In late June 2021, I had a business meeting scheduled in Salt Lake City, Utah, so I was happy to have a good excuse for a cross-country flight from Ithaca, NewYork, in my 1979 Cessna 210N. I had an uneventful flight to the Northern Colorado Regional Airport (KFNL) near Loveland and Fort Collins, where I had planned to overnight and head to Salt Lake City InternationalAirport (KSLC) the next day. I filed IFR for KSLC via the northern route, which has somewhat lower minimum en route altitudes (MEAs). Shortly after passing the Medicine Bow (MBW) VOR, I noticed red flags on both Aspens (PFD and MFD), as well as major electrical discharge indications of the ammeter on the JPI930 engine monitor. I shut off all electronics except the Garmin GTN 750 and headed back to KFNL with ATC guidance. Denver Center suggested a landing at the Laramie airport (KLAR), but I feared there would be minimal maintenance facilities. Besides, the engine was running smoothly and I was in VFR conditions, so I elected to return to KFNL.
About 30 nm north of the airport, I lost radio contact with Denver Center as the GTN 750 screen and the rest of the instrument panel went dark. I connected the Icom handheld radio to my Lightspeed headset and continued trying to reach Denver and the KFNL tower. I was reminded that without an exterior antenna for the Icom handheld radio, its range is only a few miles. Radio communication with the remote KFNL tower was finally accomplished about 4 nm north of the airport as I entered a long left downwind for Runway 33. Denver had offered to give me block space for landing at KFNL, and they diverted traffic until after I landed. They also provided their phone number and requested that I telephone them immediately after landing. After parking the airplane, I called Denver Center and reported my safe landing. They thanked me, wishing me luck.
