Dynon D2 Pocket Panel

[MikeS]

I bought this last November 25th for a ferry flight re the Cavalier I advertised here last May.

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82355&highlight=Cavalier

It had a lot of things to tidy up before I was willing to take it to Indianapolis, it's new home. I didn't want to get stuck in some intermediate place and be away from home working on whatever problem might have me stuck. That kind of situation not only is extremely inconvenient but also, when away from the tools and resources of home, can be very expensive. So it took from end of August to the end of December to get it into a condition I felt comfortable with. The vacuum pump conked out sometime after the plane sold and the WWII era vacuum instruments may or may not have been usable even if the vacuum pump was working, so I bought a D2 to give me horizon info. With these short winter days I expected much of the trip to be in the dark, and it was. It took 15.6 flying hours to get from SEE to GEZ. All of the flight was at 13.5 except for one section where I went to 15.5 when crossing the Rockies over Taos. The plane doesn't look like a high flyer but it turned out to be one. It was still climbing at 15.6 - pretty amazing for a Franklin 0-235. Naturally I took my O2 set-up. The buyer is shipping my 24 cu. ft. bottle back to me UPS.

I had no bad weather but did soon learn the value of starting fluid after overnighting at Gallup. This lesson cost me all of one morning and wearing down two good batteries before someone brought me a can of ether. I sprayed some on the air filter and it started instantly. Lesson learned. The following night was spent in Kansas with temps also at zero and the engine just as cold-soaked. I sprayed the air filter with a short blast of ether, touched the starter and again, started instantly. I've kept my can of ether and intend to use it on myself since I sometimes have trouble getting started in the morning. I sort of like the smell of it.

I mounted the D2 with the RAM suction mount and plugged the adapter it comes with into a cigarette lighter DC power source. It can be powered also by a 5 volt USB source such as a power brick, and it can also run for four hours on it's internal lithium-ion battery.

It comes with an AC charger and an external GPS puck to supplement its internal GPS. The ideal way to mount it is with the "pinch mount" that fits into a 3 1/8" panel hole. This shrouds the instrument from view of the sky so the external GPS puck is necessary if mounted in the panel - so the book says. I didn't mount it using the pinch mount but just used the suction mount stuck to the side glass. It performed without quirks or anomalies. Very smooth instrument. It has a feature I had no need of and didn't use - that is, it will transmit via wi-fi the horizon and GPS information displayed on the D2 screen to larger screens running IOS or Android. This instrument serves as the AHARS source for moving map applications such as Wing X and several others.

If I had been a clever person I would have bought it just before departure, thus allowing me to take it back to Marv Golden within his 30 day no- questions-asked return policy. Actually, when I bought it I thought I was within days of departure but something delayed me - there were many issues with this plane. None of them critical but almost all of them were time consuming to resolve. Besides being not very clever I'm also slow. So . . .

Nice as it is, I don't need this very fine instrument. I already have an artificial horizon in my plane and the rest of the information this instrument provides, other than the G-meter, is already available via flight instruments or the GPS I already have.

So I'd like to sell it. The one-year factory warranty is not tied to the original purchaser but rather to the serial number and date of purchase. I have all the things that it came with, plus the original packaging and of course the sales receipt.

I'd like to get $800. That includes shipping and insurance to your location - unless you live somewhere outside CONUS in which case we'll need to discuss shipping costs.

At $800 you're getting a new instrument (used once) with 10+ months left on the warranty. At this price a buyer is saving at least $200 plus shipping & tax.

Link to info on the Dynon D2:

http://preflight.dynonavionics.com/2015/04/new-lower-price-for-dynon-d2-pocket.html

Link to photos of the trip which show the D2 in action.

http://1drv.ms/1RxyBC8

If interested please send me an email at: Propbalance@att.net

A PM through POA will also work.

Thanks for reading.

 

[MikeS]

This was sold almost as soon as I listed it. So sorry anyone still interested, it's gone.

 

[AggieMike88]

Shows you the popularity of the device. I've been considering one and monitoring various channels for a used one. But they don't come up often, and those that do are sold quickly.

 

[MikeS]

The $800 I was asking is only $195 less than what I paid for it from Marv Golden. Spruce has it at that price as well, and I think Chief. So if a person really wants one of these might as well buy new - unless the used price is significantly cheaper. I feel fortunate that I didn't have to take much of a loss in selling it.

Something anyone interested in this instrument needs to know is that if the GPS signal is lost, the attitude information is lost. Dynon emphasizes in their ad material on this product that it is a "true" attitude indicator, doing their best to distinguish it from the "panel page" displays of some GPS models and some smartphones. As long as it has a GPS signal I've no doubt the D2 is far more responsive than the GPS-derived panel page displays available on these other devices. However - and this is a big however - this unit is not a whit better than a GPS-driven panel page if the GPS signal is lost. You lose GPS, you lose your horizon with this instrument.

For a self-contained horizon instrument not dependent on GPS for attitude, I'd suggest one take a look at TruTrak products instead of this Dynon. Pretend you're actually using it in the clouds and see which one you'd rather have.

 

[Austin_Marshall]

I have flown with one of my friends in his RV-7A before few days that had the Dynon AP installed. But in my opinion, it was still not up to snuff. Looking at the latest Dynon manuals, it appears that they are still missing all of the tweaks and settings that the Trutrak has that allows you to customize the AP to your plane. Check out the manuals for yourself and look at the all of the tweaks the Trutrak has. Dynon has "Sensitivity" (gain) and "Torque" for each axis.
I have a lot of respect for Dynon and my EFIS and EMS continue to be my favorite instruments in my panel. These are only my personal observations.

 

[MikeS]

Speaking of autopilots, TruTrak is shipping their 2-axis ECO autopilot for $995 next month. Whether it's a turbine-powered pressurized Lancair or an inexpensive homebuilt with a 2-axis autopilot, Experimental aviation is sure the place to be for personal flying.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I'm not sure it's the case attitude info is lost if GPS signal is lost. The DYNON has MEMS based gyros. No reason those should be GPS dependent.

Course, airspeed and other flight data certainly. Gyro function, not so sure.

 

[MikeS]

> "The DYNON has MEMS based gyros. No reason those should be GPS dependent."


That's exactly what I said to the Dynon CS person. He didn't have any good reason, other than that's the way it is.

It's in the D2 manual if you look.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

> "The DYNON has MEMS based gyros. No reason those should be GPS dependent."


That's exactly what I said to the Dynon CS person. He didn't have any good reason, other than that's the way it is.

It's in the D2 manual if you look.

I stand corrected.

GPS REQUIRED
The attitude indication provided by the D2 is primarily created by combining information from
solid state MEMS-type accelerometers and rotation rate sensors, and supplemented by GPS
ground speed. In order to display as reliable an indication as possible, a GPS fix is required. The D2
will not display attitude until it has obtained a GPS fix. Once a GPS fix is obtained, it is important
that the GPS fix be maintained by either mounting the D2 in a position that affords it a good view
of the sky, or, if that is not possible (such as when using the pinch mount to panel-mount the D2),
using the included external GPS antenna