Lax291

Will do some testing to see if it can be attributed to the panel or not. The intercom is crystal clear, no issues with that.

Just some poor audio quality, sometimes catch 80% of an incoming transmission and would like to get clearer audio. I am alternatively looking to just upgrade the JPI EDM700 to a 730 which is well within budget!

I would love to do this, not only to drive down cost, but to learn more about the plane. Unfortunately, when I broached this subject with the shop about an owner-assisted annual they said they don't do that for liability purposes.

I believe that is exactly what it is. In my defense, it came that way when I purchased the plane! Maybe when I'm ready for a larger panel upgrade we can get that moved to the tail and free up some space.

Great advice, thank you. I tend to have no problem paying more for better quality and have seen that sometimes things are cheap...because they're cheap (poor quality, install, QC etc...). I'm a big buy once cry once when the budget allows. If it doesn't fit within the budget, I guess I have to wait until the budget increases! And by budget I mean my wife's approval to spend more...

Thanks for the info. I had budgeted about $5K for install and hardware, and that was based on a quote from ~ 3 years ago where labor was $2,600 alone. Now the labor is coming in just under $5K. Both prices were from the same shop. I did look at the PMA7000 which would be a great jump from my existing unit, but then the question becomes do I stick with mono to save on install cost? If stereo is the way to go then maybe I just wait until the budget meets the job price and buy once cry once. One of the thoughts I have been having is that are multiple bluetooth connections to the panel really necessary/useful anymore? I think this as the new Lightspeed headset can connect to 2 bluetooth devices. I didn't mention this, but my current unit is working fine, although the clarity of audio is not ideal. I find myself concentrating very hard on some communications to make sure I make out what they are saying. I have an ANR headset so I was thinking a new unit will increase the clarity.

Had a few upgrades quoted with the local avionics shop recently, one of them being an upgrade from my KMA 24 to a PS Engineering PMA 450C. This is a 1990 M20J model and radio picture is below. They came back with about 33hrs of labor for the install. This struck me as high but what the heck do I know. Any people go through the same upgrade or have a good idea of time needed for it? Is there new wiring from mono to stereo for all the jacks and is that the large time component?

For those AOPA members who didn't see in the last newsletter, you get 12 free valuations through Windsock as a benefit. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2026/january/14/aopa-offers-member-exclusive-aircraft-valuation Was a pretty easy process to login and enter my aircraft info, and valuation looked to be within 10% of Jimmy's Mooney guide.

Is this why you don't recommend the black CAT? Felt some cold air blowing under the panel, found this nice gash in the duct. Will be removing, measuring and reaching out to @Gee Bee Aeroproducts for some SCAT.

It's taken a little to get the shop over to look and troubleshoot, and then more time for me to get out and test but happy to report it was an easy fix. They found a loose CPC connector within the area I circled in the picture. All is good and back to normal, thanks for the help!

I lucked out as it was only the roll pins that broke and needed replacing. Motor, shaft, and micro switches were all in great shape. They did have to tighten some hardware that loosened up and straighten the cowl flap actuator arm micro switch stops, but all is working well. He mentioned the new roll pins were loose in the holes so he safety wired them in place. Appreciate the help from the group and happy it was a relatively simple fix.

Thanks, sending photos and feedback to my mechanic. Big question is why did these shear in the first place so I'm sure he'll be looking into that.

Wonder if this is a better picture, guessing the hole in the shaft should be aligned with the hole in the bushing and a pin dropped through to secure it?

Drip from oil above thankfully.

Took a look today and not knowing what it looked like before, looks like the first photo is missing some nut/retainer. The metal which hits the limit switches seems like it's shifted towards the copilot side as when I go full closed, the metal comes nowhere close to the switch on the firewall side. Is my guess correct that there should be something here and if so is that the shearpin?