RocketBoy Aircraft Products

Parts and accessories for your Rocket or Homebuilt aircraft.

   Cool Products

   Free Software

  F1 Canopy Covers
  
 Cosmic Rocket Stuff

    Flight Test

   Heater control  Module

    Homemade EFIS

   HID Landing Light

  Equipment cooling

   Pitch Control Module

   External Power unit

  Painting it!

  Electrical

  Alternator

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Copyright © 2002, 2003 by
R. Gross
Rocketboy Aircraft Products Inc.

MORE EFIS

I never thought the technology would change so fast. Even before the airplane could fly, the in-flight navigation computer described on the preceding pages is completely obsolete.

A fellow builder named Danny Melnik was very helpful in guiding me to a newer and better system. Danny is involved in embedded control systems and uses this new compact computers quite a bit. The end result of this is a new, small, lighter and faster computer than I ever envisioned. The new computer weighs only 2 pounds, runs four time faster, uses less power, and is only one sixth the size. This picture tells the rest

Here the new computer sits on the old one for comparison. The entire system is being driven by the twelve volt battery in the background. It will operate down to 8.6 volts and draws 4.75 amps at 13.8 volts. This includes powering the LCD display in the background

Another view of the complete system. There are two serial ports available to upload DUATS data and WX maps from a cell phone into the navigation system. The other serial port will be connected to the GPS.

Here the device is mounted into the instrument panel. The holes were made with a Bridgeport mill. Both the Blue mountain EFIS/Lite and the NAV computer are running on battery power in the picture.
The computer continues to operate perfectly. Unfortunately, the blue mountain EFIS is dying and must be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs as it drifts endlessly in pitch and roll.
The  EFIS/Lite seems to be an excellent product and I am hopeful it's problems will be worked out soon by the designers.
I chose Vans gauges because they are calibrated, voltage stabilized and look great. I want every part of my airplane to be easy and cheap  to repair. For this reason I also opted for a single CHT and EGT probe. I want to fly, not chase down broken or erratic systems.

The NAV computer is made from a motherboard made by Technoland in Calif. There is a 20 GB IBM travelstar laptop drive inside along with 128MB of PC-100 memory. This unit will support 133 MHz bus speeds and up to a 1.6 GHz processor. If you want, it boasts 2 LAN's, 4 Com ports, 2 Lpt: ports, 2 LCD outputs, one LVDS, one VGA, PS2 mouse and keyboard support, and 2 USB ports, one PCI slot, plus more.... whew.
Total coast to build the computer:$510
Display:$685
Power supply:$110
Building what I wanted instead of being dictated what features I must buy: Priceless!
 

"You can't use runway behind you, altitude above you, or speed you never had"
- Rocketboy