Re: MGL iEFIS MX1 overview.
As my turn coordinator starts to moan and groan I am starting to research EFIS total replacement options. I'm intrigued to say the least.
Re: MGL iEFIS MX1 overview.
I'm currently planning on a pair of these MX1 displays.
I made my avionics choice just prior to the holidays. An email inquiry to MGL resulted in a phone call within 5 minutes. The person who called (Scott, I believe) was very helpful and answered all the questions I had at the time. At the end of the phone call I had abandoned my initial choice (a pair of iEFIS lite displays) and it was down to a pair of standard iEFIS displays or a pair of MX1 displays.
I'm sure I'm like every single one of you when I say I have used all the "panel builder" utilities for Garmin, Dynon, MGL and GRT and for the first two it always comes with a bit of sticker shock. Like Bryan Bowen pointed out somewhere recently, a $3-4k screen becomes $20k by the time you add COM, TXP, etc. And that's for a VFR setup. No matter how many times you run the panel builder looking for places to save a few bucks the price always ends up at about twice what you think it will.
The selling points of the MGL that got me off the fence:
Complete control over EVERYTHING on the screen. I'm talking everything. What is on each page, number of pages, where an indication is located, color, fonts, size. Want oil temp to be a bar graph? Got it. Want it to be a round dial? No problem. You can choose every facet of the round dial display.
MGL has a "simulator" program which I have now installed on my laptop. This application is used to design your screens and has the added bonus of serving as a training tool for the entire menu structure. I already know how to change units, configure the upper and lower limits for engine functions like oil temp, oil pressure, rpm etc. I know how to upload new maps and I can already make a flight plan on the display. And I don't even own the equipment yet. You can modify default screens or start from a black display and add what you want. And if it's too much for you MGL will dial into your computer with you on the phone and show you how it's done.
For example:
Last night I created an RPM indication for my engine choice and borrowed a concept from old school race cars. I oriented the display in a round dial configuration so the tach needle would point straight up at cruise speed (2000 rpm in my case). The concept being that you can see an analog needle out of the corner of your eye. I have a yellow arc from 2000 to 2300 which is takeoff rpm (five minute restriction, hence the yellow arc), and also a yellow arc below the idle speed of 650rpm - just because I can. Being red/green color blind I wasn't happy with the yellow green choices that pretty much every avionics manufacturer uses (they look about the same to me), so I changed the green to more of a grass green which is super easy for me to see now. The tach is small so it also has a digital readout to show the exact readout, so finding 2380 rpm will still involve looking at the exact same display.
For me two screens is a primary requirement. Not only for redundancy (having everything on a single display leaves you with a single point of failure), but because I plan to fly from both seats. A large screen on the left side using a split screen function doesn't compare favorably to one on each side of center. My plan is EFIS/EIS in front of me and moving map with flight plan on the other display. I can swap with the turn of the page knob. Any entry made on one display (COM freq, flight plan change, etc) is already on the other screen. That isn't true of the iEFIS lite which is why that option is struck from consideration.
Displays like the MX1 (and also the iEFIS lite, and the GRT screens) come with built in air data, built in GPS, built in AHRS. In the case of the GRT, the transponder and ADS-B actually piggy back onto the display unit, ditching a bunch of wire bundles. To add autopilot to either MGL or GRT all you need is servos. Yep. Why is that a thing?
The other thing that closed the deal for me is MGL's engine monitoring system. Their module called RDAC mounts to the forward side of the firewall. For my weirdo engine choice I can run the wires from the various sensors to the RDAC, and only a single wire goes through the firewall to the display system. No crimping of pins or building up a wire bundle because the RDAC terminals are screw type clamps.
A bonus feature of the RDAC with the simulator system is that when you assign the various channels to the display, the RDAC photo realistic display with all terminals labeled comes up on the screen. So when it comes time to run the sensor wires you already have a road map of where they attach. When you find that something like your oil temperature reading is a bit off you can come back to the simulator and add some Kentucky windage to the signal from the sensor.
Touch screen for a lot of stuff, rotary knobs for things like OBS and heading bugs. I've got vector maps, raster maps (sectionals) and 3D terrain data (Note that the MX1 doesn't do synthetic vision, but the iEFIS does).
I get my headless COM and headless TXP that I wanted. Add a NAV or second COM? No new holes in the panel. Retrofit autopilot? No new holes. Intercom is built into the COM radio, and MGL is known for having an excellent intercom even in a loud open cockpit plane. A single COM monitors standby frequency.
For the engine monitoring Scott said he could accommodate my 7 cylinder radial engine choice with a round display showing each cylinder with the temps shown on the diagram. I have been playing with a bar graph to do the job but knowing it's a choice and that they can set me up with it is another selling feature that really makes my choice easier.
Lastly, specific to the MX1, I was concerned they would be too small. So I printed out two different 1:1 screens, one with the default EFIS/EIS and the other with the moving map just the way I picture using it. They're plenty big when I put them on my aluminum panel blank. I have also pulled them in to XScreen panel designer and seen how they look with my other panel items.
