What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

PAR100EX Remote Radio Problem

E

eehite

Member
I just flipped the switch on my PAR100EX installation, and was relieved that the smoke stayed inside. The music, com 1, and intercom features seem to work fine.

However, the LCD display just says "000.00" in both frequency windows. I have checked pins and continuity, and everything seems to be in the correct place. I have also ensured that all connectors are well seated and recycled power several times.

Has anyone seen this behavior? If not, I'll let y'all know what I figure out.
 
Just a data point: We just installed this exact radio in our RV-8A, and it has not shown this behavior.
 
Mine did that. I had the tray a tad to far forward and the radio wasn't bottoming out sliding in.
 
As you know, there are seperate power feeds to the audio panel and comm sides of the PAR 100 EX. As I recall, you get zeros for freqs when the radio side is not powered up.

Andy
 
Check the pins

ColoRv said:
Mine did that. I had the tray a tad to far forward and the radio wasn't bottoming out sliding in.
Click to expand...

Mine too, but it was because a couple of the mini-DSUB pins didn't line up, and they bent over when I first pushed the control box into the tray. I carefully straightened the pins and re-trayed the box. That did the trick.
 
Go Figure

Turns out it was a miswiring between the PAR100EX and the remote radio. The harness between the two came prefab from my avionics supplier, and they accidentally swapped pins 12 and 14 and moved what should have been pin 5 to 8 on the radio D-sub.

Though I had tested and verified voltage output and ground at the radio end, I never verified that the rest of the connector was pinned correctly.

The issue became apparent as I began to test continuity pin by pin from the PAR100EX connectors to the remote radio D-sub.

Lesson learned--thanks for the input!
 
Another PAR100EX Tip...

Before you connect the D-sub connector from the PAR100EX wiring harness to the M760REM remote transceiver, make sure the unit power is OFF! Ask me how I know.

My PAR100EX worked perfectly on the bench. After I installed it in the RV-9A instrument panel, powered it up and connected it to the remote transceiver, I got 000.00 readings on the display unit. Turns out I shorted out a non-resettable circuit breaker on the PAR100EX circuit board when connecting to the remote unit.

The folks at PS Engineering were great. I sent the unit back to them; they replaced the circuit breaker and mailed the PAR100 EX back to me right away. All it cost me was the shipping.

Lesson learned. Power off, then connect.
 
Have you (or anyone) figured out how to make the PAR100EX Com 1? It comes preconfigured as Com 2, which is awkward in our new panel.

The installation manual says to move a specific dip switch to accomplish this, which I did -- but then I couldn't hear Com 2 at all. Not good.

Hmmm... Now that I think of it, I wonder if perhaps I didn't have the Com 2 radio completely seated in the tray? They both have to be cranked down really tight to work properly.

Another thing I found, as an aside: The PAR100EX radio/audio panel/intercom comes preset as a 24-volt unit. To change it to 12 volts, you have to move a jumper -- which we had not done. D'oh! Suddenly the too-dim display is MUCH brighter! <head smack>

Sometimes it's the most obvious things we miss. After moving the jumper, I noticed a bright red sticker on the unit, saying exactly this. Somehow, both of us had missed this. :rolleyes:
 
24V.

EDIT: The PS Engineering guys emailed that the units do, in fact, ship configured for 24V.

Interesting--the install manual has two contradictory statements on preset voltage:

Para 1.5 says: "Voltage: 12 VDC *The audio panel and Microair M760REM operate from +12VDC Only. If installed in 28V Aircraft, damage will result. Contact PS Engineering if you wish to install in 24V system."

but then in Para 2.9:

"As shipped from PS Engineering, the PAR100EX is configured to operate in 24aircraft. This protects the M760REM from damage if installed in 24 volt aircraft.

If operation in a 12-volt aircraft is desired, internal jumpers must be changed to allow operation of the M760REM. Disassemble the unit as described in ?2.8."

So does it come preset to 24V or 12V? Maybe I'm misreading something.
 
Last edited:
eehite said:
EDIT: The PS Engineering guys emailed that the units do, in fact, ship configured for 24V.

Interesting--the install manual has two contradictory statements on preset voltage:

Para 1.5 says: "Voltage: 12 VDC *The audio panel and Microair M760REM operate from +12VDC Only. If installed in 28V Aircraft, damage will result. Contact PS Engineering if you wish to install in 24V system."

but then in Para 2.9:

"As shipped from PS Engineering, the PAR100EX is configured to operate in 24aircraft. This protects the M760REM from damage if installed in 24 volt aircraft.

If operation in a 12-volt aircraft is desired, internal jumpers must be changed to allow operation of the M760REM. Disassemble the unit as described in ?2.8."

So does it come preset to 24V or 12V? Maybe I'm misreading something.
Click to expand...

Mine was preset to 24 volts. I had to move the jumpers.
 
eehite said:
EDIT: The PS Engineering guys emailed that the units do, in fact, ship configured for 24V.

Interesting--the install manual has two contradictory statements on preset voltage:

Para 1.5 says: "Voltage: 12 VDC *The audio panel and Microair M760REM operate from +12VDC Only. If installed in 28V Aircraft, damage will result. Contact PS Engineering if you wish to install in 24V system."

but then in Para 2.9:

"As shipped from PS Engineering, the PAR100EX is configured to operate in 24aircraft. This protects the M760REM from damage if installed in 24 volt aircraft.

If operation in a 12-volt aircraft is desired, internal jumpers must be changed to allow operation of the M760REM. Disassemble the unit as described in ?2.8."

So does it come preset to 24V or 12V? Maybe I'm misreading something.
Click to expand...

Mine was preconfigured as a 24 volt unit.
 
Did you ask them why a unit manufactured specifically for the experimental market is preset to 24 V?
 
Abundance of Caution

The install manual states that they do that just in case the unit gets slotted into a 24V electrical system--that way it won't blow up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top