Avidyne Entegra Displays Get ADS-B
If you fly an Avidyne Entegra-equipped Cirrus or Piper, you’ve been waiting a while for the upgrade that puts ADS-B data on the big screens and Avidyne finally released the software to do it. There’s also new software for playing ADS-B on Avidyne’s smaller retrofit displays.
Until now, Avidyne Entegra displays—including ones in the sizable fleet of earlier Cirrus and many Piper models—couldn't display ADS-B data, but a new software upgrade from Avidyne adds the capability (on the MFD) when interfaced with a variety of ADS-B receivers.
The upgrade is to version R8.2 for EX5000 displays (the ones shown in the Piper Matrix cockpit above) and to version R4.2 for the smaller retrofit EX500/600 MFDs. Worth mentioning is if you have an Avidyne MLB700 Sirius or MLX770 Iridium satellite weather system connected to these smaller displays, those interfaces won't play after the upgrade and the software can't be backloaded. The software costs $999 and some Entegra displays will need to go to an Avidyne dealer for the upgrade.
As for compatible ADS-B receivers, Avidyne has purposely opened its architecture for cross-brand interfacing. Avidyne's own SkyTrax100 will work, using an industry-standard ARINC429/735 data protocol for traffic symbology, plus the new software works with the L3 NGT9000, Garmin GTX345, FreeFlight RANGR-RX and some other receivers that connect using the RS232 Capstone data protocol for FIS-B weather display.
Avidyne's R9 integrated retrofit cockpit also gets new software, which enables a full-up ADS-B interface, including ADS-B Out from Avidyne's AXP322 remote ADS-B transponder. The SkyTrax100 (ADS-B In) works in the R9 interface, too. For more, visit the Avidyne website.
At press time, there are 16 months until the FAA's ADS-B Out mandate.
