Trutrak Auto pilot installation

DtaglilaDtaglila
in General Discussion
Looking for anyone that has put a Trutrak A/P in a Warrior II. Wondering if you had to do anything special with the Battery where the solenoid connections are? Just looking, it appears the battery connections might be in the way of the pitch servo arm? Was wondering if someone figured away around this or this wasn’t a problem?

Comments

  • Scott ShererScott Sherer
    edited May 2020

    MikeJJ put a trutrak in his Piper. Hopefully he will see your message and contact you. Also, Mike did a webinar on the installation of his truetrak for us. Here's a link: https://piperowner.org/a-taste-of-homebuilding-through-an-ap-ia-supervised-autopilot-install-featuring-michael-jones/

    Scott Sherer
    Wright Brothers Master Pilot, FAA Commercial Pilot

  • MikeJJMikeJJ
    edited May 2020

    Pause my webinar on the two photos of the installation under the rear seat. Perhaps You could tell from the photo? A call to TruTrak might give you some further insight as would downloading the install manual for the PA 28.

    If you could install the round (instrument hole) controller, it could save considerable install time. I had no room so had to go flat pack.

    Regards,

    Mike

    • Michael Jay Jones (MikeJJ)
    • Piper Owners Aviation Director, Forum Moderator, Author
    • Commercial, Instrument, CFI - Airplane
    • Commercial Helicopter, Remote Pilot - UAS
    • FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot
    • 50+ years in aviation, and still learning!


  • Scott ShererScott Sherer

    Thanks so much, Mike!!

    Scott Sherer
    Wright Brothers Master Pilot, FAA Commercial Pilot

  • DtaglilaDtaglila
    Another question on the Trutrak installation, any issue paralleling the servo cable along the strobe cable, any chance of interference?
  • Seneca38173Seneca38173

    It should be okay, so long as you shield the servo cable.

    TruTrak RFI/EMI considerations:

    The autopilot programmer is shielded and does not generate any appreciable level of electromagnetic interference. Moreover, the servo lines (except for power and ground) are low-current and cannot contribute to RF interference. The servo power and ground lines do have switching currents through them, but so long as there are no parallel runs of servo power and ground lines with such things as poorly-shielded antenna lines, strobe light power lines, landing lights, navigation lights, or Pitot heat, there is no need to shield the servo harnesses. The autopilot itself has been internally protected from RF interference and has been tested under fairly extreme conditions, such as close proximity to transmitting antennas. However, it is always good practice to insure that such antennas are properly
    shielded and not routed directly over or under sensitive panel-mounted electronic equipment. Most problems in this area are the result of improper RF shielding on transmitting antennas, microphone cables, and the like. The most sensitive input to the autopilot is the Control Wheel Switch input. This line should not be routed in parallel with transmitting antennas or other sources of known RF interference. If necessary, it can be shielded with the shield connection to pin 13 of the autopilot
    connector.

    Bob T.

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