Narrative:

Enroute on an IFR plan at 9000 feet in VMC I noticed the ammeter was reading zero. I turned off all unnecessary equipment to include autopilot; 2nd communication/navigation radio. I also lowered the screen brightness on GPS to minimum level. I recycled master and waited 30 seconds. Attempted this twice. I then noticed the volt meter begin to drop. I contacted ATC and informed them I was losing electrical and would like to cancel IFR and proceed VFR to my destination. I asked for a VFR altitude and was given and climbed to 9500 feet. I changed my squawk to VFR. I recycled my electrical and was briefly able to reach ATC and was given a unique squawk code by ATC. After I lost my aircraft radios completely and realized my handheld was not working; I began to squawk 7600; just in case the transponder had sufficient electrical to functionthough ATC did not object to me proceeding VFR to my destination; I thought it prudent to attempt contact to confirm there were no issues with my plan to continue the flight. I was unable to reestablish contact. Therefore; I continued as discussed with the last controller with whom I could communicate. I continued at 9500 feet and then began a vfr descent to 5500 which would place me 500 feet above class C airspace. Upon reaching this altitude; I attempted to contact approach via my handheld and was successful. The controller was aware of my situation and directed me to not descend below 5500 feet. I told him I planned to proceed to ZZZ he advised he would prefer I go to ZZZ as [the main] airport was very busy. As I was proceeding to my destination; I was warned by foreflight that I was about to enter a tfr. I changed course to avoid the tfr; not having sufficient time to determine if the tfr was active. I attempted to contact approach to inform him of this course change (though he had not told me to hold a heading). I finally did reach him as I was turning back to the east as I circled around the tfr. He advised me tfr not yet active and to maintain my current heading. I proceeded at the current heading; though I may have deviated somewhat as I had only noted the direction on my ipad and not the actual heading on the dg. If I did deviate; ATC did not inform me. After a while approach advised me to turn direct to ZZZ and to inform him when I began my descent. I proceeded to turn and hold altitude; and quickly realized I had lost 200 ft. Which I quickly regained. I then advised ATC that I was ready to begin my descent. I proceeded to ZZZ while beginning my descent as directed and informed approach when I had ZZZ in site. I landed without incident; using manual override to lower landing gear. I had been asked by approach to call them to advise safe landing; but upon landing was informed by airport staff that ATC had called them and were informed I had landed safely. I proceeded to secure my aircraft and did call approach to thank them for their help.I decided to continue to ZZZ rather than land immediately for several reasons. Of primary importance; the aircraft was running perfectly and there were no indications of a failure that would compromise safety. I knew electrical was not necessary for the engine to continue to run. Having briefed the weather and with independent battery powered adsb weather and navigation coupled with my ipad onboard; I knew I could reach the airport VFR. I also had a handheld radio and even though I had not been able to reach center at 9500 ft. I felt I would be able to reach approach and the traffic advisory frequency at ZZZ when at a lower altitude. I did not want to land at an unknown airport for which I had no accommodations or knowledge as to maintenance personnel to repair the aircraft. This was especially important given the purpose of the trip was to take my son; a cancer patient who was in between chemotherapy treatments for a few days to enjoy the mountains. If I landed elsewhere; it may have been difficult to have the aircraft repaired or to find accommodations and a rental car to return back home. I had been to ZZZ before and knew they had a large general aviation community and I expected it would be easy to find a qualified mechanic. Further; we already had a place to stay and a vehicle. Continuing VFR to our destination was the best choice. Thoughts about the flight:1) the decision to cancel IFR and proceed VFR to my destination did not compromise safety. I maintained VFR taking care to not invade airspace where radio communication was required. When near class C airspace; I successfully established communication with ATC using my handheld and followed their directions.2) I probably should not have changed my squawk code to VFR without direction from ATC.3) I should purchase headset attachment as I believe any deviations which may have occurred during this flight were due to having to remove my headset in order to speak on a handheld in a noisy aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During cruise; on an IFR flight plan; the pilot of a Piper Arrow PA28R-180 reported noticing he was losing electrical power. The pilot continued to his destination VFR while using a handheld radio to communicate with ATC.

