Rocky Mountain Instruments - Micro Monitor and Encoder

[brendanw]

With regard to the RMI suite of avionics, does anyone

have any experience downloading the Micro Monitor /

Encoder log files and reviewing them in a spreadsheet?

I successfully updated the software in ours via a

laptop, but was unsuccessful in actually downloading a

log file. Waiter has offered to develop a nice, graphical GUI if

I can get him a data stream. Help!!

 

Also, does anyone have any suggestions, tips, recent

experiences with installing, calibrating and

programming these units? We're on to the programming

stage right now after we sort out an issue with the

ammeter / oil temp / fuel flow sensors. One thing

I've noticed thus far is that we dont have the micro

monitor hard wired to the battery, so our clock goes

away on shutdown. Also, the micro encoder is powered

off the transponder, so if we lose that, we lose both.

 

Thanks for anything you kids can offer up!!

[brendanw]

Attached to this post is a sample of the data directly from the RMI Micro Monitor. A while back Waiter had offered to take a look at it to develop a more visual interface for it, but I'm not sure the quality of the data is worth the effort. A couple of notes ...

 

- The data sample resolution is set to 1 minute increments. You cannot get any better resolution, so any sort real-time monitoring is impossible with the RMI micro monitor.

 

- I need to install a 9V battery source to maintain the clock or hardwire it with a fuse directly to the B&C battery. The clock, and possibly all of the calibration settings, go away when you turn the master off.

 

- I get OAT from the RMI micro encoder, but obviously the two arent talking properly. Ugh!!

 

- I have no idea why the GMT clock counts down, then up, then down, then counts up properly. No idea. Ugh!!!

 

- No way the OT was at 84F after 5 or so minutes of engine run time. Must be a calibration issue. Ugh!!

 

- I dont believe the OP readings are correct, but I cant explain why. The on-screen value 'floats' when the engine is off / cold. If I turn on the unit (but dont start the engine) right now, the value will 'float' up to about 35, then float slowly down to about 25. Ugh!!

 

- I had the engine up to what I know by ear was about 1500 to 1800 RPM. The data shows 1000 RPM max. Must be that I didnt have it there at one of the 1 minute data points. Ugh!!

 

- One would think that fuel flow (FF) would trend toward the RPM setting given that the mixture was full rich the entire time. Not true with this monitor. Ugh!!

 

- Looks like I got a peak of 46 amps at one point. Geez, that seems like a lot ... or is it the monitor? Who knows ... ugh!!!

 

Again, does anyone have any relevant experience with installing, setting up and calibrating the RMI suite? Help!!!

RMI_Monitor_Data_Sample.txt

[argoldman]

Attached to this post is a sample of the data directly from the RMI Micro Monitor. A while back Waiter had offered to take a look at it to develop a more visual interface for it, but I'm not sure the quality of the data is worth the effort. A couple of notes ...

 

- The data sample resolution is set to 1 minute increments. You cannot get any better resolution, so any sort real-time monitoring is impossible with the RMI micro monitor.

 

- I need to install a 9V battery source to maintain the clock or hardwire it with a fuse directly to the B&C battery. The clock, and possibly all of the calibration settings, go away when you turn the master off.

 

- I get OAT from the RMI micro encoder, but obviously the two arent talking properly. Ugh!!

 

- I have no idea why the GMT clock counts down, then up, then down, then counts up properly. No idea. Ugh!!!

 

- No way the OT was at 84F after 5 or so minutes of engine run time. Must be a calibration issue. Ugh!!

 

- I dont believe the OP readings are correct, but I cant explain why. The on-screen value 'floats' when the engine is off / cold. If I turn on the unit (but dont start the engine) right now, the value will 'float' up to about 35, then float slowly down to about 25. Ugh!!

 

- I had the engine up to what I know by ear was about 1500 to 1800 RPM. The data shows 1000 RPM max. Must be that I didnt have it there at one of the 1 minute data points. Ugh!!

 

- One would think that fuel flow (FF) would trend toward the RPM setting given that the mixture was full rich the entire time. Not true with this monitor. Ugh!!

 

- Looks like I got a peak of 46 amps at one point. Geez, that seems like a lot ... or is it the monitor? Who knows ... ugh!!!

 

Again, does anyone have any relevant experience with installing, setting up and calibrating the RMI suite? Help!!!

 

The Micromonitor and encoder are two super units, but like all things they are very sensitive to installation errors.

 

The temperature situation may be as simple as the fact that you mounted the sensor (a small transistor thing) on or near an area that gets hot with the engine running. These must be mounted in free outside air, not in an enclosed area.

 

Is this a new unit?

Did you build it??

Did you burn it in?

Have you checked that your wiring is correct?

Check specifically that the grounds are where RM says to put them and that power for the transducers come from the proper pins (assume nothing)

Did you follow the installation instructions?

Is your flow transducer mounted in accordance with instructios (very important that no turbulence is admitted?

Are your sensors correct (as specified)?

Did you go through the calibration process?

Did you go through the calibration process correctly?

 

Have you called Ron Mowrer (of rocky Mountain)-- He is very helpful.

 

To double check if the data that is being presented is correct, mount a camera, looking at the face, and shoot a pix every 30 sec or more often if you like.

 

Good luck, when you get the instruments working correctly you will love them.

[Waiter]

I looked at the serial port dump. The data parsing looks straight forward. If I remember correctly, the challange was that these RMI units can be configured to a users requirements, so there isn't a hard standard that applies to every unit, like the way Dynon or GR impliments it.

 

Anyway, keep me posted on your test results and I'll start digging up my code and see what I can do to impliment the RMI unit.

 

Waiter