If true then it is a good piece of kit - never a moments problem with our TT31 - but I do so wish it had a numeric key pad.
Much more to the point is this: If King (or Avidyne who are reportedly doing the same Trig re-badge) cannot design their own transponder (given that a KT76C should be able to do all this with just different firmware) then what sort of capability do they have for sorting out "real nontrivial" boxes like the IFDs or the KSN770?
I have a feeling that there really is nobody left in there who can do hardware/software development.
King dropped the KFD840 early in 2013 because - according to a chap of theirs at an exhibition - the contractor making it decided to simply drop it. There was some litigation (by King) pending, apparently, for breach of contract. But this illustrates how vulnerable these boxes are, after you paid 5 figures putting one in.
given that a KT76C should be able to do all this with just different firmware
Huh? Last time I checked, Mode-S used 4MBit/s DPSK uplink, while Mode-C basically uses Pulse Position Modulation.
Yes, people do DPSK in software, but that would require a pretty capable DSP that wasn't invented yet when the KT76 was designed.
Or a very basic FPGA. I was doing that sort of stuff (Xilinx) in the early 1990s, for ASIC prototyping. Those chips cost a few quid, and the "hardware" gets updated at the same time as you flash new firmware.
This isn't rocket science, and if King have to buy this in, who is still "working" at Olathe?
Reportedly the Avidyne AXP340 is also a re-badge of the Trig transponder.
This isn't rocket science
No but I challenge your claim (without proof) that no hardware changes would be necessary, only firmware ("reflashing"). That is very unlikely, some receiver tuning would likely be required to get reasonable performance.
Dynon bought in Trig transponders too for their Skyview systems. In that case it really is just the badge changed.
I guess they get FAA and EASA certification out of the box and the cost and hassle of that could easily be greater than product development. Look at how long it took Garmin to get a GTN software update through the EASA treacle.
Check power consumption value for all new King Avionics (inc. Audio Panel).
You might find a similar value for a competing unit if you search hard enough ;)
AXP340 claims to be FAA certified now. Not sure about EASA.
