New pilot aware case very warm

[design4p]

I now starting to use my new pilot aware and after a 45 minute flight I was putting the unit into my flight bag and was surprised to find the unit quite warm/hot.

I'm not an electronic guy but I do know that being warm/hot is generally not a good thing in electronics.

Has anyone else had this or is it really normal and the unit won't catch fire or burn out to fail.

John

[Keithvinning]

Hi John

It is quite normal for the PilotAware Classic unit to get warm. Don't be alarmed. The main sources of heat are the RTL dongle and possibly the wifi dongle.

Be aware though that if you put your PilotAware Classic on the cowling in full sunlight the solar gain will be greater than the power dissipated through the electronics.

PilotAware takes about 2A at 5Volts so 10Watts. As it doesn't move, and only emits a small amount of light  the majority of this power is dissipated in transmitted power and heat.

Keith