Bugs of G1000 software rev. 0370-23 for DA42 TDI

[Vasco]

Hello.
I have a DA42 TDI equipped with autopilot KAP140.
The upgrade to SBAS capability was recently carried out by Diamond in Wiener Neustadt.
Now the G1000 software is upgraded at version 0370-23.

I now see some weird "bugs". I would like to share my experience in order to understand if someting went wrong with my installation or if this is something affecting all similarly equipped aircraft. I have already informed DAI about these items. They say to contact Garmin for most of them. Probably Gamring has ther priorities than few DA42 legacy owners. But it may be worth a try if all of us write, if affected.

1. KAP140 autopilot self-test. I get quite a number of loud “bing” during the initial self-test. Before the installation, I only heard the final long “biiiing” (same noise of the a/p disconnect) when the self-test was finished and the autopilot self-disconnected. Now I hear many “bing” (same noise of the G1000 aural caption) everytime that a trim caption appears. It is very disturbing (while reading the checklist), annoying and ear breaking. Also passengers are disturbed by this high volume series of “bing”.

2. It is impossible to select the proper Vr (rotation speed). When turning the unit on, it appears as 69 Kts (like in the past), but now I cannot select the proper value of 70 or 72 Kts (depending on actual take-off weight). The 69 kts value is fixed, is wrong and cannot be changed.

3. MFD. Active flight plan page. If I want to add a waypoint to the active flight plan I can press the pan button. This will activate the cursor on the small map. If the waypoint I need is not displayed, I can use the joystick to move the cursor in the direction of the waypoint I want to select. When the cursor reaches the border of the map, I expect that the map scrolls. Well, I believe that there is a bug, because the map does NOT scroll. It becomes black for an instant and then the cursor is centralized again above the aircraft position. So it is basically impossible to load a waypoint using the map and the cursor, unless the waypoint is only few miles apart from the current aircraft position. I have tried to zoom out in order to make visible a larger part of the map. But then when I zoom in again to select the waypoint, the map is reloaded again centered on the aircraft position. This issue is particularly bad when I must load user defined waypoints, because loading them using cursor and map is incredibly faster than entering their names letter by letter. DAI reports this is an actual bug and they recommend to contact Garmin directly.

4. PFD. FPL inset. The airways are initially displayed as collapsed (as it was in the past). In the past, I could enter in the menu and select “expand airways”. This change allowed to have the airways expanded in the FPL inset for the remaining of the flight. With this new installation, every time that I replace the FPL inset with the “alerts” inset (to check and silence the white or amber captions for instance) and then I open the FPL inset again, then the FPL shows the collapsed airways again. It is very annoying to expand the airways 15 times per hour.

5. Is it normal that the G1000 does NOT provide navigation input to the autopilot KAP140 to fly holdings? I can now create a user defined holding. I can load it in the flight plan. The MFD clearly shows in magenta the active holding pattern. The PFD shows the holding symbol on top and writes “turn left/right now” when due. All seems correct. But the autopilot in NAV mode does NOT follow the holding. I must select the heading mode and fly the holding giving headings manually. Holdings are shown, but not flown. Is that normal?


Any similar experience from your side, guys?

Thanks.
Ciao!!
Alex

[ememic99]

1. That’s how it is - unfortunately no help here.
2. Same - it can’t be changed - it’s a bug and nobody will fix it.
3. I didn’t try this, so I can’t say anything.
4. Again, that’s how it is - unfortunately no help here.
5. I’m afraid this is the same as previous points. I planned to investigate this more but I won’t be near the aircraft for some 3 weeks.

As you see my answer wasn’t so useful but at least I confirmed same experience.

[Vasco]

Ciao Emir.
Thanks.
Happy to know that it is not only my issue.
Since all the things I listed are something worse than the previous release, it is not difficult to imagine that these are bugs and not intentional changes (except maybe the holdings).
Once collected more replies from other users, I'll write to Garmin. I am not expecting to be Garmin's priority, but it is good they know how bad the version 23 was programmed...
Ciao:
Alex

[ememic99]

The problem is that this is the last version for DA42 TDI with KAP140 and no fixes will be released. It's not about Garmin it's about Diamond. Diamond owns the code and Garmin can act only by DAI's request. And DAI won't make any move in that direction. The only way to get newer version is to replace KAP140 with GFC700.

[Vasco]

Copied. Funny. It is Diamond who told me to contact Garmin directly to solve the issues...
That's typical italian... Now I learn it is also an Austrian sport.

[ememic99]

Then Garmin will tell you to contact Diamond because they have the copyright and only they can order software changes

[Vasco]

So, American sport too.

[pietromarx]

The G1000 will not fly holds with the KAP 140. Luckily, it shows them ...

It is a worldwide sport.