Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

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rwtucker
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Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by rwtucker »

Sortly after departure on a short flight from KMYL to KEUl yesterday, I asked an oncoming pilot to check his transponder after hearing his call and acquiring a visual but not seeing him on my screen. He said his transponder was showing normal operation. I then saw that it was my traffic that had failed; I had not noticed the greyed out Advisory notice. I could not recall which CB controlled the Avidyne system so I made no efforts to restart the system.

Thirty minutes later, it was still showing failed on final when it began issuing aural alerts of traffic in the pattern and on the ground. On the return flight, the system appeared to be OK.

Has anyone had this intermittant experience? If so, were you able to identify the problem?
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NickBudd
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Re: Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by NickBudd »

Rob, I had the same problem recently. Advisory notice plus symbol x’d out but aural alerts on the ground. I pulled the CB on the ground but this did not restart the system. I have not used the plane since so don’t know if it will restart. Were you able to identify the problem?

Thanks,

Nick Budd
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rwtucker
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Re: Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by rwtucker »

NickBudd wrote:Rob, I had the same problem recently. Advisory notice plus symbol x’d out but aural alerts on the ground. I pulled the CB on the ground but this did not restart the system. I have not used the plane since so don’t know if it will restart. Were you able to identify the problem? Thanks,
Nick Budd
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I have not got back to the problem Nick. It was a one-time event Nick, so far. I'm pretty sure it will come back. When it does, my first try at a fix will be to R&R the module in the G1000 rack, maybe adding some contact enhancer at the same time.

Let me know if yours is still acting up the next time you fly.
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NickBudd
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Re: Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by NickBudd »

Will report after next flight. It may well be the contacts. I had a problem with the GDL 69 unit last summer that was fixed by cleaning the contact so maybe they jiggled the TAS box while rooting around in the avionics bay. In the meantime, I spoke to an Avidyne technician and he said a common cause is non-alignment of the antennas, which can be easily checked. Incidentally, while flying over N Canada last summer I briefly lost the heading bug and autopilot and WX500 and TAS. I later spoke to a Canadian Air Force technician who said there is a very powerful early warning radar base in the area which was probably the culprit. The problem went away after 45 nervous minutes.
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Re: Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by rwtucker »

NickBudd wrote:. . . I spoke to an Avidyne technician and he said a common cause is non-alignment of the antennas, which can be easily checked.
Do you know if this something that could happen on our DA40's, assuming they are still screwed in place? My suspicions went to contacts or a failed driver load (which is not that uncommon with an older generation OS) because it went away and did not return . . . so far.
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NickBudd
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Re: Puzzling TAS 600 "Fail"

Post by NickBudd »

Glad to hear that your TAS has returned. I still don't know about mine since I haven't flown since it happened 10 days ago. I am hoping to have it looked at next week and will let you know. My guess is that it is a faulty contact but we'll see. My plane is 10 years old and lives near the water so there may be some corrosion in the contacts (shudder to think of it). I doubt there is my difference between the DA40 installation and the DA42 installation.
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