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Trutrak auto pilot no longer supported


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I guess I waited too long to send in my ct pilot 2 to trutrak when I called them back in nov they said they were no longer servicing these that mid continent instruments in Kansas was going to take care of them, so I called them and they said no problem send it to us. After two weeks and no response from them I called and after a few hours they located it on someones desk. (wow what a business)

Spoke to someone named bruce had assured me they had all the parts but they were not fixing them just yet, they were waiting on something but promised it would be taken care of soon.

Another month passes and I call today to learn they don't have the parts and apparently they are not going to be doing any repairs to these.

They told him to have me upgrade to another unit which doesn't mount like ours.

Anyone have a working Trutrak CT pilot 2 VS for sale?

Mine works fine you just cant read the screen,   any help would be appreciated, its sad when a 13 year old plane no longer has support on its avionics!

Mack

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I think the CT Pilot VS is the same as the Digiflight II VS.  Do you have the rectangular mount unit?  If so yeah, I don't know if those are available anywhere but in the CTs.

You might consider upgrading to the TruTrak Vizion.  IIRC It's about $900, but you get a few new features, including altitude pre-select (set an altitude and the AP will climb or decend to that alt and level off).  Plus you'd also be back under support from TruTrak.  It might be worth cutting a new hole in your panel.

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I am ditching Tru Trak (Bendix) entirely.  I had an RMA in with Tru Trak for the Vizion upgrade right before they were bought out.  I have been back and forth, first with Tru Trak, then Bendix, and now Mid Continent.  I have been told no less than 5 times that someone will get back with me "before the end of the week".  That was 4 weeks ago.  The original RMA was issued by TT early September.  Bendix and Mid Continent have been hopeless regarding the Tru Trak line.  Basically, all of the old models are now end of life.  I don't know if FDUSA would approve the MRA for S-LSA, I am going to go with the Dynon AP Servos (E-LSA).  For $1500, you can get both servos, and the Skyview will drive them.  I was quoted $1000 just for the Vizion AP head, using my old servos.  I will probably have a Digiflight II and 2 servos up for sale soon.

I had a lot of respect for the Tru Trak guys.  They were very helpful when I first got an RMA number and starting the process, but as soon as they were bought out, the service and support went away.

Edit: Update to add that this has been a three month process.

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Modern planes don’t have “avionics” anymore, they have computers... in the total cost of ownership equation, I guess we all need to add another depreciation item (eg “engine”, “prop”)... now “panel upgrade”... looks like it is every 15 years.

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Depending on how crowded the panel is, you could have a shop cut the horizontal "flat pack" and use one of those, and have a cover plate cut for the vertical.  I don't know of any vertical mount AP head units for TruTrak.  They quoted me $1000 to upgrade the head unit, as the servos are the same.  Probably would not be to much work, but given they are not supporting the vertical mount...

I don't know if Dynon's autopilot integrates with the D100, but that is also an option to look at.  Servos are only $750 (I say only, but compared to others) and at least for the skyview, do not require a head unit.  It is all driven from the Dynon panel.  If compatible, that would allow you to remove the head unit entirely.\

 

Edit. Here is the link to the Dynon page.  Click on the D10/D100 series.  Their head unit is vertical mount.

https://dynonavionics.com/autopilot-overview.php

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I like the TruTrak company and hardware, but I am a bit worried about the BK acquisition...they have a spotty history of support and pricing, in my experience.  I will probably go with the Vizion upgrade when my Digiflight II VS finally dies (assmuning the AP landscape doesn't change before then), but for now it has been working great with no problems at all. 

The only downside to Dynon AP units I know of is that the shear pins on the servos are a little weaker than on the TT servos, and it's easier to accidentally shear them and have a servo out of commission until fixed.  The pin replacement is not difficult, but it is a consideration.

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3 hours ago, FlyingMonkey said:

The only downside to Dynon AP units I know of is that the shear pins on the servos are a little weaker than on the TT servos, and it's easier to accidentally shear them and have a servo out of commission until fixed.  The pin replacement is not difficult, but it is a consideration.

By popular demand, the new shear pin for the Dynon Skyview AP servos has been beefed up. The improvement occurred a couple years ago.

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1 hour ago, FlyingMonkey said:

Do you have to buy a separate AP for the Skyview, or is it built in?  I think there is AP functionality built into my D100 if wired up the servos to it.

In order for Skyview Displays to control AP functionality, Skyview servos must be installed. If other AP brands (servos) are used, that integrated functionality is lost and those AP's are operated separately from Skyview. i.e. TT.

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1 hour ago, FlyingMonkey said:

Do you have to buy a separate AP for the Skyview, or is it built in?  I think there is AP functionality built into my D100 if wired up the servos to it.

The Skyview and the D100 from what I can tell can both drive the Servos.  There is no requirement (but an option exists for a dedicated) control unit.  The Servo's talk to the unit view the "skyview network", which is how all of the other Dynon modules (ADAHRS, ARINC, Radios, etc) communicate with the displays.  But as Bill Ince said, you have to have the Dynon servos.

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On 1/3/2020 at 2:28 PM, WmInce said:

In order for Skyview Displays to control AP functionality, Skyview servos must be installed. If other AP brands (servos) are used, that integrated functionality is lost and those AP's are operated separately from Skyview. i.e. TT.

Yeah, I assumed the Dynon servos were required.

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On 1/2/2020 at 7:54 PM, kentuckynet said:

 

Not sure how i would modify my panel i have dyon 100 on one side and a dynon 120 on the other.

 

 

I have a friend that can laser cut a new plate if you need to move things around.

I think that a horizontal unit would fit above the D100.

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The D100 can drive the Dynon servos just fine.  If the "linear actuator" is fitted to the roll servo (identical to the Trutrak "torque enhancer") then the shear screw is not so much an issue.

There is an optional A/P control panel from Dynon that will fill the hole from the TT head.  Also is not a bad idea to replace the servos after 13 years.

Another thing to consider is that Dynon may not be selling & supporting the D100 much longer either.  In that case the 7" Skyview is a possible replacement & will also drive the same servos.

John

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The D100/120 use the DSAB serial network to talk to each other and their own servos. The GPS696 chats with the TT and Dynon via RS-232. The Skyview system was a radical change electronically, they talk via the Skyview network (something like ethernet) and are incompatible with the D100 and its older components like servos, AP, HS34, etc. So be sure of which generation of hardware you are buying, as most of it is Skyview stuff now.

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54 minutes ago, SportFlyer1 said:

The D100/120 use the DSAB serial network to talk to each other and their own servos. The GPS696 chats with the TT and Dynon via RS-232. The Skyview system was a radical change electronically, they talk via the Skyview network (something like ethernet) and are incompatible with the D100 and its older components like servos, AP, HS34, etc. So be sure of which generation of hardware you are buying, as most of it is Skyview stuff now.

According to Dynon the servos will work with either D-100 or Skyview.

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