Are we sure (and by that I mainly mean has Archer-181 heard for certain 
) that TKM are talking about a KX155/165 compatible 8,33 KHz set, rather than just an 8,33 KHz version of their current offering which replaces the 170/175 series?
Neil wrote:
that TKM are talking about a KX155/165 compatible 8,33 KHz set, rather than just an 8,33 KHz version of their current offering which replaces the 170/175 series?
This is unclear for me as well. @Archer-181 do you happen to know this?
Hello everybody! I have been keeping in touch with Vic at TKM and things are more or less going to plan. Perhaps a month behind the original plan? Below is an email that he sent me 4 weeks ago which I didn’t post …………………….
Thanks for checking in, I’ve attached a picture of the display powered up. The blue bars on top and bottom are designators of what part of the radio you are controlling, and will never all be on at once. The bar in the middle is the center of the VOR indicator. The 4 lines of numbers are dot matrix lines that display alphanumeric characters. This is where information will be displayed on the radio.
__We have received the prototypes for these displays. The computer boards are coming in next week along with the metal so testing of the prototypes will begin soon. We are still working on the design of the faceplate._
A bit of an email also from a month ago………….
We know many of our customers are wary of operating a touchscreen while in flight, so initially we steered away from this as well. The ability to have a wider display (less buttons on the face) and the ease of use brought us back to the touch idea. The touch screen is not used for all operations, but more so to select a certain operation. This radio has a beautiful display with a black background and bright white character readouts. The different indicators on the display will be a light blue. The touch screen has different touch points that easily navigate to the different operations of the radio as well as the page menu, with the dial/push knobs being used for cycling through the menu, dialing in frequencies etc. It will have a really easy to use comm and nav memory as well as a built in indicator. From there we will have pages that include things like squelch adjust, transmit and receive power, brightness and volume. All in all we are very excited for it and once I’ve got a good rendering of the front panel I will send it over to you!
Also here is an email from yesterday
___I apologise or the delayed response. The radio is coming along smoothly and we will have a radio put together and working in a month that is ready to begin testing with the FAA. The boards that we have received prototypes of have been working great, we’re really happy. The transmitter is strong and was ran for 20 minutes last week without overheating. we’ll have a better idea soon of how long it will take to get approved by the FAA, but it should begin in just about a month.____
____Thank you,____
____Vic Casebolt__
__TKM Avionic
So things are coming on and I’m hoping by November 2017 there will be a working fully TSO’s radio. I like the large screen with Comm and Nav displays (better than the Garmin 255A). There is now more info on the TKM website and Mendelssohn Pilot supplies now has a price listed!
As a happy TKM client I am excited by these new radios – let’s hope they come out in time!
BTW – I got slightly confused about this as it is a King KX155/165 replacement not the King 170/175 series. The heading on the thread I started was correct but at least one of my postings was misleading – apologies.
The wait for a 170/175 series will be longer and no imminent plans.
Archer-181 wrote:
So things are coming on and I’m hoping by November 2017 there will be a working fully TSO’s radio.
They seem to be getting ready for the wrong deadline. They are about a year too late aren’t they? People are fitting 8.33 radios during this year’s annuals.
(BTW, Mendelssohn are saying “* Available summer 2017 *”. Since when has November been in the summer, even in Edinburgh?)
My reading between the lines of the above suggests that this product is a long way from being certified, let alone being on the market. Saying “The transmitter is strong and was ran for 20 minutes last week without overheating” doesn’t sound right to me.
The knobology looks totally nuts. A great chance missed.
Having seen the product in the flesh ( well YouTube ) it looks very good , it’s just a pity that it has turned up so late in EASA terms.
As a business I have had to plan for the 8.33 issue and cannot afford to have aircraft sitting on the ground waiting for radios, if the TKM had been available this time last year they would almost certainly sold me three units but Garmin have now got that gig.
I wish them all the best with this unit if only to keep Garmin honest by providing the market with an alternative.
Looks good, though in the 8.33 kHz mode it apparently suffers from the same problem as GNS430 and most other hardware – you need one of these:
I spoke to TKM briefly today. They tell me they’re getting certification now and timeline is “late summer”. Then he said definitely before the 8.33 deadline.
