Maintenance | Spectron Engineering

Notice

Spectron Engineering, Inc., located in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, is the only company authorized to perform any repairs, calibrations, modifications, etc. to anything made by Spectron Engineering, Inc.

If you have any questions regarding if a piece of equipment was made by us, please contact admin@SpectronEngineering.com with the part number, serial number, part name (if available), and a picture (if possible). We will get back with you as soon as possible.

While we can let you know if your equipment was made by Spectron Engineering, your path to obtain repair/calibration services will differ based on what agreements you have with other third parties who facilitate the repairs but do not perform them. Please see additional information at the bottom of this page to determine what your path is.

DASH equipment is currently being impacted by aging and obsolescence issues, and immediate action needs to be taken regarding service and maintenance.

Please carefully review the Light Tools and Cameras, Transports, and Controllers sections.

Light Tools

Boresight reference tools

Direct Display Alignment Tools: 1420-OMS-ADD-xx
HUD Alignment Tool: 1420-OMS-ACO-xx
HUD Simulator: 1500-OMS-HDS-xx

Affected units Serial no. 04050 or lower Luminance degradation has reached critical levels.

Spectron has recently become aware that the brightness of many of our alignment tools has decayed and luminance degradation in these aging tools has reached critical levels. Any tool with a serial number 04050 or lower is affected.

These tools were designed and engineered as boresight reference tools only. Spectron has only recently become aware that they are being used as brightness reference standards.

Because this was not the intended use case of these tools, their brightness is not currently guaranteed. Spectron does not condone the use of un-repaired tools as brightness standards. These older tools are not brightness stabilized, and using them invalidates calibrations of any equipment they are used to test.

Next steps and recommendations

Spectron has already developed a process to repair/refurbish the units, and there is currently a short turnaround time for repairs. Due to the impact of the luminance degradation, it is critical the above tools be returned to Spectron’s facilities in Colorado as soon as is practicable.

These tools will then need to be returned to Spectron, via your required path, at least every three years to have their luminance verified, stay ahead of declines in performance, and prevent related testing issues. To serve as a calibrated luminance standard, these tools must be re-calibrated every three years.

Other light tools that need regular luminance verification

These may or may not be attached to a Mount (1420-OMS-ABS-MT-x).

HUD Fixture Adapter: 1420-OMS-FHAU-xx
ABS Light Source: 1420-OMS-ABSS-xx
Gun Camera Image Source: 1420-OMS-GCI-xx

As a reminder, Spectron is the only company that is qualified to work on any equipment made by Spectron.

DASH Cameras, Transports, and Controllers

DASH transport — Transport 1420-HC-XP-xx

DASH controller — Controller 1420-HC-IS-xx

Current status

Cameras, transports, and controllers are the core components of the DASH system. These components are currently experiencing obsolescence issues and repairs are increasingly more difficult/expensive. Certain repairs are no longer possible, and soon Spectron will not be able to perform repairs on original DASH cameras, transports, and controllers at all.

Spectron’s “repair replacement” solution, DASH 2, is ready for production for the F-15 platform and by 2028, the F-16 platform will be ready for production as well.

DASH 2

F-15Ready for production now
F-16Ready for production by 2028

The DASH 2 components (camera, transport, and controller) will ultimately be the “repair replacement” for the three equivalent components in the original DASH system. Original components will need to be repaired/replaced in full sets to start out with, but may also be purchased individually and used interchangeably with other DASH 2 units.

DASH 2 components (cameras, transports, and controllers) will only be interchangeable with other DASH 2 components. However, they will integrate seamlessly with all other components of the existing DASH optical bench, such as HUD simulators, gun camera imagers, alignment tools, and other fixtures.

In developing DASH 2, Spectron has taken measures to ensure full compliance with all form, fit, and function requirements. It is a fully backward compatible, drop-in replacement for all three existing DASH components.

Next steps and recommendations

Spectron will no longer be building any original DASH cameras, transports, or controllers. We are reserving all remaining parts to ensure we can complete as many repairs as possible. Spectron’s recommendation is that any customers with original DASH components complete any needed repairs as soon as possible.

Should they wish to, customers can also begin placing orders for a full “repair replacement” set of the F-15 version of DASH 2.

Your Repair Path

US Military

Contact your designated repair path/Master Sergeant.

Customers with existing service contracts with Lockheed Martin or Boeing

Contact your designated representative within those companies.

All other customers

Pioneer Industries, LLC

We’re proud to be partnered with Pioneer Industries, LLC as the authorized Spectron Engineering repair/purchase agent for those customers not under purchase/service contracts elsewhere.

Please send all repair/purchase requests to: Pioneer Industries, LLC Chase Pugatch cpugatch@pioneerspares.com

All tools/equipment on this page are listed with any trailing numbers on your unit replaced with “x”s, as we make a number of variations, all of which are impacted.