In light of the recent pictures and
information that have been posted on this forum, it appears that Brent Regan
and Regan Designs has had a significant involvement in the development of the
Pinpoint inertial unit. Brent clearly has a stake in the success of the
Pinpoint unit and may want to disclose his affiliations when posting.
Brent did not have direct involvement of the development or production of
the NAV425EX unit and is not fully aware of its capabilities or
functionality. Crossbow is glad to provide answers about NAV425EX design
and functionality, more information is provided below. It may be more helpful
if Regan/Pinpoint could provide more information about the following
information since we believe these are all items that should be seriously
considered before installing an AHRS into an aircraft:
1) Is it produced in an ISO9001 and FAA approved manufacturing
facility?
2) Is a technical support staff available to assist customers? Is
there a data sheet?
3) Has testing for GPS and airspeed data loss been completed and/or
published?
4) Has Pinpoint been successful selling their product to any customers
other than Chelton/D2A?
In response to the questions below, the
NAV425EX uses a combination of magnetometer input and patented algorithms to
provide the best possible solution. We have specified the accuracy of
this unit with and without GPS on the data sheet and although the unit will
safely allow customers to fly the aircraft without GPS we feel that a solid GPS
solution is optimal. One of the main advantages of the GPS solution is
that it reduces cost for the installers since you are not required to mount a
pitot static tube to the AHRS.
The AHRS500 can accept optional air data
input to further improve the accuracy of the product, and is an FAA certified
platform. Similar to the NAV425EX, the AHRS500 can provide accurate data
without air data aiding for periods of time due to its reliance upon patented
algorithms and magnetometer input.
Mr. Regan’s suggestion that the
fixes have not been detailed and explained is inaccurate. Crossbow has
publicly detailed the fixes and procedures established to correct the bugs
initially found in the NAV425EX on our website in February and March of
2006. http://www.xbow.com/Support/Support_pdf_files/Service_Letter_NAV425-06-02.pdf
Crossbow will happily assist our customers
in resolving installation issues and we encourage any of our customers that are
having performance problems to contact us directly for further assistance.
Sincerely,
Michael Smith
Application Engineer Inertial Systems
Crossbow Technology
Email: msmith@xbow.com
Phone: 408-965-3388