What to buy at OSH this year?

[Jay Honeck]

With OSH 2005 fast approaching, the blood is quickening, and there's a new
spring in my step. The Big One is almost here!

However, as we do every year, we're starting to look at Atlas -- our 1974
Pathfinder -- with a jaundiced eye, looking for deficiencies that need
filling, either in his accoutrements or in our personal comfort. Oshkosh is
*the* place to see/touch/try all of the new stuff on the market, and we're
always looking for ways to keep Atlas new and fresh.

I'm leaning toward a couple of things. First, our old Narco audio panel is
functional, but I've repaired the cracked faceplate three times. Like
clockwork, it cracks again every winter, when the temperatures are 100
degree colder than they are today -- and Narco wants $200 just for a stupid
faceplate! So, an audio panel is on the short "take a look at" list.
Dunno if I can justify it, though. They sure want a lot of money for those
danged things.

Our AvMap IIIC is looking big and clunky next to the sleek new AvMap IV (or
whatever they'll be introducing at the show). We might be looking to pick
up one of those babies.

A GPS/Com to replace our tired but trusty old Com 2 (a Narco 120) would be
an excellent addition to the panel. Again, an awful lot of money to replace
something that's working just fine -- and do we really need a THIRD GPS?
Maybe...

XM/Sirius radio is still at the top of my "must-have" list, but I'm still
stymied by not having a front-seat input jack into my intercom. (I *do*
have a jack for the back seat passengers, but the front seat is served only
by our PS Engineering CD player). I guess I'll have to have that jack
installed, at some ridiculous price, and then be prepared to hunt down
electrical bugs for three months after the installation....

The new blue-tooth wireless headsets should be THE cool thing to see this
year. I'm hoping LightSpeed has something to show us at the show, but I
haven't heard anything from them, yet. Wouldn't it be great to get rid of
all those wires?

What are YOU guys looking for at OSH this year?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[John T]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>
> The new blue-tooth wireless headsets should be THE cool thing to see
> this year. I'm hoping LightSpeed has something to show us at the
> show, but I haven't heard anything from them, yet. Wouldn't it be
> great to get rid of all those wires?

Got any links?

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_search.asp?developerid=4415
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://spf.pobox.com
____________________

[John T]

home builders staples...rivet squeezer, rivet fan, etc.

Gonna be one of the first people in line at aeromart monday morning...

John

[Steve Foley]

On words of one syllable,

Beer.


"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:qeywe.101185$_o.85876@attbi_s71...


> What are YOU guys looking for at OSH this year?
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>

[RST Engineering]

Well (sniff) aluminum faceplates don't crack, and the price for the whole
damned audio panel is just a bit more than the Narco faceplate, but you DO
need to know which end of the soldering iron gets hot {;-)


Jim


> I'm leaning toward a couple of things. First, our old Narco audio panel
> is functional, but I've repaired the cracked faceplate three times. Like
> clockwork, it cracks again every winter, when the temperatures are 100
> degree colder than they are today -- and Narco wants $200 just for a
> stupid faceplate! So, an audio panel is on the short "take a look at"
> list. Dunno if I can justify it, though. They sure want a lot of money
> for those danged things.
>

[Paul kgyy]

How about a new JPI930, Jay? Replace all those aging engine
instruments... Only $4000 plus $2K for the stc, plus a couple bucks
installation to that low-cost mechanic of yours :-)

http://www.jpinstruments.com/edm_930.html

[Gig 601XL Builder]

Or he could just make an alumunim face plate for the Narco.


"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
...
> Well (sniff) aluminum faceplates don't crack, and the price for the whole
> damned audio panel is just a bit more than the Narco faceplate, but you DO
> need to know which end of the soldering iron gets hot {;-)
>
>
> Jim
>
>
>> I'm leaning toward a couple of things. First, our old Narco audio panel
>> is functional, but I've repaired the cracked faceplate three times. Like
>> clockwork, it cracks again every winter, when the temperatures are 100
>> degree colder than they are today -- and Narco wants $200 just for a
>> stupid faceplate! So, an audio panel is on the short "take a look at"
>> list. Dunno if I can justify it, though. They sure want a lot of money
>> for those danged things.
>>
>
>

[Jay Honeck]

> Or he could just make an alumunim face plate for the Narco.

