Dynon remote transponder wiring

I wired up a Dynon remote transponder and tucked it up behind the sub panel on the left support rib to the firewall.  Pretty easy access here once you crawl into position... The wiring is pretty straight forward and does not involve a lot of rework.  I used the 5A power line from the old transponder, a new ground, a couple of data lines, and two loop back connections on the transponder I left all of the other connections for the 330 in place incase I need to switch back and will remove them after proving out the new system.

this is 'easy' access!

I have the serial connection to the SkyView documented in my installation notes making it a snap to keep all of the connectors straight.

SkyView serial port pinout

For serial connections I now have:
Serial 1 old out to the 330
Serial 2 Garmin 696 GPS
Serial 3 Dynon transponder transmit and receive on Serial 3
Serial 4 is available
Serial 5 is dedicated to the Dynon GPS

serial connection to the SkyView harness

Garmin 696 GPS remote antenna is dead

The performance of the Garmin 696 in getting an initial satellite lock has been degrading for a bit but I was pushing the issue out of my mind since it would eventually work fine but the initial lock was taking far too long.  I did a bit of basic trouble shooting, called Garmin tech support.  They indicated that a 5 minute lock up was all that they could count on but that was inconsistent with other published data and the original performance of the unit which always got a lock within 30 seconds or so.  I tried another online tech the next day and got a suggestion to do a hard reset of the unit... finally from VAF a Garmin tech with much more experience suggested testing the unit using the internal antenna to see if the external antenna or connector had failed.

With the unit out of the plane the internal antenna worked as expected and the external was mostly worthless... unfortunately I could not determine if the fault was with the connector, the internal interface, or the antenna.  I tried to grab another antenna to test but could not find one so I ended up ordering a replacement to be delivered within a week.

It took about 5 minutes with the plane sitting outside in the sun an it still sat there on Autolocate.

crappy performance form the external Garmin antenna

Attacking paint imperfections on a wingtip

Sometimes I am bored... today I attacked every minor speck on the right wingtip.  Pretty much as perfect as it will get after I finished.  First you have to find the speck, then cut it down with some 2000 grit paper, the clean and use diminishing compound to bring back the finish.  As the compound breaks down it needs to be wetted to continue the process to end up with a shine that matches the untouched areas.  It is pretty amazing but you need to be cautious of cutting into the underlying color or primer.  As I have done this more and more I have become somewhat skilled in evaluating a speck before trying to improve the finish... most times I have been getting it right and the finish has been getting better and better; mostly to the right side of the plane though since it is nearer to my lights and the bulk of my work area.

I enjoy fussing with the finish.

diminishing compound on paint imperfections ready to buff back to a shine