random observations
I spent the past week with wings attached in the workshop, setting up and verifying connectivity between my panel and the "things in the wings"- servos, lights, trim, Pitot heat controller. Quite a few things on the Dynon SV Network didn't want to work or at least behave reproducibly, and I was growing frustrated, tired of tying up Advanced Flights tech support guys to no avail, and wondering if the project would best me and become a six-figure paper-weight for months to come. I got it all sorted out, but the issues ended up being in every case an improperly seated D-sub connector without TIGHT thumbscrews, a reversed wire pair or in one case a backed-out female D-sub pin - workmanship issues that were 100% on me.
Properly wired and mechanically installed, D-subs are ok. Handled carelessly, they are flakey - no two ways about it. I can see why in the mil-spec environment they would not replace circular connectors. I'm not a fan of the close side-by-side crowding of the D-subs on the Advanced Control Module - when installed behind the panel and behind a maze of service-looped interconnect cables it's a real challenge to reach some of the thumb screws and adequately seat the connectors. The ACM is a slick piece of avionics that could stand to be a tad larger for the sake of installation ergonomics.
When it came time to remove the wings one last time yesterday for the eventual trek to the hangar, I disconnected all the D-sub cables, aileron and flap linkages and fuel lines, removed the drift pins and gave my teenage helpers the heave-ho. That's when we discovered I had overlooked one connection - the heavy wire to the Pitot that was spliced with a handshake knife-blade connector. They are robust, enough to withstand the force of three guys trying to walk off with a wing!