Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date:  1-24-2009
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Cockpit Lighting - Part 2

The whole cockpit lighting system is driven off an adjustable dimmer module that can be seen in the pictures as the large black heatsink in the front baggage area. There are actually two of these dimmers, one for the Cockpit Lighting and another for the Instrument Panel Lighting. The adjustment works extremely well.

Finally, both the pilot and the passenger have their own switch to turn their respective cockpit lights on and off. There is a "main" cockpit switch on the VP-200 control panel shown in the picture with the small, square, green LED turned on. Flicking this switch on powers up the dimmer which is adjustable via the chrome knob on the right-hand console. The pilot and/or passenger can turn their lights respective post-lights on or off to suit the particular situation. For example, the passenger could be reading a book in the back, while the pilot keeps their lights off.

Also shown in the pictures is the wiring for the Instrument Panel lighting and associated dimmer circuit. I added the blue terminal strip so that additional instruments could be added to the circuit later down the road. Currently, best I can tell, only the FuelChec, Garmin GTX-327, and Kenwood DNX-8120 support electrical based panel light dimming. But I'm sure there will be others so rather than having to cut into the DB9 connectors and add circuits, I just left room for a couple of spares on the terminal strip. Frankly, I could probably double up on the existing circuits as well, giving a total of ten devices.

So anyway, the whole system came out very nice and works *exceptionally* well. The biggest hit weight-wise was no doubt the dimmer with that giant heatsink, but sometimes the functionality is just worth the weight penalty.
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Terminal Strip For Panel Lighting

Terminal Strip For Panel Lighting

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Instrument Panel Circuits Plus Two Spares

Instrument Panel Circuits Plus Two Spares

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Two Dimmers Fully Wired

Two Dimmers Fully Wired

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