SP-6

Description

SP-6 magnetometer/electronic compass with advanced in-flight calibration
algorithms for correction of hard and soft iron magnetic errors caused by ferromagnetic materials in the aircraft.
Using a newly developed, unique method the SP-6 is able to cancel out the effects of
magnetically active parts and materials on board the aircraft without any form of
external aiding. Very high levels of heading accuracy can be achieved even in very
compromised mounting locations where the combined effects of field distortion levels
exceed the strength of the Earth’s own magnetic field.
The SP-6 dramatically simplifies electronic compass installation and eliminates the
need for ground based compass swings and calibrations.
The new advanced algorithms have been introduced in production models from
July15th 2013 onwards. Previous SP-6 models can be updated to the new firmware
by the user or MGL representative using a freely available Windows based
application.
The SP-6 contains a three axis magnetic field sensor (magnetoresistive type) and
a 3 axis accelerometer (MEMS). The system uses a ARM Cortex M3 32 bit
processor.
If a SP-7 AHRS is used on the same communications link, tilt compensation can be
performed using gyro based attitude data.This compensation is performed in the
display device (EFIS). If the SP-6 is used without external AHRS, tilt compensation is
performed using the internal accelerometer.
Overview
The SP-6 magnetometer is a three axis, tilt compensated electronic compass system. It outputs magnetic heading information. In the
case of a standalone SP-6, tilt compensation is performed by deriving the attitude of the SP-6 sensor using on-board accelerometers
which are used to vector the direction of gravity. The magnetic field is measured using three magnetometers which are mounted
perpendicular to each other resulting in three magnetic force vectors.
Using three magnetic force vectors and knowledge of attitude allows calculation of magnetic heading even if the SP-6 is not
horizontal. if you have a SP-7 AHRS connected to the same Airtalk bus as the SP-6, the SP-6 will use the attitude data from the SP-7
to calculate the heading. If your SP-6 is set to gyro mode and horizon data is being received, your SP-6 will use the gyro derived
horizon rather than the built in accelerometers for tilt compensation. In this case, heading is correct even during turns.
Specifications
 Weight:
Excluding cables: 126 grams
Including cables: 175 grams (RCA signal and DB9 power cable included)
 Electrical and Temperature Characteristics:
Input voltage range: 8V to 20V DC regulated preferred for maximum performance.
11-14V is suggested as operating voltage.
Current consumption: 50 mA (heater off) at 13.8VDC input voltage
120 mA (heater on) at 13.8VDC input voltage
Temperature Regulation: 35ºC (internally maintained temperature)
 Accelerometer Specifications
Accelerometers: MEMS
Sensor Limits: /- 8G
Maximum G-force loading: 30G (any axis)
 Output Messages
Interface: MGL Avionics Airtalk compatible
Normal output message: 50 ms (average) latency
Raw output message: 12 ms (average) latency
 Magnetic sensors
Sensor type: Magnetoresistive, three axis
Measurement headroom: 3:1 based on field strength at magnetic equator
Accuracy: /-1.5º typical, sensor horizontal, clean field
Tilt compensation: Accelerometers or external gyro derived horizon