New $1700 transponder - a disappointment

Sandia announced a new transponder that is "ideal for LSA - Glider - UAV
Operations"; unfortunately, the only good thing about this transponder
is the price.

It's an odd shape for glider panels at 2" high by 3.5" wide, but the
worst part is the 500 ma current draw at 12.5 volts, twice what the Trig
21 uses. Almost as bad - it's a Mode C unit instead of Mode S, limiting
your options for ADS-B in the future.

At about $500 less than the Trig 21, it might still be attractive to
some pilots that want a new transponder with an integral encoder, and
can accommodate the odd size and high drain.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)