2 Transponders?

Thanks, should've searched. Brings me to another question after seeing that thread. Are transponders fairly reliable? The other thread does not make it look like they are.
 
Depends on which one you have and how old it is.

In 1600 hours of flying, I've only just now started having one transponder give me issues. It's also the oldest transponder I've flown with, and in talking to my avionics guy, it'll be a simple fix. If his simple fix doesn't work, I'll buy a Garmin 327/330 transponder and just use that.

Most of the IFR birds I see have good transponders in them. A lot of VFR birds have old ones that probably were bought for a couple hundred bucks and installed for the same. It seems the ones that have issues are usually in the latter category.
 
Meanee said:
Thanks, should've searched. Brings me to another question after seeing that thread. Are transponders fairly reliable? The other thread does not make it look like they are.
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Ted's experience matches mine. Boxes like the old Narco AT-50/150-series are a lot less reliable than modern technology like the Garmin 327/330 units. If I were in a situation where being without a transponder meant not making money or not getting home, and I had an AT-150, I think I'd want two of them.
 
Ron Levy said:
Ted's experience matches mine. Boxes like the old Narco AT-50/150-series are a lot less reliable than modern technology like the Garmin 327/330 units. If I were in a situation where being without a transponder meant not making money or not getting home, and I had an AT-150, I think I'd want two of them.
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Likewise.

And "not getting home" means just that with the DC SFRA.
 
Ron Levy said:
Ted's experience matches mine. Boxes like the old Narco AT-50/150-series are a lot less reliable than modern technology like the Garmin 327/330 units. If I were in a situation where being without a transponder meant not making money or not getting home, and I had an AT-150, I think I'd want two of them.
Click to expand...

Like *most* everything in aviation "it depends".

All I've ever flown behind are old Narco AT-50-A transponders and have only had one minor failure (about a year ago) that cost less than $200 to fix. This in over 1800 hours in two birds.

Mine have been quite dependable...bordering bulletproof actually.

Never thought about the following before right now but I dynamically balance my engines about every 500 hours. So, my avionics don't get rattled to death like they would in some birds. I have NO idea if this has anything to do with my luck with the Narco transponders or not but, since I just thought about it...
 
timwinters said:
All I've ever flown behind are old Narco AT-50-A transponders and have only had one minor failure (about a year ago) that cost less than $200 to fix. This in over 1800 hours in two birds.
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I've had AT-50/150's in four different planes over 33 years totaling nearly 4000 hours of operation (not all my own), and have probably had half a dozen or more failures, with repair bills ranging from $200 to "throw it away and buy another," but as Tim's post tells us, YMMV.
 
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