I am curious to learn what BCB members are running and what you all believe to be the ideal avionics setup for various crafts and missions. Obviously, one would probably never install a Garmin 530 in a J-3, and you would likely not set up a C206 with just a flip/flop COM.

I am planning on installing in my 67 C180H: a Garmin 480 with a mode C transponder. I would love to install a GTN650, SL30 NAV/COM and Mode S, but that would cost ten times as much as what I am doing, and weigh several more pounds. The CNX80 is a WAAS GPS/NAV/COM and will be coupled with a Garmin GI-106A CDI/GS. For me this setup will strike the balance between high capability/functionality and light weight. Running this with a handheld radio for COM redundance and an iPad with a GPS should provide me with all that I need for light IFR work and VFR adventuring. What is the value in having another NAV/COM, CDI, Audio panel, MFD, etc... Any advice on "must have" additions to this setup is highly encouraged.

What are you using?

The 480 was one of the best designed boxes ever. It got dumped by Garmin since they bought UPS tech. for about 5 mil just to get the WAAS GPS board design. Keep it... great unit.
Carry a handheld with alkaline batts for backup... and a heasdset jack set up so you can actually hear it over noise.
Carry a SPOT or an iridium tracker.
Might get a zaon to see the student pilots around you with their head down looking at all the color tv's onboard.
Carry a 406 PLB in your pocket. Listen to 121.5 when you fly
Maybe get a portable ADSB receiver for about $700 to get free WX if you are near some ground stations.
All the rest is mostly redundant.... and heavy and expensive. A blue tooth headset ANR so you can listen to tunes just about rounds out my backcountry avionics.
BTW--- I get any boxes at dealer cost... in my job. But I just don't need the weight and complexity.
Simple is good in my life.

flightlogic wrote:The 480 was one of the best designed boxes ever. It got dumped by Garmin since they bought UPS tech. for about 5 mil just to get the WAAS GPS board design. Keep it... great unit.
Carry a handheld with alkaline batts for backup... and a heasdset jack set up so you can actually hear it over noise.
Carry a SPOT or an iridium tracker.
Might get a zaon to see the student pilots around you with their head down looking at all the color tv's onboard.
Carry a 406 PLB in your pocket. Listen to 121.5 when you fly
Maybe get a portable ADSB receiver for about $700 to get free WX if you are near some ground stations.
All the rest is mostly redundant.... and heavy and expensive. A blue tooth headset ANR so you can listen to tunes just about rounds out my backcountry avionics.
BTW--- I get any boxes at dealer cost... in my job. But I just don't need the weight and complexity.
Simple is good in my life.

Great advice flightlogic. I generally stay away from congested airspace. I carry a spot, and am shopping for a 406 PLB. I don't have a setup to listen to tunes, but I'm working on that.

Lots of people tend to over-equip their airplanes in the radio department. Some people I know, who either are not instrument-rated or are rated but way out of currency (like by about 10 years), have big expensive radio stacks-- some of them newly-installed in spite of lack of currency or need. Sort of a solution in search of a problem (or a case of too much money burning a hole in someone's pocket).
I know a guy who wants to start flying his c150 that's been sitting for about 15 years-- the ARC nav-com didn't work, but instead of following suggestions to buy a simple flip-flop com he went out & bought himself a used KX-155 on ebay for about $1400. Had the local mechanic install it & discovered that his nav indicator is no good or too...so now back to ebay or somewhere for a new indicator. He'll probably have $3K in it before he's through, while he could have had a simple com bought & installed for that first $1400. My own airplane has an Icom A200 com, a KT76A mode c txp, a panel-mount intercom, & a dock-mounted Garmin 196-- plenty for VFR flight even in the most crowded and/or regulated airspace.
Even for IFR, I would want to get the simplest set-up that would do the job-- say by just adding an approach-approved GPS (with whatever external indicators are required) to the set-up I already have.

hotrod150 wrote:Lots of people tend to over-equip their airplanes in the radio department. Some people I know, who either are not instrument-rated or are rated but way out of currency (like by about 10 years)

I happen to be both instrument current and probably over equipped by your standards (not by much, but I bet I am). That said, when I go flying with my buddy, his 40+ year old Cherokee with radios that look like they are from the 1930's (honestly, they are so old I can't even begin to guess what they are) seems to get him to the same places most days. So the advice "consider your mission" is very sound.

He recently flew that plane from here in central México to Juno to spend the summer flying for cash in Alaska.

I got a dozen members here Kanaad PLB's for about $230 each. That is dealer price... they retail for a bit over $300. If you want to invest in one... PM me. I think it is model XS-4

flightlogic wrote:I got a dozen members here Kanaad PLB's for about $230 each. That is dealer price... they retail for a bit over $300. If you want to invest in one... PM me. I think it is model XS-4

Hey, I saw you mention that in another thread. I already have one, but wanted to say "Good for you!" for making that deal happen.

FWIW, in my '63 P172D I have a 430W, a Narco nav/com, a PS Engineering audio panel into which I plug in an XM portable tunes radio, a Garmin 96C handheld, a Narco transponder, and a King ADF. I have a basic Zaon traffic indicator, which as far as I'm concerned, only raises my adrenalin, because it doesn't tell me where traffic is, only that's it's nearby--and it also sends out RF on some of the com frequencies at times causing static when running on "ship's power", but OK on batteries--not a very good purchase.







My airplane is in for its annual now, and the only addition I've asked me IA to install for this year is a new SIRS compass to replace the old Airpath--from what others have said here, it's a much better compass. I'm also replacing the yoke board with one that holds an iPad Mini, which I plan to use not so much for navigation but for weather enroute with a Stratus as well as flight planning.

I also have an Artex ME406 installed, and I carry an ARC PLB as well.

