Not a comm but an avionics question AT150

Okay, I must have been in a cave building for the last few years! Why are there so many Narco AT-150's on ebay? I am at the point of needing a transponder and cant figure out whats wrong with them that is causing so many to be sold.
Thanks for the answers.

Paul
N694BP Reserved

I can give my opinion. And remember, that's all it is. I DON'T LIKE NARCO!!!!!
Every piece of Narco avionics I have tried to use has turn out to be a bag of sh........ When I call Narco for help...there is none. Obviously some people like Narco. Otherwise they would not be is business. Just my opnion.
As far as transponders go, I like Garmin. I replaced my King KT-76A with a Garmin GTX-320A, and I love it. No warm up time and less power drain than the King and power output is consistently higher.
Mel...DAR

My AT-150 is OK

I have no opinion about Narco - I just don't have the experience to have an opinion. That said, My C-150 had the AT-150 in it when I got it six years ago and still does. I've never had a moment's trouble with it and it's been IFR legal that whole time. Just data.
h

Narco Experience

Having previously owned a Narco MK-12D, I tend to agree with Mel's comment. Although my radio did work okay, the service I got from them when it started having problems was ridiculous.

While a lot of radio shops will work on old King products, I don't know any that will touch Narco (it has to be sent to Narco direct for repairs). I did so with my old radio, and it took them 3-4 months to get it back (after being quoted 4-6 weeks. They could not figure out the problem, and it sounded like their engineers were at a loss as well.

Bottom line....I think the products are decent, but the service is terrible (if they ever need repairs).

The reasons are severalfold.

First, OLD technology. Cavity tubes are going the way of the dinosaur. The new solid state units are far superior...no warm up time, cheap to repair (cavity tube txpdrs can be really expensive to repair).

Second, Narco went from being the leader in avionics some years ago to being a virtual non-player. Dealer networks vanished, support vanished, and product development....well....just look at their stuff!

Until they come out with some new stuff that has new technololgy, uses serial communication and actually are willing to support customers then I think you'll see them slowly dissapear. Machined D-Sub connectors are also so much more enjoyable to work with then the old molex card connectors.

It's rather ironic that their biggest market it is "plug & play" retrofits with King KT's (which there are also a pile of on the used market) and old Cessna ARC's. It's ironic because King also seems to be trying really hard to get out of the GA market. Try to get customer support from them...I kind of lump both companies together when it comes to good support or good products.....it's kind of sad..from the 50's to the 70's 90% of all avionics were Narcos. Then from the 70's to the 90's everything was King products. Now....well it's Garmin for the time being, until a competitor emerges. (it's not IF, just when).

Anyway, those are my observations and 2 cents.

Cheers,
Stein.

Perhaps another reason!

I searched around on Narco's site and found this SB-6:
"It has been found that the above referenced transponders do not respond properly to some
interrogations by Air Traffic Control, Mode S radar sensor and by airborne Traffic Alert
and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS-II) requiring the P4 pulse to be present. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has advised Narco Avionics that the ATC system
operations will be enhanced with the inclusion of the P4 pulse. By incorporation of this
Service Bulletin, the affected transponders will operate correctly within the current and
future systems. Note: If SB 1 was previously performed, skip to ?TESTING THE
MODIFICATION,? Step 1 and ensure chassis level marking was changed from A_ to B_."
Guess I'll stay away from these on Ebay! Thanks for all the responses.

Paul
N694BP Reserved

The last 27 years I have 0wned five aircraft one with an AT50a and three with AT150 NEVER had a failure. I had a transmitter problem on a Mark 12D sent it to Narco was repaired and back in two weeks with upgrades for $200. I just bought a AT150 on ebay for $613 for my -8 looking for a Mark 12D with G.S.

Jim G