5 hours.
Last time I went flying, there was a very odd glitch. On the first takeoff of the day, if I do a quick pattern, on base leg before final, I’ll lose my AHRS and compass. This was intermittent, and I couldn’t reproduce it on the ground. This week it got worse: If I landed and taxied back to the hangar and shut down the engine, the instruments would come back. With the engine running, the AHRS and compass are inop. This is WEIRD. Strange things happen when voltage dips below 10v, but my backup battery and system voltage both were above 12v. A quick check of the RCA cables revealed one loose.
Bingo. RCA cables as aircraft duty connectors are a the worst idea in a collection of bad ideas, but there’s not a lot I can do about it. Added item to maintenance checklist. No weirdness from the radio either.
But the futzing around cost me an hour of valuable good weather. I had planned to get 4 hours of flight time today; I got 2. That’s only 14 hours left on the Phase 1 countdown clock. But I need all this crap to stop happening so I can do some real tests.
Onward.