karolh

After 36 years of faithful service my Royal tach has finally given up the ghost so I am now in the market for a replacement, but I have no idea which of the current and reasonably priced units are really worth getting. With that said I would appreciate your comments and suggestions on what works and what does not.

[email protected]

I have had some success in repairing the old .Royal tachs, though some of the components are not longer available. For example, if the meter or range switch are gone, there are no replacements available and the whole thing is kaput! What will you take for your DOA tach, shipped to 92704., it might have some good parts.
I have the complete original RCM article, schematics and even with Kinko's elevated copy prices, copies are available should you have a local tech willing to tackle it There are no similar tachs available that I know of, except for a "TNC" which is quite pricey. The digitals have problems. First of all, the engines themselves seldom hold a steady RPM at max throttle, and the tach doesn't either. The resulting reading changes so much it is not even possible to get an average reading.. Luck, [email protected]

[email protected]

Have to mention, I have been to Kingston!I still have Harry Belafonte 33 rpm records and love Day-O! Eloy

karolh

Had to make a correction to my original post as the tach is 36 years old and not 66 as originally posted....seems like my math really sucks

karolh

Harry is certainly one of the good old boys that had our flag flying high in the music world way back then.

karolh

Thanks much for sharing that important and informative bit of information with me. I plan on looking into the innards of the tach to see if there is anything that does not seem right as I have very little if any knowledge of things electronic. I just recently replaced it's 9 volt battery but I will check it just to be sure its still ok. It turns on and off okay but it just does not sense or indicate rpm.

ticedoff8

If you have a smartphone (aka: iPhone or Android), there are a couple of tachometer apps that all seem to cost around $5.
I use one for my heli and it should work for fixed wing too.
It is an audio tach and just needs to be close to the engine. I typically set the phone down on the ground and hover over it. They are adjustable for blade count.

I also use a shutter style optical tach. You point the view finder at the blades and then rotate a dial until the blades become motionless in the view finder. The RPM is displayed and holds until you press the reset button or it turns off. It basically takes two hands to do the measurement and requires a buddy standing next to you to do the measurement if you are flying a heli. But, with a fixed wing, you could anchor the plane to the ground and do the reading solo.