Fly4Funn

Fly4Funn

Member
I am about to the point of cutting a panel and would like to get a few "opinions" from those of you flying behind the Dynon equipment. I have always planned to use the FlightDek 180 and have already purchased all of the sensors, wiring harnesses and options for that unit. I'm now thinking about instead of the D180, going with the D100 and a D120. Other than expense and panel room, what are your thoughts about the 2 different setups? My main concern with the D180 is the small screen displaying everything. With two screens, each set of information has it's own display area. It appears that the harnesses are the same for both. I also plane to add the HSI and AP modules. I know they are out there so you guys and gals flying behind them chime in and give me some information, good or bad to chew on. Backup steam gauges will be ALT, Airspeed, T&B, and of course a compass. No vacuum for gyros. Dumped the pump for inverted oil pickup! Radio stack will consist of a SL30, GTX327 and a 496.

I am NOT trying to start a debate about who has the better equipment so please don't go into this or that is better than Dynon. I am using Dynon, period. Just looking for opinions on which Dynon setup seems to be the best.
 
Dynon D-180

We installed the D-180 in our 8. We also have a Garmin 430W, an audio panel, a transponder, an SL-40. We installed a Garmin 496 in a docking station. The backup for the Dynon is an altimeter and an airspeed indicator. We don't have room on the panel for anything else.
The D-180 provides all the information I need. I normally us the 2/3 flight instruments and 1/3 engine instruments layout. I see not reason to go with separate engine and flight instrument.
 
The main reason I want two Dynon screens if I go with Dynon is the fact that you can only really have two items up at a time.

In other words, you cannot have the EFIS, EMS, and HSI up at the same time...Only two of them even then, the item running in the 1/3 mode will loose some of its display items to save space.

Do a D180 and a D100 or D10A and you can ditch the backup steam gauges since you will have two complete individual EFIS's.
 
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[Edit - Brantel changed his post! :D The above gives two AHRS for redundancy]
 
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my setup - staged for rework (later)

Hi,
I have D100, D120 + AP 74 + 2 servos, Garmin 396 + AS, + Alt + VSI steam gauges

Not flying yet --- cut canopy soon when temps support (soon I hope)

Since I have not flown (DYNON's) too much (20+ hrs) behind a friends D10A in an RV7 and found my self (initially) looking at the traditional instruments. I put the steam gauges in (my plane).

I bought the affordable panels (XL) and have a "spare" panel blank, so that later if I decide I will redo the panel and remove the steam gauges.

If the steam gauges and Dynons all die, I will still have the emulation pages on the Garmin 396 to give me Alt, T&B, etc. Enough to get somewhere and land safely. The Garmin 396 has internal battery too (in case ships power goes away)...

The plane will be sweet VFR (IMHO) with the 2 axis autopilot cruising machine.


Just another guy's perspective and thoughts that defined my plane

Have fun
 
The ultimate solution in my mind would be a D180 and a D100 or D10A. By using the DSAB interface you can display engine info on the D10A and flight info on the D180, or flight & engine info on the D180 and flight info on the D10A. By having two seperate units you get display redundancy and sensor redundancy for critical flight parameters, with engine instruments being the single point of failure. I don't know about you but flying without engine instruments upsets me less than flying without primary flight instruments.

My aircraft has a D100, with backup ASI, ALT, VSI and T&B (which is soon to be replaced by an artificial horizon and slip/skid ball) and a whiskey compass, as well as steam gauges for the engine indications. The D100 is fed GPS info from a Lowrance 2000c mounted in an Air Gizmos panel dock. As a total solution it is pretty sweet, but the 3 1/8" whiskey compass is situated such that if I ever have the spare cash I can yank it out and install a D10 (either EFIS or EIS) in that hole and have dual displays.
 
I'm running the D180 only in my RV8. I was going to put another Dynon in to give redundancy and decided not to. It all depends on what you plan to use your plane for

I fly strictly VFR so I elected to use just the D180. If I lost everything and was flying VFR I could fly the plane without instruments at least during the day.

I have a Garmin 296 so I have backup for airspeed, altitude, heading and rate of climb. It has a flight instrument page also but I've never flown by that page alone.

I also have a TruTrak Digiflight II and it has a heading indicator. I'm thinking of upgrading that to their EFIS with auto-pilot for more back-up with the EFIS. TruTrak is great because they offer 100% buy back credit. (not trying to pick any favorites here. this is just what I'm running and what my plans are.)

Regardless of the path you go the best advice I can give you is definately go for the bright screen option. Especially in the RV8. In bright sunlight it starts to get harder to see the screen. I'm planning on upgrading to the bright screen on my D180 soon. If I do upgrade my TruTrak it will be with bright screen to start with. If any screen is ever to bright you can always dim them. When they are not bright enough there is nothing you can do to make it brighter!!

