I totally endorse Archer’s letter to Trig. I have had a TT31 for 5 years, it works well but it is a pain to change squawk code. I reckon on average it takes 20+ seconds to select a code other than 7000 and during that time I am hand flying the aeroplane with head down so I’m not looking out; at 170 kts that consumes a lot of airspace.
I would add to Archer’s letter a suggestion that Trig might offer a low cost conversion to existing TT31 owners when they do eventually see sense on this design defect and produce a user friendly product,
Sorry, I just don’t see the point of this antediluvian “made in Scotland” garbage with twiddly knobs and buttons that’s dumber than a Saluki hound dog.
If it isn’t from Garmin it’s not worth wiring into my panel.
The proper way to interact with a radio in turbulence (or in crowded airspace) is to tell it what we want it to do – “tune destination approach”, for example. A transponder should be no different, so hopefully Garmin’s next Telligence software version will recognise “squawk seven four zero one” and do as it’s told.
Just a thought: if Google made this stuff it would also understand « affichez soixante-quatorze zéro unité » …and store the data for some kind of targeted advertising
Archer-181 wrote:
and often lots of “enter/enter/enter”
Why don’t you practice, practice, practice instead?
In truth I am pretty good at it. I do use the back key now. Interestingly I have noticed in high work load or stressful situations that is when mistakes are made.
I’m saving my practice, practice, practice for my EDM Engine Monitor
Marchettiman wrote:
I have had a TT31 for 5 years … I reckon on average it takes 20+ seconds to select a codeThen you’re doing it wrong. We have Trig’s transponders in both Warriors, it can’t take more than 5-6s for a code change. Coming from a KT76 the direction is familiar, just an enter key instead of another knob.
I do think that some above are being very hard on Trig. I have found the unit to be stunningly reliable, OK it’s a bit clunky to use but no worse than most of the King or Narco units that they replaced.
The trig is a bit annoying because it keeps you head down some time, but it is better than the old king ones, especially after a little practice. I train to turn the knob without looking, just counting the steps, and checking at the end of the sequence.
We should encourage any competition in the avionics market IMHO.
I totally agree with A_and_C . I am a very happy Trig customer and I think their radio is brilliant. I already have a Garmin Audio panel/ twin G5’s/ Garmin Magnometer and Garmin Autopilot interface but I like competition (I think my Garmin products are also great but I don’t like their Apple philosophy of closed standards).
The strange thing is Trig make the Bendix King transponder which has buttons. There is no reason why Trig’s next version shouldn’t have a Telligence type input
Honestly this is the reason why I spent the extra to get a Garmin GTX335 – the interface when flying is just better than most the other stuff. It also has a certified position source built into it.