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Trio Avionics or TruTrak

H

houndsfour

Active Member
Starting to have some problems with my 300 hour old Navaid and I'm planing on replaceing it this winter.
Question I have is which is best, the Trutrack system or the Tiro Avionics system?
I don't want to start a pissy contast just some idea of any problems with either system and how the support is with each before I put my money out.
Did I mention that my wife said the budget is limited?
Thanks
Rich
RV6 N721ET
 
houndsfour said:
Starting to have some problems with my 300 hour old Navaid and I'm planing on replaceing it this winter.
Question I have is which is best, the Trutrack system or the Tiro Avionics system?
I don't want to start a pissy contast just some idea of any problems with either system and how the support is with each before I put my money out.
Did I mention that my wife said the budget is limited?
Thanks
Rich
RV6 N721ET
Click to expand...

Rich, both TruTrak and Trio build fine systems. If budget is a high priority, and if you can determine your Navaid servo is still good, you might consider the Trio EZ-Pilot since it will work fine with the Navaid servo. TruTrak produced a Navaid-compatible DigiTrak but I believe it has been discontinued.

You will find both vendors have excellent customer service. I don't want to start any picky contests either, but if you compare the features of the Trio EZ-Pilot to the entry level TruTrak DigiTrak (both are about the same price point), the advanced feature-set of the EZ-Pilot will be interesting.

Either system will be light years ahead of what the Navaid was capable of delivering. Enjoy! :)
 
Hey Sam,
Don't you guys sleep down there? I didn't exspect a reply so quickly. Thanks

About the servo, Flying my 6 with the Navaid servo mounted under the passanger seat causes a very slight pitch change whit any roll comand. Left turn = up, right turn = down. Just enough to drive ya nuts. I found out why this is happening so my question is, were did you mount your servo?

Rich
 
houndsfour said:
About the servo, Flying my 6 with the Navaid servo mounted under the passanger seat causes a very slight pitch change whit any roll comand. Left turn = up, right turn = down. Just enough to drive ya nuts. I found out why this is happening so my question is, were did you mount your servo?
Click to expand...

My "Navaid" servo, which is used with the Trio system is mounted in the wing tip on the last rib. Sam has pics of this type of installation on his web site. Since I installed it after the wing (RV6A) was built, it was much easier this way.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
houndsfour said:
Hey Sam,
Don't you guys sleep down there? I didn't exspect a reply so quickly. Thanks

About the servo, Flying my 6 with the Navaid servo mounted under the passanger seat causes a very slight pitch change whit any roll comand. Left turn = up, right turn = down. Just enough to drive ya nuts. I found out why this is happening so my question is, were did you mount your servo?

Rich
Click to expand...

You might be able to tune the pitch input out of the installation with some careful tweaking of servo pushrod and attachments. But, if not, the easiest retrofit for a flying -6 will be to mount the servo at a wingtip on the end of the spar. This gives you a straight shot to the aileron bellcrank, great servo access (as long as your wingtips aren't riveted to the wing) without the huge hassle of working inside the very confined -6 wing inspection hole. Some details here:

http://thervjournal.com/navaid.html
 
Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll be ordering a Trio shortly. I was leaning in that direction and you have reinforced my thoughts. I think I'll keep my Navaid servo as it seens to be doing the job.
My wing tip is held on with screws so that won't be a problem.
Thanks again.
Rich
RV6 N721ET
 
Rich I flew many hours on the Trio with the NavAid servo. It worked great.
Sams comments are spot on.
Best,
 
Tru-Trak

The TT Pictorial Pilot (roll) and Altrak (pitch) autopilots are splendid devices in my -7. TT now packages them both in a 3 1/8 instrument that also includes their synthetic attitude indicator. You'll have to discuss this with your wife as you'll need their servos. The pitch servo is a new function for you and it is easily mounted behind the baggage bulkhead.

All I've ever heard about Trio is good, but no personal experience.

John Siebold
 
Try the Trio

If somebody building in your area can loan you a Trio EZ control head isn't it a direct plug in for your Navaid's control head? In a 1/2 hour you could answer your question with confidence that the Trio is your answer.
 
Bryan Wood said:
If somebody building in your area can loan you a Trio EZ control head isn't it a direct plug in for your Navaid's control head? In a 1/2 hour you could answer your question with confidence that the Trio is your answer.
Click to expand...

The Trio EZ-Pilot is plug-n-play with the Navaid servo if you have the adapter cable that is available from Trio. The cable converts the Trio DB connector to the Navaid molex.
 
I knew this was a great place for rv'ers to ask questions but just have to thank all for your candid answers.
The cheif bean counter has approved the purchase of the Tiro. ( I let her think she's the boss) so I'll be ordering the control head, navaid cable and the wing tip srevo mounting kit.
I'll wait till the weather turns cold and windy and then install it.
Rich
RV6 N721ET
 
Been flying with the Trio EZ-Pilot for about 2 years. Had a few issues getting set up & Jerry was quick to call me back and walk thru the configuration. My problem not theirs. Not many companies out there where the Owner/President calls you back to help.

A year later, I had an issue with the display. Even though it was out of warrantee, they were quick to fix it and return it to me with a new display type. No Charge for replacement or shipping.

Great company, great service & great product.
 
Jetj01 replaced his old Navaid with the Trio EZ-Pilot a couple years ago in the RV6 he just sold. It was a plug-n-play install using the adapter cable. I installed a mini toggle switch later so he could select between the Garmin x96 portable and panel mount King GPS sources and the Trio works fine driven from either GPS.
 
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