Dynon D2 Pocket Panel

[Roscoe]

Hi all

 

I recently purchased this, and today it didn't display any info and the message seemed to stick on the acquiring satellites page.

 

The box had a good view of the sky on the dash of my Jabiru.

 

Has anyone else experienced issue?

 

The first time I turned it on out of the box it had a display within 60 seconds but no luck today in fight.

 

It shouldn't need the external antenna where it was mounted and all the advertising I've read mentions this fact.

 

Thanks everybody.

 

 

[Roscoe]

Used remote antenna today and worked fine!

 

Looks like problem related to the Units internal antenna being shielded by the overhead cockpit material.

 

 

[Downunder]

I know a bloke who had 2 replacements under warranty recently.

 

I think there was a "bad" batch made.

 

 

[DGL Fox]

So Roscoe is it worth $1700 and if so what does it give you over the instruments that you have in your Jabiru for example... I was thinking of one of these mainly because you would not need factory approval in a LSA...maybe it would be better to wait and save the money and get the Dynon 100 EFIS...what do you think about the D2?

 

David

 

 

[ben87r]

I'm still getting the hang of mine but I'm pretty sure I have had what you are talking about. I had to plug in the external and as soon as it got reception I disconnected it again.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Graham Pukalus had his back to be fixed twice i think then they replaced it. Not sure if he still has it as he got a new aircraft

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

Used remote antenna today and worked fine!Looks like problem related to the Units internal antenna being shielded by the overhead cockpit material.

Hmmm overhead cockpit material in a jab is as clear to a GPS signal as a pane of clear window glass is to visible light.

 

 

[Roscoe]

Hmmm overhead cockpit material in a jab is as clear to a GPS signal as a pane of clear window glass is to visible light.

Andy, yes you are correct. must have been another issue but seems to work fine now.

 

 

[Roscoe]

M

 

So Roscoe is it worth $1700 and if so what does it give you over the instruments that you have in your Jabiru for example... I was thinking of one of these mainly because you would not need factory approval in a LSA...maybe it would be better to wait and save the money and get the Dynon 100 EFIS...what do you think about the D2?David

My Jab did not come with any attitude indication or groundspeed readout so rather than reconfigure the whole Panel to fit the D100 I decided to get the D2 portable which I can secure anywhere with the supplied suction cup assembly. I also had a look at a few Video reviews of the D2 and overall I am happy with the purchase.

I think the G Meter screen is unecessary and will never use that.

 

Seems to be working well now!

 

 

[Graham Pukallus]

Kyle Communications, post: 522728, member: 1910"]Graham Pukalus had his back to be fixed twice i think then they replaced it. Not sure if he still has it as he got a new aircraft

 

Yes true, Mark but all good since Dynon happily replaced the repaired one, it had a faulty accelerometer.

 

It pays to have back ups for your primary flight instruments to cross check correct operation.

 

Working fine now in the Tecnam

 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

So you kept it for the Tecnam Graham...thought it may have gone with the Sav

 

 

[Graham Pukallus]

So Roscoe is it worth $1700 and if so what does it give you over the instruments that you have in your Jabiru for example... I was thinking of one of these mainly because you would not need factory approval in a LSA...maybe it would be better to wait and save the money and get the Dynon 100 EFIS...what do you think about the D2?David

Depends what you already have in your plane re GPS - EFIS etc as the D 100 would be the ticket, otherwise if you can get a D 1 that a lot cheaper as you don't need the G Meter and WIFI necessarily.

 

 

[Roscoe]

Depends what you already have in your plane re GPS - EFIS etc as the D 100 would be the ticket, otherwise if you can get a D 1 that a lot cheaper as you don't need the G Meter and WIFI necessarily.

The D1 was discontinued by Dynon last April, and they now only produce the D2.

With the D2, I now get track guidance, Attitude, back up Altitude, and back up rate of climb/descent indications.

 

For USD $995 I believe its worthwhile.

 

 

[Roscoe]

The D1 was discontinued by Dynon last April, and they now only produce the D2.With the D2, I now get track guidance, Attitude, back up Altitude, and back up rate of climb/descent indications.

For USD $995 I believe its worthwhile.

And correct, I dont need WIFI or G meter

 

 

[Roscoe]

The D1 was discontinued by Dynon last April, and they now only produce the D2.With the D2, I now get track guidance, Attitude, back up Altitude, and back up rate of climb/descent indications.

