SMA PLT ENTERS TCA WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative

WHILE ON A VFR FLT I ENCOUNTERED SOME HVY TSTMS AROUND THE LAL AREA GOOD VFR WX UP THE W COAST OF FLORIDA PROMPTED ME TO DEV TO THE W OF MY INTENDED COURSE. I ALMOST ALWAYS USE FLT FOLLOWING; BUT I HAD BEEN DROPPED EARLIER IN THE FLT SO I HAD TO REESTABLISH WITH APCH CTL. I WAS SE OF GIBBS INTXN AND OUTSIDE THE TCA WHEN I BEGAN TO ESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT. 3 FREQS LATER; I FINALLY GOT THE RIGHT CTLR WHO ADVISED ME THAT I WAS JUST INSIDE THE TCA. HE WAS VERY NICE ABOUT IT AND VERY PROFESSIONAL ABOUT IT AT THE SAME TIME. THERE WERE SEVERAL CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THIS CASE. FIRST OF ALL; I WAS OBVIOUSLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE TSTMS; ALTHOUGH I WOULD NOT HAVE CONSIDERED THAT MY REASON FOR ENTERING THE TCA. SECOND FACTOR; MY DME WAS NOT WORKING PROPERLY WHICH WAS NOT CRITICAL BUT CAUSED ME TO GRAB AN OLD JACKSONVILLE SECTIONAL CHART VERSUS MY CURRENT WAC CHART. THIRD; IT TOOK TALKING TO 3 CTLRS TO GET THE PROPER ONE AND ESTABLISH RADAR CONTACT; EVEN THOUGH I WAS USING CURRENT FREQ INFO. FOURTH AND MOST IMPORTANTLY; I WAS USING A 4 YR OLD CHART (JACKSONVILLE SECTIONAL) WHEN I HAD A CURRENT WAC CHART SITTING ON THE SEAT BESIDE ME. I HAD ELECTED TO USE THE SECTIONAL FOR BETTER DETAIL; FORGETTING THAT THE OLD ARSA LINES WERE QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TCAS. I BELIEVE THAT I AM A SAFE FLYER; I ALWAYS FLY WITH IFR AND VFR CURRENT CHARTS AND SINCE I LIVE UNDER A TCA I AM QUITE AWARE OF THE RULES AND BOUNDARIES. ON THIS PARTICULAR FLT I SAW NO NEED TO BUY NEW SECTIONALS AFTER ALREADY BUYING A WAC CHART; APCH PLATES; AND IFR CHARTS. IN SUMMARY; I THOUGHT I WAS CONTACTING THE APCH CTLR WELL IN ADVANCE AND HAD REALLY EXPECTED TO FLY AROUND THE TCA; BUT THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD TO REESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT. OBVIOUSLY; TO MY SURPRISE I MADE A BAD MISTAKE WHEN INTERPRETING THE OLDER BUT MORE DETAILED SECTIONAL CHART; EVEN THOUGH I WAS QUITE AWARE OF THE NEW TCA'S PRESENCE. THE ANSWER; THE EXTRA $12.00 FOR THE 2 SECTIONALS REQUIRED FOR THE TRIP PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER BUY THEN THE ONE CURRENT WAC CHART.