Narrative: Enroute on an IFR plan at 9000 feet in VMC I noticed the ammeter was reading zero. I turned off all unnecessary equipment to include autopilot; 2nd COM/NAV radio. I also lowered the screen brightness on GPS to minimum level. I recycled master and waited 30 seconds. Attempted this twice. I then noticed the volt meter begin to drop. I contacted ATC and informed them I was losing electrical and would like to cancel IFR and proceed VFR to my destination. I asked for a VFR altitude and was given and climbed to 9500 feet. I changed my squawk to VFR. I recycled my electrical and was briefly able to reach ATC and was given a unique squawk code by ATC. After I lost my aircraft radios completely and realized my handheld was not working; I began to squawk 7600; just in case the transponder had sufficient electrical to functionThough ATC did not object to me proceeding VFR to my destination; I thought it prudent to attempt contact to confirm there were no issues with my plan to continue the flight. I was unable to reestablish contact. Therefore; I continued as discussed with the last controller with whom I could communicate. I continued at 9500 feet and then began a vfr descent to 5500 which would place me 500 feet above Class C airspace. Upon reaching this altitude; I attempted to contact approach via my handheld and was successful. The controller was aware of my situation and directed me to not descend below 5500 feet. I told him I planned to proceed to ZZZ he advised he would prefer I go to ZZZ as [the main] airport was very busy. As I was proceeding to my destination; I was warned by Foreflight that I was about to enter a TFR. I changed course to avoid the TFR; not having sufficient time to determine if the TFR was active. I attempted to contact approach to inform him of this course change (though he had not told me to hold a heading). I finally did reach him as I was turning back to the east as I circled around the TFR. He advised me TFR not yet active and to maintain my current heading. I proceeded at the current heading; though I may have deviated somewhat as I had only noted the direction on my iPad and not the actual heading on the DG. If I did deviate; ATC did not inform me. After a while approach advised me to turn direct to ZZZ and to inform him when I began my descent. I proceeded to turn and hold altitude; and quickly realized I had lost 200 ft. which I quickly regained. I then advised ATC that I was ready to begin my descent. I proceeded to ZZZ while beginning my descent as directed and informed approach when I had ZZZ in site. I landed without incident; using manual override to lower landing gear. I had been asked by approach to call them to advise safe landing; but upon landing was informed by airport staff that ATC had called them and were informed I had landed safely. I proceeded to secure my aircraft and did call approach to thank them for their help.I decided to continue to ZZZ rather than land immediately for several reasons. Of primary importance; the aircraft was running perfectly and there were no indications of a failure that would compromise safety. I knew electrical was not necessary for the engine to continue to run. Having briefed the weather and with independent battery powered ADSB weather and navigation coupled with my iPad onboard; I knew I could reach the airport VFR. I also had a handheld radio and even though I had not been able to reach center at 9500 ft. I felt I would be able to reach approach and the traffic advisory frequency at ZZZ when at a lower altitude. I did not want to land at an unknown airport for which I had no accommodations or knowledge as to maintenance personnel to repair the aircraft. This was especially important given the purpose of the trip was to take my son; a cancer patient who was in between chemotherapy treatments for a few days to enjoy the mountains. If I landed elsewhere; it may have been difficult to have the aircraft repaired or to find accommodations and a rental car to return back home. I had been to ZZZ before and knew they had a large general aviation community and I expected it would be easy to find a qualified mechanic. Further; we already had a place to stay and a vehicle. Continuing VFR to our destination was the best choice. Thoughts about the flight:1) The decision to cancel IFR and proceed VFR to my destination did not compromise safety. I maintained VFR taking care to not invade airspace where radio communication was required. When near class C airspace; I successfully established communication with ATC using my handheld and followed their directions.2) I probably should not have changed my squawk code to VFR without direction from ATC.3) I should purchase headset attachment as I believe any deviations which may have occurred during this flight were due to having to remove my headset in order to speak on a handheld in a noisy aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.