Securing Wire Bundles

I'm securing the wiring bundles to make sure nothing jiggles loose or chafes from vibration. I'm using the old school method of tying with waxed lacing cord and adel clamps. These are the ground wires that go to the forest of tabs. I'm trying to make sure everything looks professional but if it's safe and secure, I won't let perfect get in the way of good.

Avionics Finished!

I've finished the avionics! Whew, that was much more difficult than I expected but I'm really glad I took the time to do it myself. I learned SO much. I do have clean-up and securing to do and that will take a week or two but everything electronic is working the way it should and talking (transferring data) to each other. The picture below shows the HSI on Skyview displaying the flight plan course from the 430W. Also, the 430W is talking to the transponder and since they're both current with the latest ADS-B standards (TSO-C166b), I'm now fully ADS-B compliant for the January 1st, 2020 FAA mandate. ADS-B is the technology where aircraft can transmit their position to other aircraft and to air traffic control. You can still fly after that date without being ADS-B compliant but just not in the following airspace which covers quite a lot of the flying we'll be doing.

• Class A, B, and C airspace.
• All airspace at and above 10,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) over the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia.
• Within 30 nautical miles of airports listed in 14 CFR §91.225, from the surface up to 10,000 feet MSL.
• For Class E airspace over the Gulf of Mexico from the coastline of the United States out to 12 nautical miles, at and above 3,000 feet MSL.

I also checked the GPS signal to the ELT with my homemade tester and it's working fine.

These are the card edge connectors that connect ground wires to the back panel of the 430W. It's not the greatest picture but I went through so much trouble to source them that I had to show them. These little buggers are difficult to get right. I ordered plenty of spares so I could practice until I got them close to perfect.

Garmin 430W Powered Up

I got the Garmin GNS 430W powered up and receiving on both the Comm and GPS today. I can hear ATIS and tower from KBAZ just like on the PAR100EX but much clearer while still in the garage from 5 miles away. Probably because the 430 radio uses the top antenna. I like having an upper and lower Comm antenna so I can use the one with the best reception. The audio panel has a nice "split" feature. You can easily put the pilot on the #1 radio and co-pilot on the #2 radio and they can communicate independently. I also noticed the intercom automatically switches to isolate so you don't hear both radios and switches back to normal intercom when you leave the split mode. Paula asked why and I told her she could check if the restaurant is open or if the courtesy car is available at the same time I'm talking to air traffic.

Audio Panel

I'm finishing and testing the audio panel wiring and installation. This is the harness for my PS Engineering PAR100EX. I took the harness to my avionics mentor and he said everything looked good. I made sure I checked the continuity for every pin before installing. It was quite a bit of work and I now understand why the manufacturer charges $366 for just the basic harness before any customization. My only expenses were the wires and pins and solder sleeves.

Success! Here, I'm listening to the test audio from Skyview. Everything works fine and I didn't let any magic smoke out. I'm close to finishing the wiring and I told Paula I'm tickled pink that I've been able to do it all myself. I got two quotes to have it done by professionals and both were over $6000. That didn't include any of the airframe wiring which was physically the most difficult. Although the money savings is significant, the sense of accomplishment is more. Later, I linked Paula's iPhone to the bluetooth on the audio panel and played music and made cell phone calls. I also tuned the ATIS and tower frequencies from KBAZ (New Braunfels airport) and could hear them even though it's five miles away and I'm using the bottom antenna and I'm IN THE GARAGE!

ELT

I finished installing the ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) except for the antenna. It's an ACK Technologies Model E-04 which is the newest technology 406 MHz GPS position ELT which meets all the upcoming stringent FAA rules. The ELT activates either with a sudden onset of g forces (a crash) or when it's manually turned on.  I used Van's mounting bracket just aft of the baggage bulkhead.

This is the audio alert indicator and the panel mount remote control. This is how you activate the ELT manually and hear that it's going off.