I thought about that, but the stupid thing is really quite elaborately
designed, between the holes for the push-buttons and the colored "glass" for
the glideslope indicator lights...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> How about a new JPI930, Jay? Replace all those aging engine
> instruments... Only $4000 plus $2K for the stc, plus a couple bucks
> installation to that low-cost mechanic of yours :-)
>
> http://www.jpinstruments.com/edm_930.html

Sweet, isn't it? At last we have something like the home-builders for our
certificated planes!

But can you imagine the install price? And the trouble-shooting
afterwards?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Gig 601XL Builder]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:guDwe.101028$x96.20438@attbi_s72...
>> Or he could just make an alumunim face plate for the Narco.
>
> I thought about that, but the stupid thing is really quite elaborately
> designed, between the holes for the push-buttons and the colored "glass"
> for the glideslope indicator lights...
> --


Come on Jay. You did all that redecorating the Inn. I know you can do this.
Think about it . If you do it you can finaly feel really at home here in
R.A.H.

Or do you just want a new toy for Atlas?

Gig

[Jay Honeck]

>> I thought about that, but the stupid thing is really quite elaborately
>> designed, between the holes for the push-buttons and the colored "glass"
>> for the glideslope indicator lights...
>> --
>
>
> Come on Jay. You did all that redecorating the Inn. I know you can do
> this.

I'm afraid it would look pretty kludgey. I don't have the metalworking
tools, and I don't know anyone with the cutting equipment necessary to make
half a dozen little holes practically touching each other in the space of
four or five inches.

> Think about it . If you do it you can finaly feel really at home here in
> R.A.H.

....He says as he posts to R.A.O. and R.A.P.

;-)

> Or do you just want a new toy for Atlas?

Of course!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[RST Engineering]

1. Our prototype faceplates rarely cost less than $500 in onesies-twosies,
dropping to about $15 in production quantities. One-offs are always
extremely expensive and rarely come out right the first time.

2. Would those be the MARKER BEACON lights? I've never seen glideslope
lights.

Jim



"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:guDwe.101028$x96.20438@attbi_s72...

>> Or he could just make an alumunim face plate for the Narco.
>
> I thought about that, but the stupid thing is really quite elaborately
> designed, between the holes for the push-buttons and the colored "glass"
> for the glideslope indicator lights...
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[Morgans]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote

> What are YOU guys looking for at OSH this year?

Two things. 1) Arriving and departing with the same transmission in my
vehicle. 2) Me seeing the show, instead of replacing a transmission.
:-(
--
Jim in NC

[Jack Allison]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> What are YOU guys looking for at OSH this year?
I want a new ANR headset Jay...think you can hook me up with your buddy
at Lightspeed? :-)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-IA Student
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

[Dave]

I just bought anr headsets from Pacific coast avionics. They are light
speeds with PCA branding.
Spent 249 plus shipping.
Great headsets.
If they have these on sale at Osh, can't go wrong.

Dave


Jack Allison wrote:
> Jay Honeck wrote:
>
>> What are YOU guys looking for at OSH this year?
>
> I want a new ANR headset Jay...think you can hook me up with your buddy
> at Lightspeed? :-)
>
>

[George Patterson]

RST Engineering wrote:
>
> ..... but you DO
> need to know which end of the soldering iron gets hot {;-)

Easily learned. :-)

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

[Jay Honeck]

> 2. Would those be the MARKER BEACON lights? I've never seen glideslope
> lights.

Yeah, those thingies...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> Two things. 1) Arriving and departing with the same transmission in my
> vehicle. 2) Me seeing the show, instead of replacing a transmission.

Are you driving the same vehicle this year?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[John T]

You got a blueprint or other design with dimensions, I can probably cut
it on one of our CNC machines...make it as fancy as you want.

John

[John T]

You can buy reconditioned pacific coast headsets. Bought 3 of them last
year for $45.00 each. Don't know which model they are though, but they
are not top line. Found them in aeromart.

