C-182Q N96934 at West Valley Flying Club

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Avionics Status

I am happy to report that after several months out of service, the autopilot in 96934 has been repaired and is fully operational. I appreciate the patience of all the regular flyers who have waited for this repair.

I also have an update on the DME. Over the past several years, the DME has been periodically erratic. I have observed this myself and have had observations from other members. I have asked three different avionics shops to investigate. None can reproduce an issue on the bench. While in for the autopilot repair, I talked to the shop technician about some steps which might help narrow down the issue. I am asking anyone who observes problems with the DME to record as much of the following information as possible and pass it along to me.

1) Had the DME been working at some point in the flight before malfunctioning?
2) What were the unit settings when it malfunctioned? (frequency, source {internal, VOR1, VOR2}
3) If using internal frequency selection, what were the VOR frequency settings?
4) What was the failure mode? (what was displayed?)
5) Was there an understable ID received on the DME audio monitor?
6) What steps were taken to return the unit to operation? power cycle? change of Remote between 1/2? change between internal and external?

I know that is a lot of information, but the more complete the data, the better the chance of isolating and fixing the problem.

Thank you all for your help. Fly safe.

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