Thorp Air Command - T18.net

I have two AV-30's installed in my T18 and love em both, however the DG will not stay on track. They (uAvionix) do not mention the need to install a Magnetometer....wrong! They do have one for sale. The Garmin folks are thoughtful enough to note that Garmin recommends installation of a Magnetometer for panel install of their G5. Thought I'd canvas the Thorp community to see what I can learn before purchasing uAvionix's AV-Mag. Thanks

They bought the AV30 from another company. They have had DG problems from day one. Some aircraft have no problems. I was an early installer. I had/have significant drift (30 degrees+ an hour). I became a beta tester for them because I LOVE everything else about it. So far, they have sent me 4-5 software loads and three new units. All work the same. I’ve captured vibration data etc etc. I finally just bought the magnetometer. I have yet to install it because I did an unplanned motor swap. It’s on my short list.
Cubes

Zero experience with AV-30 in my T-18, but a Beech Debonair I instructed in had one. Cubes was lucky his drift was only 30+ degrees per hour. The one in the Deb, you pretty much takeoff and exit the pattern, and it's 30+ degrees off. With that limited experience, I would say it is useless without a magnetometer. I do not know if the mag makes it any better, not flying with that particular pilot anymore and I do not know if they added a mag.

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Philip Mandel
N118BC
S/N 957
Beaverton OR

I bought my AV-30 in early 2021. I can confirm the drift is pretty bad for me also - about 40 degrees / hour.
That being said, I love the AV-30 and I rely on the iPad for heading.
I've never heard of an AV-30 that doesn't drift, so you need the AV-MAG

By the way, my AV-30 "hung" on me coming back from a trip to Boston. By "hung" I mean it went dark and wouldn't boot up.

uAvionics support showed me a trick to get it working again - you can do a "hard boot" on the unit by powering off the unit, holding in the center and right buttons simultaneously, and then powering the unit up. It worked like a charm, but you'll lose all your settings for what info goes in what display field, etc. Just keep that in mind in case it dies on a trip.
Still love it!

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John Twigg N12055 SN.79 Pittsburgh, PA (KFWQ)

Hi again,
From what I've learned the AV-Mag was introduced at AirVenture 22 and maybe why vAvionix didn't have much to offer as far as assistance. Apparently its internal Magnatometer will work just fine if not near any electrical interference ... like that's gonna happen. So in comes the AV-Mag for all the fussing users out there. I also fly a Quickie and the Q2 guys that have one of these are really upset. I have purchased the AV-Mag and the AV-Link. I'll let y'all know how they work when I get em installed. And thanks for the hard boot info. I'll keep that info in the plane. Thanks for the comments.

Well I have finally finished the install on the AV30 magnetometer. I followed the instructions and asked a few questions. Bottom line is that the DG is spot on. If you have questions, lemme know.
Cubes

Hi Cubes,
Thank you for posting your installation of the magnetometer. The wx is finally getting a little warmer here so getting ready to move forward with my installation.
1. Is it possible to run two AV-30's with one magnetometer? I plan to call uAvionix tmrw on that one.
2. I am interested to learn of the details of your installation if you wouldn't mind. The installation seems pretty straight forward however the location is of particular interest.
Thanks, Keith
N9MR

Hi Keith,
The magnetometer comes with about an 8” pigtail. Like THAT is going to allow you to install it anywhere. I added 15”of 3 wire shielded. Then I built a small aluminum mount. It looks like a braced tray. The angle of the mount is matched to the angle of the installed AV30. Then I riveted that mount to the pilot side upper end of the 572 former. I ran the wires and did the whole software install process.
Point of note. You need to install it mechanically and electronically. Then tell the AV30 it’s there. Then ask the AV30 if it is installed in a magnetically clean environment. Then add the mounting angles to the AV30.
Seems a bit backward to me.
Anyway, mine showed some magnetic interference. It was mounted and wired by then. It flew it anyway and it worked fine.
I’ll try to post a pic.
Cubes

Here is it installed

Hi Cubes,
Finally able to work on the AV-Mag mount. Would it be possible to get you on the phone?
812-230-2355.
Thanks

I finally have the AVMag installed in N9MR. It is attached to two AV-30's and the install / calibration process went very well.
Many thanks to Cubes for his help and my impressions are the same as his.
The DG is very smooth and accurate.