FlightDEK D180 and skyview compatibility

[Vmgobel]

Hello everyone,
I am new to building aircraft and avionics packages so if this sounds like a dumb question I am sorry. I am building a light sport aircraft and I have an opportunity to get my hands on a FlightDEK D180 for very inexpensive. My question is, knowing it is discontinued, is wiring harnesses, engine probe kits, etc still available for it? Is the Skyview HDX harnesses and add ons compatible? Is the Skyview radios and intercom compatible with the D180?
I don't think it matters how inexpensive the D180 is, if I cant get components to add to it then I'm not interested in it.
Thank you for your help.
Manny

 

[Rhino]

Wiring harnesses - They no longer sell D180 specific harnesses to my knowledge. Skyview harnesses may be compatible, but you can customize them or build your own if needed. They use standard industry DB connectors, so customization or scratch building of cables is fairly straightforward. The D180 doesn't use network devices in the same way the Skyview does. It used the DSAB (Dynon Smart Avionics Bus) instead of the Skyview (SV) network, so there will be differences in the overall scheme, if not the harnesses themselves. It's actually simpler, because the D180 wasn't designed to interface with a lot of external hardware. For instance, it has an engine monitor built in rather than a separate engine module.

Dynon doesn't sell engine probe kits. Engine sensors are unique to your engine type, sometimes come with the engine, and often come with a harness. You can always build your own if you need to. The wiring diagram is in the installation manual, along with lots of sensor connection information. They're pretty simple.

Intercom is compatible.

I don't believe the radios are compatible (someone correct me if I'm wrong). But the added features of the Dynon radios don't really apply to the D180, so you don't really need Dynon radios anyway. Just use standard radio(s) and/or audio panel.

Autopilot servos are compatible.

The rest really depends on what you want to connect. It gets somewhat simpler if the optional HS34 Expansion Module comes with the D180, but it isn't absolutely needed. It makes serial connections simpler, and provides analog and ARINC compatibility for other avionics that might need it. I believe you can still find HS34s for sale in some places from time to time. You sometimes see one for sale here.

In short, there's no reason why you can't do it, barring something more complicated that you haven't yet mentioned. There may be some work involved with cabling, but there's less cabling with a D180, so that could even out overall. The real question is if you want to expend the effort to figure it all out and do it. If you're a tinkerer and/or techno-geek, I'd say you should go for it. You'd probably enjoy it. But that's up to you to decide.