Not that my set-up is the best, but it works for me.

Cary

Scolopax,

I'd consider installing one of the Garmin handheld GPS units: 296/396/496 or one of the 500 series handhelds as backup to your "primary" nav radio--the 480. The IPad Mini may be a great device (I have a full size I Pad), but not sure how well that screen is going to work in glare, etc. I think you'll find that the Garmin portables are great little devices. Also, you can get satellite XM radio and WX through some of them.

I agree that the 480 is a great radio, but it's functionality is difficult, and I question how long Garmin is going to continue to support them. A 430 would be a better choice, in my opinion, for that reason only. They can be had used and refurbished with WAAS enabled for not too obnoxious a price.

Depending on your gyros and vacuum system, I'd consider a backup attitude gyro at the VERY least if you're going to do IFR at all.

MTV

I stopped using vacuum gyros in anything. Even an old bush-bird.

Anything Garmin works for me except "Pilot" which is NOT GARMIN.

Get as much engine info that you can afford!

Work part time at an avionics dealer, it pays, even if you work for free! Knowledge goes a long way with any panel install.

Don't buy http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/rca26akbk.php?clickkey=5335 Opinion.

I know it is almost 7 years until the ADS-B mandate takes effect but that is a fairly short period in the life of an avionics box. You may want to consider that when making your choices. Anything that has to be replaced will have no trade in value after 2010.

I really fall into the "over equipped" category. However if I had a limited budget and I planned on keeping the aircraft for a while I would consider a few items. I would use the Garmin SL-30 Nav/Com with the Garmin Area 796/5 along with a Garmin GTX330ES. Why, The SL-30 will interact with the 796 via the serial bus, so you can do Comm/Nav switching from the database in the 796. Other Garmins do this as well, even down to the 496…but wait there is more the 796 will interface with the GTX330 via serial bus #2 for TIS information (my near collisions where never in congested areas, but rather in the middle of nowhere). Now if you end up with more cash, you can get the GDL-39 for ADS-B free weather and drop the XM weather on your 796, which will interface via Bluetooth with the GDL-39. Why the GTX-330ES, well Homeland security is quietly pushing for everybody to have Mode S to uniquely identify their aircraft soon. Like the Spanish Inquisition, they cannot be put off. So get them while they are cheap. The ES (extended Squitter version) will be required on all mode S by 2020, or 6.5 years from now. Now if you get a regular GTX330 you can upgrade it for $1200 at the moment with our buds at Garmin.

The other item, non-navigation is a fuel totalizer. Nearly all small aircraft have lying systems that supposedly tell you fuel quantity. At least these, totalizers, (I liked the EI FP-5L) track your usage, fairly accurately, or as accurately as you data entry is. If you get the proper model, it will also interface with the 796 for fuel to waypoint and so on. Some kind of handheld is an excellent backup as is you iPad/iPhone/android gizmo. I have successfully navigated my first 185 back from South America with an old icom handheld a compass and stopwatch, oh, and some old WAC charts as well.

I was sticking to the avionics/radios stuff in my response, but notice on my panel shots that I have an Insight G1 engine analyzer and an EI FP-5L fuel flow meter.

The EI is amazingly accurate--if it says I need to refill with 35 gallons, I'll usually refill with just about 34 1/2, for instance. With it connected to my 430W, it also tells me my mileage (not so sure I want to know that, though ). Knowing how much fuel I have left is very reassuring, and the only thing that's necessary is to make sure that the tanks are full to start with and the gauge is reset when refueled. Of course, it's entirely possible to only partially refuel, because any amount can be plugged into the gauge, but I think it is a good idea to periodically fully refill the tanks, to eliminate any accumulated error.

The G1 is nice, because it changes colors from green to yellow to red when temps get too high, so that any trend can be seen at a glance, and it also shows the actual temp in F degrees. It also shows my carb temp in F degrees. It shows the peak of each cylinder, which makes leaning a snap.

Cary

Very basic...



AKT

Looks fancy, but actually very basic. I can tell you after flying for a few months with an iPad mini running either fore-flight, Garmin or WingX, they just don't work as well as a purpose build GPS - I miss my 696. Even with anit glare, sometimes, you just simply cannot see the screen (especially in an RV bubble canopy). And the terrain feature is always helpful flying around places like Idaho, figuring out which canyon you are in, how it ends, and where the strip you are trying to get to is.

I also miss my EI FP-5L fuel computer.

I think mainly you just miss those fabulous purple lights.

That is a hot setup there AKT. There is a lot of equipment out there, all worthwhile if it is suited to your mission, but it's a dangerous path, this addiction for every gadget and excessive information. I have spent a lot of time flying Lancairs, and I find myself with my eyes looking through the windshield far less than in my 180. Info overload can detract from the experience of the flight, and can introduce an imbalance in where the pilot's attention should be focused. This is not an ideal situation, but these planes are super sweet for covering some miles fast. Fuel totalizers are nice, but I never fly anywhere near empty, and my burn rates are pretty reliable, and depressing, so I'll live in denial on that one. A six point EGT/CHT is a very useful piece of equipment, especially for my O-470R, which has some pretty unpredictable responses to control inputs between cylinders. The Garmin 496 and 796 are sweet tools! Used one of those as backup to my 430 when I flew to Alaska last summer. An autopilot would be nice too, but they are heavy and expensive. My next plane will be a barebones J-3 with virtually nothing to look at in the cockpit.

Zzz wrote:I think mainly you just miss those fabulous purple lights.

They're blue and white smarty pants. I see that helmet has not helped your color blindness.

emflys wrote: I see that helmet has not helped your color blindness.

Man if I had a panel like Emfly's, I think I would just sit in the airplane so I could look at all the lights.