AIR control display with Becker RT6201

[[email protected]]

Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?

Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?

[Ross[_3_]]

It is a great unit
I had it like that in my Discus 2a. Easiest way to save space in a panel
The ACD is very user friendly
Press of a button change between meters and feet
Radio frequencies are straight forward
Nice device and will always have one in my future gliders

[Jonathan St. Cloud]

On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 5:17:06 PM UTC-8, wrote:
> Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?
>
> Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?

Don't know which computer you use, but LXNav Lx90XX has a great radio bridge to radio. I can control my Becker6201 from the Remote stick controller for the LX9070. Never have to take my hand off either stick.

[jfitch]

On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 5:17:06 PM UTC-8, wrote:
> Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?
>
> Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?

I have the ACD on a Becker (no altitude key). It is a *great* way to control the radio, better than the Becker front end. If you also use the altimeter functions on the same head, you lose some screen area to it and in my opinion some useful functionality. This is shown well enough in Air's documentation.

I'll take the opportunity to point out that you need not have a remote Becker to do this (for some reason at least here in the USA the remote costs more). Just unscrew the face from the Becker, unplug the front panel, throw it in a drawer, and plug in the ACD. It may be wise to make a cover for the open holes in the front of the Becker chassis. That is what I did - there is no difference between that and a remote Becker.

[Eric Greenwell[_4_]]

jfitch wrote on 1/2/2020 5:46 PM:
> On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 5:17:06 PM UTC-8, wrote:
>> Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?
>>
>> Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?
>
> I have the ACD on a Becker (no altitude key). It is a *great* way to control the radio, better than the Becker front end. If you also use the altimeter functions on the same head, you lose some screen area to it and in my opinion some useful functionality. This is shown well enough in Air's documentation.
>
> I'll take the opportunity to point out that you need not have a remote Becker to do this (for some reason at least here in the USA the remote costs more). Just unscrew the face from the Becker, unplug the front panel, throw it in a drawer, and plug in the ACD. It may be wise to make a cover for the open holes in the front of the Becker chassis. That is what I did - there is no difference between that and a remote Becker.

What makes it *great*? Do you use the ACD for any other purpose?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1

[jfitch]

On Friday, January 3, 2020 at 6:55:38 AM UTC-8, Eric Greenwell wrote:
> jfitch wrote on 1/2/2020 5:46 PM:
> > On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 5:17:06 PM UTC-8, wrote:
> >> Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?
> >>
> >> Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?
> >
> > I have the ACD on a Becker (no altitude key). It is a *great* way to control the radio, better than the Becker front end. If you also use the altimeter functions on the same head, you lose some screen area to it and in my opinion some useful functionality. This is shown well enough in Air's documentation.
> >
> > I'll take the opportunity to point out that you need not have a remote Becker to do this (for some reason at least here in the USA the remote costs more). Just unscrew the face from the Becker, unplug the front panel, throw it in a drawer, and plug in the ACD. It may be wise to make a cover for the open holes in the front of the Becker chassis. That is what I did - there is no difference between that and a remote Becker.
>
> What makes it *great*? Do you use the ACD for any other purpose?
>
> --
> Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
> - "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
> https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1

Access to channels: Channels can be labeled with an actual alpha name, this appears on the display for both primary and secondary channels (secondary is lost if you use the Alt function). There is a most recently used buffer to select channels (again in English, not code). There is also a GPS referenced database automatically giving you all channels nearby (again in English). All revelant channels near my home airport I have labelled with their proper names (TRK TOWER, ATIS, NORCAL APP, GlIDER.3 etc.). When I am far from my home airport, I can access the geo referenced list and find the channel I want. I never have to look at a chart to find a frequency. Since access to channels is the main function of the radio, this is important. As I said I have the Becker front end and played with that a little before removing it. The ACD is substantially better.

The reason I purchased it was in anticipation of the Air Avionics radio, which is proving to be Vaporware. The great thing about that radio (if it ever ships) is the Say Again function which stores the last several received transmissions. I am quite happy with how it works in combination with the Becker though.

I do not use the ACD for any other purpose. If it were US legal, I might use a second one to combine altimeter and transponder functions, but there is no US approval for that. Air Avionics would surely do a better job on UI than Trig based on every product sold by each company.

[Jonathan St. Cloud]

On Friday, January 3, 2020 at 9:30:37 AM UTC-8, jfitch wrote:
> On Friday, January 3, 2020 at 6:55:38 AM UTC-8, Eric Greenwell wrote:
> > jfitch wrote on 1/2/2020 5:46 PM:
> > > On Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 5:17:06 PM UTC-8, wrote:
> > >> Anyone have experience using the air avionics AIR control display with altimeter key and remote Becker 6201?
> > >>
> > >> Is the ACD "friendly" to manage radio functions?
> > >
> > > I have the ACD on a Becker (no altitude key). It is a *great* way to control the radio, better than the Becker front end. If you also use the altimeter functions on the same head, you lose some screen area to it and in my opinion some useful functionality. This is shown well enough in Air's documentation.
> > >
> > > I'll take the opportunity to point out that you need not have a remote Becker to do this (for some reason at least here in the USA the remote costs more). Just unscrew the face from the Becker, unplug the front panel, throw it in a drawer, and plug in the ACD. It may be wise to make a cover for the open holes in the front of the Becker chassis. That is what I did - there is no difference between that and a remote Becker.
> >
> > What makes it *great*? Do you use the ACD for any other purpose?
> >
> > --
> > Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
> > - "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
> > https://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1
>
> Access to channels: Channels can be labeled with an actual alpha name, this appears on the display for both primary and secondary channels (secondary is lost if you use the Alt function). There is a most recently used buffer to select channels (again in English, not code). There is also a GPS referenced database automatically giving you all channels nearby (again in English). All revelant channels near my home airport I have labelled with their proper names (TRK TOWER, ATIS, NORCAL APP, GlIDER.3 etc.). When I am far from my home airport, I can access the geo referenced list and find the channel I want. I never have to look at a chart to find a frequency. Since access to channels is the main function of the radio, this is important. As I said I have the Becker front end and played with that a little before removing it. The ACD is substantially better.
>
> The reason I purchased it was in anticipation of the Air Avionics radio, which is proving to be Vaporware. The great thing about that radio (if it ever ships) is the Say Again function which stores the last several received transmissions. I am quite happy with how it works in combination with the Becker though.
>
> I do not use the ACD for any other purpose. If it were US legal, I might use a second one to combine altimeter and transponder functions, but there is no US approval for that. Air Avionics would surely do a better job on UI than Trig based on every product sold by each company.

I too found the Becker user interface to be lacking. While nothing to do with ACD, the LX bridge adds functionality in less head down time in selecting a freq for a new airport, it is automatically loaded in STBY when you select an airport. True hands off. Wonder how many people got suckered by the Air-Avionics transponder ADS-B mis-claims?