reset in the air the 9070 recognizes I'm in the air and skips the pilot selection and altitude input. So whatever altitude I'm at when the unit comes alive is added to the field elevation I input when I took off, so all my glide calculations involve subtracting out the difference which is not how I want to be spending brain cycles, not to mention the potential for making an error. Does anyone know how to manually adjust the altitude in-flight? (Obviously fixing #1 would obviate the need to fix #2, but still...)

Thanks,

Andy Blackburn 
9B

Justin Shaw

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Jun 29, 2023, 6:03:12 PM6/29/23
to LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Can't answer #2 but had similar issue to #1 last summer.  Sometimes it would lock on quickly at start-up, other times it wouldn't, even in flight, and sometimes it would get the fix after flying for an hour or two.  I spoke to Richard at Craggy Aero who was my dealer when I purchased the avionics package for the glider (late 2018 or 2019 I think).  Sent him the debug info which he sent to LX and the only ideas that came back where to check the GPS antenna connections and/or replace the antenna.  Eventually I replaced the antenna with a short cable (original one had a few feet that was wound up with zip ties).  That has seemed to mostly work, but I still have had the same issue intermittently.  Sometimes I keep powering down the unit, shutting all avionics/electrical off, turn off all other units (transponder, radio, etc.), then re-energize the master power switch and re-boot the 9070.  Sometimes that works with one try, sometimes it takes 3-5 but usually seems to get a fix.  No real idea what else to do on this one!  Once I do have a fix, it never seems to lose it until powered down and rebooted.

Thanks,

Justin
4JS

Andy Blackburn

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Jun 29, 2023, 7:27:28 PM6/29/23
to Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Thanks Justin. 

What Firmware version are you running? I noticed the changelog for firmware version 9.05 (released 07 April 2023) includes “GPS initialization fixes”. I’ve not installed it yet. Maybe that helps?

Andy Blackburn 
9B

Version 9.05
New features:
• Added HAWK netto track and thermal color
• Added HAWK netto for flight track to thermal assistant page
• HAWK: Demo period increased to 100 days
• HAWK reset also resets wind info
• Added manual and automatic HAWK reset function (remote stick, menu)
• Added undirected airfield icon
• Added release notes to About
• Remote stick: added “toggle audio source” function key option
• Added “Vario” option to speed to fly sound modes
• Added task armed comment to IGC file
Changes:
• PowerFLARM: Updated high data rate licence
• Radar sym.: Default orientation changed to “Track”
• Updated translations
• Increased AHRS system pitch offset to +/-20°
• Waypoint selection method can now be changed with KEYDOT on remote
• Ballast and MacCready are now reset by default when flight ends
• Increased time between two water ballast warnings
• Various user interface improvements
• LXNAV Connect: Decreased size of the QR code
Bug fixes:
• Checklists: Fixed button handling bug when no item is selected
• Minor waypoint editing fixes
• Radar sym.: Fixed drawing when on the ground and direction data is unavailable
• Task: Fixed a problem on devices with a touchscreen
• FLARM update: increased timeout
• NMEA timeout fix
• Fixed FLARM target info when no heading nor track info is available
• Fixes for HAWK netto logging
• Fixed thermal detection based on circling angle
• Fixed premature “low battery warning” at startup
• GPS initialization fixes
• GPS NMEA protocol fix
• Fixed a problem with reading of external FLARM data
• Fixed factory reset for demo files
• LX8000 T20HF: hardware generation detection bugfix
• Remote stick: Fixed a problem with remote button actions outside navigational pages
• Workaround for non-compliant external FLARM sources
• Fixed radar target drawing when target is offscreen
• Fixed logging of HAWK netto value

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Matthew Scutter

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Jun 29, 2023, 8:20:33 PM6/29/23
to Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
I had exactly the same phenomenon. It spoilt half a dozen really nice flights first from launching late waiting for it to get a fix, then finally giving up and flying without GPS, and it eventually coming live in the air.

I went through a lot of beta-releases with LX, from what I deduced it was related to the new Hawk code and the associated high rate GPS mode, coupled with FLARM. After a lot of back and forth the problems disappeared in a beta about 6 months ago.

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Andy Blackburn

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Jun 29, 2023, 8:46:09 PM6/29/23
to Matthew Scutter, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Thanks Matthew. I figured it might be firmware as it started after I turned on Hawk. But with intermittent problems you never really know. 

The current version is 9.05 for the regular release (as of April 2023) and 9.06 on beta. I’m betting 9.05 was when they made the fix based on the changelog.

Andy

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On Jun 29, 2023, at 5:20 PM, Matthew Scutter <yellowp...@gmail.com> wrote:



Steve Koerner

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Jun 29, 2023, 11:21:43 PM6/29/23
to Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
I've had plenty enough problems but not that one quite yet. A debugging suggestion though: turn on only the LX system and nothing else in order to assess if you may be dealing with weakened GPS due to RFI from another device or GPS.

Steve

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Ramy Yanetz

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Jun 30, 2023, 1:30:20 AM6/30/23
to Andy Blackburn, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Andy,

Regrading your 2nd question, I recycle my LX9000 in flight occasionally (from different reasons) and it always come up with the correct altitude and calculations, no adjustment needed. 
On the ground I never manually enter field elevation, instead I select the elevation that LX calculated which is always correct. So once recycled in the if, it seem to remember the last  pressure altitude, so no adjustment needed. 
But if you do need to adjust in flight, it is in the QNH menu setting if I recall correct. 

Ramy

Morgan Hall

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Jun 30, 2023, 1:41:42 AM6/30/23
to Ramy Yanetz, Andy Blackburn, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group

Andy,

My 9000 was failing to get a fix earlier this year.  I thought it was RF interference because it only seemed to happen at Santa Ynez where I rigged in one place.  Until it happened elsewhere.  

Indeed the spring firmware resolved the problem and I haven’t seen it since.  

Morgan

Andy Blackburn

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Jun 30, 2023, 3:34:43 AM6/30/23
to Ramy Yanetz, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Wow. Mine always comes up with the field elevation the last place I flew, which is usually pretty far off - sometimes thousands of feet. Time to RTFM.

Andy

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On Jun 29, 2023, at 10:30 PM, Ramy Yanetz <rya...@yahoo.com> wrote:

 Andy,

Ramy Yanetz

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Jun 30, 2023, 9:59:45 AM6/30/23
to Andy Blackburn, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Andy, correct, but then after few seconds it provides an option to select the current field elevation. You just need to wait up to a minute for the gps to lock. Once you do that, even if you reboot in the air the altitude should remain correct. 

Ramy

Andy Blackburn

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Jun 30, 2023, 11:28:48 AM6/30/23
to Ramy Yanetz, Justin Shaw, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group
Today I learned…

Thanks!

A

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On Jun 30, 2023, at 6:59 AM, Ramy Yanetz <rya...@yahoo.com> wrote:

 Andy, correct, but then after few seconds it provides an option to select the current field elevation. You just need to wait up to a minute for the gps to lock. Once you do that, even if you reboot in the air the altitude should remain correct. 

jshaw...@gmail.com

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Jun 30, 2023, 12:04:11 PM6/30/23
to Steve Koerner, LXNav Soaring Glider Equipment User Discussion Group

Agreed… That was exactly why I tried booting up with everything else off!

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