E The amount of time I have put into designing the electrical system has blown me away.  At this point I have 18 hours logged on designing it and I'm sure the actual amount of time is two or three times that.  These three pictures are final, I HOPE!  I've ordered the switches breakers and pull type circuit breakers from Affordable Panels as they seem to have very competitive prices and I really like their customer service.   I've elected to go with duel Pmag's over one Emag and one Pmag which settled the switch and wire size issue.  When designing your electrical system I highly recommend buying the Bob Knuckolls' AeroElectric book.  It covers everything you will need to know about homebuilt electrical systems and more.  (2/11/06)

E Like I actually thought I was finished updating these drawings in February!?  As I run wires I am making small changes, up sizing wire sizes because I don't have any 16 AWG for instance, adding the flap switch diagram, etc.  I'll just use this paragraph to post my updated wiring diagram.   (4/16/06)  Note - The drawings were updated once again and I'm sure there are still inaccuracies in these drawings.  If you spot one, please let me know.  (5/18/08).

F Now it is time to start connecting the audio components of my panel.  A Sigtronics 200S stereo intercom will be the heart of the system.  An Apple iPod will be plugged into its stereo input jack.  The GPS outputs it terrain warnings through the 1/8" stereo output plug.  This means either the iPod or XM radio, not both.  The iCom IC-A200 radio will be connected directly to the intercom, leaving three items that need to be connected; the Dynon EFIS D100, Dyon EMS D10, and Garmin GPS 396.  The iCom radio has two audio input "ports" which can be connected to two of these items so they can be played (heard?) through the intercom.  After posting a question regarding the Dynon Smart Avionics Bus (DSAB) interconnectivity on the Dynon Forum I found that the two units do not share audio output function and that both units must be connect to the audio system.  However, Dynon did add that the audio out's from the two units could be connected together.  With the understanding that the 396 will "play" through the stereo input, the two Dynon units will have their own input channels on the radio.

What is all this stuff trying to tell me?  The EFIS will give audio stall warning from the AoA port.  The EMS will announce any out of bounds condition regarding engine operation such as high or low oil pressure, temperature, etc.  The GPS can output terrain warnings and XM radio signal.

  (4/18/06)

E These pictures could go almost anywhere.  What you are looking at is the Outside Air Temperature (OAT) probe and its associated wire runs.  The OAT for the Dynon units connect at the remote compass.  Thus, the compass is required if you want to use the OAT.  The only use for the OAT is so the system can calculate True Airspeed.  This location will be covered by some fiberglass fairing.  Even though it might heat up with the aircraft on the ground, once it starts moving the tail section will get fresh air and by the time I hit cruising altitudes I suspect it will register correctly.  This location was chosen in an effort to protect the probe.  Remember, this will be a tail dragger and there is a chance it would get damage if placed under the HS.  The tray that will hold the remote compass is visible at the top of the second picture.  (The red strap is to keep my fuselage from tipping forward when I climb in the cockpit.)  (4/19/06)

F After much questioning, searching and head scratching I discovered the iCom radio has three mono inputs and the Garmin GPS outputs its terrain warnings out through it 1/8" stereo jack.  Thus the new design.  The only downside of this configuration is that the intercom 1/2 mutes the stereo input when something is coming in over the radio.  One thing to keep in mind is that even though the radio and the signals going through the radio are mono, they will be played in both left and right channels.  Also, modern intercom designs, such as the Sigtronics pass through any radio signal when turned off or in failure mode.  What you wont be able to hear is the passenger.  For a Day/Night VFR ship, I do not consider this a safety issue.   (5/1/06)

E The wiring is so much fun!  I have elected to use plate nuts wherever possible to hold stuff.  Here is a picture of the dimmer controller over the transformer / converter for the  electroluminescent strips above the switch panels.  They are held in place with plate nuts and 8-32 cap screws.  The cap screws are easier to use, IMHO, and are much easier to install and remove than standard Phillips head screws.  These are mounted on the forward side of the sub-panel.  (8/23/06)

