vor head needed

[blanche cohen]

Well, the old (very old!) Narco VOR head died. Actually, I noticed it
was dead over a year ago, but it was on the 2nd nav/com so I really
didn't care. But I'm thinking of starting IFR training (again, for
the 3rd time) and the 2nd VOR would be nice.

Don't need the ILS portion, I have a perfectly good one on the 1st
nav/com.

Any suggestions?

Please do NOT suggest any panel-mount GPS units, don't have the
money right now (altho there's this perfectly good hole in the panel
just the right size for a 4xx....)

[Jim Burns]

Ebay
Wentworth
Eastern
Gulf Coast
American

Jim

"blanche cohen" > wrote in message
...
> Well, the old (very old!) Narco VOR head died. Actually, I noticed it
> was dead over a year ago, but it was on the 2nd nav/com so I really
> didn't care. But I'm thinking of starting IFR training (again, for
> the 3rd time) and the 2nd VOR would be nice.
>
> Don't need the ILS portion, I have a perfectly good one on the 1st
> nav/com.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Please do NOT suggest any panel-mount GPS units, don't have the
> money right now (altho there's this perfectly good hole in the panel
> just the right size for a 4xx....)
>

[Blanche]

Jim Burns > wrote:
>Ebay
>Wentworth
>Eastern
>Gulf Coast
>American

>"blanche cohen" > wrote in message
>> Well, the old (very old!) Narco VOR head died. Actually, I noticed it
>> was dead over a year ago, but it was on the 2nd nav/com so I really
>> didn't care. But I'm thinking of starting IFR training (again, for
>> the 3rd time) and the 2nd VOR would be nice.
>>
>> Don't need the ILS portion, I have a perfectly good one on the 1st
>> nav/com.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Please do NOT suggest any panel-mount GPS units, don't have the
>> money right now (altho there's this perfectly good hole in the panel
>> just the right size for a 4xx....)

I was hoping for manufacturer/model suggestions. I'm trying to get
away from the Narco stuff. The 2nd nav/com is a TKM slide-in
replacement for the Narco 12D

[RST Engineering]

It would help if we knew the model number for the head. I've got a couple
of old ones from the original MK-12 you could have if that is what is dead.
Trying to connect apples to oranges is generally a fruit salad problem.

Jim



"blanche cohen" > wrote in message
...
> Well, the old (very old!) Narco VOR head died. Actually, I noticed it
> was dead over a year ago, but it was on the 2nd nav/com so I really
> didn't care. But I'm thinking of starting IFR training (again, for
> the 3rd time) and the 2nd VOR would be nice.
>
> Don't need the ILS portion, I have a perfectly good one on the 1st
> nav/com.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Please do NOT suggest any panel-mount GPS units, don't have the
> money right now (altho there's this perfectly good hole in the panel
> just the right size for a 4xx....)
>

[Denny]

Blanche, let me suggest that if you replace the VOR head that you
examine the cost of making it a VOR/ILS head... I have over the years
twice had a glide slope go bad while in IMC... Both times I finessed
my way out of it without any major sweat but it is nice when in actual
IMC to have a back up...

denny

[Blanche]

Jim, et al:

I've got a dead Narco VOA4 sitting on the seat in the car. I don't think
it's even worth taking down to the instrument shop (at KAPA) to see about
repairing it, it's so old. I'll probably donate it to the local aviation
school's "museum".

And doing my homework (and I still don't know what I'm doing -- remember,
I do software, not hardware) I know that the TKM nav/com connects nicely to
Narco equipment (e.g. ID 824) but what about to a King? (e.g. KI201)

I'm still seriously considering the RST marker beacon unit, but you need
to understand that I barely know which end of the soldering iron to
hold (and I have the scars to prove it!) It's why I do software....

In Arizona summers, being in air conditioned offices was
much nicer than being in the shop.

[Blanche]

Denny > wrote:
>
>Blanche, let me suggest that if you replace the VOR head that you
>examine the cost of making it a VOR/ILS head... I have over the years
>twice had a glide slope go bad while in IMC... Both times I finessed
>my way out of it without any major sweat but it is nice when in actual
>IMC to have a back up...

