 |
March 5, 2003 Day 197, 1430 hours The actual wiring of the instrument panel began with attaching the Approach Systems cables to the radio racks. This part of the wiring was done by Approach Systems on the supplied cables. All I had to do was bolt the connectors and the mounting hardware to the back of the trays. Pretty neat! But then came the real work! |
 |
March 10, 2003 Day 202, 1457 hours Before the radio connections could be completed, the rest of the panel had to be wired. The hardest part was fabricating the various brackets and supports using just a hacksaw, a file and a drill! This picture shows the top of the panel. This section contains the solid state dimmer for the panel lights and the DC-to-AC converter for the electro-luminescent bezels that light the instruments. |
 |
March 13, 2003 Day 205, 1488 hours All of the power cables from the various instruments terminate here at the main breaker panel, shown from the back of the panel. By the time the wire bundle gets to this point, it is like wrestling with an anaconda! It was a relief to get it tied down. |
 |
March 14, 2003 Day 206, 1498 hours The panel is designed so that each subassembly can be removed for service independently. This picture shows the power supply, engine instruments, switch panel, and gear switch removed from the front of the panel while remaining connected to their respective wiring harness. |