John

[Jay Honeck]

> Well (sniff) aluminum faceplates don't crack, and the price for the whole
> damned audio panel is just a bit more than the Narco faceplate, but you DO
> need to know which end of the soldering iron gets hot {;-)

And just how many beers is this going to cost me?

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> You got a blueprint or other design with dimensions, I can probably cut it
> on one of our CNC machines...make it as fancy as you want.

Wow -- thanks. That really would solve a lot of problems.

Of course, I have NO idea how to tell you the precise dimensions. It looks
like this:

http://www.narco-avionics.com/cp136picbody.htm

Without the silly white rectangular labels under each button. (The labels
are printed on the black background on every CP-136 I've ever seen.)

Of course, this tells you NOTHING about thickness, and what's inside...

:-(

How do you go about duplicating a part?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[xyzzy]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>2. Would those be the MARKER BEACON lights? I've never seen glideslope
>>lights.
>
>
> Yeah, those thingies...
>
> ;-)

Also known as the "the things that beep and flash as you are climbing
out (if the rwy has ILS approaches in both directions) and landing,
scaring the beejebers out of pax who are unfamiliar with what to expect
in the cockpit."

[RST Engineering]

Jay -- it is really quite simple. You take the faceplate off, you measure
all the dimensions relative to a common point (most of us like the lower
left hand corner of the beast), you put those dimensions into a computer
program, load a blank of aluminum into the machine, push "go" and out the
other end comes an exact duplicate.

John -- I don't see any mounting hardware on the faceplate itself, so there
must be a couple of tapped mounting bosses inside the panel. Since I don't
have one in my hand, I can't take those dimensions. If anybody out there
has a cracked or otherwise junk 136 faceplate they would be willing to loan
either John or I to do the dimensioning, I'd really appreciate it.

Jay -- since this is an "owner produced part" for a certificated airplane,
are you sure you want to get into the middle of that excruciatingly long
thread in public? {;-)

Jim


"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:xcUwe.104658$_o.22298@attbi_s71...
>> You got a blueprint or other design with dimensions, I can probably cut
>> it on one of our CNC machines...make it as fancy as you want.
>
> Wow -- thanks. That really would solve a lot of problems.

[Jay Honeck]

> Jay -- it is really quite simple. You take the faceplate off, you measure
> all the dimensions relative to a common point (most of us like the lower
> left hand corner of the beast), you put those dimensions into a computer
> program, load a blank of aluminum into the machine, push "go" and out the
> other end comes an exact duplicate.

How come every time you say "It's really quite simple" it always seems to be
something incredibly complex?

Must be that Apollo Program experience...

;-)

> John -- I don't see any mounting hardware on the faceplate itself, so
> there must be a couple of tapped mounting bosses inside the panel. Since
> I don't have one in my hand, I can't take those dimensions. If anybody
> out there has a cracked or otherwise junk 136 faceplate they would be
> willing to loan either John or I to do the dimensioning, I'd really
> appreciate it.

Well, therein lies the rub. If I take the faceplate off, all the little
buttons go "boing!" all over the cockpit. Otherwise I'd just mail it to you
tomorrow!

It's not the best design. The buttons are smaller than your fingers, and
when you push them in, especially in turbulence, you tend to push the
faceplate, too. This, of course, puts lots of stress on the four
screw-holes that are in the sides of the faceplate (2 on each side), which
eventually cracks it.

> Jay -- since this is an "owner produced part" for a certificated airplane,
> are you sure you want to get into the middle of that excruciatingly long
> thread in public? {;-)

Hmm. Sure sounds legal to me. What's the big deal?

It's not like it's a prop governor or sumpin'...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Bob Chilcoat]

Yeah, and not just the Pax. When I landed on rw 4R at EWR a few weeks ago,
the damn marker beacon went off as I came over the threshold. I was a bit
nervous and excited anyway, and having something beeping that I'd never
heard before was not cool. Gave me a start for a few seconds until I
figured out what light was flashing with it. I knew it wasn't the stall
warning, because that's only a red light on the Archer. Climbing out from
rw 29, it went off again, but this time I was better able to ignore it.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"xyzzy" > wrote in message
...
> Jay Honeck wrote:
>>>2. Would those be the MARKER BEACON lights? I've never seen glideslope
>>>lights.
>>
>>
>> Yeah, those thingies...
>>
>> ;-)
>
> Also known as the "the things that beep and flash as you are climbing out
> (if the rwy has ILS approaches in both directions) and landing, scaring
> the beejebers out of pax who are unfamiliar with what to expect in the
> cockpit."
>

[Morgans]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote

> Are you driving the same vehicle this year?

