Avionics News July 2015 - 21

that doesn't work unless you spec that
sound alert, enable that capability."
The Cessna has a Century 2000 autopilot, and "one of the requests was
a Century GPSS converter that would
connect it to the 540, which makes
sense," Riese said. The problem was
the component wasn't available, and
the manufacturer couldn't predict a
delivery date. "Weeks, then months
rolled by," Riese noted, "and it was
holding up the project."
Bauer and Miller solved the problem by investing in an Aspen Avionics
PFD, which incorporates "roll steering" that would drive the autopilot.
The partners wanted their airplane
back in time for the prime Wisconsin
flying season, "so we decided to do
it right and get rid of the 40-year-old
components that were starting to wear
out," Bauer said. When he subtracted
the cost of the unattainable GPSS converter and the cost of two new nav indicators, "the Aspen really didn't cost
that much more," he said. The added
cost was offset by the benefits and
capabilities glass adds to any airplane.
The mid-project change further slowed
progress, and not just because the installation technician had to do some
rewiring to accommodate the addition.
Since the project began, the IFD540
has been back to its birthplace twice
for updates.
"It has more time in a FedEx box
than it does in the air," Bauer said.
"Then, the Aspen screen started flipping out, and its replacement was
back-ordered, which added more time.
At the same time, the autopilot was not
working in its HSI mode."
Troubleshooting that problem was
easy, according to Eric Rosebrook,
the installation tech. "This Cessna 182
never had an HSI, so the autopilot got
its heading indication from the directional gyro and its course information
from the (course deviation indicator).

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The autopilot worked
e conte
when the jumper was in
st at the
AEA's b
ooth in
Hangar
the DG position but not
B.
the HSI position."
Riese said the
repair was relatively
inexpensive, and the autopilot should take its place in the stack soon. While they
wait, the partners had Wisconsin Aviation give the airplane its annual inspection,
which was due in June, "and we're hoping that doesn't uncover any more
surprises," Bauer said.
The last piece of the Cessna's ADS-B puzzle is the Avidyne MLB100, the remotely mounted receiver that delivers "the good stuff," Miller added, ADS-B In's
free traffic and flight information to the IFD540's touchscreen. While Avidyne has
announced its ADS-B In receiver, added Bauer, (as of late April) "its delivery date
is unknown."
To prepare for its addition to the system, when Rosebrook was weaving the necessary wiring harnesses, he turned to preliminary drawings from Avidyne to include the connections for the ADS-B In receiver, Riese said. "The plan is to install
and configure the remotely mounted box when it is available; it should be pretty
close to plug and play." q

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JULY

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News July 2015