First Flight on New SDS CPI Dual Electronic Ignition

May 9 2020
At 10:30 this morning I got my bird in the air once again, only this time running the new Electronic Ignition from SDS Ignition Management.  After a pre-approved clearance to get above the airport for racetrack pattern testing I climbed out toward my planned 7000-7500 foot pattern staying east of the airport.  I ran the engine full power for the complete 1 hour session and everything ran perfect.  Airport elevation is 3960 ft and the temperature at 7000 ft was 2.2 degrees C.  I ended up spending most of my testing at 7000 feet.  I am realizing 100 more RPM from my engine at full power static on the ground tests.  As a result I am now getting higher RPM in cruise and thus higher airspeed.   It is a bit early to tell but I am seeing almost 10 more mph indicated at this altitude and temperature.  My previous max RPM's  would be around 2950 and now I am seeing 3000 - 3180 rpm.

View actual ground speeds on the live version of this map at: https://aprs.fi/cgmbk

Electronic Ignition Switches and Battery

May 7, 2020
Last few days have been spent installing the wiring, the Emergency backup switch and the Emergency Backup Battery.  This morning I picked up a small 12 volt 5 AH battery for use as backup power.  Work was completed and the plane placed outside and started again for a test of the Emergency Backup Power source.  Switching onto the Emergency Battery and turning off the Main Alternator and Master switch kept the aircraft running fine.  The backup battery supplies power to the Electronic CPI programmer and Coils alone.  Numerous switching onto the backup at various RPM's was a success.  I made a battery box for the new Aux. battery out of foam/fiberglass.  It is mounted right behind the seat back in the luggage compartment and is secured to the floor.  There is a Emergency Ignition switch mounted on the far left of the panel.  Magnetos have been totally disconnected but not removed.  Each battery can be tested via a volt gauge prior to starting the engine and charge voltage can be tested after the engine is running.  The plane is all buttoned up and prepared for first flight on the SDS Electronic Ignition.

Electronic Ignition Full Power Test

May 1,  Today I got the plane out and ran the engine up to warm it up.  Now I wanted to test the maximum continuous RPM  power.  The engine performed great as I went through about 5 rounds getting the RPM up to maximum.   I am seeing a increase of the static rpm of 100, now registering 3000 rpm when leaned.  Everything went great and I am very happy with the performance.

One of the major reasons for installing the CPI was to get rid of excessive static noise in my headset which had been proved coming from the magnetos.  A test of the radio is now crystal clear with absolutely no static background noise at all.  Yahooo.

May 2/20,   Yesterday I noticed the first engine start of the day did not start quite as well as day one.    I noticed a slight bit of kickback if the engine did not fire  on first cranking attempt.  After a call to SDS Ignitions I was informed of a "Start retard" option in the programming which retards the startup timing so the engine fires after TDC.  The original default setting sets startup firing at 5 degrees after TDC,   A call to SDS  informed I should change the starting spark for 10 degrees after TDC because I have a small wood prop with low inertia compared to a metal prop on a Lycoming.  This fixed my problem of kickback on startup.

Next is installing the Emergency battery a small 5 ah sealed cell and a dual voltmeter for testing each battery.