For USD $995 I believe its worthwhile.

plus groundspeed readout

 

 

[BJK]

Hi all. Unfortunately I'm on my 3rd D2. The first one had the black screen with the red X even though many satellites were found and even with the external antenna and it failed to show the AH at all. The second one was the same but occasionally worked but would take 30minutes to show the AH. Both the first and second D2 had issues even away from the aircraft standing in an open field which I sent them videos and pictures of. The 3rd one started off good but now has the same symptoms more so when its cloudy or bad weather. Haven't flown much over the last 3 months and when it does work it quite often has an altitude error of -200ft below what the garmin reads. Dynon support were very helpful with the first two but my recent email to Dynon support suggested that it is my aircrafts fault this time and that I should try the external antenna even though it has a clear view of the sky in my Corby Starlet VH-UOK (built by Dave Butler). I sent them a video of the altitude error showing the D2 indicating -220ft on the ground (yes,'minus' 220ft) then panning to my altimeter (set to YBLN elevation of 56ft) then panning to the Garmin indicating 55ft. In return I got this reply "the D2 reports GPS altitude, NOT baro-corrected pressure altitude, so it's to be expected that GPS altitude WILL differ from what your baro-corrected pressure altitude barometer will display".... Yeah ok.

 

 

[BJK]

Here are a few pics of the D2 and the Starlet :-)

 

 

 

 

 

[Roscoe]

Hi all. Unfortunately I'm on my 3rd D2. The first one had the black screen with the red X even though many satellites were found and even with the external antenna and it failed to show the AH at all. The second one was the same but occasionally worked but would take 30minutes to show the AH. Both the first and second D2 had issues even away from the aircraft standing in an open field which I sent them videos and pictures of. The 3rd one started off good but now has the same symptoms more so when its cloudy or bad weather. Haven't flown much over the last 3 months and when it does work it quite often has an altitude error of -200ft below what the garmin reads. Dynon support were very helpful with the first two but my recent email to Dynon support suggested that it is my aircrafts fault this time and that I should try the external antenna even though it has a clear view of the sky in my Corby Starlet VH-UOK (built by Dave Butler). I sent them a video of the altitude error showing the D2 indicating -220ft on the ground (yes,'minus' 220ft) then panning to my altimeter (set to YBLN elevation of 56ft) then panning to the Garmin indicating 55ft. In return I got this reply "the D2 reports GPS altitude, NOT baro-corrected pressure altitude, so it's to be expected that GPS altitude WILL differ from what your baro-corrected pressure altitude barometer will display".... Yeah ok.

Recently mine FROZE in flt so I re booted and it worked fine .

On a 6 hour trip this week no probs at all but I do use the ext Ant even though the Unif is on the Dash!

 

It's still under Warranty and its going back to Dynon soon to be looked at as I'm sure it still has issues!

 

.

 

 

[Graham Pukallus]

BJK, sorry to hear of your Dynon D2 problem, I have not had any problems with the New replacement D2 that is now installed into my Tecnam.

 

I have always used it with the external antenna and all my GPS heights read the same, eg Garmin, iPad and D2. See photos.

 

Hope the external antenna works for you, very frustrating !

 

Keep us posted.

 

Regards Graham

 

 

 

 

[JabiruWeekendWarrior]

Perhaps this problem is more normal than being reported.

 

In March 2016 I purchased a Dynon,D2, fitted into a Jabiru J160, using external GPS antenna, running its own battery.

 

As we all know the Jabiru is fiberglass and should look transparent to GPS signal when airborne.

 

My iPad running Oz runways works without issue located on the pilot side.

 

During flights even on fine weather days it would lose its GPS position, display the red cross, then after a minute show black screen.

 

I tried moving the ext antenna, to the dash, up high, left side, right side, and using the internal antenna to no avail.

 

Only option was to power off and restart the D2 to make it work again for a random period of time.

 

Then I returned the unit to the agent in Melbourne and it was replaced.

 

The second unit worked sort of better, still losing its position and random intervals.

 

This has become worse requiring many restarts in a half hour flight.

 

Now I will have to go through the process of returning this one.

 

I ponder if these units were only designed for gliders, with no engine or electrical noise.

 

Is it a defect in the D2 unit or some electrical noise the Jabiru makes that interferes with it.

