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540 lighting

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frankbell View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 Sep 2015 at 9:17am
I don't fly at night much, but recently landed as it was getting fairly dark. The auto backlight on the display had gotten too dark (a problem I don't expect to be difficult to adjust), but on touchdown the display flashed totally bright for a second or two, then back to the too-dark setting. (The touchdown was firm, but not hard).

What would cause this?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DavidBunin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2015 at 10:15am

If you have the IFD-540 dimming set to obey the panel dimming control, and the landing made the potentiometer knob jiggle, it could cause that behavior.

David

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviSimpson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2015 at 11:25am
Out of curiosity, were the runway lights set to high?

What are you using to control the brightness of the IFD? The lights from the runway could of illuminated the cockpit just enough to cause the light meter to adjust the brightness. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frankbell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Sep 2015 at 6:51pm
It wasn't completely dark, and the runway lights weren't particularly bright.  The "Display Mode" is set to Auto.

And a side question... I assumed I'd be able to find a brightness setting which would apply to the auto mode at night, but I'm not finding it. How do I adjust the brightness at night when on auto?

Frank


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviSimpson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 9:16am
*Edit* Auto - the LCD display backlighting will rely on the ambient light sensor in the bezel until a low threshold is reached, at which time it uses the dimming bus.


You can control the brightness manually or if you have it wired to your DimBus, you can control it off of that.


Edited by AviSimpson - 02 Oct 2015 at 9:31am
Simpson Bennett
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frankbell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 9:32am
Is there an adjustment for how much the display dims at night while in auto? Perhaps a sliding scale... meaning it's probably fine when fully dark, but too dim when it's just dusk.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviSimpson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 9:35am
From the 540 installation manual:
dimBus Transition %

The dimBus Transition % sets the threshold where the aircraft dimming bus takes over from the photocell. Below this threshold, the aircraft dimmer controls the IFD5XX/4XX lighting. Both the Bezel and Display fields have a range of 0 to 100, and the factory default is 10.

Note: If it is not desired to hand brightness control over to the dimming bus from the photocell at any point, set dimBus Transition % to 0 (zero).  Doing so will prevent the scenario where, in increasingly darker environments (e.g. flying past sunset into dark night), the display automatically dims and dims and dims and then suddenly jumps to bright.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frankbell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:15am
I just found that those settings are outlined in the installation manual. I also found an extensive thread from about last April to June, "Display Brightness issue", which makes it evident that there's been a lot of confusion about lighting settings. Can you post currently recommended settings, where one wants to have the photocell adjust brightness? If that would be the same as the default settings, then I'll have to work with it a bit, as that's not working for me.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:23am
I posted my settings for the lighting in a "suggested settings" thread, or something like that. Should be able to find it searching on my userid.

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:25am
Saving you the trouble of the search, here you go ...

http://forums.avidyne.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=529&KW=lighting&title=setups-bezel-display-lighting

... except that I have changed dimbus transition to 3% now.

* Orest

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frankbell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:26am
Right, I did find that already. Wasn't sure if the recent software release altered things. I'll try your settings. I don't currently have my manual radio light dimmer wired up to the 540, so have to depend on the auto mode (not wanting to have to go into settings to change brightness...)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frankbell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:28am
Thanks, Orest. I gather that those settings are working for you? But I see that you have dimBus transition set to 10. If I'm not using the dimbus, I assume I'd set that to zero?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AviSimpson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 11:28am
Thanks Orest!

I think its best if you refer to Orests thread or if we can solicit other members to post their settings. The collective group of customers now have far more time and first hand experience flying at night than Avidyne (Jakes afraid of the dark). Please be sure to include your aircraft type, User Option settings (Auto, User Control, Dimming Bus) and what the Mx Mode lighting parameters you have set.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DavidBunin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 4:06pm

Due to the long summer days I haven't run up much Night time since my unit went in, but on those flights, I almost always just switch the IFD to manual dimming for the display portion.

I'll probably know more about it by January.

David Bunin

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote oskrypuch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Oct 2015 at 5:50pm
Originally posted by frankbell frankbell wrote:

Thanks, Orest. I gather that those settings are working for you? But I see that you have dimBus transition set to 10. If I'm not using the dimbus, I assume I'd set that to zero?

As I note, since that pic, I have it now set to 3%.

0% should work too.

* Orest

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