Since our props are fixed pitch the tachometer is a direct measurement of power. Of course you don’t know the absolute hp (have to know torque) but if you’re putting out a higher RPM, you’re pushing harder. So if you’re gonna have only one instrument, this is the one to have. It’s the only way to know if your machine is putting out its usual max.
This simple tach connects only to your spark plug wire with few wraps and to the instrument with an ingenious looping system that requires no screws. Wire tie it to a convenient location on your machine (throttle is nice) and it’s ready to run.
The readout is large enough even for my aging eyes and several functions are well suited to our needs. It can be configured for all of the spark types that paramotors use. It worked out of the box on my Black Devil 172. Besides current RPM, you can see the number of hours run, the number of starts, and the max RPM attained. It also works on 4-strokes but I didn’t get to try it one of those.
When I start the motor it sometimes reads a half multiple of the RPM then “latches on” and reads the actual RPM. It did not do this in cruise.
The guts are made by longtime fabricator Sendec whose name appears on the unit itself.
Like many of these units you cannot replace the batteries so, when they wear out, the unit must be replaced. Ughh.