KY97A to SL40?

jnmeade

jnmeade

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Jim Meade
I'd like to change my KY97A to an SL40. Any observations on the mechanics of doing that? I do not have a tray for the SL40 and assume I'd have to get one.
 
you need a new tray, and connector. it will take a re-wire, that could be easy or hard depending on how the old radio was wired and what the access to it is. you will also need the required sign offs.

bob
 
I'd slide in an Icom A220, for way less money, no installation, and a better radio. My A210 is a great radio, Avionics shops hate them because they don't make much money on them.
791_a220-gallery-01.jpg
 
I had a KY97A in my Lancair. I decided to try the Icom A210. The A210 has a removable faceplate which connects to the body of the radio with a small flimsy ribbon connector. I heard that the ribbon connector can fry the radio when the ribbon connector fails. I really wasnt happy with the A210 and returned it. I ended up buying a SL40. The SL40 is an older radio but I feel like it is a better built radio.

Unfortunately, the connector on the KY97A is different than the connector on the SL40. When I made the swap I looked for a short connector so I didn't have to cut wires; I could not locate one and had to wire a new connector.

If your KY97A was having any issues with transmit or receive I would make sure you checked the SWR. If you have a poor antenna connection your SWR will be high and transmitting with a high SWR can fry your transmitter.

http://www.tousenvol.com/files_storage/Bendix_King_KY 96A_97A_installation_manual.pdf

http://11hc.44rf.com/manuals/avionics-instruments/sl40/SL40_Install_Manual.pdf
 

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The only way the ribbon cable on the Icom fails is it will separate at the contacts from repeated R&R. I've had one fail and then ordered 10 new cables for less than $2 each. Yes, I found that very frustrating, using several curse words. The icom service rep knew exactly what I wanted and it was hassle free ordering the replacement/spare cables.

The display on the icom has a very large LCD (with large characters easy to read) so the mounting cam screws were located behind it rather than having a hole through the face to access those.



I'd have a tough time paying a shop to install the SL40 over the Icom if I wasn't an A&P (or EAB owner).
 
There is nothing wrong with the ribbon cable. It is different, do it once and it is easy.
 
A very long time ago I proposed what was called a "Karmic Connector". You wired your "new" radio to this intermediate buck and a half connector and then wired the other half of the "karmic" connector to the airframe/audio panel/phone/mic connectors. When you decided to replace your now old "new" radio with another one, you simply wired the karmic connector up to mate with the old karmic connector on the airframe. FIfteen pins, which is more than enough for all com radios I'm familiar with. Seems to me it is time again to rewrite that article. Three bucks the mated pair.

Jim
 
jim, i remember when you wrote that article. i don't know why it never took root its a great idea.

bob
 
If it takes off, manufacturers can't make money on stupid incompatible trays.
 
You could use a DB-15 as an intermediate connector. Not sure how much the shielding on the wires comes into play as you would have a break, It is interesting that best I can tell the Molex connectors that BK uses are no longer in production. A set from an aviation source will cost you $100 at least.
 
The industry as a whole seems to be headed towards using solely MS27491 and M39029
yetti said:
You could use a DB-15 as an intermediate connector. Not sure how much the shielding on the wires comes into play as you would have a break, It is interesting that best I can tell the Molex connectors that BK uses are no longer in production. A set from an aviation source will cost you $100 at least.
Click to expand...

You aren't the only one that noticed Molex discontinuing those. Several other Brands of avionics use them, such as Trig, PS Engineering (certain models) just to name a couple.


It seems really silly to have an audio panel connector and com/nav etc radio connector a whopping 24 inches or wire between then or so and want to add a connector between them.

Even with my "short" harness I think there is enough slack to pull it out from behind the panel and work on them if all the trays are removed.

Lots of aircraft have the cheap stamped (gold color) wire clamps/back shell which aren't nearly as easy to modify as the newer styles out now.

 
yetti said:
You could use a DB-15 as an intermediate connector. Not sure how much the shielding on the wires comes into play as you would have a break, It is interesting that best I can tell the Molex connectors that BK uses are no longer in production. A set from an aviation source will cost you $100 at least.
Click to expand...

Why would you use a moosey DB connector as an intermediate when the Molex 60 mil series is a little more than a one inch cube? And used in washing machines, dryers, ovens, and dozens of other appliances for which Molex would be a damned fool to kill that market? I've been using them for almost 40 years without ONE reported failure or corrosion problem from a $2 connector.
 
I come from the computer world... I agree a Db9 is not the best since you would need to have a large diameter something for the B+ and ground... But of all the connectors out there wouldn't it be nice to have some standardization.
 
weirdjim said:
Why would you use a moosey DB connector as an intermediate when the Molex 60 mil series is a little more than a one inch cube? And used in washing machines, dryers, ovens, and dozens of other appliances for which Molex would be a damned fool to kill that market? I've been using them for almost 40 years without ONE reported failure or corrosion problem from a $2 connector.
Click to expand...
ive seen failures, for some reason they don't stand up to drier fires real well. :)

bob
 
OK, I dug out my SL40 and it has a tray, so I don't need to find one. Now, can I simply use the KY97A cabling, fabricate some kind of wire switching cable set with a D connector on each end and use my SL40 tray without doing a lot of rewiring? I am going to change out the entire panel next year anyway, and this is an Experimental, so the only question is will it work? I will have to look at some wiring diagrams to see if it looks possible.
Any comments welcome. I'm just kind of thinking out loud.
 
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