Nav/Comm for homebuilts question(s)

I was just wondering what homebuilders are have installed or are planning to
install into their aircraft to provide Nav/Comm capability?

Handheld or panel-mounted? If panel-mounted, then:
older, TSO-certified radios?
new, but used, radios?
brand new radios (a KX-155 with glide slope lists for about $3,600 )?
other, non-TSO radios?

What Nav/Comm features are most important to you?

What new features would you like a panel-mounted Nav/Com to have?

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks for your time,

dave

Some important features to me:

1. Cost of buying
2. Cost of repairing
3. Updateability
4. Simplicity of operation
5. Nice big knobs that go "click"
6. Displays that never burn out or go out of alignment
7. Standard connectors for easy owner-performed hookup, like a DB-25 or
some other similar system that I can get at the Shack or Fry's.

My BD-4 mounted nav/com stack is:

Narco MK12D (cessna replacement)
- Cost me $1000 used, with G/S nav head *and* ARC G/S receiver. Found by
just asking around for someone who was upgrading. Not bad $ for a snazzy
rig like that.

Cessna ARC RT328-T
- Oldie but goodie, legal, and (I'm told by ATC) better sounding than the
Narco (N.ot A. R.adio C.O.mpany) Cost: $5, yellow tagged (!) at the
Arlington fly-mart. In the box were some older RT-series (not legal) radios
for parts (knobs, etc.) Truly a find. It's labeled COM-2, but I use it as
my primary COM. The Narco is relegated to looking snazzy, getting the ATIS,
and doing NAV. (Yes the Narco has been to the factory for the usual $375
butt-job.)

My handheld is an ICOM A22. Have used it in the past as my primary COM,
never a complaint from ATC even over the boonies enroute. NAV worked
amazingly well too, given that it just uses the same antenna. (pigtail to
fuselage com antenna)

My dream Nav/Com would be *just* a Nav/Com (I don't particularly care for
swiss-army-knife equipment) but a really smart Nav/Com that plays well with
other equipment. It would display station and facility info that I can
update from a FREE internet source simply by sliding it out, bringing it
home, hooking it up to the desktop with a DB-9 serial or USB cable, and
pressing a button, just like the Sync button on my Palm PDA cradle. Or
maybe by lugging my laptop out to the airport (after running Sync on it
while internet connected) and then pointing the laptop IRDA port at the
radio. Or something like that. 1 button or even no button no-brainer
updates that are free!

It would be way cool if my nav/com could keep an eye on my current GPS plan
over NMEA, and then keep the frequency flip-flop sequence preloaded for me.
Being GPS location aware, it could also provide "Nearest ATIS" for altimeter
setting, "Nearest UNICOM/Tower" for help, "Nearest TWEB" for wx info,
"Nearest Center" for a pop-up, stuff like that.

One thing I do like about my current stack is that it uses the ARC system of
tying the two radios together, and having onboard amps that accept other
inputs too. Basically, you don't even need an audio panel with this rig,
just a SPDT for mic in, and a couple of SPDT's to select spkr/phones out.

I'm sure that there are a bunch of $10k+ boxes that do all this stuff.
That's nice for the polo crowd, but I'm a redneck chevy kinda guy. I want
it all for under $2k.

Finally, I sure wish the damn G/S driver would not CENTER the needle when
the course is flagged. Both CDI and G/S. If that isn't the most STUPID
failure mode I have I ever seen, I don't know what is. So there you are,
flying the G/S like you are on rails and gods gift to ATC, and "bling" it
silently fails. What happens? A little bitty flag comes down sure but the
needles just keep saying wow you are one hot shot pilot, all the way into
the ground. I hate that.


"Dave Gribble" wrote in message
...
I was just wondering what homebuilders are have installed or are planning
to
install into their aircraft to provide Nav/Comm capability?

Handheld or panel-mounted? If panel-mounted, then:
older, TSO-certified radios?
new, but used, radios?
brand new radios (a KX-155 with glide slope lists for about $3,600 )?
other, non-TSO radios?

What Nav/Comm features are most important to you?

What new features would you like a panel-mounted Nav/Com to have?

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks for your time,

dave

1. Cost
2. Size (smaller is better)
3. Today's technology
3.1 Reliability

I have smaller real estate on my panel and still want IFR so
smaller is better.

Prefer panel mounted - reliability is better compared to dangling
loose cords and stuff not really made for ac full time use.

Not too worried about TSO certified. Most of current electronics
is much more reliable than older stuff.

----------------------------------------------------
Paul Lee, SQ2000 canard project: www.abri.com/sq2000

"Dave Gribble" wrote in message ...
I was just wondering what homebuilders are have installed or are planning to
install into their aircraft to provide Nav/Comm capability?

Handheld or panel-mounted? If panel-mounted, then:
older, TSO-certified radios?
new, but used, radios?
brand new radios (a KX-155 with glide slope lists for about $3,600 )?
other, non-TSO radios?

What Nav/Comm features are most important to you?

What new features would you like a panel-mounted Nav/Com to have?

Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks for your time,

dave

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, Dave Gribble wrote:

I was just wondering what homebuilders are have installed or are planning to
install into their aircraft to provide Nav/Comm capability?


My first flights were with a borrowed hand held radio. It worked fine,
but was someone elses radio.

I lucked out with a fellow chapter member, who tired of his Terra Tri Nav
(with glide scope), and practically gave it to me.

It works good, but the selector switches are a pain to use, takes
forever to change frequencies, no flip flop etc. So I do lust after
a better radio someday.

George Graham
RX-7 Powered Graham-EZ, N4449E
Homepage http://bfn.org/~ca266