grayforge

grayforge

Well Known Member
Hi folks,

I'm running comm/audio panel options through my head and having a hard time making a decision on my panel configuration.

Requirements:
  1. A good radio
  2. 2 Place intercom with stereo music input
  3. 2 or 3 other inputs from EFIS, etc.

Thoughts:
  1. The Garmin GTR 225 would be a nice option since I'm likely going G3X, but it has a mono intercom.
  2. Another option is the PS Engineering PAR 100EX. My concern with it is its 5w transmit power compared to the Garmin's 10w plus. An issue?
  3. Since I don't need an extra comm input or Nav/ADF inputs, a full audio panel seems way overkill.
  4. I suppose another option is Garmin GTR 225 + PM1200 intercom + mixing EFIS audio into music input
  5. I have Zulu 2 headsets w/bluetooth for Cell Phone use. Prefer to listen to music through wires vs bluetooth.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Russ
 
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Opinion

Since you asked..
I have an mgl v10 in my panel. It was 900, and is by far the best bang for the buck of any rvs I have seen or flown in. My dynon skyview feeds audio alerts to it, it has a full good quality intercom built in and the dual watch radio quality is second to none. For the money and simplicity I cant think of anything better. Down side is no blue tooth or music input, but in 320 hours of flying across the continent every way we can there are very few times we have really wanted music. Some of my buddies have 5K or more in radios and audio panels and another 2K for high end head sets. I have $900 in comm and two pairs of halos for $350 and love it. I didnt do it to be cheap, I got it because others spoke well of it, very simple, and its a lot of money to use for ads-b or synthetic vision or zoan traffic or paint, or avgas. Just what works for me and if i had to do it again would absoltulely do it the same. The idea of music in flight sounds good, but in theory seems we are always on flight following or passing through very busy c or d space with lots of radio work. Very seldom do we just turn on auto pilot and have silence. If we do...its kind of nice, dont need tunes. With all the options out there you can add a two axis auto pilot for a similar price to what some audio panels cost just for the one box. Get it flying, you can always update, upgrade down the road if you are really missing out or tech changes significantly or if you just have boxes or cash to spend.



Cheers.
 
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#2. I would not worry about 5 vs 10 watts
#3. Correct, a full audio panel is overkill.

I think PS Engineering's 3000 intercom has what you are looking for - stereo music, plus unswitched inputs for efis alarms, etc.

Another way to handle music is to run wires behind the panel, with input jacks for the CD, etc., and output jacks for each passenger. Then a short jumper to the electronics box for each Zulu. You could even panel mount volume controls (I find passengers sometimetimes want music loud, while pilot wants it soft). Down side of this is more wires in the cockpit.

Whatever you do, make sure your intercom only opens the mike circuit of whoever is speaking. Having two mikes open at once is twice the background noise.
 
Thanks for the input guys. Stein called me and added his thoughts:

  • The 5w PAR 100EX is a good radio and good intercom and the power isn't an issue for mostly VFR flying. Once I decide to go IFR and want longer range, I can add on a more powerful radio, if needed.
  • Some integrated radio/intercoms can be pretty limited, but the 100EX is basically a separate radio & intercom that happen to be combined in one package.
  • We also talked about iPads and how they integrate with AHRS, etc. He thinks my plan to use this as a backup EFIS is a fine one. Especially with the advancements in these setups that have been happening and are ongoing.

THAT's customer service. :)

Russ
 
I had another thought. The PS Engineering PAR100EX goes for $2270 at Aircraft Spruce.

The Garmin GTR 225 is $1800 and a PS Engineering PM 3000 stereo Intercom is $420, for a total price of $2220.

So one can get a Garmin 10w radio with nice G3X integration, plus a nice intercom for less than the 5w combo unit. The only drawback is extra panel space used by the GTR 225 + Intercom combo.

Hmmm...
 
I looked into it a while back and I hear it's a pretty nice unit, but I'd like more then 6w of power.

Thanks!
Russ
 
I went back and forth with this same topic a while back. I was going to go with the PS engineering intercom, but once I realized that the 5000EX audio panel didn't cost much more, I decided to bite the bullet. A big driver was my wife's desire to have a separate music input when still having intercom functionality. With the audio panel, we can both listen to the same music, or she can switch over to her own without hearing mine. There are other ways to do the same thing with differet headsets, mixers, ect. Once you add up the costs on top of a good stereo intercom the savings is minimal. The audio panel leaves plenty of room for when I can afford to add an IFR GPS/NAV box later.
 
I'm starting to think along the same lines. I like the new GTR200 radio with the intercom. The thing is I'm thinking I'll be adding a SL30 or 430W at some later date and while the GTR200 will work great initially I don't want to have to totally rewire my headset wiring when I do that. If I just bite the bullet on the first round I can add the other radio(s) later and just add the additional wiring. So now I'm on the fence about including the GMA240 in my initial avionics configuration. Do I save the money that I don't have on the first round or just delay and add the audio panel so that later its easier to do the upgrade.
 
PAR100EX

rapid_ascent said:
I'm starting to think along the same lines. I like the new GTR200 radio with the intercom. The thing is I'm thinking I'll be adding a SL30 or 430W at some later date and while the GTR200 will work great initially I don't want to have to totally rewire my headset wiring when I do that. If I just bite the bullet on the first round I can add the other radio(s) later and just add the additional wiring. So now I'm on the fence about including the GMA240 in my initial avionics configuration. Do I save the money that I don't have on the first round or just delay and add the audio panel so that later its easier to do the upgrade.
Click to expand...

Ray, have you considered the PAR100EX?

I know some pilots think about the importance of the output power of the radio. Let my describe the difference between a 5 watt transmitter and a 10 watt transmitter.

Consider this, two airplanes, both at 3000 feet at 20NM out. The 5 watt guy asks for a signal report, the report will be 5 X 5

The 10 watt guy asks for his signal report, the report will be 5 X 5

The difference is if the 5 watt guy and the 10 watt guy transmit at the same time, the report will give the 10 watt guy a 3 X 5 while the 5 watt guy would have been blocked.

I run 10 watt transmitter and when I'm blocked, I just call again. Not a big deal, iMHO.

While I am not an RF expert, I have been a ham since I was 13 years old and have lots of practical radio experience within the aviation community and amateur radio community.

So the amount of output power from the radio for the most part, should not be an issue. In fact, it is the ERP (Effective Radiated Power) that really plays an important part of your radio strength.

Www.ps-engineering.com/PAR100EX.shtml

It might be even a better choice.

Mark Scheuer
PS Engineering
 
Having done RF radio propagation work for MANY years I can tell you there is a difference. Those extra 5w is a 3dbm increase in output, EVERYTHING ELSE BEING EQUAL. Since RF signals drop logarithmically, at a certain distance this becomes significant real fast.

Without boring you with the math, at 120Mhz a 5w radio will, theoretically, provide reliable voice communications with ATC to around 35Nm, a 10W will do the same to about 55Nm while a 16W radio will go out to over 80Nm. Those miles can be very significant in some types of flying once again EVERYTHING ELSE BEING EQUAL.

If you just stay in the pattern, close to home or where ATC has decent radio coverage then there is no reason to pay for the extra power. But if you fly away from shore (Bahamas) or areas where ATC doesn't have good radio coverage then paying for the extra power is worth it.

My 2 cents.
:cool:
 
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