PS Engineering PAR100EX Tips HOBBS 2371.5 hrs

http://www.ps-engineering.com/PAR100EX.shtml

I am on fire this week knocking down barriers that have been plaguing me for weeks! Before Thanksgiving, I mentioned three big wiring headaches that I needed to resolve. The PMag's, A/P servos and the PAR100EX (read my Thanksgiving day post for details). As you know, the PMag and A/P servo were addressed earlier this week. Now, I can cross off the PAR100EX problem as well.

 

Remember, I had thought I had fried it and was going to send it in for evaluation...it just wouldn't power up no matter what I tried. Well, in the interest of full disclosure...I am throwing myself at your mercy, be easy on me while drinking your beer and participating in some good ol' hangar talk. Try to bite your tongue when you start to say, "That Ron sure is an idiot!" 

 

The problem with my PAR100EX was....wait for it...the POWER button!! Yes, the gosh darn power button...you heard me correctly. I had inadvertently turned it off while installing it in the tray and didn't even realize it. Who knew to check the power button??

 

In my defense, and I know its shaky at best, most avionics don't even have power buttons (COM's are an exception however). Second, the one on the PAR100EX is a push button, so there is no indication like a dial indicator (on the SL40) to indicate it is powered on or off. So...don't let this happen to you...always check the power button if it has one.

 

Fired up the unit, working great...but now I remembered that before I had put my wiring on hold a few months ago, I was having an issue with my PTT not working properly. The PTT worked on COM1 from the pilot side, but not COM2. It was reversed on the co-pilot side...COM2 PTT worked, but not COM1.

 

Now, try and wrap your head around that troubleshooting task...it was definitely making my head hurt. Of course, that problem hadn't magically gone away since I last jacked with this. After checking all my wiring again and finding it was all correct, I retreated to the manual for some more reading (see, I'm learning, RTFM). Nothing...no nuggets of wisdom this time.

 

Then, it happened again, I had a lightbulb moment...these are becoming quite common with me lately, it must be the flying gods wanting me to fly...fate or something. I had remembered reading a VAF post quite awhile ago about someone having this same problem. Its so hard to remember all of the stuff you read over the course of a build, but somehow this one stuck in my mind. 

 

The solution, in this gentleman's case, turned out to be that the PAR100EX doesn't like it when you have both your pilot and co-pilot PTT wired together. I figured...it was worth a try. I quickly separated the wiring and tested it...BAM! Worked like a charm. I think I danced a jig around the airplane to celebrate!

I then wired my additional panel mounted PTT (one on the co-pilot stick and one on the panel) to the co-pilot side, its ok to do that...just keep the pilot side isolated. Problem solved. I can now count the COM/Intercomm system done! That was quite a challenge for me...but again, I could teach a class on this topic at this point from all that I have learned through my challenges.

 

These three hurdles were my last big (known) challenges. I should wrap up the remaining wiring in short order and mount the wings in about a week and a half. From there it should be no time before I am doing a first engine start. What a relief! Wiring was almost the death of me!