G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

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VCS
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Flight Stream 510 question: how many iPads?

Post by VCS »

Hi all,
We are about to upgrade the G1000 in our 42NG from the 'classic' model to NXi P2. (The work will be done in Austria.) We are also considering getting a Flight Stream 510 card. I doubt we will use if for database updates, but it may be handy for transferring flight plans. My concern is that the Garmin doc says several times that only 2 devices can be registered to connect to the 510. (Or, that's how I read it.) We have the aircraft in group use, with 15 pilots (and 15 iPads). If we just want to transfer flight plans, will this be possible using the 510 and a host of different iPads?

(Not getting FS510 will save nearly 2% of the upgrade cost...)
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by jast »

Hi!

No, you can register many different devices with the Fs510. At least that’s the case in the DA62, but I’m sure it’s the same. I think what Garmin means in their manual is that only two devices can be connected and online at the same time. That is rarely an issue as you can supply pilot and copilot with data and sync.

Database transfer is a big pain. As Foreflight user I had to buy Garmin Pilot just for this purpose, but then the update was really cumbersome and often worked only after several restarts. So I stopped using it and rather use the Wombats and JDM on my iPad.

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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by chili4way »

Get the FS510, you'll be able to use it just fine.

The limitation is the number of simultaneous connections, not paired devices. (There may be a limit, but it's the two-device limitation.) You might need to enable/disable devices (see photo below), but this is not much more than changing the user profile in the G1000.

You can ignore the database pop-up; this was when I formerly used FS510 to update databases. I now use a dedicated SDcard for that as it's faster and (as jast reports, more reliable).

FS510.jpg
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Re: Flight Stream 510 question: how many iPads?

Post by Chris »

VCS wrote: Thu Sep 01, 2022 8:25 pm We are about to upgrade the G1000 in our 42NG from the 'classic' model to NXi P2.
After it's done, please come back and give us an update on how the upgrade goes. Also, are you expecting any non-negligible changes to W&B due to the upgrade? I would like to get this upgrade done, but the last time I inquired to DAI about it I never heard back.
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by VCS »

Hi Chris, chili4way and Jan,
Thanks for the speedy responses. We'll get the 510 card.

Chris, on our upgrade to NXi: this is work the factory needs to do because it involves SB and work orders that they don't publish. (Of course, I suppose the guys in Canada get access.) We have a slot for the beginning of November, with expected downtime of about 2-3 weeks. The quoted cost is about $65K, but there is a $12K credit for the two GIA63Ws in the aircraft. The GDUs get replaced, as well as the GMA-1347 and the GIAs. (And, most importantly, the wiring harness.) On W&B: the 64Ws are incrementally heavier (less than a US pound), but the displays together are a few US pounds lighter, so I expect a (very) slight improvement. I'll let the group know how it goes. (Note that for EU customers, the upgrade also includes at GTX345R, but we bought our aircraft in Canada last year with the '345 already installed. This adds $5K to the cost for people who need it.)

-d.
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by VCS »

As I had posted earlier, we upgraded our G1000 Legacy system on our DA42-NG to NXi Phase II. The work was done at Diamond Maintenance in Austria. Our airplane was originally assembled in Canada (42AC056) in 2007 as a 42-TDI. It was converted to an NG in 2016 at Diamond Canada. We purchased the aircraft in Canada and brought it to Amsterdam in 2021. This history made the aircraft somewhat unique for Diamond Maintenance, since traces of the airplane's previous incarnations manifested themselves at various stages of the upgrade.

Our NXi update consisted of two upgrades: (a) From G1000 Legacy to NXi Phase 1; and (b) From Phase I to Phase II.

While we originally thought of the upgrade as a swap of the GIAs and the displays, there was considerably more involved. The attached diagram shows the components after the upgrade. (I've included only the items installed in our airplane.) The items with a blue edge were part of the Phase I upgrade and the items with a red edge were part of the Phase II. We already had a GTX-345R and a GFC700, both installed in 2016.
Architecture after change
Architecture after change
The upgrade cost a net of about $55K (including $12K credit for the GIA63Ws and the FS510 wireless card). A 345R would have added about $5K and the autopilot a bunch more. The work took about three weeks (but partially happend in an Austrian holiday period.). The core of the work was the replacement of the wiring harness in the aircraft and the installation/testing of the dozen or so systems components. The GIA63Ws were retained by Diamond as part of the upgrade. We took most of the other replaced components back for functional recycling by our home maintenance base.

