Audio Panel Question

[Crossbow]

Hello all!

Perhaps I am over-thinking things a bit, but I do have a question that perhaps some nice person here can answer.

I am planning the panel in my RV-8, and I got to thinking about the Audio Panel in particular. Now then, I would like to have an Audio Panel that has some extra features but that also eliminates some redundant features. For example, since Marker Beacons are being phased out, I see no reason to include them in the Audio Panel. By same token, I expect to have two Communications radios but only one Navigation radio, therefore I would like an Audio Panel that supports two COMM inputs but only one NAV input. And I have a few other ideas as well.

Therefore, can anyone direct me to a person or company that can produce a customized Audio Panel?

Thanks much to everyone in advance!

 

[SteinAir]

I can indeed...but there are a lot of variables to consider other than what you've described. Drop me an email or PM and we'll see if we can get you pointed in the right direction!

Cheers,
Stein

 

[Jamie]

Well, I don't know if I'm a nice person )) but the Garmin GMA 240 sounds exactly like what you need. COM/NAV switching, unswitched inputs but no marker beacon receiver.

 

[Crossbow]

I can indeed...but there are a lot of variables to consider other than what you've described. Drop me an email or PM and we'll see if we can get you pointed in the right direction!

Cheers,
Stein

Thanks much!

I will write something up and get back to you.

 

[Crossbow]

Well, I don't know if I'm a nice person )) but the Garmin GMA 240 sounds exactly like what you need. COM/NAV switching, unswitched inputs but no marker beacon receiver.

You are indeed a nice person.

However, I did look at the 240 unit and while it has most of what I was looking for, it is still not quite there. Notice, for example, that it has two NAV inputs, but I was looking for a unit with a single NAV input.

Thanks much for the thought anyway!

 

[Mel]

You are indeed a nice person.

However, I did look at the 240 unit and while it has most of what I was looking for, it is still not quite there. Notice, for example, that it has two NAV inputs, but I was looking for a unit with a single NAV input.

Thanks much for the thought anyway!

Why would you care about an extra NAV input? I don't think you will find a "custom" unit with just exactly what you want.

 

[mscheuer]

PMA4000

Had you evaluated the PMA4000?

www.ps-engineering.com/pma4000.shtml

Although it has Nav 1 and Nav 2, it is a great basic audio panel with our IntelliVox intercom.

Mark Scheuer
PS Engineering

Hello all!

Perhaps I am over-thinking things a bit, but I do have a question that perhaps some nice person here can answer.

I am planning the panel in my RV-8, and I got to thinking about the Audio Panel in particular. Now then, I would like to have an Audio Panel that has some extra features but that also eliminates some redundant features. For example, since Marker Beacons are being phased out, I see no reason to include them in the Audio Panel. By same token, I expect to have two Communications radios but only one Navigation radio, therefore I would like an Audio Panel that supports two COMM inputs but only one NAV input. And I have a few other ideas as well.

Therefore, can anyone direct me to a person or company that can produce a customized Audio Panel?

Thanks much to everyone in advance!

 

[Crossbow]

Why would you care about an extra NAV input? I don't think you will find a "custom" unit with just exactly what you want.

Thanks for the thought Mel!

You are right, of course; because practically speaking, having a extra NAV input is really no big deal.

However, as I mentioned there are some additional features that I would like to have as well in the Audio Panel and I really have not seen anything available that meets all of my needs in one package. Therefore, I hope that some skilled and hardworking individual could build what I want from scratch.

 

[Crossbow]

Had you evaluated the PMA4000?

www.ps-engineering.com/pma4000.shtml

Although it has Nav 1 and Nav 2, it is a great basic audio panel with our IntelliVox intercom.

Mark Scheuer
PS Engineering

Thanks Mark!

Yes, that was one of the units I looked at, and while it is a fine piece of equipment, it reminds me a bit of your competetion the Garmin 240. Specifically, both units have most of the features that I am looking for, but not quite all of them.

But thanks anyway! If my search for a custom built Audio Panel does not work out, then I expect that I will use either the PMA 4000 or the GCA 240.

 

[SteinAir]

If it were me, I'd not make your decision just yet....it may be worth you waiting a short amount of time to see if there is anything new that may hit the market!

