Username Protected wrote:
I think the issue is not where the puck is, it is where it's going. M4D's are serviceable now, but what about 5 years down the road? 10 years?
That question was asked 20 years ago. Still maintainable.
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Parts are starting to get scarce, many of them consist of materials that is getting old and brittle.
The M4D, for the most part, is made of fairly generic electronic parts. Basic transistors, resistors, diodes, etc. I don't think there is anything electronic that you can't get or doesn't have a suitable modern replacement that drops in.
The thing that worries most are the mechanical bits, in particular the powder clutches in the servos. But I am told that you can still get those. A few key folks are good at repairing those mechanical bits.
There was a servo STC which removed those clutches, but it didn't go very far and only a few of those servos were made.
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What is the critical mass of money / # of owners that could simply self-fund an STC? maybe with the STEC-3100?
That currently seems like the best path towards a new autopilot. I'm not aware of what is going on in that direction.
Mike C.
