For those of you who are having problems seeing your Sandel HSI under certain
circumstances, there are a few things that were recently brought to my attention
that need to be considered....

First of all, all glass panel displays are subject to some degree of washout
when viewed in direct sunlight.  Some will be affected more, some less.  The
best way to prevent, or at least minimize washout, is to have the instrument
located on the panel in such a way that it will get the benefit of the overhang of the glare shield (thus the name <g>.)  Needless to say, bright sunlight
that gets around the glareshield (quartering sunshine, etc) is a different
matter, and I guess that until something different is done with the Sandel
backlight, that could still be an issue.

The other item to consider is that each Sandel HSI is equipped with a prism
which focuses the backlight selectively based on the location of the instrument
in the panel and how it's going to be viewed... the part number inlcudes a -L for viewing from the Left, a -C for viewing from either side, and a -R for viewing from the Right.  If you have a -L instrument located in the middle of
the six pack right in front of the pilot's seat, it is unlikely that it will
be viewable from the passenger seat.  You might want to check the serial number
on your unit to see what dash letter it contains... perhaps your unit is
configured improperly for the type of viewing you desire and have installed
for.

This information was shared with me by Gary Wirrell of Aerotronics, and I'm
sure that if you direct your questions about these things to Gary via the LML
he'd be happy to chime in and give you the straight scoop.

  <Marv>