NavWorx Shut Down

[Chip Sylverne]

I think they're almost $2k and it would obsolete on you if the ADS600-B ever fails (since there will be no Navworx to fix it). So to me, the better play would be to install a used 430W and get a great radio and navigator to boot. Then, when the ADS600-B eventually breaks, another manufacturer's ADS-B product will be able to use the 430W as a position source and you'll be back up and running fairly cheap.

The NexNav could also be used as a position sensor for the Trig transponder/out solution as well, so if the Navworx tanks, there's that option. You're right though, a WAAS panel navigator is another option, but a lot more $.
Besides, even with the AMOC ,until a few more are authorized, , if FSDO's have some discretion as to whether to approve, I remain gun shy. The NexNav is approved, all it needs is to be installed per the manual. No bureaucrat can make life any more miserable.

 

[JohnAJohnson]

Besides, even with the AMOC ,until a few more are authorized, , if FSDO's have some discretion as to whether to approve, I remain gun shy. The NexNav is approved, all it needs is to be installed per the manual. No bureaucrat can make life any more miserable.

No need to worry about that. The letter you send the FSDO after you do the AMOC is simply to notify them as to what you did. They are not the approving authority, the AMOC is, and that's a done deal.

 

[Palmpilot]

...I have requested my bank to open a dispute and see if I can recover my money, it was paid to Dallas Avionics. Not holding my breath though.

I hope you will let us know how that turns out. I'm not personally affected, but it would be interesting to know.

 

[James331]

Holy guacamole. They were the front runner for my ADSB plans for the RV.

I guess I've got 24 months to come up with an alternative.

What say @James331? I think you were looking at them seriously too.

Well balls.........

Still going to wait till the last minute or a little after to make my mind up, I for sure want something that automatically isn't sending my N number out when set to 1200.

 

[Axtel4]

FAA Proposes Civil Penalty of Nearly $3.7 Million Against Manufacturer of ADS-B Navigation Units

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=22254

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

FAA Proposes Civil Penalty of Nearly $3.7 Million Against Manufacturer of ADS-B Navigation Units

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=22254

well....there ya have it.

"NavWorx knowingly altered the units’ internal software to transmit a code that indicated the units met the new SIL standard even though they did not."

 

[kyleb]

FAA Proposes Civil Penalty of Nearly $3.7 Million Against Manufacturer of ADS-B Navigation Units

https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=22254

Not sure they are gonna get blood out of that turnip...

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

Not sure they are gonna get blood out of that turnip...

apparently the goal was to shut down a non-trustworthy TSO holder.....and it worked.

 

[Norman]

apparently the goal was to shut down a non-trustworthy TSO holder.....and it worked.

But going back into my conspiracy mode was it done at the behest of a company who had a similar product and didn't want to face the lower priced competition?

I've seen this BS before.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

But going back into my conspiracy mode was it done at the behest of a company who had a similar product and didn't want to face the lower priced competition?

I've seen this BS before.

based on that press release....there was plenty that NavWorx did that was self induced.

Having a non-compliant attitude was the first mistake....lying and not allowing inspectors in ain't good either.

 

[Norman]

based on that press release....there was plenty that NavWorx did that was self induced.

Having a non-compliant attitude was the first mistake....lying and not allowing inspectors in ain't good either.

Perhaps true. I don't have all the facts. my post was based on some speculation.

I do know someone trustworthy who was involved. I will wait for the details to shake out.

 

[Skyrys62]

. I will wait for the details to shake out

Thats what Needs to be done.
Once they get their spanking proper...the FAA may relax and they can rectify things with a recall or update etc..
Maybe not, but patience may pay off.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

Perhaps true. I don't have all the facts. my post was based on some speculation.

I do know someone trustworthy who was involved. I will wait for the details to shake out.

The press release was very generous.

 

[weirdjim]

But going back into my conspiracy mode was it done at the behest of a company who had a similar product and didn't want to face the lower priced competition?

I've seen this BS before.

I think we all have. I was a beta tester for a pc board layout software program. It sold for about $300 and did everything (and better) than the $3K competition. $3K bought out the $300 company and killed the product. That one really torqued my jaws.

