Avionics and radio upgrades

[tommywcom]

That's the great thing about Garmin, all the Garmin stuff works great together. That's also the bad thing about Garmin, they don't play very well with anything non-Garmin.

Glenn[/quote]

I've had a number of hours behind the G1000. I drank the kool-aid then. Even my portable 296 is a great device.

[Airtids]

Cyndy,

If I recall, you've got a KI155 Navcom and an Icom 200A straight com and a PMA4000 audio panel. The King Navcom is bullet-proof, and the PMA400 is also a good, solid unit. If you were looking to upgrade I'd pull the Icom and put in a G430 (or similar) with an indicator, and get rid of the ADF and LORAN (was that still in there) while you're at it.

I'd agree with SSU, problems are most likely headset cord/jack issues.

Robin

[AirFrame]

That's the great thing about Garmin, all the Garmin stuff works great together. That's also the bad thing about Garmin, they don't play very well with anything non-Garmin.

On the other hand, other vendors in the amateur-built world have made use of Garmin's data protocols to provide some great functionality. For example, the iCOM 210 actually works *better* with Garmin's VHF Frequency data than the GTR does... The UI is more user-friendly.

Which reminds me, I need to email the Garmin non-certified department again... They are *very* responsive to feedback, and have already implemented a number of good suggestions that amateur-built owners have sent in. On the GTR200, that is. I don't know what feeds back into the certified models.

[1000 HP]

The aircraft market is tough right now. I put $9000 worth of upgrades into my airplane (Mooney M20F) which included a Garmin 340 comm selector and a Garmin SL30 Navcom (price installed). I just sold my airplane after dropping the price again and estimate my loss at well over $15K. My plan changed and the airplane didn't fit the plan.

I'd suggest go with the upgrade if you need it operationally but don't have high hopes of getting any money back during a sale. What it might do is help your airplane sell when the ones with junk radios are still "for sale"..

[Blakey]

Resurrecting an old thread to see if anyone has more up-to-date advice or experience regarding these, or other, radios. My Cessna has a venerable Narco COM 11 installed and it has always worked just fine. Problem is that more and more places I fly to, or WANT to fly to, require 25 khz spacing and the old Narco just doesn't do that.

The TKM MX-11 looks like a good solution as it drops right into the same tray and is one of the cheaper options. Cost does count but is not the best criteria to use in selecting avionics so I was hoping to get some real-world advice regarding that, and other solutions.

[Schooner69A]

Cyndy:

Look into the Icom radios; the info on a couple of other sites indicates that the as long as radios have been approved by Industry Canada (an IC stamp on the radio), it's OK for VFR (don't know about IFR). I have an ICOM 210 and the IC stamp is there.

Check with TC and if the answer is negative, ask to see the pertinent regulation...

[CID]

Not having a TSO doesn't disqualify a radio from being installed in an airplane. It disqualifies it from being installed without an STC.

And of course it still must be qualified to the coressponding standards.

[mscheuer]

I would just like to correct mis-information about our PAR200 and PAR200A. They both have FAA TSO and EASA approval. They are approved parts.

The radio is manufactured by Trig Avinics and we have been designing and manufacturing audio panel for over 25 years.

If anyone has any questions about this or about intercoms or other audio panels, I would be happy to answer them.

Sincerely,
Mark Scheuer
Founder and CEO
PS Engineering, Inc.