Radio Upgrade Suggestions

[Alwine00775]

Good Morning,

I searched the forums and didn't find any recent radio/ nav upgrade posts. The most recent I found was from 2009 and older. If I am wrong please point me in the right direction.


N4244V has the following installed.

Terra TXN 960 yes it's a loran C

Apollo I II morrow yes it's a loran C

Narco AT150 Mode C finally a C that is not useless at this point.

I have no intention of making it into anything close to IFR. Just a bit more updated.

I have about 6k left in my budget, I know thats not much. Going over that would require congressional approval from my wife, I am sure I could get the spending bill passed, but she would attach a rider to it in the form of a new kitchen.

[bagarre]

Hmm, what radio to buy. This ought to turn out to be one opinionated thread

If you're a VFR pilot, you might want to consider a basic radio like the Garmin SL30, SL40 or Icom A210 and get a hand held GPS for Nav.
Just my opinion. When I put the new radio in 81D, I put a Garmin 250XL GPS/COMM. I never use the GPS part since I bought an Aera 510 hand held.
And handhelds are a lot easier to upgrade later on. You dont even need a log book entry

-David

[Alwine00775]

David,

Thanks for the suggestions

Thats the current route I am looking at, I have the Avionics shop that handles the rental plane I was training in looking for a take out SL30 or 40 . I like the 250XL, but I think it's a bit over kill, plus with it located on the lower left, not the most ideal spot to view it. I have a Garmin 496 coming to handle the GPS duty.

[blueldr]

For VFR flying, a good hand held GPS is better than anything else, and a VAL Com 760 TSO was/is the best, most trouble free, and most powerful Comm radio I ever owned.

[bagarre]

At first, the left hand radio was awkward. Changing frequencies while flying felt like rubbing your stomach and patting your head. After a few hours you get used to it tho. I don't even think about it now.

What killed me was having the transponder way over on the right side of the plane. I'm in the DC SFRA so, I change frequencies and squawk codes several times a day.

I've heard very good things about the 760 as well. My Dad had one in his Experimental. I think his description was "Bomb proof".

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Terra TXN 960 yes it's a loran C

No the Terra TXN 960 it is not a Loran C.

It is a 200 channel nav receiver, a 760 channel com receiver and an electronic course deviation indicator. It can have a glide slope receiver and or a Loran C drive the left/right indicator. In actuality it can have a GPS drive the left/right indicator as the indicator doesn't know what is driving it.

SO.... the question is does this work to navigate and communicate? If it does why replace it? Remove the boat anchor loran C.

If it doesn't work the next question is what navigation equipment do you want? If you want a VOR receiver, do you have the panel space for a left/right indicator?

My partner and I had a VAL COM 760 com, a Genave 300 Nav and a King transponder. The Genave was only good at sucking lots of amperage and taking the space of the glove compartment but it could not be used to navigate any more.

His requirements were to have two coms and a nav radio. It was a forgone conclusion we would use a hand held GPS for situational awareness. The SL30 and 40 are nice units but bring a premium if you can find them. You won't go wrong with a King KX155 nav/com but those are also pricey and getting older. We considered a new VAl VAL COM 2000 and their INS 422 or INS 429 but we were getting a little pricey with the nav radios.

I then bid on and unexpectedly won a King KX 125 NavCom for $1800 which was a nice price for this unit. It does not require a left/right indicator as it has one built in. I'm pretty happy with it. So we have the KX-125, the Val Com 760 which gets used the most because it's easiest to see and the King transponder. BTW my partner has yet to use the nav part of the nav/com he thought he just had to have.

[GAHorn]

A good portable GPS (such as the Garmin Aera 500 series) will complete your needs, IMO. Budget for a different transponder in the future...no hurry...but budget for it. (Again, Garmins are very good.)

[jrenwick]

If you're buying a new COM radio, a nice feature that the Garmin units have is a serial interface that can be connected to your handheld GPS, such as a Garmin 496. This lets you transfer frequencies from the GPS's database to the NAV/COM unit. I think you just have to highlight the frequency you want on the GPS, then hit "Enter" to transfer it to the standby frequency of the NAV/COM. The Icom IC-A210 has the same feature.

I know lots of people like the VAL 760, but I have one and I'm not fond of it. Mine has some years on it, and it's been back to the factory twice for reconditioning, the last time because the automatic display dimmer failed so as to make it too dim to read in daylight, and the toggle switches were unreliable.

The frequency selector switches, even after reconditioning, often fail to make contact -- so I have to toggle them more than should be necessary to select the frequency. I can't just hit a switch the right number of times and expect the right frequency to appear. The switch handles are annoyingly small and uncomfortable to use.

Worst of all, although it has two frequency registers, it is not truly a flip-flop radio, because the second frequency is not a standby. If you're using the "A" frequency and want to enter the next one you're going to need, you have to leave the "A" frequency to do it. Blecch!

[Alwine00775]

I think I have it worked out. The plan is to keep the Terra, replace the apollo with a SL30 and some sort of audo panel like a PMA 6000. I have the Garmin 496.

Any comments on this before I set the avionic guy to work.

Jon

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Have your avionics guy take the time to include the wire harness for power and Garmin talk (or what ever protocol) to the SL30 from the 496 so that you can transfer radio frequencies. You'll want the external power hook up anyway and it is one more wire for the 496 to talk to the SL30.

[bagarre]

This comes down to how you fly and what you want.

Is the Terra sufficient for your flying mission?
Do you need/want two radios and the complexity of an audio panel?

I have a handheld icom transceiver and an antenna splitter just in case my radio fails. I figure I can plug my headset into the the icom and get home that way...and I fly in the SFRA.
Maybe I'm too minimalist tho. A lot of people like having two Comms for a lot of reasons but, I have enough trouble listening to one frequency

[blueldr]

I would be very reluctant to spend much money on a "Nav" radio unless I was going to be in the IFR regime immediately. The VOR system will be gone when the FAA gets their "new" system going. A decent hand held will give you everything you will ever need for flying VFR including VOR information with DME that isn't slant line.

[mike roe]

In the Stinson I used Beckers. They are small and on the ground hidden behind the original Hallicrafters faceplate. You can keep everything on the left side. I use a yoke mounted Garmin GPS. Works great.

[jamyat]

I have a Terra TXN 960, but I only use it for a backup. The Terra has plastic mechanical push button tuners. Since Terra is defunct there are no new replacements for the tuners. If you use it very much they eventually will not tune, anyway not to the frequency you want. One or two of the buttons will not turn their digits.

There is a Vo-Tech in Waco TX that bought a supply of Terra parts. They replaced the comm tuner in my unit a few years ago, but it was a used tuner so I don't know how long it will last. They were not cheap either. I have not replaced it since I haven't found another reasonably priced unit that will fit the hole. The Garmin 430 is a candidate but it takes many $$ so I will keep the Terra as a backup.

Maybe someone has a suggestion for a Terra replacement.

[GAHorn]

Ask your avionics guy about his support for that Terra. I think I'd sell that and get something
else.
Mike, I really like what you did!