 

Apart from Roscoe, has any other Jabiru owners with D2 units experienced the same issue?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roscoe]

Perhaps this problem is more normal than being reported.In March 2016 I purchased a Dynon,D2, fitted into a Jabiru J160, using external GPS antenna, running its own battery.

As we all know the Jabiru is fiberglass and should look transparent to GPS signal when airborne.

 

My iPad running Oz runways works without issue located on the pilot side.

 

During flights even on fine weather days it would lose its GPS position, display the red cross, then after a minute show black screen.

 

I tried moving the ext antenna, to the dash, up high, left side, right side, and using the internal antenna to no avail.

 

Only option was to power off and restart the D2 to make it work again for a random period of time.

 

Then I returned the unit to the agent in Melbourne and it was replaced.

 

The second unit worked sort of better, still losing its position and random intervals.

 

This has become worse requiring many restarts in a half hour flight.

 

Now I will have to go through the process of returning this one.

 

I ponder if these units were only designed for gliders, with no engine or electrical noise.

 

Is it a defect in the D2 unit or some electrical noise the Jabiru makes that interferes with it.

 

Apart from Roscoe, has any other Jabiru owners with D2 units experienced the same issue?

Interesting. I watched a number of promotional videos demonstrating the D2 before I bought mine, and they were demonstrated in Piper Cubs, various Singles and Twins, so I don't believe they were only designed for Gliders.

Since my last Post on this subject, I have been using mine in the Jab on battery power with the external antenna on the dash, with no issues, so touch wood, am hoping it continues to operate normally.

 

It's supposed to work without the external antenna, but in view of past issues, I'm just leaving it connected as above.

 

Regards.

 

 

[ben87r]

Had mine for about a year now with a few hundred hours of use, mine every now and again can't seem to get itself sorted but so does my G96 and G196 so no biggie as far as I'm concerned. I only bother with it at night and in IMC and it's been invaluable.

 

 

[Graham Pukallus]

Just a thought, have you tried it for an extended period out of the Jabiru, with and without external antenna ?

 

My D2 runs on Aircraft power the whole time via the avionics master switch, which also recharges the units internal battery.

 

I have to manually switch it off before shutting down.

 

Just wondering if your internal battery is charged and supplying the correct voltage?

 

Here is a utube video of the latest Garmin G5 which is the Garmin version of the Dynon D2 but possibly better for similar costs.

 

 

 

[Roscoe]

Just a thought, have you tried it for an extended period out of the Jabiru, with and without external antenna ?My D2 runs on Aircraft power the whole time via the avionics master switch, which also recharges the units internal battery.

I have to manually switch it off before shutting down.

 

Just wondering if your internal battery is charged and supplying the correct voltage?

 

Here is a utube video of the latest Garmin G5 which is the Garmin version of the Dynon D2 but possibly better for similar costs.

 

Graham thanks for sharing the video. Too sophisticated for my needs but as you say, a similar price to the D2.

I usually run it on the internal battery and always make sure its charged, as ive found that i get some radio interference when i plug it into the adapter on the panel.

 

As i said, i am currently having no issues using the external antenna so hopefully, it will continue to perform satisfactorily.

 

Regards.

 

 

[JabiruWeekendWarrior]

As my first post #20 mentions I have tried the D2 with ext and int antenna.

 

I have run the D2 on trip longer than one hour with me requiring mulitiple power switch ON and OFF cycles to restore funtion.

 

Then I turn it off completely to eliminate distractions and disappointment after about halfway.

 

During flight most times it has lost GPS after only approx 10NM after departing airport airbourne.

 

The GPS failure seems random and sometimes works up to 20-30 at at time, sometime a lot less, but random.

 

I start the trip with a FULLY CHARGED, D2 running on its own battery for diagnostic purposes, to ensure no electrical noise is introduced to cloud the issue.

 

It is too easy for the retailer or Dynon to blame the aircraft electrical system, making noise to interfere.

 

The Garmin G5 is a mounted instrument, the Dynon D2 is portable, I have a Jabiru with 24 reg and too much hassle/cost to install perment version in a aircraft losing value and difficult to sell.

 

I have checked with Jabiru and Ra-aus the only low cost EFIS install option for the J160C is the D10A ($3395 plus acc, plus install).

 

The D2 issue is not new and be also seen with member BJK post #17 with his D2 and the open cockpit Starlet.

 

I could handle loss of GPS but its the screen going BLACK with one line message is the issue.

 

One day if Accidentally stuck in cloud the A.H is what you bought the unit for in the first place.