25 kHz radio deactivation makes no sense.
Any xxx.×00, xxx.×25, xxx.×50 and xxx.×75 frequency actually assigned will have a 25kHz wide band available and protected.
So if these still exist (and many will), the radio is useful and won’t interfere with anything. Only as they gradually disappear, the last remaining one will be 121.500.
If the same frequency is used with a 8.33 kHz wide band, it is advertised as xxx.×05, xxx.×30, xxx.×55 and xxx.×80, which you cannot accidentally tune on your legacy radio. Of course you could deliberately tune the real frequency and mess things up, but you could also do that on your 8.33 box.
Once the last 25kHz frequency goes, the thing will be an emergency radio only.
Keeping the GNS430 as a #2 and backup when you add the GNS530W is a reasonable plan IMHO. The datacards are different for the W and non W units, so if you want to keep the 430 with an up to date database, you will need two subscriptions. I don’t know if Jeppesen discounts the second one, since they are not the same type. If you decide to upgrade the 430 to a W, that can be expensive. In the US, I would expect it to cost around $4000. One advantage of having both units as W is that if you maintain the DB for both, you have crossfill availability. I am fairly sure that Jeppesen offers a discount for the second W database. If you forego the cross fill, I have seen many with dual W’s who only buy one subscription and at each cycle, reprogram the card in the #2 unit, put it in the #1, and move the one cycle down DB card to the #2. That way, although the #1 always has the current DB, the #2 has a recent update only one cycle back, which is good enough for a backup use.
boscomantico wrote:
Yes, but that is because it is to their liking
FOCA (Switzerland) sais the same thing.
If you wait until the “last minute” then everyone will scramble to the avionic shops and you might face downtime if not compliant. Maybe it is better to plan ahead and grab possibilities when they arise?
FOCA (Switzerland) sais the same
Yes, but again, it is because it is to their liking.
Part-NCO is very clear that only one radio is eequired. So, the question once again comes down to
Otherwise, nobody can stop you from placarding the second Comm inop and that’s that.
boscomantico wrote:
whether national authorities have the faculty to add something “on top” of that
whether, in the negative case, they will do it nevertheless and refuse to give you some piece of needed paper if you don’t have that second radio
Pretty much comes down to the same thing, doesn’t it?
Look at what is happening in Germany with the FTOs, look what happens with the interpretation of how TBO is dealt with in Switzerland and do you really think the CAA’s will relinquish what they appear to look at as their turf without a fight?
And where will we airplane owners running on a tight budget and trying to keep our airplanes by the neck of our teeth stand in this fight? We have the choice to fight legal battles and most probably be grounded for the duration or we have the choice to simply do what we are told and continue flying.
What do you imagine is in the end cheaper…
I just think one shouldn’t give in so quickly when the legislation is clearly on our side. And no, it’s not going to cost more if people wait some more.
Ok, there´s another way to go:
Waiting out the 8.33-debate (1 or 2 radios), keeping the KX155 (as said, repair is about € 250,-) as second / emergency radio for now, installing the 530w and removing/selling the 430.
That would solve the double-installation w/non-w problem and the requirement of two different database subscriptions.
If the 8.33-requirement with two radios finally comes to life, it will be the right time to upgrade the KX155.
I´m thinking of my flight instructor, who owned and flew his Skyhawk until 2015 with an old mode-C-Transponder all over Europe and never had any problems. After the Mode-S-requirement came to life he talked two or three times with the atc center supervisors in advance of a flight, they told him he should be fine and there would be no need to call them again.
Maybe, waiting out, like boscomantico mentioned, is the right way to go….
Best regards
Frank
With many of these things in aviation – to use a German idiom – “Nichts wird so heiss gegessen, wie es gekocht wird”
Frank,
regardless of the 8.33 rule, which I am totally convinced WILL come if maybe a bit delayed or whatever….
To spend any money on an old KX155 when you have a perfectly working GNS430 is not what I would do at all at all. The GNS430 in any case is a massively better appliance than any simple NAV/COM and to have the dual GPS capability even without crossfeed is MUCH better. Apart, the 430 will not fetch you anywhere close to the amount of money you’d need to replace it…
530W and 430 with possibly later upgrade to 430W is definitly the way I would go in your situation.
The KX155/165 (non A) radios also generate a lot of harmonics which interfere with GPS.
See the KLN94 Approach Approval writeup on my website for more information.
