TIL that old DME unit I pulled out of a King Air still works fine

Pulled a DME unit out of a King Air 90 last Tuesday over at the hangar in Bakersfield. It was a Collins 860E-5, must have been sitting in storage since the Reagan administration. I figured I'd just scrap it, but out of curiosity I hooked it up to the bench power supply and a test set. Fired right up, locked onto a VORTAC 20 miles away within 30 seconds. Made me think about how much simpler stuff was 30 years ago. Now everything is LRUs with software updates and I spend half my week troubleshooting databus errors. I mean, that old unit had maybe 40 transistors in it total. Has anyone else run into old gear that just refuses to die?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrewh9515d ago

Feel you on this, man. There's something satisfying about gear that was built with real craftsmanship and just keeps going no matter what. That Collins unit sounds like a TANK.

the_sean15d ago

Actually used to be the opposite way for me. I was all about the newest, shiniest stuff (you know, chasing specs and numbers). Then my buddy let me use his old Marantz receiver from the 70s and it completely flipped my thinking. That thing weighs more than my current TV and sounds richer than anything I've ever owned. Now I get why people hold onto this gear so long. It's not just nostalgia, it's genuinely built to last and perform better than a lot of modern stuff.