Becker avionics prices

[Jonathan St. Cloud]

Was shopping for a radio and transponder, I notice how much more expensive Becker is than the other brands, any reason for this? Are they better, more advanced, lighter, better warranty ...

[jfitch]

On Friday, August 14, 2015 at 7:42:54 AM UTC-7, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
> Was shopping for a radio and transponder, I notice how much more expensive Becker is than the other brands, any reason for this? Are they better, more advanced, lighter, better warranty ...

I have had Becker and other radios, tried to install a Becker transponder once. I see no advantage in them. If you need them right now I would go straight to Trig for both, if you can wait an indeterminate time I would look at the Air Avionics combined unit (single 57mm hole services both). Both of those brands are at least the quality equal of Becker, and more forward thinking design.

[Darryl Ramm]

On Friday, August 14, 2015 at 7:42:54 AM UTC-7, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
> Was shopping for a radio and transponder, I notice how much more expensive Becker is than the other brands, any reason for this? Are they better, more advanced, lighter, better warranty ...

Trig TT-22 (unfortunately not TT-21) is where it is at for glider Transponders in the USA. Best current path to 1090ES Out should you want to/need to do that in future.

[Dave Springford]

I think this is because of the recent decline in the Euro vs the USD. Becker USA prices in US dollars.

Previously, the Dittel FSG2T listed several hundred dollars higher than the Becker AR6201- 25KHz version. The FSG2T lists at 1410 Eur, but a few years ago, that same 1410 Eur was closer to 1800 USD compared to the AR6201 in the $1600-1700 range.

Now for those of us in Canada all the radios have gone up 30% in price over the last few years as the CAD has lost value as investors move into the "safety" (?) of the USD.

Dave Springford
www.foxonecorp.com

[Dave Nadler]

Hi Jonathan - I flew for years with Becker radios,
never any problems (AR4201 plus Mode S transponder).
However, for the new machine I went all Trig.
The reduced height really helped with the panel
layout, I will equip ADS-B-out in future, dual radio
head, all pointed to TT-22 plus TY-91.

Email me offline if you want me to send layout pics.

Hope that helps,
Best Regards, Dave

[Andrzej Kobus]

On Friday, August 14, 2015 at 4:52:18 PM UTC-4, Dave Nadler wrote:
> Hi Jonathan - I flew for years with Becker radios,
> never any problems (AR4201 plus Mode S transponder).
> However, for the new machine I went all Trig.
> The reduced height really helped with the panel
> layout, I will equip ADS-B-out in future, dual radio
> head, all pointed to TT-22 plus TY-91.
>
> Email me offline if you want me to send layout pics.
>
> Hope that helps,
> Best Regards, Dave

I also chose Trig T-22 paired to FreeFlight 1201 but for the radio I chose http://www.dittel-avionik.de/en/content/radiotransceiver the slim version. I like the memory with names I can assign and the form factor is similar to TY-91. The price however is a little better.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:18:19 -0700, Andrzej Kobus wrote:

> I chose http://www.dittel-avionik.de/en/content/radiotransceiver the
> slim version. I like the memory with names I can assign..
>
I've been flying with one of these (Dittel KRT2) for the last year and
like it a lot, especially its ability to listen on two frequencies.
Several have appeared in gliders at my club: I've heard no complaints.

The worst I can say about them is that entering frequency names is
somewhat slow and fiddly and, since its a computer-based radio I'd gladly
have paid a bit more for one with an SD card slot if that had been an
option: typing names and frequencies into a file on the card and then
stuffing it into the slot would be a lot quicker and easier as well as
providing a nice backup for the list.

If anybody from Dittel is reading this, there's a free suggestion for you
(an upgrade would be nice, hint hint).


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[[email protected]]

The Air Avionics combined unit seems like it could be worth waiting for. It would allow me to keep my mechanical vario even if I installed a transponder!

[[email protected]]

On Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 12:24:39 PM UTC+2, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:18:19 -0700, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
>

> The worst I can say about them is that entering frequency names is
> somewhat slow and fiddly and, since its a computer-based radio I'd gladly
> have paid a bit more for one with an SD card slot if that had been an
> option: typing names and frequencies into a file on the card and then
> stuffing it into the slot would be a lot quicker and easier as well as
> providing a nice backup for the list.
>
> If anybody from Dittel is reading this, there's a free suggestion for you
> (an upgrade would be nice, hint hint).


Martin, why don't you just enter the frequencies and names with the PC program from Dittel? The cable is soldered in half an hour.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Mon, 17 Aug 2015 03:03:33 -0700, ueli.niggli wrote:

> On Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 12:24:39 PM UTC+2, Martin Gregorie
> wrote:
>> On Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:18:19 -0700, Andrzej Kobus wrote:
>>
>>
>> The worst I can say about them is that entering frequency names is
>> somewhat slow and fiddly and, since its a computer-based radio I'd
>> gladly have paid a bit more for one with an SD card slot if that had
>> been an option: typing names and frequencies into a file on the card
>> and then stuffing it into the slot would be a lot quicker and easier as
>> well as providing a nice backup for the list.
>>
>> If anybody from Dittel is reading this, there's a free suggestion for
>> you (an upgrade would be nice, hint hint).
>
>
> Martin, why don't you just enter the frequencies and names with the PC
> program from Dittel? The cable is soldered in half an hour.

Sounds good, so I just looked at the latest manuals on the Dittel site.
There's nothing in the contents list or on the pinout diagrams of the
KRT2/KRT2A or KRT2-Col manuals, though I did see there are downloads of
versions of the KRT2Manager for XP and later Windows versions.

Thanks for the heads-up. Making up a download wiring harness for the my
KRT2 and persuading the KRT2Manager to run on Linux under Wine looks like
a nice winter project.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Alexander Swagemakers[_2_]]

A wiring diagramm is included in the zip file of the krt2manager application.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Mon, 17 Aug 2015 06:58:19 -0700, Alexander Swagemakers wrote:

> A wiring diagramm is included in the zip file of the krt2manager
> application.

I found that when I looked at the ZIP and should have mentioned that.
Apologies. Do you know if this feature is supported by all KRT2 firmware
versions or will it need a firmware upgrade to use it? I bought mine in
December 2013 (s/n 30874).


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[[email protected]]

Hi Martin, my KRT2 was also bought around December 2013 and not updated since then, so I guess it should work with yours. I didn't have a pinout for the cable but just connected the RS232 TX to the RX Pin of the KRT2, and of course 12V supply. After the mandatory RX/TX mistake it worked.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Tue, 18 Aug 2015 00:23:42 -0700, ueli.niggli wrote:

> Hi Martin, my KRT2 was also bought around December 2013 and not updated
> since then, so I guess it should work with yours. I didn't have a pinout
> for the cable but just connected the RS232 TX to the RX Pin of the KRT2,
> and of course 12V supply. After the mandatory RX/TX mistake it worked.

Thanks for that. BTW, I've been assuming that the KRT2Manager is
bidirectional, i.e. that it can suck the existing frequency database out
of the radio and write it to disk as well as writing it in.

I'll definitely make up a Y-cable (data on one leg and 12v on the other)
and get the KRT2Manager running under Wine this winter.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |