T

trib

Well Known Member
Since each time I try to buy a good used intercom someone beats me to it, it looks like I'll have to go whole hog and buy a new one. The softcomm ATC-2PS seems to be a great deal at $189 from ACS. It is priced a good bit lower than other stereo intercoms and appears to be a complete package. Does anyone have any experience with this intercom? Any recommendations for a good intercom for an RV with music input for the passenger and pilot?
 
Sigtronics SPA-400SN. I have had Sigtronics in all of my airplanes for the last 25 years and they have all worked perfectly. Easy to install and great sound quality. Had them in T-6, Pitts, Christen Eagle, Acroduster, Nanchang, N3N, TBM and more. I have been in airplanes with other more expensive brands but always use Sigtronics. I have the 400SN in my RV7 and adjusted the volume and squelch once and haven't touched it in 40hrs. Don
 
The Sigtronics 200S is in my panel and works great.

Don't underestimate how nice it is to have stereo input. After all, it is really great to be flying off your test time, listening to your MP3 player and have songs like "Running with the devil", "Highway to he||", etc. playing as you line up one final. ;)
 
I tried several at Oshkosh last summer. My interest was stereo, mp3 input, input for AOA alarm as well as a good intercom. I think that only the PS 3000 did it all. Comparing the Sigtronics, Flightcom and the PS, the Sigtronics unit was the worst and the PS by far the best. The PS guys had a really good headset for their demonstration which probably made some difference.
 
They all sound great on the bench but the proof is in the air. The PS is aimed toward the GA market that doesn't generate near the noise an RV has in the cockpit. A friend had a PS installed in his T-6 because that was what the avionics guy insisted on. Was loud and clear and worked great until you went flying then it was terrible. We ended up putting a Sigtronics in it and it works great. Sigtronic's in house test airplane is a T-28 and you won't find a much noisier cockpit than that. The flying club I belonged to had PS intercoms in all their planes and although they worked well it seemed I always had to fiddle around with them adjusting the volume and squelch. My Sig in the 7 is stereo with MP3 plug and the Dynon and GPS inputs. Don
 
yakdriver said:
The PS is aimed toward the GA market that doesn't generate near the noise an RV has in the cockpit.
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A PS rep posted here that if you should use their high-noise models in RVs. I've been looking for several months for a new intercom. Based on others experiences (here and other places), I'm pretty much settled on the PS PM1000II to replace my Sigtronics SPA-400. That'll get me the nicely integrated music input that I want.
 
PS Engineering intercoms have trouble at low voltages, at least that's been my experience. If I landed at night, both lights on, strobes, etc. I'd get a lot of strobe noise in the intercom (PM-2000). The install manual even mentioned this "feature". I just took it out of my RV since I switched to the XCom, and the intercom seems to work fine. I would be interested in hearing how well the flighttech.com ENRI intercoms work.

Tunes are essential for fun acro. I probably break the mold a bit here in that I listen to hard rock or metal when doing loops and rolls...
 
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rocketbob said:
Tunes are essential for fun acro. I probably break the mold a bit here in that I listen to hard rock or metal when doing loops and rolls...
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Sounds like fun.

When I used to teach people at SCCA driving schools it took forever to convince students that they would turn faster lap times w/o music.

Something about 100% concentration when on a race course.

Now flying acro isn't as critical because it doesn't really matter that much if you miss your mark by a few feet.
 
Music in an airplane?

Absolutely. However, lately I turn the volume on the intercom as low as it will go for take-off and landing even though the intercom will mute the music when there are radio transmissions.
 
Flightech

RocketBob:

I have the Flightech ENRI in my -8. I didn't read the instructions on set-up very well before installation. Thinking that it should be set up from the factory well enough to work, I installed it in a hard to get to place. Long story short---it didn't work too well and I had to open it and tweak a couple of internal pots. Works well now.

I like the fact that you don't have to say "uugh" to break the squelch before talking. I have an input for the "tunes" on the XM Radio and the warnings on the 396 along with the angle of attack warning on the Dynon.

Be sure to get the stereo version.
 
Bob Axsom said:
You got to be kidding me.
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Come on, Bob...you saw Iron Eagle, right!!!?? :D

JUST KIDDING. I actually would rather not listen to anything but the radio (VHF comm radio, that is), so I plan to get an intercom with an isolate function that lets my wife rock out (or listen to a movie) while I fly.
 
NAT, used by the helicopter community that have bigger noise issues. Very high build quality and performance. If you are looking for the biggest bang for the buck this is not it. If money is no object and you want the Rolex, NAT.
 
Installed the wrong intercom

We would have never recommended our PM3000A for a T-6, it probably will not produce the results the pilot would desire, clear communications in a very loud aircraft. The PM3000A was designed for the RV's of the world but not for warbirds.

However, we have an intercom that was specifically designed for warbirds and open cockpits, it's the PM1200, and it works really well in those environments.

It works so well because it has our Active Microphone Processor (AMP). www.ps-engineering.com/pm1200.shtml

On the other hand, the PM1200 would not be the intercom of choice for Van's Aircraft because while in a very noisy environment there is a high level of intelligibility, the audio fidelity is not a great as the PM1000II or the PM3000A.

I wanted to chimed in here because I felt it important for pilots to know one size does not fit all.

Sincerely,

Mark Scheuer
PS Engineering

yakdriver said:
They all sound great on the bench but the proof is in the air. The PS is aimed toward the GA market that doesn't generate near the noise an RV has in the cockpit. A friend had a PS installed in his T-6 because that was what the avionics guy insisted on. Was loud and clear and worked great until you went flying then it was terrible. We ended up putting a Sigtronics in it and it works great. Sigtronic's in house test airplane is a T-28 and you won't find a much noisier cockpit than that. The flying club I belonged to had PS intercoms in all their planes and although they worked well it seemed I always had to fiddle around with them adjusting the volume and squelch. My Sig in the 7 is stereo with MP3 plug and the Dynon and GPS inputs. Don
Click to expand...
 
PM2000 was discontinued in 2000

We always work to provide the best product possible. That is why in the year 2000 we discontinued the 1992 design of the PM2000 and replaced it with the PM3000. And almost two years ago we replaced the PM3000 with the PM3000A.

One of the short comings of the PM2000 was the power supply. While reliable, it would no longer filter noise from the alternator at 10.5 volts.

However, you should consider looking at your voltage regulator and its setting. If your supply is going below 12 volts, you are draining the battery until it reaches your charging voltage that has been set by your regulator. (NOTE: I am NOT an expert on charging systems)

One short story here, Phil Boyer of AOPA had called me years ago (1997?) and told me that our PM2000 probably saved him an in flight emergency. He was using the PM2000 on a cross country flight when he started to hear alternator noise.

Instead of completing his flight plan, he landed at the next airport only to find that his alternator failed. He credited the PM2000 with this!

Now that was not our intention, but in this case, it turned out to be a benefit.

Mark Scheuer
www.ps-engineering.com

rocketbob said:
PS Engineering intercoms have trouble at low voltages, at least that's been my experience. If I landed at night, both lights on, strobes, etc. I'd get a lot of strobe noise in the intercom (PM-2000). The install manual even mentioned this "feature". I just took it out of my RV since I switched to the XCom, and the intercom seems to work fine. I would be interested in hearing how well the flighttech.com ENRI intercoms work.

Tunes are essential for fun acro. I probably break the mold a bit here in that I listen to hard rock or metal when doing loops and rolls...
Click to expand...
 
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