As others have written, the systems enabled on the NXi (primarily the audio options) required some fine-tuning to get tailored to get working the way we wanted. Here are some notes, in more or less random order:

Software Versions
-----------------------------------------------------------
Our system was delivered with software version 1916.12. We received a loader SD card for the system software in original Garmin packaging. The associated Pilot's guide is 190-02526-01_a.pdf, the cockpit ref manual is: 190-02527-01_a.pdf and the Line Maintenance Manual is: 190-02631-00_01.pdf. We received soft copies of these. The GDU software level is 20.92. The manual describes 3D audio, Surface Watch, WireAware and various updates for system messages. I believe that SurfaceWatch requires a $5K unlock card, which pretty much eliminated our interest.

I understand that Phase III is coming before mid-2023. The main thing that our distribution seems to miss is vertical approaches. But realistically, most of our destinations already have RNP approaches published -- even if you aren't always allowed to use them.

V-Speeds
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In the 1916.12 distribution, the v-speeds configured by Garmin are incorrect. (These incorrect values are also included in the illustration in the NXi Pilot's Guide on page 45.) The default values can be seen in Maintenance Mode on the GDU->Aircraft Configuration page.
Maintenance Mode GDU page on V-speeds
Maintenance Mode GDU page on V-speeds
Pilot's Guide depiction of V-speeds
Pilot's Guide depiction of V-speeds
These can't be changed, at least not trivially. I haven't tried doing this with the loader card installed yet. Maybe someone else has some experience with this. (We were told that this will be addressed 'soon' by Garmin, although 'soon' is a flexible concept when it comes to G1000 software updates.)

GMA 1360 Options page
-----------------------------------------------------------
The 1360 settings which we ultimately changed from the standard distribution were:
- Always enable 3D Audio for pilot/copilot (2 settings): from USER to ON
- Generate internal sidetone for COM1/COM2 (2 settings): from OFF to ON
- Activate pilot/copilot/passenger ICS on every power (3 settings): from OFF to ON
- While PAX in ICS, route NAV/COM audio to PAX (2 settings): from OFF to ON
- Enable selection of split-com via front panel: from OFF to ON
(Thanks to @CFIDave for the base insights on changing these and to @photoSteveZ for giving the golden tip to push the RANGE button to enable the cursor to change Options values.)

We enabled 3D Audio on the ground in Austria and then spent a four hour flight home trying to figure out why 3D didn't work. The answer: both David Clark and Bose default their headsets to MONO mode. Once these switches were flipped to STEREO, the 3D audio feature worked fine.

The 1360 supports split-com by pressing the COM 1 Mic/Com 2 Mic buttons simultaneously, at which point both COM Mic lights light up. To get out of split-com, you push either COM 1 Mic or COM 2 Mic. (This is not documented.) The dedicated split-com button on the 1347 does not exist on the 1360.

On the flight home we were pretty disappointed by the tin-box sound in our headsets whenever transmitting via the PTT. We asked Diamond for support, which didn't help. The solution is to set the GMA 1360 generate of the sideband tones. (The sideband tone is the feedback of the voice to the headset.) Can't image why this isn't on by default.

There is an option to Always Enable Digital Audio (which is misspelled on the options page as 'Ditital Audio'), We haven't set this yet. (If others have experience, let me know.)

GMA Noise page
-----------------------------------------------------------
Another thing we haven't tried yet is to activate the automatic background noise filtering via the 1360. These are options on the GMA 1360 Noise page to compensate speaker and headset background noise. I'd be interested to hear if others have tried this out.

