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william weesner
we a radio
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Van's Air Force
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Bob Martin
Well Known Member
radios
Take a good look at the SL-40....a lot of bang for the buck.
Good Luck.
Take a good look at the SL-40....a lot of bang for the buck.
Good Luck.
The SL-40 is comm only. The SL-30 is the SWEET comm/nav. It has a built-in CDI which will be fine for VFR, thus saving you another $1,500 for a remote CDI. You can upgrade later by adding a remote CDI to be IFR legal. Should you use a BMA or GRT EFIS versus the Dynon, you'll get an HSI capability now with bare minimum IFR ability with the single SL-30. You'll also be able to select radio frequencies through the EFIS. The SL-30 also has the ability to listen to 2 freqs at once. It's the next best thing to having 2 nav/comms. Everyone I've spoken with say there is no beating an SL-30 for value, power, performance and features.
Also, you might consider the VAL INST 421 combined with an ICOM A200. The VAL INST is an integrated CDI and NAV receiver while the ICOM is a flip/flop comm only. Both get great reviews from users and this combination will cost you about $3-400 less than an SL-30 but may provide fewer features. Of course, it will provide a full CDI, glide slope and marker beacon so maybe you get more value in the end.
Selecting your panel and comm nav stack can be the most fun and most frustrating part of the project. Just be careful though, it's also where most cost growth and budget overuns come from.
I started my build with the idea of having a night VFR panel with a 6-pack, a VAL INST 421 and a single ICOM A200 and I now have an IFR panel, GRT Horizon 1 EFIS, an SL-30, an SL-40, a KMD-150 (5 inch color MFD w/ GPS), GTX-327 and a PMA-8000B. The panel cost went from about $7 or 8K, all-up, to $24K. This can be an insideous phenomenum.
Jekyll
Also, you might consider the VAL INST 421 combined with an ICOM A200. The VAL INST is an integrated CDI and NAV receiver while the ICOM is a flip/flop comm only. Both get great reviews from users and this combination will cost you about $3-400 less than an SL-30 but may provide fewer features. Of course, it will provide a full CDI, glide slope and marker beacon so maybe you get more value in the end.
Selecting your panel and comm nav stack can be the most fun and most frustrating part of the project. Just be careful though, it's also where most cost growth and budget overuns come from.
I started my build with the idea of having a night VFR panel with a 6-pack, a VAL INST 421 and a single ICOM A200 and I now have an IFR panel, GRT Horizon 1 EFIS, an SL-30, an SL-40, a KMD-150 (5 inch color MFD w/ GPS), GTX-327 and a PMA-8000B. The panel cost went from about $7 or 8K, all-up, to $24K. This can be an insideous phenomenum.
Jekyll
Not to take it off topic but you were asking about backups and steam gauges and stuff too. I guess the question would be, if you're setting up for VFR, why would you have a backup for anything? Maybe a handheld comm so that you can turn runway lights on and off....convenient at night if the main comm dies.
I did lots of night cross country in an old citabria that had a very cool Apollo gps/comm and ultrabasic flight instruments (turn coordinator, altitude, airspeed). It's really a very usable combination and didn't seem at all unsafe. SL30 with a handheld GPS and a dynon would kick butt. If you wanted to upgrade to IFR later, you could always add one of the IFR Garmin GPS/Comm and a Blue Mountain Lite (Sport? whatever...I forget what they call it) that will give you a CDI AND a full backup of flight instruments for the Dynon. That'd give you just about everything you could want for IFR operations, I think.
Not a suggestion, and not an opinion....just some random thoughts.
I did lots of night cross country in an old citabria that had a very cool Apollo gps/comm and ultrabasic flight instruments (turn coordinator, altitude, airspeed). It's really a very usable combination and didn't seem at all unsafe. SL30 with a handheld GPS and a dynon would kick butt. If you wanted to upgrade to IFR later, you could always add one of the IFR Garmin GPS/Comm and a Blue Mountain Lite (Sport? whatever...I forget what they call it) that will give you a CDI AND a full backup of flight instruments for the Dynon. That'd give you just about everything you could want for IFR operations, I think.
Not a suggestion, and not an opinion....just some random thoughts.
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Jconard
Well Known Member
If the goal is to update later to IFR, (which is my goal), why not get a simple inexpensive comm.
I went with XCOM because it is cheap and light. It is a really nice unit, and it has an excellent internal intercom. Really, the internal intercom works great.
I had a few other thoughts with this. 1, things will probably change in the Nav Comm world, and I may want the newer unit in the future...SL series is due for an update in the next few years. 2, More experimental Efis will have remote nav-comms which are tuned by the efis. Rumor is garmin is coming out with an Efis, I bet it tunes remote radios, and OP Tech already does this. 3, when I upgrade to IFR, I am not sure that VOR functionality will even be necessary, perhaps primary GPS, or a combination unit.
But all in all, I want to minimize cost and weight at this stage, leaving options open for the future.
I went with XCOM because it is cheap and light. It is a really nice unit, and it has an excellent internal intercom. Really, the internal intercom works great.
I had a few other thoughts with this. 1, things will probably change in the Nav Comm world, and I may want the newer unit in the future...SL series is due for an update in the next few years. 2, More experimental Efis will have remote nav-comms which are tuned by the efis. Rumor is garmin is coming out with an Efis, I bet it tunes remote radios, and OP Tech already does this. 3, when I upgrade to IFR, I am not sure that VOR functionality will even be necessary, perhaps primary GPS, or a combination unit.
But all in all, I want to minimize cost and weight at this stage, leaving options open for the future.