 

[Mel]

If it were me, I'd not make your decision just yet....it may be worth you waiting a short amount of time to see if there is anything new that may hit the market!

Sounds like a prudent suggestion from a "Man in the know".
I wouldn't listen closely to this Man!

 

[IowaRV9Dreamer]

Stein what is the scoop?

Stein don't tease us!!

I'm hoping someone will come out with an audio panel that merges the best features of the Garmin and PS Engineering audio panels, tailored to the experimental market.

I like the music/muting controls on the GMA 240, as well as its more limited (appropriate) set of inputs for our aircraft. I don't want/need marker beacon, HF, ADF, DME inputs, speaker amp, etc. I wish the GMA 240 had the digital squelch / Intellivox from PS Engineering.

I looked at the PSE PMA9000EX, but I don't need all the whiz-bang features. For example, I'd rather plug my ipod in (to the airframe, not to the panel) than use the internal MP3 player.

Cost is important too - Garmin is certainly lowest, but I'd pay a couple hundred more to add the intellivox.

 

[Crossbow]

If it were me, I'd not make your decision just yet....it may be worth you waiting a short amount of time to see if there is anything new that may hit the market!

Thanks so much for the tip!

It will still be a while before I actually have to make the firm avionics decisions, so I can delay things for a bit.

 

[vlittle]

Hi Steve.
You haven't been too specific about which features you want or need in an audio panel. In my opinion, a custom design will be a whole lot more expensive than adapting an existing product.

The big problem that I've always had with audio panels is that they take valuable panel space. An RV-8 has a small panel (compared to the side by sides), so I hope Stein's triple-super-secret product is small.

Personally, I've never seen the need for a classic audio panel in a sport aircraft. Selecting transmit between two comms can be accomplished with a discrete switch, and all of the audio receive channels (secondary comm, nav sources, alarms, alerts etc.) can be summed with an audio mixer.

If you want to contact me off-list with your requirements, I can see if any of the Vx Aviation products can be easily configured to your requirements.

Thanks,
Vern

 

[AZtailwind]

Here we go!

The big problem that I've always had with audio panels is that they take valuable panel space. An RV-8 has a small panel (compared to the side by sides), so I hope Stein's triple-super-secret product is small.

Personally, I've never seen the need for a classic audio panel in a sport aircraft. Selecting transmit between two comms can be accomplished with a discrete switch, and all of the audio receive channels (secondary comm, nav sources, alarms, alerts etc.) can be summed with an audio mixer.

I?m very interested in this thread also- Now you have Vern in the mix. I agree with Vern here I see no need to buy a Intercom/audio system. My design is to use the PS3000 stereo intercom and Vern?s or another audio amp to combine the EFIS/Engine/com1/com2/nav1/Cell/Music2 audio mixed to a single aux audio into the intercom. I would wire up the switches to switch to mic/PTT of 2 Com?s and the Nav would be switched to a 300 ohm series (?custom mute feature?) before the audio amp?.etc. This would be about $450 in parts?
The only feature I miss is a way to switch the soft mute music input to constant on.
Sometimes in cruse I would rather the music is not interrupted but still hear the radio in the background- If PS had a way to switch that off then- wow, that would be everything.

 

[Jamie]

The only feature I miss is a way to switch the soft mute music input to constant on.
Sometimes in cruse I would rather the music is not interrupted but still hear the radio in the background- If PS had a way to switch that off then- wow, that would be everything.

Too bad DRE comm went belly-up. I have the DRE 244E intercom in my plane and it does just that. You can select whether or not the passenger hears the music, whether or not the passenger hears the radio, etc. and you can turn on "music" mode which allows you to sing along to the music without the intercom muting the music when you talk. Or you can turn off the music mode, still hear the music and it will mute. And you can just hit the pilot isolate button when your passenger has a sick sack wrapped around his mic and is barfing all over it and you need to ask the tower for a priority landing. Ask me how I know!

I have all of my audio sources mixed with a passive mixer that I built into a d-sub shell with simple resisters. Works perfectly! Total cost? $5.00...maybe.

 

[vlittle]

I?m very interested in this thread also- Now you have Vern in the mix. I agree with Vern here I see no need to buy a Intercom/audio system. My design is to use the PS3000 stereo intercom and Vern?s or another audio amp to combine the EFIS/Engine/com1/com2/nav1/Cell/Music2 audio mixed to a single aux audio into the intercom. I would wire up the switches to switch to mic/PTT of 2 Com?s and the Nav would be switched to a 300 ohm series (?custom mute feature?) before the audio amp?.etc. This would be about $450 in parts?
The only feature I miss is a way to switch the soft mute music input to constant on.
Sometimes in cruse I would rather the music is not interrupted but still hear the radio in the background- If PS had a way to switch that off then- wow, that would be everything.

Hi Brad. The requirement to enable/disable soft-mute for stereo music is built into our ASX-2A/2B devices. These devices insert stereo music (and/or cellphone audio) into monophonic or stereo intercom systems.

There's even a simple way to get two-level muting system (loud and soft rather than loud and off). This works well for "Karaoke Mode". Since the ASX devices have an unmuted stereo input as well as a muted stereo input, the connection of high value resistors (around 500K ohms) between the two will allow you to adjust this effect.

Cheers!

Vern

 

[Crossbow]

Hi Steve.
You haven't been too specific about which features you want or need in an audio panel. In my opinion, a custom design will be a whole lot more expensive than adapting an existing product.

The big problem that I've always had with audio panels is that they take valuable panel space. An RV-8 has a small panel (compared to the side by sides), so I hope Stein's triple-super-secret product is small.

Personally, I've never seen the need for a classic audio panel in a sport aircraft. Selecting transmit between two comms can be accomplished with a discrete switch, and all of the audio receive channels (secondary comm, nav sources, alarms, alerts etc.) can be summed with an audio mixer.

If you want to contact me off-list with your requirements, I can see if any of the Vx Aviation products can be easily configured to your requirements.

Thanks,
Vern

Vern:

Thanks much!

I think that ASX-2B unit may do the trick. But let me look into it a bit more first and get back to you.

Have a good holiday!

 

[SteinAir]

Several have pointed out that you can add switches to an intercom and allow it to use more than one radio. That is true...sorta....Just be wary that while indeed you can start out with adding various DP or 3P or 4P switches to an intercom and end up being able to switch multiple radio inputs - if you want to now put a NAV audio signal into the mix, and multiple other inputs you have to add on something like products from Vern (who makes excellent products).

However, if you're not careful you end up spending as much or even more than a good audio panel kludging together a bunch of stuff to end up with something that isn't as good in the end. Meaning, you spend more money, have a mishmash of wires everywhere, extra switches and quite possibly less functionality when you're done. I'm not saying that's always the case, just pointing out that it happens more often than you may imagine and you may have well been better off just starting out purchasing a component designed for what you want to do rather than "rube goldberging" things together to accomplish the same task. Believe me, I'm as budget concious as anyone, but I've also learned where to draw the line. There are instances where it's easier and more convenient to go the itercom and switch route and we sometimes wire panels up that way.

Anyway, like I said....keep an open eye and there may be products that fit what most of you want to do.

Have a great new year!

Stein

 

[Walt]

Too bad DRE comm went belly-up. I have the DRE 244E intercom in my plane and it does just that. You can select whether or not the passenger hears the music, whether or not the passenger hears the radio, etc. and you can turn on "music" mode which allows you to sing along to the music without the intercom muting the music when you talk. Or you can turn off the music mode, still hear the music and it will mute. And you can just hit the pilot isolate button when your passenger has a sick sack wrapped around his mic and is barfing all over it and you need to ask the tower for a priority landing. Ask me how I know!

I have the PS3000 and it has "sing along" mode also, I use it quite often especially when only on the radio every now and then when flying XC.

 

[L.Adamson]

One might not require an audio panel. But one thing is for sure, the squelch on my previous intercom was a pain in the ***, compared to the auto squelch that comes standard with my PS Engineering 8000B. I upgraded when I ended up with two comms, and an XM radio input. Glad I did.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[KRviator]

Don't suppose you've looked through the old Kitplanes magazines from around 2002?

Jim Weir did a 3-part series on a combined intercom/audio panel that you could build yourself for less than a carton of beer. As many audio inputs as you want, failsafe pilot mic audio, intercom with squelch yadda yadda.

Can dig up the exact months if anyone's handy with a soldering iron.