I have SORTA gotten even. The final beta version was identical to the final release and I have a letter in my files authorizing me to give the beta version to anybody that I thought would help me do the evaluation. Twenty years of students have a full copy of that beta version and I keep asking them if they have any suggestions, in strict compliance with the letter.

Jim

 

[denverpilot]

One thing to keep in mind... after the 2020 dust settles, and all of these little fly-by-nights that made nothing BUT transponders disappear... you don't want to be the owner of one.

 

[denverpilot]

I think we all have. I was a beta tester for a pc board layout software program. It sold for about $300 and did everything (and better) than the $3K competition. $3K bought out the $300 company and killed the product. That one really torqued my jaws.

Was that Eagle, or something older? The board layout software biz has gotten spendy, and auto-routers still suck donkey balls no matter how "smart" they claim to have made them.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

It's clearly best to stick with established brand names like NARCO.

 

[denverpilot]

It's clearly best to stick with established brand names like NARCO.

All sorts of time to notice they were dying. Like decades...

They were dead in the late 90's... and everyone knew it. Product quality wasn't there and repairs were a pain... which only got worse. New products? Never...

If you missed the signs that Narco was going dead almost 30 years ago, you might have trouble noticing what the weather is today while standing outside in it.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

If you missed the signs that Narco was going dead almost 30 years ago, you might have trouble noticing what the weather is today while standing outside in it

You are saying that I could get a job as a professional meteorologist?

 

[denverpilot]

You are saying that I could get a job as a professional meteorologist?

LOL. Something changed here recently and NWS Boulder got a whole lot more accurate.

Accuweather was kicking their ass really hard this Spring and Summer.

They got the recent snows and other odd early winter storm stuff “right”.

It’s interesting to watch for larger trends like that.

 

[CC268]

I love my trusty Narco transponder! Thing is a real beaut

 

[denverpilot]

By the way back to the NavWorx thing...

Reading other news sources it sounds like they knew they had a chipset that didn’t meet the spec, and then purposefully tried to hide it from FAA.

I haven’t seen any info that they “potted” the chips physically and tried to hide them inside the unit, but they’re accused of putting firmware into the units that lied about the GPS chipset’s capabilities.

That’s just incredibly stupid. No wonder FAA body slammed them and is following up with a fine so huge they never try to come back.

Why in the h-e-l-l would you do that? Spin a new board and put the correct chip on it. Wow. Stupid. Way beyond stupid.

Did they think nobody was smart enough to open up a unit and reverse engineer it even if they scraped off the chip markings or potted it in epoxy to hide it? This stuff ain’t rocket science.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

It might be worse than that....if paperwork was also changed .....to cover tracks.

 

[PaulS]

I took an engineering ethics class in college haha...had to

Me too.

 

[wsuffa]

It might be worse than that....if paperwork was also changed .....to cover tracks.

Fraud is never a good thing.

 

[weirdjim]

Was that Eagle, or something older? The board layout software biz has gotten spendy, and auto-routers still suck donkey balls no matter how "smart" they claim to have made them.

No it wasn't Eagle. The one I'm referring to (and will never name in a public forum because they've got more lawyers than I do) was so far ahead of Eagle in ease of use it isn't funny. I tried learning Eagle for about two months before I started throwing things at the monitor. This one's autorouter is donkey balls for sure, but less so than more spendy programs. The only really bad habit it has is using more vias than pads. Thing looks like a dartboard after a weekend tournament. On a large complex board it may take overnight to route and then a week of my time fixing the routing. Still easier than doing it trace by trace.

Send me a personal email (jim@rstengineering.com) and I'll reply with the URL for you to download it and try it. I can get a zero hour student to lay out a double sided 3x3" board with a couple of ICs, a few resistors, a few capacitors, a couple of diodes, and a wire interface pattern in about two hours, complete with gerbers and ready to go to outside fab.

It started off life as a DOS program, upgraded once to Win 3.1, then to XP before Big Mamma bought them out and killed it. Still works on a Win 10 64 bit system quite well.

Jim