Is an Audio Panel a necessity in a 2 seater?

With a GPS/NAV/COM (no 2nd NAV/COM) and an intercom is the audio panel necessary??

While the Garmin GMA 340 looks beautiful- the bleeding has to stop somewhere.

Am I missing something??

No

No it isn't necessary with that hardware configuration. You have to decide what you flying will require, what you want and what you can afford in the instrument panel of your airplane. With what you describe I assume you want to fly VFR for Pleasure. With the hardware you describe and the assumed intended usage the audio panel would be a waste in my opinion.

Bob Axsom

Steinair even has a swith for less than $5.00 that will let you switch from one nav/com to another without a need for an audio panel. So if you decide to add that second nav/com you are still OK. Nothing fancy but works fine.

my .02 worth. current exchange rate nearly nothing.

In making all of the choices we make configuring our panels, you have to make decisions in order of need, want, and "can I live without it".

Some of the features of various audio panels are auto squelch, VOX, recording and playback of transmissions (handy for VFR too), marker beacon lights (obviously not necessary for VFR), and especially the ability to port in other audio sources (listen to music while you travel), and probably some other handy little features as well.

So if none of those capabilities fall into any of the need, want, or "can't live without" category, then save $$$$, hook up a switch, and fly on.

For basic Day VFR you of course don't "need" an audio panel...you could simply switch the NAV audio going into an intercom (that's what I have in my old RV6).

That being said, if you want the capability to pipe in a lot of audio sources (like EFIS, Autopilot, Engine Monitor, AOA, etc..), then it's almost a necessity to buy an Audio panel. My thoughts on the -340....outdated and overpriced. My favorite...now the PMA-8000B (always seems like PSE is just one step ahead of Garmin when it comes to audio stuff), VOX, LOTS of inputs, built in aux jack and built in clearance recorder. Sure it costs more than a plain old intercom, but if you really want to have lots of audio functionality it's the only way to go.

If you plan on adding more stuff later, an audio panel also gives you a lot of room to grow and add stuff quite easily. All the newer "stuff" going into our panels seem to have a lot of audio alerts and trying to do it without an audio panel isn't nearly as easy as with one.

I have no audio panel in one plane and an older PSE in the other so like others have said, figure out what you want to do both now and possibly in the future and either way it's doable.

My 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein.

Audio Panels

To give some prespective you have to think about where we where jsut 15-20 years ago. The hey day of Audio panels has past. It was almost a must back in the day (Oh I am getting old) when you had approx 7 things to listen to:

2 Audio inputs from two Comm radios
2 VOR Nav (audio to ID the station or listen to TWEBS or Flt Service Station)
1 DME, again ID the station
1 NDB, Non-directional Beacon, again ID station
1 MB, Marker beacon, morris code (----)(.-.-)

Back in the day two Com's and Nav's where needed. The 2 Com's where nice because radios did not have Flip flop display/selection, so it was nice to have one active radio and one standby. Now we have single radios that have flip flops and memory select or can even receive two stations at the same time (Apollo SL30/SL40).


As far as NAV back in the day it was nice to have two Nav's: enroute one for TO and one for FROM the VOR, terminal area one set for arrival and one set for approach or for intersections defined by two radials. Today GPS. No audio or Nav station ID to check.

Most VFR and even IFR planes now have just one Comm (with the handy flip flop and station memory) and one GPS. Some GPS units will interface and tune the radio from it's data base of frequencies, based on the airport or airspace you are near!

Now if you are going to get into a more traditional dual Comm, ILS/LOC/VOR set up an audio panel may be very well needed in my opinion.

If you just have two Com's or even two NAV Com's, you can (as was said) come up with a small toggle to select the radio to transmit with (selects the PTT and Mic). Most radios today have several AUX inputs for audio, so you can feed 2, 3 or more audio inputs thru one radio. To control what you listen to, you adjust the individual radio's volumn to the level desired (from zero to loud). It can be done with out an audio panel.

Is an audio panel nice? Yes, it can be if you have more than 2 or 3 things to listen to. You can go with a new two radio PS engineering Audio/Panel intercom (for just two radios) or you can buy a used NARCO, Collins or King audio panel for a few 100 bucks. Than there are the new fancy audio panels, units that cost well over a grand. Good Luck George