[tehmarks]

Hi all,

Forgive the innocent question, I'm fairly new to this whole aeroplane thing! I'm coming to the end of my PPL and am potentially considering buying an aircraft outright with the license under my belt. A particular aircraft has caught my eye (but this is very early stages - no inquiries have yet been made, much less anything further), but it isn't yet fitted with an 8.33kHz radio.

I'm just considering my options about how to go about it if I did end up owning it. I'd quite like a second box anyway, so I'm considering leaving the existing nav/com in for now for the nav side of things, and fitting a second 8.33kHz box. The question is, how straightforward is fitting a second radio where one didn't exist before? It's a CofA aircraft, so that really boils down to 'will it be vastly more expensive than replacing the existing nav/com?'.

Currently it's a question of curiosity more than anything else.

[Paul_Sengupta]

Does it have an audio panel?

[tehmarks]

Negative, but I was looking at the PAR200A, thinking it'd be a neat solution to both the radio upgrade and lack of audio panel. I realise it might be a bit weedy at 6W, but figured it'd be a workable box 2/interim solution pending replacement of the nav/com in the future.

[PaulSS]

6W isn't weedy; in fact it's pretty standard for a 14V system. You normally only get greater when you go to a 28V electrical system. I have to say that PAR200A is a great bit of kit and certainly solves many panel mounting challenges.

Fitting it to a certified machine will make it a fair bit more expensive than a Permit aircraft and don't forget you've got to add another antenna, coax etc, just to make your wallet even lighter AND it's got to be fitted by a licensed engineer. Then, of course, the CAA want some $$s for another radio installation but, you'll be pleased to hear, that's probably the cheapest part.

Some of the manufacturers are making direct replacement 8.33 radios, so I think your better bet would be to see if they do that for the present nav/comm unit. That would be much cheaper

[tehmarks]

I suppose that's what I was trying to ascertain - whether the cost of installing all of the extra gubbins and rewiring and what have you would be greater than the higher cost of a new nav/com, especially if a slide-in replacement wasn't available (and I'm not aware of a slide-in replacement for the KX155 other than the TKM unit due out later in the year, and I haven't heard great things about TKM avionics).

[PaulSS]

The MX155 seems to be a good bit of kit and far less clunky than some of their existing stuff. The fact that it just slots into the KX155 slot would be very good news for you and $3000 is going to be less than getting a new 8.33 KHz radio installed in a certified aircraft. 10W as well, which is not too weedy

[tehmarks]

I was a bit concerned by reports (on here and elsewhere) of endless faults and problems with TKM kit. It otherwise does look like a good solution though.