CJ2002

Hi Chris,

Thanks for that....I haven't spoken to Terry as I wanted to get opinions/findings from practical users first. I posted the same enquiry on the giant scale forum and have received a few interesting comments whereby some guys have experienced problems with optos (not SM) and I've had a PM from an English friend who has had problems with optos, but not of an RF nature.

One very good point that has been made is that the parts count goes up and, therefore, the likelihood of a failure increases and, because the opto can be seen as a 'belt and braces' device, maybe we're introducing a potential problem that we can avoid. That arguement holds whenever you add anything to a system, of course but the degree of likelihood of failure is also dependant on the type/quality of components you use - which is why I mentioned use of good quality toggle switches, etc, in the article. From this point of view, whether or not to do something is a matter of individual risk assessment, I suppose.

When I wrote the piece for RCMW, I was careful not to make any recommendations IRO opto use ('cos anything we want to add to our systems as an afterthought is up to us) but, as I've already said (touching wood) I've never yet had any problems using them and, on the evidence I've gathered thus far, will continue to do so.

Sorry about the poor weather that Reuben and yourself are having to put up with....although, I daily talk to aircrew who are currently transiting through Cyprus who tell me it's getting lovely and warm out there! (I guess there's no pleasing some people!!).

Keep well Chris and, you never know, if I can hitch a ride with one of our crews, I might just turn up at the salt lake for some flying!

Cheers,

Dick