Possible Aspen installation

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Rich
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

Post by Rich »

Steve wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:42 am Yes, the unit I purchased has its own emergency battery, and I remember your post about the potential over-voltage issue. I also have to put in a new CB (lower rating actually).
Whine not - your CB's are far easier to get at than mine :tap:
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Steve
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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Rich wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:44 amWhine not - your CB's are far easier to get at than mine :tap:
True, that...
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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The saga continues. The magic goop arrived and is now curing in place. Expecting to pick up the plane on Monday. The lesson here is anyone else wanting to mount any additional antenna or whatever needs to get this compound ordered right up front.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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Asymptotically approaching completion. The Advanced Features micro-SD card has somehow been misplaced, so they need to order a replacement. Everything else is complete, including new W&B that takes my empty weight down to 1699 lb., right where I expected.

One thing I was interested in was correlation between my 20-ish-year-old mechanical altimeter and the Aspen. Skipping all the arcane details, both are really close to the test standard and don't disagree by enough to worry about.

Of course I have yet to embark on testing everything under operating scenarios, including AS correlation. :tap:
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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I haven’t read through the whole thread but the RSM for my Pro MAX is externally mounted on the outboard access panel of the right wing. OAT is accurate and the thing performs flawlessly.

Calibration is great and the Aspen, mechanical altimeter, and IAS all agree very closely. Empty weight is below 1690lbs.
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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Charles wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 1:42 am I haven’t read through the whole thread but the RSM for my Pro MAX is externally mounted on the outboard access panel of the right wing. OAT is accurate and the thing performs flawlessly.

Calibration is great and the Aspen, mechanical altimeter, and IAS all agree very closely. Empty weight is below 1690lbs.

I'll be picking it up tomorrow (61 days down, folks). The major part of the delays were related to mounting the RSM where recommended, on top of the fuselage. I'd have been happy mounting it where you did but for some theoretical future upgrade it allows the RSM to act as a GPS antenna.

I'll be running it through various operational tests tomorrow. The installation takes me down to 1699 lb. empty weight, so I get to join the sub-1700 lb. club, with useful load of 947 lb. (see the wiki) 8-). The extended baggage option boosted the empty weight by just under 9 lb. from its delivered weight of 1701. Various mods have slowly whittled that down to below the original delivered weight.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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I picked up the plane today and was able to exercise various stuff, including FF -> 530W (and 430W) -> Aspen -> KAP 140 using Auto Course and GPSS. The system did a nice course intercept and transition to tracking at a considerable angle. I could only do some enroute checks as perfectly placed cloud formations precluded doing an instrument approach, coupled or otherwise. I do note a discrepancy between the Davtron OAT and the Aspen/RSM OAT, with the latter showing 1-3 deg C higher values: At 8,000 ft - Davtron -7, Aspen -4. Note it's a discrepancy from which I can not infer which of the two is "right".

Despite the delay (and, yes, cost overrun) I'm happy with the gizmo.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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The "OAT Bias" is adjustable in the installation menu (section 10.4.6.19 of the installation manual in my version). I had the same issue and it was a simple fix which I did myself with approval from my tech. Perhaps you would need an accurate manual thermometer that you would hold out through the window to calibrate it! But I know that my own Davtron OAT is very accurate.

The data point that really matters to me is 0C. If I had to calibrate it without relying on another thermometer, I would immerse the RSM in ice water and set the bias to show 0C.
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

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Charles wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:56 pm The "OAT Bias" is adjustable in the installation menu (section 10.4.6.19 of the installation manual in my version). I had the same issue and it was a simple fix which I did myself with approval from my tech. Perhaps you would need an accurate manual thermometer that you would hold out through the window to calibrate it! But I know that my own Davtron OAT is very accurate.

The data point that really matters to me is 0C. If I had to calibrate it without relying on another thermometer, I would immerse the RSM in ice water and set the bias to show 0C.
Thanks. I have also found the Davtron to be quite accurate in indicating whether I'll be picking up rime or not. And it seems to correlate quite closely on the ground with AWOS/ATIS reported temperature.

To be more specific, as I descended the discrepancy got to be less and less. On the ground it was Davtron 1 deg, Aspen 2 deg. Reported temp by the AWOS was 1. On mine, the Aspen OAT is also used in TAS and wind calculation. Of course a slightly higher temp gives a bit higher TAS. :D

I'll need to get more data before fiddling with this. I do have a sensor I can hang out the vent window as another reference in flight.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Possible Aspen installation

Post by Charles »

As far as I know, the OAT Bias, which can be set from 0 to 8C, seems to be the only configurable OAT parameter.

By the way, it is possible to connect a Davtron or Shadin OAT probe to the Aspen, but this requires a costly interface module. That being said, it might be cheaper to mount the RSM inside the wing and get a separate OAT probe than to have a shim fabricated to mount the sensor on top of the fuselage. The probe could be installed where the factory installed probe is installed.
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