I know most of you are flying certified airplanes with real radios but to us experimental guys weight and wiring are the enemy. I picked one of these up from Aircraft Spruce this week. It's a pretty slick little unit. It's tiny and weighs almost nothing. I bought the A24 version which plugs directly into my handheld. I have an external antenna on my plane. You can also buy a $36 adapter and pipe music or whatever in. Not a bad little unit for intercom, comm, and music for $140. The only downfall is it's 9V battery powered. I'll let you all know how it works out in the airplane.

You know I was just laying out the design of the panel for the Zenith 701 we are building and I was looking at 3,700 BUCKS for for a comm. It suddenly got me to thinking about the little unit you bought and a hand held. That approach worked great for me in my old Luscombe especially with the external antenna. I am thinking maybe that is the way to go in the 701.

Skystrider wrote:....I was looking at 3,700 BUCKS for for a comm. ....

What kind of com you talking about? I'm thinking of upgrading the com radio in my C-150/150TD, & am eyeballing an Icom A200 which goes for around $900. Even the slim-jim Garmins are only around $1700. Of course, if you're including installation, that runs the price up in a big hurry.
The real bank buster is a transponder, which (practically speaking) you really need to have if you're around much controlled airspace. I don't know of any transponder/encoder combo that doesn't add up to about $2K. On top of the $900 for an Icom A200 & about $500 for antennae, jacks, wire,breakers, etc & you're looking at $3400 just for parts. Ouch!
Considering how popular nav/coms are (or were), I've always wondered why nobody has come up with a com/encoding transponder combination unit, maybe with a built-in intercom. One box to install,wire, & plumb and you'd be done.

Eric

Skystrider I've ran these set ups in several powered parachutes and ultralights and they work suprisingly well for what they are. Of course it's far from ideal but it's perfect for me. I have to be able to take my radio and GPS out of my plane as there is no way to lock it. It will be stored outside with a cover till I can find someone who will let me mooch a corner or their hanger. That's another advantage of this bird. With the wings folded it will fit easily in a garage.

Skystrider wrote:That approach worked great for me in my old Luscombe especially with the external antenna. I am thinking maybe that is the way to go in the 701.

I'm really happy with my DRE portable intercom and Icom A5 radio for my Savannah. I made a simple 9 volt power supply for the intercom so I don't need to feed it batteries. I bought a 12 volt dc power cable for the ICOM, so it is running on ship power, too. I mounted the intercom low, out of the way since it isn't messed with much. I made a slip on mount for the radio to position it in easy reach of my left hand, since, like the Zenith 701, the right hand is on the stick. I made my own antenna cable and antenna from about $5 worth of part. This system will work fine at distances of 40 miles when both planes are in the pattern at different airports. At higher altitudes you can hear folks a hundred miles away, but not talk, usually. The only downside of all this is it does not look as nice as panel mounted stuff. Personally that doesn't bother me at all. 'Course, this is a guy that didn't bother to paint his plane, either.

What ever you do for the intercom, if you get one with auxillary inputs and outputs, you will be able to connect phones, mp3 players, and other goodies without having to install an audio panel. You also won't have to buy the expensive headphones unless you want to. For a plane that will primarily use a gps handheld for navigation and only deal with one radio, I just can't see bothering with the expense, weight, and trouble of an audio panel.

As far as the transponder goes, you don't have to make the purchase right away, unless you are based in some evil Bravo or Charlie airspace. I fly in the Willamette valley in Oregon, and never go to Seattle, Portland, Boise, or Reno. I've flown in the general direction, but the little airports on the outskirts are far more interesting to me than the big ones. I've been to a number of class Delta airports, and they have never turned me down for not having a transponder. So if your anticipated flights don't require it, wait. $2000 will buy a lot of gas.

Best luck!
tom

hotrod150 - I was talking about the upper end which is a Bendix/King KY-196A. Your right, an A200 I see listed for $760.

AvidFlyer - Like what you are flying, the 701 is just intended for VFR around the patch flying. We will probably never go near controlled air space so I don't anticipate a need for even a transponder. A nice hand held radio on an antenna works just fine for most uncontrolled airports.

A friend of mine has installed A200's in 2 or 3 airplanes that he's owned, he's never had a problem & has been more than pleased with the performance. Personally I would go low-end (aka practical) instead of high-end, esp in a utility aircraft like a 701. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way at all. I consider my airplane a utility airplane also.
Are the King 196's any better than the less expensive 96's? Those used to go for under a thou not long ago.

Eric

hotrod150 wrote:A friend of mine has installed A200's in 2 or 3 airplanes that he's owned, he's never had a problem & has been more than pleased with the performance. Personally I would go low-end (aka practical) instead of high-end, esp in a utility aircraft like a 701. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way at all. I consider my airplane a utility airplane also.
Are the King 196's any better than the less expensive 96's? Those used to go for under a thou not long ago.

Eric

Yup - I agree with you. Off hand I would say the King 196's MUST be better because they cost so much more!