Landing Height System for Mooney

[Pinecone]

On 5/4/2024 at 7:41 PM, Jetpilot86 said:

Don’t forget to get the “experimental” gear warning turned on. Mine is supposed to bark at me at 250’ AGL if they aren’t already down. Probably need to verify that one day. Preferably before it might be needed. 

The gear warning is not experimental.  And the call out is at 200 AGL, but only if you wire the LHS to the gear switch or indicator.

The callouts at 2 feet and 1 foot are "experimental."

[Pinecone]

On 5/5/2024 at 7:37 PM, aviatoreb said:

Huh!  I never heard of that feature?  I want to do that - I have the warning system - how do I turn it on?

IIRC you have to have the C version of the LHS and it has to be wired to the gear switch or indicator.

[M20F-1968]

On 5/6/2024 at 11:51 AM, Microkit said:

 

John, you do have the 100-B (since Nov 2020).  Upgrading requires the unit back (though; one day turn around), and the 4-pin connector to be changed to a 5-pin connector, a new airplane-side 5-pin connector will be sent along with the upgraded unit, at least one more wire will need to be pulled to the location of the unit and to be connected to your down and locked light.  

Adding to what dkkim73 said, we intentionally removed the "gear reminder only @ 200 ft" in the 200-C model so it's not tuned out, the Check Landing Gear message will be repeated every 4 seconds, without any height call out until either a positive rate of climb is registered or the gear is down.   

Maybe you can upgrade the unit 10 days or so before your annual or extended period of downtime.   If you fully satisfied with the P2 function to get your attnedeton during high-load or fully distracted scenarios, I am guessing no need to upgrade.  

 

Does the upgrade only talk to you if the gear is not appropriately down, or does it talk to me either way.  

As you know, the P2 system has a nagging female voice if not down, and a relaxed male voice if down.  It takes more into account than just the single light status.  It might make sense to have a second voice if the gear is not down.

I assume the upgrade and the P2 can work together.  Will they talk over each other?

What is the cost for the upgrade?  

John Breda

[Microkit]

9 minutes ago, M20F-1968 said:

Does the upgrade only talk to you if the gear is not appropriately down, or does it talk to me either way.  

As you know, the P2 system has a nagging female voice if not down, and a relaxed male voice if down.  It takes more into account than just the single light status.  It might make sense to have a second voice if the gear is not down.

I assume the upgrade and the P2 can work together.  Will they talk over each other?

What is the cost for the upgrade?  

John Breda

 

The "Check Landing Gear" audio message is only heard if the gear is up, in fact, the height call it ourself will be omitted to give you further notice that things are not normal.  

Basically, the Gear Warning System is a single wire gets attached to the Gear Lever itself or to a single indicator that shows gear is down and locked, our wire is just an opto-isolated voltage sense, it just senses if there is a voltage on the wire versus no voltage (open or ground) and based on that, you can set it up to assume gear is down when voltage is present or visa-versa, this setup is done through the wifi setup menu.  Once the system is told what voltage on the wire means (gear is up or down), then once it sees the ground below starting 220 ft AGL, it checks the condition of the gear based, and if the gear is still up, it keeps repeating "Check Landing Gear" every 4 seconds until either a positive rate of climb is registered or the gear is extended. 

Here is link for the upgrade offer.

https://landingheight.com/product/lhs-upgrade-options/

 

[M20F-1968]

15 minutes ago, Microkit said:

 

The "Check Landing Gear" audio message is only heard if the gear is up, in fact, the height call it ourself will be omitted to give you further notice that things are not normal.  

Basically, the Gear Warning System is a single wire gets attached to the Gear Lever itself or to a single indicator that shows gear is down and locked, our wire is just an opto-isolated voltage sense, it just senses if there is a voltage on the wire versus no voltage (open or ground) and based on that, you can set it up to assume gear is down when voltage is present or visa-versa, this setup is done through the wifi setup menu.  Once the system is told what voltage on the wire means (gear is up or down), then once it sees the ground below starting 220 ft AGL, it checks the condition of the gear based, and if the gear is still up, it keeps repeating "Check Landing Gear" every 4 seconds until either a positive rate of climb is registered or the gear is extended. 

