Headset Splitter vs. Intercom

[coolgy59]

Hi All,

So I'm a member of the local flying club and one of the primary aircraft I use is an older 172 (it's technically a T-41C Mescalero, which is essentially a C-172E on steroids). I love the thing to death, especially with it's massive payload compared to other 172's. That said, I'd really like to take more than a co-pilot up with me, but with it being so old, there are no jacks in the back. I figured the best way to remedy that (since I can't mod the plane myself) is to get either a headset splitter or an external intercom and then plug it into the current co-pilot jack. Any suggestions on rigging up the plane that way or any recommendations for parts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[teethdoc]

Put a Aerocom III by PS engineering in the Mooney and very happy.

 

[yakdriver]

Buy a portable Sigtronics intercom. They can be had on Ebay for around $100. Don

 

[Jim_R]

When I bought my plane it had a Sigtronics SPA-400 4-place intercom installed, but only two jacks were wired up (pilot and co-pilot). For a short-term solution until I could wire up the back, I bought a $50 3-way extension cord, and plugged it into the co-pilot's jacks.

This was not a good solution.

When all 3 extension spots were used, volume for all 4 positions became very soft.

Mic support was iffy. My DC headset mics worked fine (in any combination, up to 4 headsets plugged in). However, if I plugged in my QT Halo mic, all mics on the extension would stop working--pilot's mic still worked. (Those were the only headsets I had, and so the only combo I tried.)

I would strongly recommend some other solution. I didn't look very hard, but was unable to find a portable intercom that would work in conjunction with my installed intercom and radios; the ones I saw were intended for standalone use.

Maybe someone can recommend a specific portable intercom that will work together with the 2-place intercom and radios that are currently present.

 

[John221us]

I successfully used an portable intercom for a while, before I wired up my rear jacks (similar to above). I can't remember the model, but I think it was a Sigtronics (I borrowed it from a friend). There were a couple of times the mic stopped working for everything on the passenger side and we ended up just unplugging it to allow the co-pilot to plug directly in, so it was not completely reliable.