CD player in panel

[zero.one.victor]

I'm not located in Alaska,nor am I an A&P or IA. But it seems to me that if the form 337 sez "approved" in box 3 ("for FAA use only"),then it is approved. Period.
As long as it doesn't say "approved for alaskan use only" or "void in the lower 48" or something like that. I've never heard of one that said that,but what do I know?

Eric

[GAHorn]

I found the avionics inspector in the SAT especially enlightening and sensible when he told me he was "sick and tired" of getting 337's on common avionics installations. "They are not required, necessary, or appropriate" was his comment. Presumeably because they are not major alterations. (Think of it this way: Your airplane either left the factory with a Nav/Com or hundreds of others just like it did. You replace it with a more modern one. There is nothing in that replacement which implies a major alteration (in accordance with FAR 1.1) has occured.)
Since he IS the fed...I agree with him.

[AR Dave]

So I went for a ride in my daughters Civic the other day and saw something neat. She had her IPOD sitting in an FM Transmitter Docking Station ($49.88 @ Walmarts), which was plugged into the cigarette lighter. All she does is tune the radio to a certain frequency and it picks up the IPOD audio. No wires!

So my coworkers are telling me DUH, I'm a couple of years behind. They used to run around with these adapters in our trucks, but have now switched to wireless. In other words they don't even plug into anything, as long as the IPOD is within range they just tune to the appropriate station.

Well now being the 170 owner that I am - you know where I'm going with this discovery. Except my outdated 80GB IPOD not only has music, it has about 60 of the lastest movies loaded on it. I'll watch 3 full movies while commutting to Alaska before recharging. If I plug that IPOD into the docking station in my cigarette lighter, turn on a movie, and tune to the appropriate channel, will I be able to offer inflight movies? I do believe so! Is this like a historical moment in small plane aviation or what?

[hilltop170]

AR Dave-
I bet I'm behind the times farther than you on this stuff but how do you get the audio into your headset in the 170 and where do the movies come from?

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

While not knowing for sure because I don't have one of these I would doubt your aviation radio could tune to the channel the IPod adapter uses.

The adapter probably uses FM around 88.x and your aviation radios are VHF band.

[N2865C]

I bet I'm behind the times farther than you on this stuff but how do you get the audio into your headset in the 170 and where do the movies come from?

There is a headset out jack on the ipod (or most any music or CD plauyer) the you can hook up to the music input in your intercom or headset if they are so equipped. You need a male-male extension available at radio shack for a few bucks. A lot of the intercoms now have a feature that cuts out the music automatically when the radio is transmitting or receiving. There is also a portable device that hooks up to your headset jacks with a music input available at Sporty's and such. You download movies at itunes. I have never done the movie thing, but the idea of in-flight movies is pretty cool! It would go well with the little packets of peanuts that I always carry in my plane.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

John

Of course you can hook the Ipod to your head set as your describe but that would negate the capability of the Ipod adapter shown other than supplying power to the Ipod and that can be done I'm sure more easily than buying the adapter Dave showed.

So while the FM Ipod adapter is cool and will work nicely in your car, make sure that it will work as you think in your airplane before you buy it. I don't think it will work as Dave would like it to.

[flat country pilot]

Dave,

Do you plan to charge your passengers a fee to hear the movie, you know like the airlines do?

Bill

[AR Dave]

Nice to hear that my Sony CD Stereo is legal. Exploreit2 - thanks for bringing the subject up. You are right about having it installed in the panel nice and professional like. Northern Avionics in Anchorage put mine in with the other radio stack. We have had years of easy listening.

I guess April 07, 2004 is a lil far back to remember the 1st page of this subject! So you see, I already listen to FM, AM, & CD's, on my Sony Stereo system. Last week I flew with Mrs Lolly Wildharbor's Christmas CD in my headphones. The music or radio sound does goes mute when someone comes in over the aviation radios and then bleeds back in again. That's on the pilots headphone, the others headphones continue with music or now the movie, unless I flip a switch. Typically I'll have a talk show or football game on. Anyway I had one of our truck drivers put his IPOD on movie mode last night and sure enough the audible came right over the radio. This will definitely work! All I have to do is plug that transmitter in, no rigging no nothing. Wish I'd had this when the kids were young!

When I wrote the above post, I wasn't thinking about most 170's not having an AM/FM Radio. Richard, I have an IPOD because our work bought them as Christmas presents last year. Then my coworkers bought a 500GB hard drive which they keep loaded with hundreds of movies. I don't know exactly where they get them, but I know how to delete and add movies to my IPOD when I get here. Actually I think we use I-tunes.

So will I be the first 170 in History to have movie service? I'm tired of the CD's getting scratched around in my glove box anyway, so I'll get the transmitter just to play Nickle Creek and I havn't seen "Snakes on a Plane" yet either!

[AR Dave]

For those of you wondering about IPOD’s. They are an easy to use simple play thing. This is coming from someone who struggles with Cell Phones. I bought a $14 cord that connects my IPOD to the TV. So lately when all the family goes to grandma’s or was over at our house on Christmas Eve, I plug it in and the family chooses from those 60 or so movies. I loaded some kiddy movies (Charlie Brown Christmas) which kept some of my nieces and nephews occupied last week. To learn more about IPOD’s just ask your local teenager to show you theirs. I wonder what size LCD Flat Screen Monitor would fit in the 170? Bruce you know my dream is to win a trophy at an annual convention. Would it be possible to give a Pimp-my-plane trophy this year?

Here’s a link that shows the IPOD and explains stuff.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/W ... od_classic

[Kyle Wolfe]

AR Dave, I wouldn't be without my Ipod in my bird. Gotta have my tunes. Nothing I love better than doing some lazy 8's listening to my favorite songs. Just plug it into the audio jack. But I like the direction you're going. I don't have a am/fm but I can see where it would be a plus for the kids to be able to watch a movie.

I like the idea of the "Pimp My Plane" award....no doubt a new trophy category here! And I can already see the new TV series of the same name - now if we could just figure out how to get on it to have someone else pay the bills for makeover!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Hey listen guys we already added a new category "rat plane" to the judging for this year. It might be the first new category to be judged in the 40 year history of the association.

We'll have half the members pop a cork if we introduce 2 new categories to be judged in one year. Yep I'm thinking about another 40 years should be about the right timing for a Pimp My 170 Category.

[jrenwick]

This fall I added an AM/FM/CD unit to my panel. The fun thing was, my extended baggage compartment allowed me to put a 12" subwoofer tube behind the passenger seat (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-n6fFLK9CwK ... =204BT1214). Not only is the cockpit audio absolutely awesome, even through the Lightspeed noise-cancelling headsets -- but when I play my CD of WWII airplane sounds in the pattern I can sound like a P51, a Spitfire, even a B-17. Boy, does that turn heads!

The down side is, I had to install a stronger latch on my STC baggage door, it kept springing open in the pattern.

[Kyle Wolfe]

Bruce - you know we just gotta have some fun with you regarding those trophy categories!

John, now I not only have to fly behind your bird but hear those other wonderful engine sounds too? I don't know - you'll soon have a bird that's as well equiped as johneeb's but sounds better!

Hey, Bruce, how about "Best Sounding 170" award too?

[jrenwick]

Awww, Kyle, you know I don't have a baggage door! I was just having a little fantasy there. If the P51 guys can have propane devices in their wings that sound like guns, can't I have a "boom plane"?

I think some real fun could be had along these lines, but I probably won't be the one to do it!