Connecting AV8OR to autopilot.

Connecting AV8OR to autopilot is not difficult. You need to find the ground and RS232 IN connection on your autopilot. My AP is a Digitrak autopilot from TruTrak Flight Systems where the NMEA inputs are pin 8 for ground and pin 3 for the serial IN.

For the AV8OR you need the serial cable adapter - I purchased it from Aircraft Spruce. The DB9 serial connection is pin 5 for ground and pin 3 for serial OUT. I actually cutoff the DB9 connector and directly wired the cable to the AP. There are only 4 wires in the shielded cable. I used green for ground and the red one is for RS232 out to connect to RS232 into the AP.

Somebody on the RV builders forum gave wrong information to use AV8OR pin 5 and pin 2 and I trusted it instead of looking it up - had to rewire it.

You need to find settings to communicate with your AP. 4800 Baud is usual. Some NMEA sentences on AV8OR may need to be enabled for full route function of the AP.

Note: Even without the AV8OR unit you can enable your AP for very simple AP heading function using a $50 GPS puck like sold by Argent Data. It puts out 4800 baud RS232 data and standard NMEA sentences. But it requires a 5 VDC power supply. In my case I used the 5VDC power source inside the Digitrak control box.