Nope. White Astro mini van this year. But it does have a rebuilt
transmission, that is only a year (plus a little) old. I'm not going to say
something like "no problems" and jinx myself. :-)
--
Jim in NC

[John T]

Well, a couple of options for getting the dimensions of your face plate
would be A) send me the faceplate, and I'll bring it back to you at
Oshkosh, or B) I could take measurements of it at at Oshkosh and send
you a new one in aluminum.

John

[Jay Honeck]

> Well, a couple of options for getting the dimensions of your face plate
> would be A) send me the faceplate, and I'll bring it back to you at
> Oshkosh, or B) I could take measurements of it at at Oshkosh and send you
> a new one in aluminum.

Thanks, John. When I take the faceplate off all the pushbuttons fall off,
so I really can't mail it to you.

Are you coming to the North 40 cookout on Wednesday night? We could try to
do it there, hopefully before the adult beverages take their toll...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Dave Butler]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>Well, a couple of options for getting the dimensions of your face plate
>>would be A) send me the faceplate, and I'll bring it back to you at
>>Oshkosh, or B) I could take measurements of it at at Oshkosh and send you
>>a new one in aluminum.
>
>
> Thanks, John. When I take the faceplate off all the pushbuttons fall off,
> so I really can't mail it to you.
>
> Are you coming to the North 40 cookout on Wednesday night? We could try to
> do it there, hopefully before the adult beverages take their toll...

Not sure whether this is practical, but what about putting the faceplate
face-down on a scanner/copier next to a scale (ruler). Then you can mail/fax
(whatever) the copy?

Dave

[John T]

Yes, I'm going to try to make the cookout. You gotta understand though,
that the faceplate will have to come off for accurate measurements. Is
that a "risk" you want to take in the field.

Of course, we could always arrange to get together another time.

John

[john smith]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> Thanks, John. When I take the faceplate off all the pushbuttons fall off,
> so I really can't mail it to you.

A piece of masking tape over the front of the faceplate and buttons may
solve that problem.

[Jay Honeck]

> Yes, I'm going to try to make the cookout. You gotta understand though,
> that the faceplate will have to come off for accurate measurements. Is
> that a "risk" you want to take in the field.
>
> Of course, we could always arrange to get together another time.

Or, I could just buy a new PS Engineering audio panel!

But, of course, I suspect your solution is cheaper, if not easier. :-)

Given the fact that this thing has three different colored plastic lenses,
highly detailed labels, and at least four precisely place side mounting
screws on this thing, are you *really* sure you can duplicate it in
aluminum?

How the heck (for example) can you incorporate/fabricate the different
colored lenses for the marker beacons into an aluminum faceplate?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[RST Engineering]

jay, Jay, JAY, don't start questioning those of who profess the engineering
trade to be taking on a trivial job like this unless you want us to start
questioning how you get the sport spots off the sheets in our rooms.

The fabrication is trivial once you have the dimensions.

{;-)

Jim


> Given the fact that this thing has three different colored plastic lenses,
> highly detailed labels, and at least four precisely place side mounting
> screws on this thing, are you *really* sure you can duplicate it in
> aluminum?
>
> How the heck (for example) can you incorporate/fabricate the different
> colored lenses for the marker beacons into an aluminum faceplate?

[Jay Honeck]

>> How the heck (for example) can you incorporate/fabricate the different
>> colored lenses for the marker beacons into an aluminum faceplate?

> jay, Jay, JAY, don't start questioning those of who profess the
> engineering trade to be taking on a trivial job like this unless you want
> us to start questioning how you get the sport spots off the sheets in our
> rooms.
>
> The fabrication is trivial once you have the dimensions.

Ok, okay, OKAY!

I'll just sit back and be amazed, as always...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[John T]

You mean, how can YOU replicate the colored plastics... :)

Its your decision.

John