WHILE IN IMC; THE PLT OF A C172 DIALED IN THE WRONG VOR RADIAL FOR FINAL APCH RESULTING IN APCH CTLR ALERTING THE PLT THAT HE WAS 2 MI S OF THE FINAL VOR APCH COURSE.

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FOR NAV; MY PLANE HAS 1 NAV/COM (KX155 WITH FLIP-FLOP FREQS); ADF; VFR LORAN. I PLACE A HANDHELD WHICH GIVES VOR RADIAL READOUT ON THE L SIDE OF THE PANEL. I HAVE USED THIS ARRANGEMENT SUCCESSFULLY FOR MANY YRS FOR IFR FLT AND APCHS. FOR INTXNS; I USE A HANDHELD RADIO AND LORAN FOR POS INFO AND CONFIRM BY MOMENTARILY SWITCHING THE KX155 TO THE OTHER VOR AND CHKING THE XRADIAL. AWOS INFO FOR LANSING; IL (IGQ) AND JOLIET; IL (JOT) SUGGESTED CEILINGS ABOVE THE MDA AT 1C2. FOR THE VOR-A APCH TO 1C2; OFFIT INTXN IS 262 DEGS CGT AND 358 DEGS EON. WHILE TRACKING THE FINAL APCH COURSE FROM CGT; THE HANDHELD INDICATED THE PLANE TO BE AT OFFIT. I SWITCHED THE KX155 TO EON AND CONFIRMED. WHEN I SWITCHED IT BACK TO CGT; I ROTATED THE OBS TO 252 DEGS INSTEAD OF 262 DEGS FOR THE FINAL APCH COURSE AND FLEW TO CTR THE CDI. APCH CALLED TO TELL ME I WAS 2 MI S OF THE FINAL APCH AND TOLD ME TO CLB IMMEDIATELY TO 2500 FT. I RESPONDED THAT THE CDI INDICATED ME TO BE ON THE FINAL APCH COURSE; THEN NOTICED THE INCORRECT SETTING OF THE OBS. I IMMEDIATELY CLBED AND TOLD APCH I WOULD DO THE APCH AGAIN. ON THE SECOND APCH TO 1C2; APPARENTLY I WAS STILL OVERLOADED. AFTER PASSING OFFIT; I DID THE MISSED APCH UPON REACHING MDA OF 1340 FT INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR THE TIME TO ELAPSE. WHEN THE APCH CTLR ASKED ME WHY I DID THE MISSED APCH. I TOLD HIM I WAS AT MDA AND STILL IN THE CLOUDS. I ASKED FOR VECTORS FOR ILS RWY 30 AT GARY; IN; AND LANDED THERE. PROBABLY THE MAIN FACTOR IN THIS SIT WAS THE OVERLOAD DUE TO THE LIMITED IFR APPROVED NAV EQUIP IN MY PLANE. ALTHOUGH THE TAF FOR MDW; 20 MI NE OF 1C2; INDICATED POSSIBLE VERY LOW CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES; THE AREA FORECAST FOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS INDICATED CLOUDS EXPECTED TO BE 1500 FT AGL; AND I FELT COMFORTABLE CONTINUING TO MY DEST. I SHOULD RAISE MY PERSONAL MINIMUMS WHILE USING THE LIMITED NAV EQUIP IN MY PLANE. THE FIRST MISTAKE INTERFERED WITH THE PROPER USE OF IFR PROCS DURING THE SECOND APCH; THAT I HAVE LEARNED AND TAUGHT FOR YRS. I WILL PRACTICE MORE OFTEN AND IMPROVE COCKPIT INFO MGMNT TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DEAL WITH UNEXPECTED SITS. I USUALLY PLACE MY TIMER NEXT TO THE APCH PLATE ON THE WHEEL; BUT I WAS USING A TIMER ON THE LOWER L SIDE OF THE PANEL; OUT OF MY USUAL VIEW FOR APCHS. AT NO TIME WAS CTL OF THE PLANE A PROB.