January, 2006 AVIONICS, ELECTRICS, & CONTROLS

Jan 15 - I am back to working on my avionics, while finishing up on the engine and doing more fuselage work.  Doing some preliminary EFIS/AHRS mount planning.  It looks like they'll go in OK fwd of the F768B sub panel and between the 2 F745 ribs.   I still need to first find out where the long avionics components will be coming through the sub panel.  0.75 hr

This is from my August, 2004 page:

Jan 16 - received and put away my Waytek Wire order.  1.0 hr

  These are the kind of overlapping wire splices Jan recommends for engine wiring harness work.  Very small & secure.  They get covered with heat shrink tubing that has sealant inside.  The crimper for them looks like a slightly larger than normal Molex crimper.  These came from Waytek Wire.

  This is the collection of dual wall heatshrink I got from Waytek Wire.

  This is one of Waytek Wire's "metri-pack" connectors.  Oddly enough, they call this a "female" connector, even though it goes into another "male" connector.   Someone needs to explain the birds & the bees to them ;-)   The connectors are completely sealed - the connectors are sealed, and each wire has a little seal as it goes into the connector.  I thought Waytek's customer service sucks, though.  My packing list said they'd shipped everything, but one item was missing.  I called about it, and they said it had been backordered, but had just come in.  They shipped it to me, and charged me $9 to ship a $12 item that couldn't have weighed more than an ounce or 2.  I complained to their sales manager, but he said "TSCB".    I won't be buying anything from them again, and I recommend you don’t buy from them, either.

Jan 17 - check layout of Garmin radio stack trays, and how they can fit onto panel, and where I can get the long ones through the subpanel, and how I can mount he EFIS/AHRS boxes fwd of the subpanel, so everything clears everything else.  Cut brackets to hold trays to panel.  More panel and tray layout in the house, where it's warmer.  3.5 hr

  I've moved into the house, where it's warm, to resume working on my panel.   First priority is to get the Blue Mountain EFIS/One placed, as low and far to the LT as I can get it.  Then, I'll need to get those Garmin trays put in about 2/3 of the way to the right, far enough to the LT so they will clear the canopy hinge on the subpanel.  Then, I'll fill in the rest of it with the space remaining.

  This is a rough version of what I am shooting for.  I am still undecided whether to have the Garmin GNS530 in the second or third column.  If I can reach and see it easily, I will mount it in the stack, as shown here.   If I decide it's too far away there, I will have to put it in the second column, above or below the GRT, as in my previous iteration here:

Jan 18 - Talked to Eckhard about a couple details about the Garmin trays & mounting them.   He will drop off some mounting screws when he visits Claremont airport later today.  More planning panel layout and measuring for clearance between panel components, subpanel and its parts, and BMA EFIS installation.   That BMA EFIS/AHRS/computer is HUGE, and takes up a lot of space.   I need to make sure everything will fit together OK.   Took lots of measurements and made lots of notes.  Update web site   1.5 hr + 1.0 hr doc

Jan 19 - Decided to exchange my BMA EFIS display (plus $1200) for one of their new "hi-bright" displays.  It's 1" thicker than the existing one, so I had to do a bunch of measuring to be sure it would still clear behind the panel ok.   Boxed up display and shipped to Blue Mountain.  Also spent some time hooking up the fuel transfer tank filters and new pump hose & nozzle.  1.5 hr

Jan 22 - finally finished fuel transfer tank.  I spent the last few days working on that.   It will allow me to supply auto fuel to my plane at my airport which does not have auto fuel available.  It was a diesel tank I bought well used at an auction, and fixed up for gasoline.  Anyway, back to direct plane work.  My workbench is a horrible mess; several layers deep of tools and parts.   More fitting and measuring work on the panel.  The Garmin trays, in order to clear the RT canopy hinge, must be at least 1/2" to the LT of the original F745R.  Holes in panel for F745R are 3/8" to the RT of the F745R, so the right-most the trays can be is 7/8" to the left of the holes in the panel for the F745R.  1.0 hr

  After working on the plane, and all the work on the fuel transfer tank, the bench is now a complete mess, with no room to do or find anything.  I'll have to clean this up soon.

  Measuring where the Garmin trays will come through the panel into the subpanel.  I have to make sure I am to the LT of the canopy hinge block and slot, shown by the arrow here.

Jan 24 - I am reconsidering putting the Garmin 530 in the radio stack.  I think I will go back to the previous configuration, with it under the GRT EFIS.  Lots more measuring and marking.  2.0 hr

  Here is the final panel layout, with the Garmin 530 moved to the 2nd column and the Dynon & GRT EIS moved more to the LT.  The BMA display is out being upgraded to an even brighter one.

