Plan Pilawt's Panel

No it isnt , 650 + 345R combo is 13k installed, unroll end of the year

Caution. Our avionics guy steered us away from the 345R. Mainly because it causes you to lose one of your little data displays on the 650 and the 650 screen is small enough already.

But he also didn’t like installing a transponder that requires the GPS touchscreen to work when the price difference isn’t that high.

Or normally isn’t anyway. With their deal, it’s clear they’re wanting to get rid of stock on the R. And there’s plenty of panel space in a 182.

He said he’d do whatever we liked but recommended the non-R 345 for our panel. Said customers are happier with it. Full controls on it, etc.

YMMV. It’s a bigger price difference right now if you take their deal on the bundle.

Is your installed price you’re quoting here including moving stuff around?

Much of our labor costs are in moving the King ILS capable nav-com down the stack, moving its OBS down to the number 2 hole, removing the non-localizer OBS and current VOR only Com2 radio, installing the new GPS antenna, testing the old antennas, blah blah blah... many hours.

Oh and rewiring switches for what’s driving the crappy old A/P since the King can still do that even if the Garmin can’t in GPS mode but can in VOR/ILS mode... supposedly. We shall see. Ha.

But more labor than the online typical “installed” quotes for Garmin toys.
 
For the last nine years I've been the curator of an airborne museum of ancient avionics, that looks a lot like a C-172N. The show is headlined by the 40-year-old original KX175B navcoms and KR85 ADF, all controlled by the quaint, but TSO'd, KMA20 audio panel. More recent additions were a KN64 DME and a KLN90B (VFR) GPS, but they're no spring chickens, either. The 21st Century is represented by the Stratus ADS-B out transponder.

So really, you just have a radio problem. ADS-B is solved already.

I no longer fly IFR. I live in a state where clouds are discouraged, and those few that do appear are often filled with lightning, hail, and other nastiness. Primary VFR navigation is handled by the KLN90B and iPhone/iPad/Foreflight, though sometimes I'll fiddle with the VORs for old times' sake.

Do you even need two com radios? There are some com radios that can act as an audio panel/intercom as well. OTOH, making it well equipped for IFR may improve resale value somewhat if the next guy wants to fly IFR.

I plan on keeping the airplane as long as it will have me.

So that makes spending a little more money worthwhile.

Where's Nancy Narco when you need her?

Ugh. Narco. May have been great back in the day, but now they're dead and gone, and good riddance I say. Dealing with them before that was annoying. Nothing like a hole in the panel for 14 months for a simple radio fix. :mad: Sadly, King is following the same path Narco did.

What would you do?

Well... Depends on the budget. On the plus side, you're planning on keeping it. On the minus side, well, that 172 ain't ever gonna get any faster no matter how many dollars you stuff in the panel.

High end: GTN650, GMAsomething, and GNC255. Much nicer GPS, modern audio panel, and a very nice #2 nav/com.
Medium: Pair of digital flip-flop radios - You might be able to find some good deals on the used market. I have a KX155 that could use a little work that we just pulled out of the Mooney (in favor of a PoA-approved GTN 750) and I'd be happy to put you in touch with my avionics guy to see exactly what it needs. (They've got a great component-level tech there - 30+ years doing component-level repairs on avionics, and has saved my bacon from much more expensive unit swaps a couple times.)
Cheap: If you can find someone to ring out the wires and check the connectors and test the radios and isolate it to surely be a radio problem, aside from the TKM MX series, you might also consider a MAC 1700 as a replacement. We've had three of them in club planes over the years and been pretty happy with them. They combine the top-notch radio guts of the Kings with a replacement for the Kings' major weakness: The mechanical tuning. It's basically a King radio with a digital faceplate on it, with flip-flop as well as memory storage for up to 10 frequencies on each side.

But really, unless you spend your money on newer gear that gives you some new connectors and wiring anyway, you're going to spend money on a person spending a bunch of time troubleshooting the problem. While you only get back maybe half what you spend on avionics when you do sell, you'll get NONE of the troubleshooting money back. If you think you'll have it for a long time and be flying for a long time and you have the coin to do it - Shoot for the moon and get some nice gadgets that you WANT instead of just what you NEED. If you want to keep it low budget, wire up some sort of digital flip-flops and you're good.
 
That’s the preferred option.

In the event one of the KX175Bs is toast, is there a better option for comm only than the Garmin GTR225? I had an SL40 in my Sport Cub, but I understand those are discontinued now.
I installed a KY-97A for comm only in my 172, and it has been completely reliable for thirteen years. The ICOM IC A220T is similar at half the price.
 
Caution. Our avionics guy steered us away from the 345R. Mainly because it causes you to lose one of your little data displays on the 650 and the 650 screen is small enough already.

But he also didn’t like installing a transponder that requires the GPS touchscreen to work when the price difference isn’t that high.

Or normally isn’t anyway. With their deal, it’s clear they’re wanting to get rid of stock on the R. And there’s plenty of panel space in a 182.

He said he’d do whatever we liked but recommended the non-R 345 for our panel. Said customers are happier with it. Full controls on it, etc.

YMMV. It’s a bigger price difference right now if you take their deal on the bundle.

Is your installed price you’re quoting here including moving stuff around?

Much of our labor costs are in moving the King ILS capable nav-com down the stack, moving its OBS down to the number 2 hole, removing the non-localizer OBS and current VOR only Com2 radio, installing the new GPS antenna, testing the old antennas, blah blah blah... many hours.

Oh and rewiring switches for what’s driving the crappy old A/P since the King can still do that even if the Garmin can’t in GPS mode but can in VOR/ILS mode... supposedly. We shall see. Ha.

But more labor than the online typical “installed” quotes for Garmin toys.
I decided not to do it right now, will see what other ADSB thing happens next year. My quote was including moving whatever needs to be moved to for the 650 on the panel. My panel space is very limited. Already have a remote GDL90, not complaint, but have ADSB in and out. I don't think there is any way to fit a 650 and 345 on the panel. And more importantly, the 480 works just fine.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
The Narco ad offers a low frequency receiver. Was there an aviation band in the LF range ?
No; it was an AM receiver used for direction finding using a rotating loop antenna. Frequency range was 200 - 1500 kHz, so you could get the bearings to AM broadcast band (540 kHz - 1600 kHz) and low frequency (200 kHz - 540 kHz) stations.
 
I installed a KY-97A for comm only in my 172, and it has been completely reliable for thirteen years. The ICOM IC A220T is similar at half the price.
I had a KY-97A in my Bonanza, and liked it. I’d need a KY-96A for the 28-volt Skyhawk, and Bendix-King wants $3,762 for them. Insane! As to the ICOM, comments I’ve seen on the Vans Air Force board have been less than favorable.
 
I had a KY-97A in my Bonanza, and liked it. I’d need a KY-96A for the 28-volt Skyhawk, and Bendix-King wants $3,762 for them. Insane! As to the ICOM, comments I’ve seen on the Vans Air Force board have been less than favorable.
Well, you're right about the KY-96A price. It's completely nuts. I paid $989 for my KY-97A from Aircraft Spruce in 2002.
 
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