It’s not any more stupid than a radar altimeter reading heights to you on landing, or blaring about minimums – you could also look at the instrument, the audio is an extra cue.
I find 150 for a cable with bt receiver a bit hefty, but hey I got me a Zulu in the first place, and for good reason.
I thought if you had bought an A20 (old bluetooth version) in the last 2 months you could can get a new version bluetooth exchange cable, for free.
Peter wrote:
Pilots seem to fall into two camps. Those who listen to music and those who don’t.
I’ve never tried it, but I think I would go crazy to have the music constantly muted by R/T. Of course, as you say, if you fly in an environment where NORDO is both legal and safe it would be different, but how many of us really do that frequently?
Peter wrote:
How does skydemon relate to the bluetooth capability?
As we discussed here it’s to be able to hear the sounds of apps, whatever they are because they use the audio bluetooth profile.
Jan_Olieslagers wrote:
Isn’t that what someone rightly called “Volksverdummung” ?
Do you call your gear up warning horn also Volksverdummung? Or the master warning in a Boeing or Airbus? Sure, you should be able to see the warnings but it’s good to have an audio signal as well in case you attention gets distracted.
The Garmin 495 for example beeps when airpsace is ahead or in other situations but with a good headset you don’t hear it either, so having the sound in the headset is a good option. You can always turn it off if you don’t want it/need it but the new A20 have the option integrated without additional charge, so I’ll take it.
I’ve never tried it, but I think I would go crazy to have the music constantly muted by R/T. Of course, as you say, if you fly in an environment where NORDO is both legal and safe it would be different, but how many of us really do that frequently?
Exactly my take on it.
But, as I said, opinions vary, because I know pilots who listen to music while flying along the UK south coast… I flew with one in an SR22 a while ago.
The Garmin 495 for example beeps when airpsace is ahead or in other situations but with a good headset you don’t hear it either, so having the sound in the headset is a good option. You can always turn it off if you don’t want it/need it but the new A20 have the option integrated without additional charge, so I’ll take it.
How would you couple the 495’s warnings to a bluetooth headset?
The 495/496 is one of the very few handhelds which emit terrain warnings on an audio output cable. The level is actually intended for driving a speaker. Hence I did this a while ago. It was wired to the AUX input, which is arguably not ideal because you can switch it off. I suppose their might be a new type of intercom (“audio panel”) which can emit this stuff over bluetooth. Note that the 495/496 does not output any other of its warnings on that cable.
Peter wrote:
How would you couple the 495’s warnings to a bluetooth headset?
I can’t. If you want to connect a device (a 495 or a tablet) and are looking for options – one is cable, another is Bluetooth. If the headset doesn’t support BT the device doesn’t matter – the option BT is out. But if it does, you have more options.
I tried the music thing a couple of times on VFR flights, but have given up on that, because I found it detracts me from the aviate-part of flying plus I need to hear the engine at least a bit to feel confident.
Peter wrote:
Of course… yet another battery to charge
And yet another cable – I am personally not a fan of a Kabelsalat and definitely don’t want it in my cockpit.
Yes… the way to do this stuff with these rechargeable-battery-gadgets is to velcro it out of sight, and address the battery issue by having an aircraft-powered power supply similarly velcroed out of sight, and removing the battery from the said product and powering it directly via wires such that its on/off switch is bypassed so it comes on with the aircraft power.
The reason for removing the rechargeable battery is that it will go totally flat after each flight which will eventually shag it, it then goes short-circuit, and the whole device stops working (even when the power is applied), and might even get hot (or worse) next time the power comes on. Been there, done that many times with e.g. mounting bluetooth GPS receivers in cars.
Currently I am looking for a bluetooth EGNOS GPS which supports both standard NMEA and the Apple-hacked protocols concurrently and which has an external antenna socket and an external power socket. I am very sure there isn’t one, so I will have to buy something and hack it.
Off topic somewhat but relevant to bluetooth headset applications, which are otherwise pretty well limited to getting music from a smartphone.
But, hey, the smartphone is going to need in-flight charging otherwise, after a flight of a few hours, there isn’t going to be much left in there 
