Avidyne IFD540 - no ADS-B connection to Foreflight?

hallwaypd

hallwaypd

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hallwaypd
I am purchasing an airplane that has an Avidyne IFD540 with the AXP340 transponder with ADS-B in and out. I get traffic and weather just fine to the IFD540. I also have WiFi connection from the IFD540 to my iPad and it connects to my Foreflight and Avidyne app. My question is, is there no ADS-B data shared to the iPad? I’ve used the Garmin GTX345 that links no problem and can get traffic and weather to Foreflight. Guess I’m assuming that I should be able to do the same with the Avidyne. Would love to hear any insight anyone could offer. Thanks!


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The Avidyne App does get ADS-B weather and traffic. ForeFlight has plans to decode that data as well, but it isn’t done yet.
 
Jesse speaks the truth. This has been a known integration issue for quite some time. I have a similar setup. I get my in flight wx from two sources. Foreflight iPad + stratus and/or IFD 100 on iPad + data from skytrax 100 (avidyne Ads-b in). Both work well and I like having the two sources for redundancy. My initial plan was to sell the stratus 2 when I got the new avidyne suite but I decided I liked the backup.
 
There are multiple options for ads-b in on the IFD than the GTN. Some of the in sources for the IFD also have Bluetooth or wifi options for ForeFlight. I won’t go into all of the options, but they exist. Also note that the IFD communicates with the iPad via WiFi. Each iPad can only talk to one WiFi device, but you can talk to one WiFi and a Bluetooth device at the same time, and ForeFlight can use both at the same time.
 
I would encourage everyone that has an Avidyne and uses Foreflight to open a a support ticket to Foreflight and ask them to work on adding the ability to receive ADS-B weather and traffic from Avidyne units.

The more us as individual Foreflight subscribers complain about their lack of support for Avidyne the more likely they are to get off their butts and add it. I also mention in my ticket to them that FlyQ works. Great with my Avidyne so it's no an issue with my Avidyne.
 
Jesse Saint said:
There are multiple options for ads-b in on the IFD than the GTN. Some of the in sources for the IFD also have Bluetooth or wifi options for ForeFlight. I won’t go into all of the options, but they exist. Also note that the IFD communicates with the iPad via WiFi. Each iPad can only talk to one WiFi device, but you can talk to one WiFi and a Bluetooth device at the same time, and ForeFlight can use both at the same time.
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It is taking a bit for that to sink in. I am trying to understand the communication protocol. We are having an IFD440 and a Lynx transponder installed. I assumed I would get ADS-B in to the iPad directly from the Lynx - not the IFD. I think what you are saying is both the GPS and the transponder use WiFi so if the Lynx sending the ADS-B data to the iPad via WiFi - the IFD cannot connect to the iPad and you can not use the iPad Avidyne app at the same time - correct?

So if Foreflight would import the ADS -B data from the Avidyne, you can use both the Avidyne IFD 100 app and Foreflight.
Lynn Dixon said:
I would encourage everyone that has an Avidyne and uses Foreflight to open a a support ticket to Foreflight and ask them to work on adding the ability to receive ADS-B weather and traffic from Avidyne units. . .
Click to expand...
I will do that when we get the plane back from the Avionics shop.
 
Thanks for all the responses. This feels very similar when I purchased a home-built Stratux with AHRS and Foreflight all of a sudden decided not to support the AHRS portion. I own a Stratus 2 now and originally I had hoped the Avidyne would allow me to sell the Status. However, after some thought and a post from someone earlier, I think it would be good cheap insurance to keep the Stratus as a backup unit in case of an electrical failure in IMC. It’s not a big deal to toss it on the dash...Especially as I begin to transition to the Avidyne, Foreflight will give me info that I need quickly until I can adapt to the new system. With that said, I still don’t understand why I can transfer flight plans back and forth thru Foreflight, but not receive ADS-B data. Looks like there was some work on Foreflight’s part to integrate partially to the Avidyne 540. Hopefully they will finish the job.
 
That’s right. The data is there. ForeFlight just isn’t decoding and displaying it. It seems they’re in bed with Garmin to allow both flight plans and ads-b data together. Some vendors have found a way to send ads-b data to ForeFlight in a format that it reads, even though it isn’t officially supported. ForeFlight says it is on their list of improvements to add, but don’t know when they will add it.
 
This has been a long-running topic at the Avidyne owners' forum. Here's the deal: the IFD series is outputting what Avidyne says is GDL90 ("Capstone")-format ADS-B data over wifi. There are three things that are provably true:
  • The data from the IFD can be displayed as is in FlyQ, FltPlnGo, and other EFB apps, but not Foreflight
  • Foreflight is able to accept GDL90-format data from a variety of other sources over Bluetooth and wifi. As of a recent version (10.4, maybe?) they officially support this.
  • Avidyne made a specific interface, not using GDL90 format, for transferring flight plans back and forth. App developers have to use this specific interface to get this feature. Foreflight has done so.
Beyond that, it's all conjecture. One of the users on the Avi forums did a network capture and says that the problem appears to be that the IFD is sending data on a network port that Foreflight isn't listening to. I haven't verified that myself.

In the Avi forum, their director of engineering has said that Avi has reached out to FF to offer them test equipment and assistance to get this working. If you email the FF support team, the best you'll get is a statement that this feature is on their roadmap, with no commitment to fix it. The conclusion I draw is that FF doesn't care enough to prioritize this over their other recent features (e.g. letting me change my ownship symbol to a B-2 bomber).
 
Any update to this?

I will be running an IFD540 and AXP340 (both received this week, still in the box), along with keeping my ForeFlight and Stratux. Would love to integrate as much as possible.
 
Yes! Avidyne has full support for sending data to FF in release 10.2.3.1 of their software, due out in March. This has been discussed at length on both the Avidyne user's forum and the "Avidyne Pilots' Club" group on FB. The release notes for that release say "Adds improved ADS-B Weather and Traffic integration with Foreflight," and Steve Lindley of Avi says that they made a change to transmit Capstone data on an additional network port that FF uses. Good news: no change to FF is required, since they don't care. Bad news: we don't get the update until the 10.2.3.1 release, and it will require a shop visit to install.
 
That’s great news on the ads-b front. The software sent difficult to install, but it does need to be done by an Avidyne dealer. I am a dealer, and will probably offer a software upgrade special when it is released. I have already offered on other forums to do the GPS Rollover update for free at my shop in north Florida (X35).
 
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