Not a bad idea, but out here in the Rockies, if the weather is serious
IMC, then I'm not flying. Mostly this is for getting out of the airport
when the summer fog rolls in. There's not much difference in the
VOR v. VOR/ILS pricing. I need to see if the TKM unit contains the
stuff to talk to a glideslope.

Gadzooks -- you're making me go read the docs again.

[Denny]

Ahh yes, but you are a software geek and manuals are soft - right?

The Narco/TKM will not drive King/Garmin/Collins indicator heads, but a
call to TKM could clarify that - or any avionics shop...

denny

Blanche wrote:

>
> Gadzooks -- you're making me go read the docs again.

[RST Engineering]

I've got two old VOA-4 heads sitting SOMEWHERE in boxes of old instruments.
They were working when I took them out of the airplane twenty years or so
ago, and either one of them is yours if you want it. I'm going to go look
and see if I can find them, and I'd like to describe the connector on the
rear to you to see if it is the same one. As I vaguely recall, sometime in
the VOA-4's lifetime they switched connectors, and if this is the wrong one,
all you will get is grief trying to convert one to the other.

Jim



"Blanche" > wrote in message
...
> Jim, et al:
>
> I've got a dead Narco VOA4

[RST Engineering]

I found one of them. Let me describe the rear of the instrument to you and
see if it matches what you took out of your aircraft.

There are two adjustment controls on the rear. The top center one is
labeled LOC and the bottom right one is labeled VOR.

In the lower left corner there is what we call a "cannon" plug, about 1.25"
diameter and with 14 male pins inside the plug housing.

That what you've got?

Now, as I said, this one was working 20 years ago when I took it out to
replace it with the RST navcom(s). If it is DOA when you get it, start
thinking that perhaps it is the radio that drives the heads rather than the
heads themselves. What radio is driving the head?

If the radio is good, and this one doesn't work, I'll look around for the
other head.

Jim


"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
...

> I've got two old VOA-4 heads sitting SOMEWHERE

[Blanche]

Denny > wrote:
>Ahh yes, but you are a software geek and manuals are soft - right?
>
>The Narco/TKM will not drive King/Garmin/Collins indicator heads, but a
>call to TKM could clarify that - or any avionics shop...
>
>Blanche wrote:
>> Gadzooks -- you're making me go read the docs again.

Turns out that it may just be a bad connector between the VOR head and
the TKM unit. So I'm flying down to the avionics shop (all of 15 min)
after Turkey Day and let them take a look.

[Blanche]

RST Engineering > wrote:
>There are two adjustment controls on the rear. The top center one is
>labeled LOC and the bottom right one is labeled VOR.
>
>In the lower left corner there is what we call a "cannon" plug, about 1.25"
>diameter and with 14 male pins inside the plug housing.
>
>That what you've got?

Yup.

>Now, as I said, this one was working 20 years ago when I took it out to
>replace it with the RST navcom(s). If it is DOA when you get it, start
>thinking that perhaps it is the radio that drives the heads rather than the
>heads themselves. What radio is driving the head?

The TKM is driving the VOR head. And your diagnosis is right on the mark.
I'll be out at the airport tomorrow to check on the radio nav itself.
It may be bad connections/wiring. The instrument shop (yes, I broke down
and took the VOR head over there today) claims that the narcos are
practically bullet proof, and the odds are 90% in my favor that if the
radio works, there's probably bad wiring or connectors.

>If the radio is good, and this one doesn't work, I'll look around for the
>other head.

Wait until I see what's happening with the one I've got here.

tanks!

[RST Engineering]

No problem. I didn't even dust it off or disturb the dust bunny hole it
came out of. I'll put it back and wait for the next time.

Your radio shop is right; that VOA-4 is damned near bulletproof.


Jim



"Blanche" > wrote in message
...



> Wait until I see what's happening with the one I've got here.
>
> tanks!
>