So many choices......So little money

[flyingcheesehead]

At least with the 3500 they used a lamp that theoretically cannot "burn out", baring physical damage HIDs just fade away.

I'm familiar with that improvement, but...

And with any transmissive LCD like Aspen (and virtually all other new electronic flight instrumentation) uses there's a single light source (LED or CFL and associated driver electronics) that can fail leaving the whole display dark.

... the 3308 still has what I consider to be a relatively short-life bulb in comparison to the LED or CFL. I'm not sure how many CFL's are used by the avionics that use them (I do know that my laptop has two), but the LED-backlit devices I've seen have quite a few LED's. In that case, the single point of failure is going to be limited to things that cause a power interruption, which will also disable the 3308.

I suppose carrying a very bright flashlight would be a good idea in a glass-panel bird, you might still be able to get enough light into the screen to see what it's telling you. Maybe.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

When he was getting ready to fly down last week it --it the kitty and had to be replaced....

Oh man. I bet he's about ready to throw a six-pack back in there!

I wonder if he's got cooling or electrical issues that are causing these things to die so fast? I would hope they would be relatively immune to such things!

 

[gismo]

I'm familiar with that improvement, but...



... the 3308 still has what I consider to be a relatively short-life bulb in comparison to the LED or CFL.

The bulb life is short enough to be an annoyance but if they are replaced at half their expected life (which isn't based on when they burn out but rather when the output becomes diminished by a certain amount) they can be just as reliable as any other light source. The biggest downside is the difficulty in replacing the bulb.

I'm not sure how many CFL's are used by the avionics that use them (I do know that my laptop has two), but the LED-backlit devices I've seen have quite a few LED's. In that case, the single point of failure is going to be limited to things that cause a power interruption, which will also disable the 3308.

Don't forget, there's some electronics involved in driving the LEDs and that circuitry can fail independent of the system power.

[/quote]I suppose carrying a very bright flashlight would be a good idea in a glass-panel bird, you might still be able to get enough light into the screen to see what it's telling you. Maybe.[/quote]

I wouldn't count on that with the Sandel. They use a projector architecture not a transmissive LCD. When the illumination fails you won't be able to see anything on it with a flashlight unless you take the thing apart and shine the light through the projector. Even with a simple transmissive display like most GPS and MFD displays, external lighting won't make the screen visible enough to fly with. Under perfect conditions you may be able to tell that the LCD is working but it just won't get enough contrast to be useful.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I wouldn't count on that with the Sandel. They use a projector architecture not a transmissive LCD.

Right, I was thinking about full glass panels like the G1000 and maybe being able to see them just a bit, like a laptop in sunlight. I'm sure you couldn't fly one with just a flashlight, but if you shine it in just the right place, you might be able to tune 121.5, squawk 7700, etc.

 

[Henning]

Oh man. I bet he's about ready to throw a six-pack back in there!

I wonder if he's got cooling or electrical issues that are causing these things to die so fast? I would hope they would be relatively immune to such things!

Nah, took one day to fix under warranty, no worries. I wasn't particularly impressed by the failure either, but, it's what you get when you want what isn't available yet, so you live on the bleeding edge. At least there's an operable instrument set with a Sandel 3500 on the right side.

 

[gprellwitz]

Right, I was thinking about full glass panels like the G1000 and maybe being able to see them just a bit, like a laptop in sunlight. I'm sure you couldn't fly one with just a flashlight, but if you shine it in just the right place, you might be able to tune 121.5, squawk 7700, etc.

Well, you should at least be able to tune 121.5: Holding down the comm transfer switch for three seconds will automatically load 121.5. Plus, the chances of losing BOTH displays simultaneously on a G1000 due to lighting element failures are vanishingly small, and you would just hit the Big Red Button to go to reversionary mode to get the PFD on both displays. A lot easier to look over to the other side than yo try to hold a flashlight, even in IMC.

 

[flyersfan31]

A plus for the Avidyne Entegra. It goes TU, I still have 2 GNS430s. One of those goes TU, I still have backup nav/comm/gps plus the displays. A good deal of redundancy, but i still would like reversionary mode for the Pfd/Mfd. That was a nice feature of the g1000.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

A plus for the Avidyne Entegra. It goes TU, I still have 2 GNS430s. One of those goes TU, I still have backup nav/comm/gps plus the displays. A good deal of redundancy, but i still would like reversionary mode for the Pfd/Mfd. That was a nice feature of the g1000.

Yeah, there's tradeoffs both ways. The other thing the G1000 will do is reboot in the air - You just have to keep it to less than 45 degrees bank for a minute or so.

I've also heard a few too many stories about the Avidynes going TU! This guy was on his 4th Avidyne PFD (with only 98 hours on the airplane) before he crashed and died after taking off into OVC006 right out of the avionics shop (talk about dumb): http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20050131X00119&key=1

According to maintenance records, the PFD was replaced on June 4, 2004, at 12.2 hours, on September 14, 2004, at 55.2 hours, and on December 20, 2004, at 80.6 hours.

 

[tonycondon]

Yeah, there's tradeoffs both ways. The other thing the G1000 will do is reboot in the air - You just have to keep it to less than 45 degrees bank for a minute or so.

I've also heard a few too many stories about the Avidynes going TU! This guy was on his 4th Avidyne PFD (with only 98 hours on the airplane) before he crashed and died after taking off into OVC006 right out of the avionics shop (talk about dumb): http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20050131X00119&key=1

That reminds me of when the local Cirrus rep was looking at Chris Jones's RV. "No backup MFD?" he asks about the Dynon, "What if the display fails"

We both bit our tongues hard to avoid saying "Its not an Avidyne..."

 

[flyingcheesehead]

That reminds me of when the local Cirrus rep was looking at Chris Jones's RV. "No backup MFD?" he asks about the Dynon, "What if the display fails"

We both bit our tongues hard to avoid saying "Its not an Avidyne..."

Actually, Chris' setup is really cool. If I remember it right, the display's there where the AI would be, but if it fails you're pretty much back to a normal six-pack partial panel situation. Very good design.

 

[tonycondon]

Actually, Chris' setup is really cool. If I remember it right, the display's there where the AI would be, but if it fails you're pretty much back to a normal six-pack partial panel situation. Very good design.

yea basically. backup ASI, T&B, Alt, and VSI. Dynon is top center and Nav head is bottom center.

 

[CT Arrow]

Nice! I'm a big fan of the Garmin + S-TEC, the EHSI is icing on the cake.

How difficult is it to replace the bulb?

Never changed one so don't know. Looks preety easy per the manual.

The guy I bought the 3308 from says he saw 300+ hours on the bulb and he would change it out just to be safe. So about that single bulb theory..

 

[gismo]

Never changed one so don't know. Looks preety easy per the manual.

The guy I bought the 3308 from says he saw 300+ hours on the bulb and he would change it out just to be safe. So about that single bulb theory..

I believe that the 3308 requires the instrument to be removed from the panel to change the lamp and that this operation is beyond what a PPL is authorized to sign of on his own (yeah I know it's a lamp, but AFaIK there's nothing in part 43 apndx A about removing instruments from the panel unless it's tray mounted avionics with all connections made automatically). I was also under the impression that replacement is required every year or 200 hrs whichever comes first but maybe that's just a recommendation for part 91 airplanes.

 

[CT Arrow]

I believe that the 3308 requires the instrument to be removed from the panel to change the lamp and that this operation is beyond what a PPL is authorized to sign of on his own.

I think your on track! When the avionics guys do the transponder check every 2 years, they can replace the bulb at the same time.