Garmin Support Available For Team Kitfox!

[Eric Page]

Thanks, Justin. I appreciate the info, and I'm sure Alex will too.

[Shadowrider]

Anyone else do the lastest firmware upgrade for the G3X? Seems the flip flop radio feature is slow now? When you tap the frequencies to flip them, they seem to go slow now. Sometimes it normal, but sometimes I end up pushing it twice thinking I didn't tap it and it does a double flip flop to back where I started? Justin do you have any insight on this?

[PapuaPilot]

I haven't noticed it, but I usually do that with the GTR-200 radio.

[bbs428]

Thought I'd post one of my experiences with the Garmin G3x.

After initial power up and software update, I was performing some basic checks of the G3x system. Noticed I had no audio/sidetone in my headset? When I keyed the ptt I could see "tx" light up on the 200b. When I keyed my handheld radio I could see "rx" light up as well.

Ohmed out my com jack wires - checked good. Checked for any shorts to ground on my main connector J2001 - checked good. Checked my headset with my handheld radio - checked good.
So now I'm stumped. A call into Garmin got the obligatory "you need to see a professional to do your wiring and we will RMA the unit only once". Was hoping for a bit more like "make sure you check this" or "check that" convo, but that didn't happen.
I do understand that the tech's get hundreds of phone calls and can only troubleshoot so much over the phone, so I just put on my big boy pants, grabbed my fluke and headed back to the plane.

I stood there scratching my head, thinking about the issue. "Start from the beginning once more bunky" came to mind, so this time around I checked the coax at the antenna. Dead short from the center conductor to the back shell!
The reason I had not checked this earlier is that I had checked the coax after building it and it checked good! Disconnected the coax and it still checked good. Checked the center conductor on coax output on the 200b and it was shorted to the case internally! Wow. Never crossed my mind to check the 200b itself! I just figured my wiring was afu.

So, my brand new radio was a brick!

I had purchased my avionics over 2 1/2 years ago, so the warranties are out. Garmin recognizes that it takes a while to build an airplane and graciously takes that into account. When I called my friendly Garmin tech, he was happy to hear the issue was sorted out. They asked me how many hours were on the plane - zero and an RMA was granted immediately! My new radio is on its way as we speak.

So, for all you DIY's out there, do not assume the shiny, new box is good and your stuff is bad. Check everything!

[efwd]

I had "Two" autopilot servos that were bad. John M had told me he had experienced one servo problem and was very suspicious as to having two at the same time. Garmin was contacted and servos were replaced right away as they were brand new and on the shelf for about two years before discovered. Thanks Garmin.

[G3Xpert]

Anyone else do the lastest firmware upgrade for the G3X? Seems the flip flop radio feature is slow now? When you tap the frequencies to flip them, they seem to go slow now. Sometimes it normal, but sometimes I end up pushing it twice thinking I didn't tap it and it does a double flip flop to back where I started? Justin do you have any insight on this?

Good Afternoon,

We were able to recreate this report. You can expect a software update that will address this problem and correct the issue.

Thanks,

Justin

[G3Xpert]

Thought I'd post one of my experiences with the Garmin G3x.

After initial power up and software update, I was performing some basic checks of the G3x system. Noticed I had no audio/sidetone in my headset? When I keyed the ptt I could see "tx" light up on the 200b. When I keyed my handheld radio I could see "rx" light up as well.

Ohmed out my com jack wires - checked good. Checked for any shorts to ground on my main connector J2001 - checked good. Checked my headset with my handheld radio - checked good.
So now I'm stumped. A call into Garmin got the obligatory "you need to see a professional to do your wiring and we will RMA the unit only once". Was hoping for a bit more like "make sure you check this" or "check that" convo, but that didn't happen.
I do understand that the tech's get hundreds of phone calls and can only troubleshoot so much over the phone, so I just put on my big boy pants, grabbed my fluke and headed back to the plane.

I stood there scratching my head, thinking about the issue. "Start from the beginning once more bunky" came to mind, so this time around I checked the coax at the antenna. Dead short from the center conductor to the back shell!
The reason I had not checked this earlier is that I had checked the coax after building it and it checked good! Disconnected the coax and it still checked good. Checked the center conductor on coax output on the 200b and it was shorted to the case internally! Wow. Never crossed my mind to check the 200b itself! I just figured my wiring was afu.

So, my brand new radio was a brick!

I had purchased my avionics over 2 1/2 years ago, so the warranties are out. Garmin recognizes that it takes a while to build an airplane and graciously takes that into account. When I called my friendly Garmin tech, he was happy to hear the issue was sorted out. They asked me how many hours were on the plane - zero and an RMA was granted immediately! My new radio is on its way as we speak.

So, for all you DIY's out there, do not assume the shiny, new box is good and your stuff is bad. Check everything!

Thank you for the feedback Brett. I am curious about your call to us. Did you call our experimental help desk (1-866-854-8433)? You should not get the run around to "see a dealer" if so.

Thanks,

Justin

[bbs428]

Thanks Justin for the reply.

I was able to talk to a "Toby" in the certified section. He was an ex TACAN aimd tech. helping out the experimental calls the other day. Great convo with him and he walked me through some things to look for. Super guy. Really knows his stuff! Told him of the shorted coax center conductor and he said they will all read like that, and the problem was probably in the com jacks or associated wiring. So, after double checking the wiring, I replaced all the Com jacks with new ones and my problem was solved!

Very Hard to troubleshoot over the phone with amateurs who are not familiar with the G3x. I'm sure it was just a lack of communication on my end. I'll not fault the tech that day who took my call. I was probably the 100th caller who had a hard time understanding all that's involved.

[G3Xpert]

Thanks Justin for the reply.

I was able to talk to a "Toby" in the certified section. He was an ex TACAN aimd tech. helping out the experimental calls the other day. Great convo with him and he walked me through some things to look for. Super...

Sounds great. It isn't very hard to get routed to the wrong desk if you call the main number. The experimental help desk is where you want to end up as they are set up to work more directly with owners/maintainers than the group who works with the Certified fleet.

You're exactly right too, it can be quite challenging to help work on a plane that is 700 miles away!

Let us know if anything else comes up.

Thanks,

Justin

[Shadowrider]

Good Afternoon,

We were able to recreate this report. You can expect a software update that will address this problem and correct the issue.

Thanks,

Justin

Awesome! Thanks for the info and update!