Skybeacon and old transponders?

lancie00

lancie00

Line Up and Wait
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
864
Display Name
Display name:
lancie00
Ok, so supposedly the Skybeacons are now shipping. I was wondering if anyone has installed one with an old transponder and if it worked? We have an old Genave BETA/5000 in our Arrow and I've been hoping that we could install an $1850 Skybeacon instead of $4500 for a GTX335. Yes, I've thought about a GDL82 but I keep hearing there's $2000 install cost. If I'm going to do that, I may as well get the GTX.

If they work, I know I would put one in and I know a couple of FBO's would get them for their trainers.

No I don't fly for a living. No I don't have GPS. No I don't have the money for a GTN650. I just want to be able to fly into a Class C after 1/1/20 and not feel like the red headed step-child.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1496.JPG
    IMG_1496.JPG
    131 KB · Views: 17
Lol I hope so. We are getting ours installed soon and we have an old Narco transponder.
 
lancie00 said:
Ok, so supposedly the Skybeacons are now shipping. I was wondering if anyone has installed one with an old transponder and if it worked? We have an old Genave BETA/5000 in our Arrow and I've been hoping that we could install an $1850 Skybeacon instead of $4500 for a GTX335. Yes, I've thought about a GDL82 but I keep hearing there's $2000 install cost. If I'm going to do that, I may as well get the GTX.

If they work, I know I would put one in and I know a couple of FBO's would get them for their trainers.

No I don't fly for a living. No I don't have GPS. No I don't have the money for a GTN650. I just want to be able to fly into a Class C after 1/1/20 and not feel like the red headed step-child.
Click to expand...

I went through this not long ago. So let me ask this, what's your option if (when?) that Genave transponder quits? Can it be serviced for a reasonable price? Gonna have to be replaced? I concluded I was "safer" in that regard buy going with a new GTX335 than relying on an older transponder. You can eat up the cost savings quite quickly if your transponder goes and you can't easily fix or replace it with a used one.
 
Wonder how many cheap used transponders are on the market due to folks out buying new ones to meet the ADS-B mandate.
 
bradg33 said:
I went through this not long ago. So let me ask this, what's your option if (when?) that Genave transponder quits? Can it be serviced for a reasonable price? Gonna have to be replaced? I concluded I was "safer" in that regard buy going with a new GTX335 than relying on an older transponder. You can eat up the cost savings quite quickly if your transponder goes and you can't easily fix or replace it with a used one.
Click to expand...

Yea I can agree with you there. I had this discussion with my dad about our Cherokee. We have an old Narco transponder that has already been serviced twice (once by the previous owner and once by us). Thankfully we have been able to fix it so far. I'm with you - I would have preferred to replace the transponder from the get go. But that's alright, I can understand my dad's point of view too.
 
bradg33 said:
I went through this not long ago. So let me ask this, what's your option if (when?) that Genave transponder quits? Can it be serviced for a reasonable price? Gonna have to be replaced? I concluded I was "safer" in that regard buy going with a new GTX335 than relying on an older transponder. You can eat up the cost savings quite quickly if your transponder goes and you can't easily fix or replace it with a used one.
Click to expand...
Ebay. There are lot's of Garmin GTX327's for sale in the $300-$400 range.
 
lancie00 said:
Ebay. There are lot's of Garmin GTX327's for sale in the $300-$400 range.
Click to expand...

That was part of my calculus. But when you put the new xponder in, you have to get it tested, etc. All of a sudden, the delta gets pretty small. I ultimately fell on the side of "whole new box," but I also (now, as part of this upgrade) have a GPS that will provide the position source and I installed it myself. So the original price difference between a SkyBeacon and a GTX335 was only about $1k.
 
If you have an old transponder, I would think twice about the skybeacon… delta is small
 
lancie00 said:
Please tell me more. Does this mean it won't work?[/QUOTE
IMO, your pairing a new product with old equipment. If you had a newish GTX327 or other newish transponder with a digital encoder, than it might make sense to add the skybeacon, otherwise an ADS-B out transponder might be a better bet. To each his own, btw aviation consumer had a good write-up on this awhile back.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top