Jan 25 - Talked to Eckhard about more details of mounting the Garmin trays.  The SL30 is about 0.070" less wide than the other trays.  Eckhard says I may need to bond or rivet a shim (rather than using loose washers) to bridge the gap.  I asked him about a music radio with XM satellite reception capability.  I was considering a PS Engineering model.  He recommended getting a Garmin 396 to cover that, plus provide backup GPS capability.   Worked on finalizing panel layout and marking cut lines for all the major components.  1.5 hr

  The panel is all marked out and ready to start cutting.  Blue lines for cuts, red lines for bezel edges.

Jan 26 - Doing the web update & seeing the pic of me holding the Garmin stack to the subpanel makes me realize that, now that I've moved the 530 from the 3rd stack, my SL30 may be going to hit the RT canopy hinge block.   I guess there'll be more measuring tonight, before any cutting.  I can leave the audio panel up high, as it's short, but I may need to move the rest of the Garmin stack (just the SL30 and the GTX330 now) down to the top of the Dynon & leave an expansion space between the SL30 and audio, rather than have the space between the bottom of the 330 and the Dynon, as shown here.  Update web site   0.25 hr + 1.0 hr doc

Jan 27 - Last night, I measured the distance between the top skin and the bottom of the RT canopy hinge block.  It was 2 1/16".  With the tray for the (short) audio panel tray just clearing the bottom of the reinforcing angle at the top of the panel, the bottom of the tray is at exactly 2 1/16", so I am fine there for clearance for the SL30 under the audio tray.  I guess I'll be ready for cutting the panel tonight & this weekend.  I talked to Eckhard, and the GNS530 also has a rather large plate on the back, to hold the connectors, that will make the overall length longer and may interfere with the BMA AHRS.  He dropped a loaner back plate off at the airport, and I went over and picked it up.  It adds about 2" overall length to the 530, but it's still about 1/2" less than the SL30, so clearances should be fine.  Worst case, if it just won't work, the BMA AHRS box will have to be moved, not the radios.   0.5 hr doc

  Even with the connector bracket on the back of the GNS530 tray (A), it's still about half an inch shorter than the SL30 with its bracket (B).  I already checked the clearance for the SL30, so I should be fine for no interference with that HUGE Blue Mountain Avionics EFIS ADHRS box.

Jan 29 - spent a couple hours cleaning up some of the garage mess and about 1/2 hour cutting out the first panel hole - for the Grand Rapids Engine Information System.  2.5 hr

  Here's the first cut on the panel.  The shotbag and the benchtop anvil help make sure the panel doesn't slide around while I am cutting it.  I used a cutting disk in the cordless drill, and finished the corners with the hacksaw blade laying on the anvil.  I cut slow and careful, staying inside the lines.  By cutting to the inside edge of the lines, it'll mean more final filing work, but less chance of cutting too much.

Jan 30 - I got an email back from Van's, confirming that I can use the same "distance from center" or "distance from top skin" measurements on the subpanel as on the panel, for when I am ready to start making the cuts in the subpanel for the long radios.   Cut out more of the panel.   Update web site  2.75 hr + 0.5 hr doc

  Most of the panel is cut out now.  The BMA is 3/4 cut out, and I just have to do the 3" round hole for the Dynon.  I may adjust the Dynon hole slightly to the left or right, after I get the EIS and 530 holes finalized, to make sure it is centered between the two.  All the white shiny stuff is aluminum powder from all the cutting.  The cutoff disk in the cordless drill seems to be working quite well.

Jan 31 - Worked to wee hours filing and fitting cut panel holes to each instrument.  Finished holes for EIS, GRT EFIS, and Garmin 530.  After fitting the Garmin 530 hole, I realized I probably should have cut the holes smaller.   I had asked Eckhard about the fit of the trays.   The Garmin trays have 2 sides and the top at one length, and the bottom surface is about 1/8" longer in front (aft end).  Eckhard didn't sound that sure about it, but he said to make the 3 sides flush with the outside surface of the panel.  After cutting & fitting, it appeared to me that the holes should have been smaller, with those 3 sides butting up against the BACK of the panel, instead of coming through the hole to be flush with the panel.   Also, it appears that the mount screw holes will be right in the mount angle web if I was to make the 3 sides flush with the panel.  Update web site  5.5 hr + 0.5 hr doc

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