Hi all, I’m bench testing a uAvionix Ping 200x connected to a Cube Orange running ArduPlane 4.2.0.
Question: Should I be able to control the Ping 200x using the ‘Transponder’ tab in Mission Planner? for example to set the squawk code or mode? I’m getting “Transponder Connected!” but nothing else. The transponder code shows 0, NIC and NACp show UNKNOWN, the check options are greyed out. If I change the squawk code then press ON or ALT, the code reverts to 0. Overall I have no control at all, and no evidence of a real connection.
The physical connection is RS232 to a Telemetry port, wired as per the Ping 200x User and Installation Guide section 6.2.6 (just the Autopilot, not the Position Source). Specifically:
TELEM pin 2 TXD ------ Ping200X orange RXD
TELEM pin 3 RXD ------ Ping200X grey TXD
TELEM pin 6 GND ------ Ping200X black GND
.
I’m running Mission Planner in MS Windows. The Cube Orange is connected to the PC by Mavlink via USB.
My Ping 200x does communicate successfully over RS232 to my PC running the Ping 200x control & config software (at 57600 UCP), so I am confident that the device is not faulty.
I can’t find any documentation on this feature. Just wondering if a) the Transponder tab is even supposed to function at all, and b) if there’s any trick to the configuration settings.
Thanks very much in advance as always.
Regards,
Dan.
I have received some advice from uAvionix - they say to use an RS-232 to TTL/UART level shifter between the Ping 200 and the Cube. The wiring diagram in the User and Installation guide shows (or at least strongly implies) a direct connection.
uAvionix is drafting a Ping 200X - Cube Pilot integration guide which specifies the use of a converter. The draft guide also specifies what settings to make in Ardupilot. For the record, the settings (for Ping 200X) are:
• ADSB_RF_CAPABLE = 8
• ADSB_RF_SELECT = 2
• ADSB_TYPE = 3
• SERIALx_BAUD = 57
• SERIALx_OPTIONS = 0
• SERIALx_PROTOCOL = 35
However, that has not solved my problem. Both devices work on their own, but not together. I’m assuming there’s either a deep hidden setting somewhere that happens to be wrong, or else something so obvious that nobody even thinks to mention it.
— SOLVED —
Okay so the fault was in my serial cabling. I used a straight-through cable between the Ping 200X and the RS-232 to UART converter, but in fact I needed to use a NULL cable.
It is all working as advertised now.
For future reference: TxD from the Ping 200X (grey) needs to go to RxD on the RS-232 to UART converter, and RxD (orange) needs to go to TxD. I made the mental error of thinking of the converter as “part of the cable” rather than a terminating device in its own right. Simple and obvious in hindsight, but perhaps this post can save someone else a few hours of frustration.
It should look like this on the Autopilot side:
TELEM pin 2 TXD ---- Converter UART RXD
TELEM pin 3 RXD ---- Converter UART TXD
TELEM pin 6 GND ---- Converter UART GND
and like this on the Ping 200X side:
Ping200X orange RXD ---- Converter RS232 TXD
Ping200X grey TXD ---- Converter RS232 RXD
Ping200X black GND ---- Converter RS232 GND
@Danfield Nice one man. I’m about to do this same thing, just waiting on parts. Since you’ve figured out the RS232-TTL converting, have you been able to feed the ping200x position data from the autopilot? Without the need for a discrete GPS plugged into the ping200x?
Sorry mate I’m not ignoring you I just haven’t tested it yet. I keep thinking I’ll test it in a few days’ time but other things keep popping up. I’ll update this post once I know the answer.
Okay I’ve actually tested the opposite. TBH I don’t want the Autopilot to send GPS data to the transponder, because I’m using a certified transponder with a certified GNSS source to achieve the standard required by Air Traffic Control. The (non-certified) autopilot’s GPS would not achieve the required Source Integrity Level (SIL), meaning it would just stuff things up.
So… I have not attempted to feed A/P position to the Transponder. However, I did notice that the A/P uses the transponder’s GPS position. As soon as the transponder GPS has a fix, the position pops up on the moving map display in Mission Planner. In theory, it appears I could probably operate without giving the autopilot its own GPS (just using the position from the transponder), but I’m still going to give it its own GPS on robustness/reliability grounds.