Altitude encoder

[Chad Lemmen]

I need a new encoder. I currently have a Trans-Cal D120-P2-T. I can get
an overhauled exchange for $230. Should I do that or just replace it with
a new ACK A-30 or Ameri-King AK-350? The Ameri-King is the cheapest at
$150. I believe both the ACK and Ameri-King use an oven to compensate for
temperature variations, while the Trans-Cal does not. Is it better to
have one with an oven or without? Is the Trans-Cal a better encoder
making it worth the extra money?

[Ross Richardson]

I think it was the Ameri-King AK-350 that I replaced for my Trans-Cal
when it went belly-up. You do have to wait for the encoder to out put a
signal. I first noticed this when my GPS messaged me that it had an
altitude fail. This occured for about 6 minutes. I called the avionics
shop and they explained the warmup that is required. Other than that it
does work fine. The GPS does require a valid encoder signal for IFR
operations.

Chad Lemmen wrote:
>
> I need a new encoder. I currently have a Trans-Cal D120-P2-T. I can get
> an overhauled exchange for $230. Should I do that or just replace it with
> a new ACK A-30 or Ameri-King AK-350? The Ameri-King is the cheapest at
> $150. I believe both the ACK and Ameri-King use an oven to compensate for
> temperature variations, while the Trans-Cal does not. Is it better to
> have one with an oven or without? Is the Trans-Cal a better encoder
> making it worth the extra money?

[Michael]

Chad Lemmen > wrote
> I need a new encoder. I currently have a Trans-Cal D120-P2-T. I can get
> an overhauled exchange for $230. Should I do that or just replace it with
> a new ACK A-30 or Ameri-King AK-350? The Ameri-King is the cheapest at
> $150. I believe both the ACK and Ameri-King use an oven to compensate for
> temperature variations, while the Trans-Cal does not. Is it better to
> have one with an oven or without? Is the Trans-Cal a better encoder
> making it worth the extra money?

The Trans-Cal is not like the other encoders. It is built exactly
like an altimeter, bellows and all, but instead of a dial and hands it
has an optical encoder disk. The electronics are only used to change
the optical signals into electronic ones. No tuning, no drift - the
adjustments on a Trans-Cal are actually mechanical. What this means,
in practice, is that needing adjustment is VERY rare,

The ACK and Ameri-King are electronic beasts, they're analog, and they
drift. They tend to need adjustment every year or two, even with the
oven.

You can generally pick up a used Trans-Cal for about $100.

Michael

[Chad Lemmen]

Ross Richardson > wrote:
> I think it was the Ameri-King AK-350 that I replaced for my Trans-Cal
> when it went belly-up. You do have to wait for the encoder to out put a
> signal. I first noticed this when my GPS messaged me that it had an
> altitude fail. This occured for about 6 minutes. I called the avionics
> shop and they explained the warmup that is required. Other than that it
> does work fine. The GPS does require a valid encoder signal for IFR
> operations.

6 minutes! Thats a long warmup. Is that during the summer or winter?
I live in Michigan so it may take a while to warm up during the winter.


> Chad Lemmen wrote:
>>
>> I need a new encoder. I currently have a Trans-Cal D120-P2-T. I can get
>> an overhauled exchange for $230. Should I do that or just replace it with
>> a new ACK A-30 or Ameri-King AK-350? The Ameri-King is the cheapest at
>> $150. I believe both the ACK and Ameri-King use an oven to compensate for
>> temperature variations, while the Trans-Cal does not. Is it better to
>> have one with an oven or without? Is the Trans-Cal a better encoder
>> making it worth the extra money?

[Ross Richardson]

Winter as it is in Texas. By the time I let the engine warm up, taxi
out, and do run up, the Altitude Fail message is gone. Summer, its gone
a little faster.

Ross

>
> 6 minutes! Thats a long warmup. Is that during the summer or winter?
> I live in Michigan so it may take a while to warm up during the winter.
>

[James M. Knox]

Justin Case > wrote in
:

> Had a very tough time with AmeriKing. An ELT failed 3 days prior to
> the expiration of the warranty. A call was made to AmeriKing (or
> should I say ChungKing) and they said not to worry, send it in with
> the original sales slip. Two weeks later we received a call from
> *&^%King saying the unit was out of warranty since it arrived there 2
> days after the warranty expired (UPS ground). When we explained the
> situation, along with the name of the person to whom we spoke, Mr.
> King said NO!

