PT20J

Remember, every gadget you add increases maintenance cost. Mooney has done a lot of that already: retractable step, PC, electric cowl flaps, LED flap and trim indicators, preselected flap positions. Most don’t really add a lot of utility. The one change from my ‘78 J that I like in my ‘94 is the defrost blower (but I’ve already had to fix the micro switch). Skip

Talked with Garmin support and since it does exactly the same thing with Foreflght and Garmin Pilot, he felt it was the 345. He didn’t exactly say that they’ve had problems, but he didn’t seem surprised. That’s why I was interested if others have experienced this - I’m curious how common it might be. Since it’s under warranty, I’m taking it back to the radio shop next week. I’m pretty sure it worked fine after installation. I haven’t used it again until just recently. Skip

Yep did it several times on both mooneypilots.com and moonerpilots.org. Neither authenticate.

I've got ADS-B In via a Garmin GTX 345 feeding a GNS 430W, Apsen PFD and Foreflight on an iPad. Foreflight flashes a lot of warnings that aren't really a hazard. The GTX 345 has an audio alert "Traffic, one o'clock high, one mile" that only alerts if it's really important. Nuisance alerts are less than helpful because they train you to ignore them. Skip

Anyone noticed problems with this? I have the GTX 345 linked via Bluetooth to my iPad running Foreflight. On the Foreflight synthetic vision display during a left level standard rate turn, the pitch slowly increases to maybe 30 deg up and the bank indication eventually rolls level and then opposite the turn. In a right standard rate turn, the pitch decreases to about 30 deg down and the bank again slowly decreases and then shows an opposite turn. All the while the bank and pitch on the Apsen PFD and KG 258 are steady. I tried the same thing with Garmin Pilot and it does the same except that when the pitch gets greater than about 30 deg it removed the indication and just says DEGRADED. Needless to say, it is totally unusable. Looks like the AHRS in the GTX 345 failed in less than a year since installation. Skip

I may be done with MAPA. I mostly use it to access back issues of the MAPA LOG. But now my credentials are not accepted by new site or old site. New site won’t even allow entry of username on iPad. No one answers my emails. Skip

Too many beeps already. No more, please. Modern technology is capable of intelligible speech. I prefer something that mimics a respectful copilot: “Perhaps you might consider lowering the landing gear, Sir.” Skip

Glad it wasn't serious. And thanks for letting us know so we can all learn

And probably everybody knows this, but just in case: Every once in a while someone figures out that if you take a steel rod and rub it on the leading edge of the prop it smooths out the nick without removing any metal. But what is really happening is that you are essentially peening the metal over the defect and creating a hidden stress riser. Skip

The small stud/nut just holds the housing that covers the micro switches. The big screw should adjust the spring tension on the static side of the diaphragm. Here are some more pictures and info: https://www.knr-inc.com/shoptalk-articles/25-shoptalk/93-201901-electric-gear-safety-system Skip

Got my undergraduate EE degree in 1975. Masters in Computer Science came later. First job was at ESL, a company started by Bill Perry (long before he was Secretary of Defense) making signal processing stuff for the government. We had a lab with a lot of seasoned technicians. I learned early on that while we engineers were arguing the finer points of Maxwell's equations, the techs had found the problem and fixed half a dozen circuit boards. Engineers design stuff; technicians are better at fixing stuff. I agree that crimp connections are better than soldered because crimp connections are engineered. That means that properly crimped, all the variations of technique are removed. But... the biggest problem is that each crimp connector pin requires a specialized crimping tool and the good tools are really expensive. A good avionics tech has a few thousand dollars invested in crimpers. I just chased down an intermittent problem with a Navcom that was caused by a bad crimp. Soldering irons and solder are cheap and effective if you know how to use them properly. Skip

Guess you don’t care much for surface mount PCBs then either. I think it’s a matter of scale. If I were soldering wire larger than 20 AWG, I’d twist it together first. But smaller gauge wire I would want to make the smallest joint possible. The problem with solder is too much of too little, and too much heat or not enough. Too much solder wicks up the wire and causes a stress point. Too little and the joint is weak or subject to corrosion. Too much heat damages insulation and connectors. Too little and you get a “cold” solder joint that will eventually cause problems due to high impedance. I’ve spent a lot of time and money chasing down cold solder joints on through hole PCBs and bad crimps on connector pins. Skip

