NO Ancestor worship!
(about 2003)
I've received hundreds of emails about the onboard computer and EFIS
systems. Here are some FAQ's that might help you. Still have questions?
Email me!
I have been very interested in your homemade EFIS, as you said before most
EFIS systems are very expensive. My question is where did you get the
software for the computer and how to contact those people?
RMS technology makes the
map software. I don't recommend them as the product is dippy. It reminds me
of an old program that has had endless additions made to it, none of which
make much sense (like searching for cities or streets). As a moving map it
works, but it's awkward. Support is ok, but they seem deaf to making much
needed improvements. Jeppesen is much better but more costly, but cool stuff
is coming!
Is your EFIS lite tied in with your homemade EFIS?
Not yet, we (couple talented engineering types and myself) are developing a real cool
ADI and moving map display that will use all the BMA (Blue Mountain
Avionics) EFIS lite inertial and air data. Stay tuned for this !! This is
significant as our friends at Blue Mountain avionics will be selling more Lites as an ADIRS (Air Data/Inertial Reference system) to homebuilders who
otherwise wouldn't buy their products.
Do you have any problems with the EFIS (lite & homemade computer) while
doing aerobatics?
At worst, Lite suffers a
bit doing rolls as it is usually off by a few degrees in roll after an
aileron roll, but I think it works pretty darned good. I recommend it! It
took several software revisions to get this cool little product up and
running, but BMA did it quickly. They (BMA) have been great with support for
these and all issues! One of the weird but fixed issues was loss of GPS
signal from inverted flight. Greg Richter fixed it pretty quickly. Overall,
the entire system works very well during aerobatics, not perfect though, yet
WAY better than any mechanical gyro. Of significance...during normal
flight, it's been perfect. The homemade computer works well except for
the hard drive. It created general read/write failures in flight during high
speed flight due to noise/vibration. Replacing the hard drive with a solid
state flash disk fixed this. it works perfectly now. I should quit thrashing
the airplane around so much and give it a rest!
Where did you get the
power supply to power the computer and monitor?
I have lost the name of
my supplier, but it was a 110 watt DC/DC converter with dual outputs: 12V
and 5V. This supply provides power for the motherboard (12V and 5V) and the
display (12V). Input voltage range is 8-18 Volts DC. If anyone has another
supplier for this type of converter technology, pleas email me as I'm
looking for another product to sell for other builders benefit.
Where did you get the
motherboard?
It came from Technoland
at www.technoland.com. It is a model
TLembsbc-790. here is a link.
http://www.technoland.com/tl_embsbc790.htm
I chose this board as the processor is more than fast enough, it only needs
two voltages to run (12V and 5V) it's small and cheap, about $400 including
memory and CPU. They have good support and the drivers installed easily. It
has oodles of ports, 4 COM, 2 LPT, 2 USB, 2 LAN LVDS, VGA and more! There
are newer fast and smaller/less expensive boards coming on the market now.
Expect big new on this front.
What operating system do
you use?
Windows 98SE. I use this
as it's small at 250 MB. Disk space is at a premium until flash drive
technology gives us way bigger drives. XP would be better but takes up to
much space. Later computers may have a UNIX based system. We're working on
that.
Don't you worry about
using a Microsoft product for navigation?
Hell YES! I always have a "reliable" backup navigation system available, in
this case the BMA EFIS lite which has a fantastic moving map and US database
built it. Imagine flying through crummy weather and getting one Bill famous
BSOD' S (BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH)!
So how often to you get
a BSOD?
None yet. It don't
install any software on the computer unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessary.
Reliability remains high but...
What else will the
computer do?
It does all the PC
multimedia tricks including play ripped DVD movies in-flight, plays .mp3
files for music, records ATC/intercom communications, flight planning,
word-processing, internet surfing...the whole enchilada!
You mean the sound card
ports are connected to the stereo intercom in your airplane?
Yep!
So I can connect my 20
GB External hard drive to a panel mounted USB port and use that data for
"whatever"?
YEP and I do!
How does the airplane
connect to the internet?
There is an RJ-45 Ethernet jack mounted on the pilots main instrument panel.
I can plug the hangers broadband Ethernet cable into the airplane this way.
This allows viewing weather services, DUATS access, several flight planning
programs, even Internet Explorer to access the internet. It's important to
have your ship powered by an external power unit during all this surfing to
keep from running down you battery. External power units are for sale on the
products page.
Can you use a Satellite phone to connect to the internet in flight to get
weather maps etc?
YEP! The mother board has
4 COM ports, com1; NMEA data, COM2; Cirque touch pad, COM3;sat phone etc.
DO you have engine data
on your homemade EFIS?
Nope, and no plans for
it. Others (Blue Mountain Avionics) have already perfected this technology.
How do you control what is displayed on the screen, such as mouse, touch
screen, etc.?
I have a Cirque touch
pad similar to the one a B-777 uses for pointing control. it's mounted in a
hidden place under my left knee, I can fly with my right hand and
point/click with my left. Normally, no keyboard is needed in-flight, only
for flight planning. I use an IR wireless keyboard for flight planning in
the hanger while connected to external power and the internet/Ethernet.
How do you navigate?
The aircraft has no
ground based NAV systems. Only dual GPS. One GPS is the Garmin GPS-35 which
feeds the moving map and ECCS module. The other GPS is built into the BMA
EFIS Lite. It allows the Lite to make it's own moving map as a backup NAV
display.
I have a great source for 10.4 inch sunlight readable 800x600 displays. How
do I share this with the home builders of the world?
SEND IT TO ME! PLEASE!
Yeah, but is it really
sunlight readable?
Decide for yourself. This
picture was taken in the early morning while flying west. The sun and
shadows are clearly discernable. Techno fans will note the airplane is at
8500 feet, indicating 174 knots, truing out to 203 knots (233.79 mph) while
burning 13.8 GPH. The Navaid autopilot is navigating, while the COM radio is
guarding 121.5 just waiting for the dreaded intercept. Not visible, Kenny
Chesney playing though the Flightcom 403D stereo intercom via Lightspeed ANR
headsets. Fuel tanks are full with my wife in the rear seat for ballast.
Gross weight is about 1920 lbs. 
How's it working?
Great! after five years
its getting an upgrade already. Click here for the
new FAQ page.
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