That is NOT normal for warranty. The date is that when the problem was
reported, not when the unit arrives (providing it arrives in a reasonable
and timely fashion). Unfortunately, the amount of money may not be worth
fighting over, but I think Ameri-King has a pretty weak case.

-----------------------------------------------
James M. Knox
TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
1109-A Shady Lane fax 512-366-4331
Austin, Tx 78721
-----------------------------------------------

[Justin Case]

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 12:30:03 -0500, "James M. Knox"
> wrote:

>Justin Case > wrote in
:
>
>> Had a very tough time with AmeriKing. An ELT failed 3 days prior to
>> the expiration of the warranty. A call was made to AmeriKing (or
>> should I say ChungKing) and they said not to worry, send it in with
>> the original sales slip. Two weeks later we received a call from
>> *&^%King saying the unit was out of warranty since it arrived there 2
>> days after the warranty expired (UPS ground). When we explained the
>> situation, along with the name of the person to whom we spoke, Mr.
>> King said NO!
>
>That is NOT normal for warranty. The date is that when the problem was
>reported, not when the unit arrives (providing it arrives in a reasonable
>and timely fashion). Unfortunately, the amount of money may not be worth
>fighting over, but I think Ameri-King has a pretty weak case.
>
Tell me about it! What you say is the norm, so we didn't worry about
anything. Unfortunately the dirty deed was done long before we were
all aware of it. Taken into consideration that the owner would rather
pay than fight, that's exactly what he did. He needed to get back
into the air for some type of volunteer angel flight (or on the same
par). If we would have known of the outcome, it would have been
easier to buy new from Spruce, sell the accy's on Ebay and go merrily
along with new warranty (fingers crossed). I'm not the only one
that's had problems with the zipper heads out there but I can tell you
I won't have any more. Just won't use them!

>-----------------------------------------------
>James M. Knox
>TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
>1109-A Shady Lane fax 512-366-4331
>Austin, Tx 78721
>-----------------------------------------------

[Ron Natalie]

"James M. Knox" > wrote in message ...
> Justin Case > wrote in

>
> That is NOT normal for warranty. The date is that when the problem was
> reported, not when the unit arrives (providing it arrives in a reasonable
> and timely fashion). Unfortunately, the amount of money may not be worth
> fighting over, but I think Ameri-King has a pretty weak case.

Victor (Mr. AmeriKing) is a real piece of work. Customer service is not one
of his strong points. It's fortunate that his stuff is fairly reliable and cheap that
nobody pushes him on the issue.

[Justin Case]

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 15:11:15 -0400, "Ron Natalie" >
wrote:

>
>"James M. Knox" > wrote in message ...
>> Justin Case > wrote in
>
>>
>> That is NOT normal for warranty. The date is that when the problem was
>> reported, not when the unit arrives (providing it arrives in a reasonable
>> and timely fashion). Unfortunately, the amount of money may not be worth
>> fighting over, but I think Ameri-King has a pretty weak case.
>
>Victor (Mr. AmeriKing) is a real piece of work. Customer service is not one
>of his strong points. It's fortunate that his stuff is fairly reliable and cheap that
>nobody pushes him on the issue.

That's the unfortunate part. Prices are right! You pays your money,
you takes your chances, although most stuff is reliable.
>

[Chad Lemmen]

I talked with Trans-Cal and they said they would overhaul my D120-P2-T
encoder to like new with all the updates (mine was manufactured in 1974)
for $300 or they would exchange mine for the newer SSD-120-30 solid state
unit for $165. It seems like the easy decision would be to get the solid
state unit, but they did say that those units tend to need re-calibration
every two years and may need repair after 5 years or so. The older style
encoder will most likely last 30 years and may never need calibration. I
chose to get mine overhauled, I think it will save me money in the long
run. It sounds like the ACK and Ameri-King units also need calibration
often. I looked through my logs and can't find any entries for repairs to
my encoder, which means it has lasted 29 years.