Ah, now I see your confusion. That's only part of the circuit. Trace the wires from connector 21PL34B and you will find that they go to a couple of transistors. This part of the circuit is just a voltage divider to control the transistors over by the circuit breaker panel. Skip

I don't see your problem. Vcc is connected to the collector. The rheostat controls the base current through the forward-biased base-emitter junction which sets the collector-emitter current through the load connected to the emitter. Skip

According to the M20J maintenance manual section 39-12-03, the original transistors were 2N2016. They were superseded beginning with S/N 24-1214 by an equivalent part when the 2N2016 was no longer available. The 2N2016 is an NPN power transistor and I believe the drawing is correct, although it doesn't show the emitter arrow. https://alltransistors.com/pdfview.php?doc=2n2016.pdf&dire=_rca Skip

I believe the Western Union splice was designed back in the telegraph days as a means to splice solid connector wires without solder. For small gauge wires that are soldered, the technique that Bob showed earlier would be better. You want a soldered splice to be as small as possible because makes a stiff place in the wire that can lead to stress fractures when the wire flexes. The shorter the stiff section, the better. A butt splice adds mass and can cause failure if it vibrates, so butt splices are best used where they can be supported, for instance, in a bundle of wires. I don't understand the description of the mag ground wire. Mag P-lead wire should be a single conductor with a braided shield (the shield is for radio interference). A shield should not conduct current and thus should be grounded at only one end. I believe that Slick recommends grounding the shield at the ignition switch end rather than the magneto end. Skip

Actually, I wasn’t aware that there was a Windows sim. My iPad sim crashes frequently. Skip.

I believe the G5 is integral to the GFC 500. You can build a system with two G5s replicating a standard attitude indicator and HSI, or you can use the G500 Txi or G3X Touch to supply the horizontal inputs (HDG/NAV) and display the command bars -- but you'll still need one G5 to command the autopilot pitch and roll inputs. https://www.aviationpros.com/engines-components/aircraft-airframe-accessories/avionics/press-release/21113404/garmin-international-garmin-expands-approval-for-the-gfc-500-autopilot Skip

I might trade in my GNS 430W if the simulator didn’t crash every few minutes.

You cannot "pull the circuit breaker" on the KG 258 because it is vacuum driven, not electrical. That's why there is a standby vacuum pump. You might want to get together with your avionics tech and go over what you have and what you would like and figure out the best way to get there. They can figure out where your noise is coming from at the same time.

All this Cirrus talk reminds me of my grandfather who used to drive Packards which were pretty pricey back in the day. When someone would tell him all the reasons they would not own a Packard, his reply was always, "Then if I were you, I wouldn't buy one."

Not sure what you are seeing. The lights are connected between the emitters of power transistors and ground, and the transistor base current is controlled by the panel rheostat. Early models of the J (and I'm pretty sure for the K also) had the transistors located under the panel and later models had the transistors moved to the rear near the battery. Skip

I don't know how Mooney made the seals, but apparently there are variations between model years. Gee-Bee has obtained original ones from owners and created dies to cut them to match. I ordered some and they were perfect except for the bottom front where we had to make a piece from material Guy sent me. So, just because something fits your plane doesn't mean it will fit someone else's. They weren't built like this : VIDEO-2019-11-21-09-41-47.mp4 Skip

I would find out because it determines what failures affect the autopilot. The Aspen requires an EA100 to interface to the KAP 150 which adds around $3000 to installed cost. Your installation paperwork should tell you. If the KG 258 doesn’t drive the KAP 150, it doesn’t make much sense to keep the standby vacuum pump as a backup for a backup. Skip

Section 3.3.4.1 in the G5 manual: Activating ROLL commands wings level if bank <6 deg ; Holds current bank angle if 6 to 20 deg; holds 20 deg if bank angle is >20 deg.