Here is link for the upgrade offer.

https://landingheight.com/product/lhs-upgrade-options/

 

What is the difference between the 100B to 200B v. the 100B to 200C upgrade?

John Breda

[M20F-1968]

19 minutes ago, Microkit said:

 

The "Check Landing Gear" audio message is only heard if the gear is up, in fact, the height call it ourself will be omitted to give you further notice that things are not normal.  

Basically, the Gear Warning System is a single wire gets attached to the Gear Lever itself or to a single indicator that shows gear is down and locked, our wire is just an opto-isolated voltage sense, it just senses if there is a voltage on the wire versus no voltage (open or ground) and based on that, you can set it up to assume gear is down when voltage is present or visa-versa, this setup is done through the wifi setup menu.  Once the system is told what voltage on the wire means (gear is up or down), then once it sees the ground below starting 220 ft AGL, it checks the condition of the gear based, and if the gear is still up, it keeps repeating "Check Landing Gear" every 4 seconds until either a positive rate of climb is registered or the gear is extended. 

Here is link for the upgrade offer.

https://landingheight.com/product/lhs-upgrade-options/

 

I assume that the system can still se set up to retain the 2' and 1' callouts, as these are the most helpful.

John Breda

[Microkit]

9 minutes ago, M20F-1968 said:

I assume that the system can still se set up to retain the 2' and 1' callouts, as these are the most helpful.

John Breda

Yes, no changes in the system regarding AGL callout.  100-B (which is your current model) to 200-B or 200-C, it just depends if you want the Gear Warning System (then you need 200-C) or you want to upgrade the 100-B to 200-B which is without gear related functions.  In your case, if you want the Gear Warning System, your only option is 100-B to 200-C.  

The 200-B (and -C as well) adds GPS feed compared with the 100-B.  A wire connects to an available GPS in your airplane which can output Aviation Output 1 format via RS232 port.    The main reason for this addition, is to allow speed threshold settings within our system, it is for those who fly IMC a lot, where at certain types of IMC (high content moisture or near freezing) the unit may see a solid layer and report the range;  with the Speed Threshold setup, you set it 10kt or 20kt above your approach speed, and the unit will auto-mute any callout once it sees the aircraft speed (coming from your GPS) exceeds that set threshold in the wifi setup.    Many don't hookup the GPS, and just mute the unit via their audio panel when they are in IMC and put it back on during downwind check or when they leave IMC.  

[bradp]

I’ve got my landing height system set up such that I still have the 2- and 1- foot call outs (very helpful at night), and the gear position annunciator is wired to the second side of the gear switch.  I put a little placard stating LHS indicates gear switch position only.  It’s pretty flawless.  I do get a tiny bit of electrical noise in the system, though. 

[Fly Boomer]

14 hours ago, bradp said:

 I do get a tiny bit of electrical noise in the system, though. 

Can you describe this?  I assume you are hearing something in your headset.  When do you hear the noise?

[bradp]

5 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Can you describe this?  I assume you are hearing something in your headset.  When do you hear the noise?

A very mild pulsing that I think might be draw with the unit itself … only when audio selected with the LHS.  Nothing too annoying and barely audible.  I originally thought it might be the Beacon or the strobes bleeding through on the audio input, but I don’t think it’s either.  Next time I am. in the plane, I’ll see if I can record it.

[Microkit]

10 minutes ago, bradp said:

A very mild pulsing that I think might be draw with the unit itself … only when audio selected with the LHS.  Nothing too annoying and barely audible.  I originally thought it might be the Beacon or the strobes bleeding through on the audio input, but I don’t think it’s either.  Next time I am. in the plane, I’ll see if I can record it.

Most probably induced noise.  If the audio wire is routed next to high load wire, such as if the battery is under the back seat and the wiring from the unit at the wing is routed along or near the same bundle, then some noise comes in.  Or audio wire shield is connected to ground from both ends or not used at all.   

[bradp]

Just now, Microkit said:

Most probably induced noise.  If the audio wire is routed next to high load wire, such as if the battery is under the back seat and the wiring from the unit at the wing is routed along or near the same bundle, then some noise comes in.  Or audio wire shield is connected to ground from both ends or not used at all.   

Yeah it’s grounded properly but does live in the left wing meaning it travels with the battery cable for about 2 feet as the audio wires exit the fwd wing tunnel and head up to the panel.