Anybody have used or is using one of these? If so How did it perform and ease of use?

http://www.trioavionics.com/index.htm

Glidergeek wrote:Anybody have used or is using one of these? If so How did it perform and ease of use?

http://www.trioavionics.com/index.htm

I've installed 2 of them in 182s and I highly recommend them. Easy to install, easy to use, great service. Thought I had a servo failing and they shipped one out right away. Turned out to be something else.
Easy to hook up to a hand held GPS for GPS guidance.
Overall I'm very pleased and would recommend them to anyone who is I tested in an autopilot.
I know Will Stene put one in his 185, so maybe he'll chime in here as well.

I have just completed putting one in my 73 185.
Overall I am impressed. There a few issues with the S/W and the manual that should be addressed.
The help from the STC group and Trio has been helpful but I still have more work to do to get it working properly.

Tom

I installed one last summer. Very capable, lots of features, but not intuitive. As previous noted, manuals need work. But there is nothing else certified for Skywagons at this price with threse capabilities. Otherwise, wait for Garmin and spend more money.
If you fly any IFR hook it up to a WAAS receiver. Very cool to watch it do coupled LPV approach. They are waiting approval to hook up to an Aspen, if that’s your thing.

3500 for the instrument and 2000 for the kit. How much you think for installation

Thanks for all the replies, Mudwagon what do you mean by "not intuitive"?

By not intuitive I mean it's not simple to learn how to use. You cannot fumble through it to make it do what you want. Alt hold and CRS/TRK are easy: press the bottom buttons to select the modes then press the top buttons to turn on the servos. Anything else requires multiple steps. There are only four buttons and one knob so there is a lot of "push-push-twist-push". Once you use it a lot it starts to make sense but it's not intuitive, it doesn't come natural. It's not Apple or Garmin, but I certainly didn't pay for that.
I thought about waiting for the Garmin but you have to buy the G5 for it so it's really not in the same price category.

My install was priced for 50 hours and I know it took them longer. If you can find a shop that's done at least one Trio install it may take 45 hours. It's new so there isn't a lot of experience with it. I've had good experiences with support from both Trio and The STC Group however I wish they would re-write the operating manual.

I have had it installed in my 182 for about one year and truly like it I drive it with a ify 720 installation took over 50 hours and the comments about installation manual is right STC group did help at every point with verbal instructions

I took mine to an FBO that I had used before and knew they had two very good mechanics.
I was assigned one of the A+Ps and we worked together. I had read over the install manual several times and felt comfortable coordinating the installation. Did a lot of the time consuming stuff myself like making the control wheel bracket for the push buttons. All in all it was more like 30 hrs of A+P time plus my labor which was at a much lower rate of course.

The manual does need a rewrite as its loaded with errors but most are obvious and what isn't is phone call away.
One feature that is very nice for us non electric pitch trim guys like the 180/185 group is the A/S hold. For climbing to altitude it works very nice much better than V/S hold. The wiring harness is also very well built and fit perfect.
One concern is the servos do not seem as robust as others but time will tell.
Tom