F Figuring out how and where to run wires is always a challenge for every builder.  This is a shot of the forward floor.  Notice how all the electrical and ground wires are running up the right side of the fuel line and the radio antenna cable is running up the left side.  This, I hope, will help reduce noise in my transmissions.  (8/23/06)

E These are just some pictures of my wire mess.  It is coming together and will be straightened out before I close up the top skin.  I was using twist ties to hold the wires in the correct place and help keep it neat.  Using Adel clamps on the bottom of the ribs has been a great help.  If I run out of room in a clamp, it gets replaced with a larger one.  It can't get much simpler than that.  (8/23/06)

F These are so many options when it comes time to install the antennas.  The transponder antenna is located right behind the firewall on the right side, next to the fuel vent.  The com antenna is forward of the spar, under the pilots left knee with the aft two #8 screws piercing the spar flange.  In retrospect, it might have been better to have put the com antenna behind the firewall and the transponder antenna just in front of the spar.  One advantage of keeping everything forward of the spar is that none of those thick cables have to go through the spar, which has limited passages.  The remaining hole, seen in this picture will be used as the pass through for the pitot and AoA lines.

Big news, right after dinner I dragged Nora into the basement so we could try out the electronics.  As expected, the radio could transmit and receive, the intercom worked, and so did the audio in jack for the stereo intercom.  The only thing left to test is the warning tones from the two Dynon units.  (9/1/06)

E The ammeter shunt was installed on the inside of the left forward rib, between the sub-panel and the firewall.  The small wires leading to this go to the Dynon D10 EMS and the large wire from the contactor to the main bus are yet to be installed. (9/17/06)

Some times it is the small things that help you feel like you are making real progress.  The thing that got me was finally connecting the master switch and "keep alive" bus.  No more running jumpers are required to play with the instrument panel.  Better yet, the cigarette lighter charger can now be used to keep the battery fully charged.  (10/1/06)

F Today I had good intentions of working on something else, any thing else, but my friend Rradomir called to say he connected his strobes and tried them out for the first time.  Much to his dismay, he could hear the strobe discharging through his intercom and radio.  Even though he used a different strobe system than I, he connected his in the same way with the power and wire shield grounds run forward to the main ground block located on the firewall.  After much rooting around he pulled the grounds back and grounded both items together at the power supply.  Upon returning to my workshop, I thought now might be a good time to connect my strobes and try them for the first time, as well.  With headphones on, I turned on the radio master and the flipped the strobe switch.  Here is one word of advice, close your eyes if standing next to the strobes.  Since my wings aren't on the strobes were connected right next to where I was standing on the side of the fuselage.  My eye sight is slowly returning to normal.

Sure enough, you could hear the strobe discharge through the headsets.  After fabricating a ground point (Angle aluminum and a plate nut riveted to the underside of the baggage compartment floor.) the noise went away for me as well.

I suspect the long ground wires make a very nice antenna and by grounding the locally and removing the "antenna", the problem went away.

The simple drawing should give you a better idea of how I wired the strobe grounds.  (11/21/06)

E It was time to wire up the P-mags.  Not a difficult task but an important one.  Remember, it is just your ignition system you are messing with.  This diagram lists how I wired mine, you may have different requirements.  One change I made was replace the ground service switch with a 1/8" stereo jack and plug, this eliminated the need for warning light since the plug will have red "Remove Before Flight" streamer attached to it.  Note, I originally installed a mono jack only to find out that one side of the jack shorts to ground.  This forced me to change it to a stereo plug and jack.  If you have a P-mag breaker pop when you turn on the master, you are probably shorting to ground through this plug arrangement.  (6/17/07)

F The preflight procedure with P-mags wired as I have is different than a standard aircraft and this must be taken into account prior to each flight.  The basics are that each P-mag should be operationally verified as functional when running on both ship's power and internal power.  This diagram displays how I perform this preflight task.  (5/18/08)