What you really need is befriend a properly rated maintenance technician who is willing to act in a common sense manner...
I actually got the FAA Small Airplane directorate to sign off on connecting my handheld GPS
![Er... what? o_O o_O](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
to a device that translated it's CDI outputs into course guidance
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
, and then connect that as a navigation input to my certified autopilot
![Roll Eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
. All it really took is finding the people in the FAA who operate in the "common sense zone"
![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
and have a couple good hearted conversations...
A couple weeks later, presto! Done!
If you are near Sacramento, stop by Lincoln (KLHM) and talk to me... Or later this year I'll be based at KECP
Cheers!