Bluetooth Connections
-----------------------------------------------------------
As others have pointed out, the NXi system support Bluetooth connections to the GIAs using the FS510 SD card. We were able to connect three devices simultaneously, although this number is not documented. After 3 connections, there is no feedback when trying a new connection, which is pretty frustrating. Deleting devices then restarting a Bluetooth scan seems to work.

The 1360 provides a separate bluetooth connection for streaming audio. The 1360 also allows using this bluetooth connection to record cockpit audio on an iPhone. (We controlled the audio recording from the iPhone using Voice Memos. Be sure you have a power bank handy.) The recorded audio is clear and includes both ICS and transmitted audio from/to COM 1. (You can choose to have COM2 audio recorded instead via the options settings.

Adding Bluetooth audio is easier than ignoring it: I suspect that the so-called Blue Mode can be used to isolate (for example) the pilot from the copilot's musical tastes. We need to experiment more with this.

We have no wired audio sources in the EU (no XM radio or equivalent), so a single bluetooth stream is the only audio music source. (Our aircraft had a GDL-69A when we bought it, but we've removed it because it is useless in the EU. If anyone needs a spare unit, let me know.).

Interaction with ForeFlight
-----------------------------------------------------------
Transferring flight plans and flight data to/from ForeFlight works well, especially once you find the ((+)) transfer button on ForeFlight. One gripe for us in Europe is that while both FF and NXi support VFR waypoints, the naming of the waypoints is not compatible. For example, the VFR waypoint to get into Amsterdam is EHAMV (according to the NXi navdata). The same waypoint in FF is called VP039 (undoubtedly its official Dutch name), but it is transferred to the NXi from FF as, say, USER003. Since ForeFlight and Jeppesen share a parent company, you'd expect that they could also share a waypoint naming scheme.

Thanks to the previous owner of our airplane, we had an unlock card for Jeppesen charts. Although we also have them in our ForeFlight subscriptions, having them on the MFD is pretty useful, especially for approach briefing.

Bottom Line
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While $55K is a lot of cash, we are pretty happy with the upgrade: moving flightplans from ForeFlight to NXi (and back) is a great feature, the 105x displays are beautiful under various lighting conditions, the scrolling is fast. We have Jepp charts installed. Unfortunately, VFR+IRFr en route charts are not supported for Europe, but this is not a big deal. The HSI map is cute, but we tend to keep our HSI as an HSI. The Bluetooth audio though the 1360 is a nice touch, especially since in the Old World, we aren't used to XM audio.
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by VCS »

PS: there was no W&B impact with the upgrade. Ultimately, the new systems were a few pounds lighter in total.
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by VCS »

Oeps: I included the wrong picture above on the in-airplane v-speed settings.
In-aircraft (incorrect) v-speeds
In-aircraft (incorrect) v-speeds
(The photo in the original post came from the Garmin NXi simulator, a great place to play with Maintenance Mode settings before moving to the airplane.)

One other issue I forgot: since the upgrade, we tend to get lots of DEICE PRES HI warnings. Our maintenance shops says this is typical of NXi systems. Anyone with experience on this? (The classical solution is to replace the TKS filters, which starts with Eur 500 in parts.)
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by Boatguy »

Thank you for the comprehensive report!

- Did you, or the factory make the changes to the 1360 settings?

- While there is a limitation of 3 BT devices concurrently connected, I have 4-5 that are paired and just enable/disable them as needed depending on who/what is in the plane.

- Was the GFC700 added by the factory at the same time as the NG conversion?
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Re: G1000 Nxi Phase II questions

Post by VCS »

Hi Boatguy,
I made the changes to the 1360, both at the time of pickup and here in Amsterdam. The hardest part is mapping Garmin names to understandable concepts. One you know how to activate the cursor, making changes is straightforward.

I understand the BT limitation to 3. What we've found is that if the last flight had 3 active devices and some new pilot tries to connect, there appears to be some sort of timeout loop that happens. Getting rid of one of the earlier connects and then turn BT off/on on the user device usually solves the connection problem.

On the GFC700: yes, this was installed by the factory in Canada as part of the NG upgrade in 2016, long before we bought the airplane.

-dick
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