Ted
 
D100 and D120

I have D100, D120, HS34, 496, SL30, GTX327 and ADI II A/P and the entire system works as advertised and works well. I put in the D100 and D120 combo so that you can fly from either seat and switch the EFIS in split screen mode to the co-pilot side. I have to say however that I generally fly with the D100 in split screen mode for a couple of reasons:
1. The D120 is not so easy to read cross cockpit for two main reasons, a) Off axis viewing of the LCD screen darkens the display in a sunlit cockpit and b) I have my bifocal distance set for the panel and the D120 is just a little too far for clear focus
2. The split screen mode is very easy to setup and switch between the selected screens
Net result is that I am not sure I would change my setup but I do not use the D120 as much as I thought I would.
 
Lots of good ideas so far and I am looking to hear from more out there. Since mine is an 8, the problem of reading across cockpit won't be an issue. If I went with 2 screens, I would stack them in the center of the panel which would put them directly in front of me. The advice to go with the bright screen option was very welcome. I was also debating on that myself. I plan to fly the RV mostly VFR and light IFR. I probably won't take it into hard IFR weather since I have access to other planes if I had to go and the weather was really rotten. As good as everyone raves about the RV, I'm just not sure I want to fly it in hard stuff down to minimums when I don't have to. Keep the comments and suggestions coming. I only plan to do this once and want to do it right.
 
Dynon Pros and Cons

I have a D180 and a D100 in my RV-9A (300 hours), plus two steam gages, airspeed and altimeter. The D100 is a full up AHARS, both units have back up batteries, EDC-10s and super bright screens. If I had it to do over again I would dump the steam gages. Dan.
 
D180

am using the D180 w/ brite screen. the brite screen is almost brite enough. not quite though.

with the 180, it seems I do a lot of switching among the available pages. this is in part due to the relatively large amount of info it provides. it would be really nice to have another instrument- - especially for backup attitude. (but probably not mandatory for vfr).
 
Price Point vs. Features

Concur with the above recommendations. I've flown behind Dan's panel, and it is "muy bueno"! Stacking the two big screens in an 8 will be a very nice display, and the HS-34 and AP-74 will fit nicely right next to them (see Brian's post with an example of that here: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=40008)

My 6 has a D100 and D10A on the left, and a VM1000 on the right. Future plan is to ditch the VM and install an EMS D10 in the hole, so I can push engine instruments to the left seat (on the D10A) and still run PFD/HSI on the D100...Brian's points on only being able to display two screens on a single EFIS and loss of EMS data on a split screen are spot on. If $$ were available, I'd want the dual ADAHRS and large screens provided by a D180/D100 combo.

Bang for buck thoughts:

D180 alone $3,200
Pros: cost and simplicity, max room for steam and other stuff
Cons: Split screen EMS data losses, the one screen data shuffle, single EFIS point of failure

D100/D120 $4,400
Pros: Nice big engine display plus PFD/HSI display above it. High cool factor in layout. Lots of display options.
Cons: $1,200 more, still a single EFIS POF

D180/D100 $5,600
Pros: Get it all...dual ADAHRS (no single EFIS POF), same max display options and cool factor
Cons: $2,400 more than D180 alone

The single EFIS POF may not be a factor for VFR, but might be for IFR. If dual ADAHRS allows you to ditch the steam, then it decreases the delta-$$ factor.

Fun stuff this panel planning, eh! It'll be nice, whichever way you go!

Cheers,
Bob
 
I've been running the same logic through my head for a while, and I've come to the D180/D100 combo for IFR with backup. I was/am tempted to run a 496 instead of a 430W, but the lure of AP coupled ILS/GPS approaches with a future software upgrade is strong...

Of course, with Dynon's NextGen system around the corner, all bets are off for the moment. It will be at least a year before it's time to write checks for the panel, so I'll wait and watch for now.
 
If you think you're going to use this for IFR, then two screens is almost a must in my opinion. Cost is not significantly different, and given the constraints with split screens with their relative size, you'll be much happier with 2 screens.

So to summarize - buy two screens...:)

My 2 cents!

Cheers,
Stein
 
I have been leaning the dual screen way and sounds like that is the way most think so far. I would love to pair whatever I do with a 430 but the cost factor and availability of airplanes at my disposal for use when it is low IFR makes it hard to justify. Besides, we have to have something to upgrade to right? I had not considered the D180 and D100 combo but do see the allure of that setup. I am a little way from the actual purchase and have in my mind that as soon as Dynon releases their next generation units, there will probably be some of the older ones on the market from guys with a taller mound of money than I have and I may be able to pick them up at a good savings. I know they say they are going to offer a trade in program for them but no mention of what that would be. I keep watching their website for updates on release dates and possible cost but nothing yet that so much hints at it happening soon. Keep the suggestions coming. We can never have too much info!
 
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