We give taking care of customers a lot of attention and focus. For a sense of how we're doing, here are a few comments from our customers and articles about us in popular magazines: 

Customer quotes:

"I have spent a lot of time hanging around airports. It takes me about 30 seconds to size up an aircraft maintenance shop. As I pulled up to San Luis Avionics it was clear this was a first class shop. Neat and clean hangar, customer lounge with coffee and everything in its place. The place just looked right. Don Dominguez had read all the email traffic from Cirrus and Garmin but I could tell he was not buying some of the ideas about what was wrong. 

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"I really appreciate your ongoing attention to detail in keeping my training fleet's avionics airworthy and flying."
                                                 Flight School Owner

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"Your portable Mobiltech SLA 55A unit gave me enough KCS 55A Compass system test and troubleshooting capability to satisfy the FSDO and sign me off on the spot."
                                          New Avionics Shop Owner

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"For the past 6 years, you've kept me flying with prompt and efficient service and minimal downtime. And I really love the topography on my new King KMD 150 color skymap. It gives me a great sense of positional security." 
                                         Commuting Business Owner

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"You accomplished what others said couldn't be done, integrating otherwise incompatible broadband components into a real-time voice/position/condition reporting link to power grid managers and ground repair crews."
                                      Airborne Survey Fleet Owner

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Article from Custom Planes Magazine, June 1999. 

     When you're building a plane, you want to make sure that the project falls within your capabilities as a craftsman. And if you find yourself getting in over your head, you'll solicit help from those who have been there, done that. That same common sense approach should apply to the avionics that are destined to light up your panel. If you possess a good knowledge of electronics, you could do a complete installation. But if you tend to get lost in a maze of schematics, you'd do well to work with an avionics shop. You can still save on installation costs by building the tray mounts, laying cable and performing other grunt work while getting the advantage of a shop's training and test equipment that could save you time and energy - and prevent you from making some very expensive toast.
     I'm going to pass on some installation tips that were provided by Don Dominguez, part owner and manager of San Luis Avionics, at the San Luis Obispo Airport (California). Dominguez frankly acknowledges that most of his homebuilder customers buy their radios via mail order. The cost is usually lower than going through a local shop, but if there's a problem with the box, the buyer's on his own. There are other pitfalls to long-distance buying. For example, I've seen ads from some mail-order outfits promoting GPS receivers that are no longer in production; these computerized sets get outdated in a hurry.

Do It Yourself Quiz
     Before you decide how much of the installation you want to tackle on your own, Dominguez suggests that you give yourself a quiz: Can I use hand crimpers? Do I know how to splice wire? Am I good at soldering? Have I ever assembled a BNC connector? What gauge wire do I need? What nuts, bolts, circuit breakers, lamps, switches and annunciators do I need? What antennas will I use?
     Dominguez says, "A nice way to start is to lay out a plan and think about the minimum requirements you have. Is it going to be a VFR or IFR aircraft? Is there special equipment you want, such as a moving-map display? You'll want to be sure the systems interface with each other. There's a lot of detail in parts acquisition. Think about the installation kits that you can get from the manufacturer."
     "Then, you have to get to your budget department and decide how much you want to spend, taking into account whatever professional help you will need."
     "Now, you've got your parts, and you're ready to start installing. The first thing you want to think about is antenna placement. I see a lot of noisy (radio noise) airplanes, especially in experimental aircraft with composite construction. You have to consider ground planes and the proximity of antennas - whether one antenna will be shadowing another. After you've got your antennas placed, you want to think about accessory placements: headphone and mic jacks, annunciators. Are the switches going to be easy to reach?"

Wise Advice
     Dominguez advises buying high-quality wire and fasteners, as well as the use of chafe guards, including grommets, when you're running through holes. When laying cable, make sure the coax has no tight bends and is secured properly, so there won't be rubbing or chafing. Don't run the wires too tightly; leave a little service loop, in case you want to add something in the future, such as a lighting wire.
     Proper cooling is essential to keep your valuable avionics healthy. Get a good aviation-type cooling fan; a cheaper unit, such as a computer fan, may cause such problems as static noise, hum, and com squelches breaking. Of course, have your cooling system in place before you install the radios. When you mount your trays, you'll want to think about back straps for support, space between the trays and running the cooling hose on the tray connectors.

Now, For the Hard Part
     Dominguez says, "You've got your trays mounted, and you've got back straps on there, and the radios slide in the slots, just the way you like them. Now, you need to fabricate the harnesses to wire everything into the aircraft. Obviously, you need to be able to read the installation schematics and know what size wire you need for each purpose. Wires that are going to be running power and grounds are going to be typically a little bit larger than audio signal wires. You also want the right circuit breaker for the equipment its protecting. Make sure you do whatever the manual tells you to do. If you don't install the radio properly - if you forget to cool it or you put the wrong voltage to it - you're going to lose your warranty."
     "One of the first things you want to do before you put those radios in the racks is to pin out the harness. You've got to make sure that you have your powers and the grounds on the right pins before you plug any radios in. A 20-minute check can save you thousands of dollars in smoked radios. Test it on the bench, if at all possible, or take it to an avionics shop and ask them to plug in the radios and make sure you got it right. Get the bugs worked out before you put it in the aircraft, if you can."

Better Safe Than Sorry
     "You've turned on the power and checked it out. Everything looks pretty good. Your next step is to have the local avionics shop with the ramp test equipment do a proper ops check. You want to be sure you have the right power on the transmitters and that the frequency, modulation and signals are functioning properly."
     "It's nice if you can have a shop do the harness for you, if it's in the budget. It's pre-tested, and everything is measured to length, and your avionics package comes together really easily. You can also have a panel made for you by an avionics shop if you're not really good a laying out the instruments and cutting the holes for them, but that can get a little costly."
     I asked Dominguez if he provides assistance to his customers, and if so, does he charge for it? He says, "It depends on the degree of assistance. If it's a quick telephone call, I'll give some advice, but if they want me to come down and inspect their airplane and I get tied up for an hour or so telling them where they should run the leads, etc., I'll have to charge them."
     If you'd rather stick to airplane-building and let the pros handle the complete avionics installation, there are shops that will deliver to your door a custom panel with all the radios in place, pre-wired and ready to play. I'll discuss the pros and cons of this route in a future column.