Is this possible, e.g. with any PS Engineering intercom / audio panel?
Obviously not from any socket already in the aircraft and accessible to the pilot, because they all carry the whole lot.
One way to achieve it temporarily would be to use the “pilot only” intercom setting
but you don’t want that on the whole flight.
One could achieve it for outgoing radio calls by linking something to the PTT switch, so the sound gets sent (to some extra connector) only when the PTT wire is active.
But I can’t see any way to separate incoming ATC calls from other cockpit conversation.
I believe Garmin make an intercom which feeds external and internal sounds to different ears of the pilot, and PS do something similar – here. However I don’t want to install a new intercom, even if it was plug compatible with the 7000.
I should think it must be possible to tap the “out” of the com-equipment, if there’s two of them add them up with a resistor each, then attenuate suitably?
Or perhaps this cannot be legally done, on a certified installation?
I am not asking about legality at this stage; I just wondered if anyone knows whether this is possible.
For sure it is possible with a modified intercom.
Actually it may be possible to access the required signals at the back of the radio. The intercom connects to the radio for all ATC stuff…
On the Trig that I have, all connections are on a DB-25 plug (except of course antenna). Faced with your issue I think I’d mount a male and a female DB25 back to back, with all pins connected through, and the “audio out” exiting on a bit of shielded cable – the shield might not even be really necessary but would work neatest. At the other end of the cable would be the required plug, probably a 3,5 mm jack, into which a couple of attenuating resistors could be stuffed.
But perhaps other equipment uses more exotic plugs, making such an arrangement less evident.
With reference to this:
I can see how it can be done for your own transmissions (simply by enabling the recorder only when PTT is pressed) but how do you do it for reception? You would need a custom/modified intercom (“audio panel”) which has an audio output that
Perhaps @Mark has an idea?
Our standard, off the shelf PMA8000G or the PMA450B can stream via Bluetooth, either everything the pilot hears or ONLY aircraft radios.
A free ap from Lightspeed Headsets works great in recording this audio for entire flight. It is called Flightlink
Both audio panels even allows the level of the streamed audio to be adjusted.
Works great.
Mark
PS Engineering
www.ps-engineering.com
Interesting.
Does it do exactly what I listed above? Specifically the “copies audio only when PTT is pressed” i.e. won’t record the pilot saying something to the passenger?
I think this result can be achieved with any intercom that has the “pilot only” option switch – like my PMA7000 has (year 2001). Just insert a little mike into the pilot headset… But that cuts the pilot off from the rest of the cockpit, which is usually undesirable.
Would it be stupid to suggest carrying an extra (handheld radio) which you tune to the same frequency as your comm. panel, and feed to an audio recorder?
That’s brilliant “out of the box” thinking 
I think, reading @Mark ’s email carefully, he is saying what I meant, but I am not 100% sure.
I wonder if the PMA8000G is connector and functionally pin compatible with the PMA7000? Rewiring the intercom is a massive job, especially on a Socata TB where you get basically no access at that point unless you pull out the entire centre section.
Both the PMA8000G and the PMA450B can be configured to send only COM audio via Bluetooth to a recording device that has A2DP capability. As I mentioned before, the Flightlink works great with our streamer. This means all Com radio receptions along with transmit sidetone will be recorded. It will NOT record any intercom activity in the mode.
If you are ONLY interested in recording what the pilot is transmitting, I don’t have a solution but an idea. You might place the mic of a recorder near the pilot’s mic which records everything they say. Some recorders have a VOX or trip level that must be met before it starts to record.
The PMA8000G and the PMA450B uses the high-density sub-D connectors while the PMA7000 series use the Molex Gold Contacts that connect to the gold fingers on the PCB
There would be no re-wiring, just repinning. But when I say “just”, we have to keep in mind the cost of having someone get behind the audio panel, cut the Molex pins off and crimp on the high-density pins. But, none of the wiring has to change.
