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NAV/COM radio recommendations for 8.33

My club just had the GNC255 installed in the two of our IFR Pipers that was not 8.33 equipped. I will be using it next week for the first time.
I voted for a different solution, namely to add a Funke ATR833S costing only about EUR 900, and keep the two KX155’s both with perfectly working NAV, until deciding (until being able to afford) to swop those for a GTN650, making the tiny ATR833S the 8.33 backup, which although not required generally, would be a cheap and useful 8.33 backup COM.

I am fairly new to the GTN650, but have not found much not to like yet.

Last Edited by huv at 27 Jan 09:16
huv
EKRK, Denmark

Is there an 8.33kHz NAV/COM with good ergonomics? By which I mean, doesn’t require endless knob twiddling or diving through menus.

The Trig TY96/97 solution of push-to-set-step is elegant but obviously COM only, as is 10 number keys like on the Garmin transponders. Is there any NAV/COM like this that isn’t touchscreen?

EGTT, The London FIR

Is there an 8.33kHz NAV/COM with good ergonomics?

Yeah… the KX165A/8.33

But every time I suggested that as an option for certain 8.33 upgrades (especially upgrading from a KX155A – note the “A” when it is a slide-in) I got hammered by a few people including one installer no longer here

I have a KX155A (25kHz) and a KX165A/8.33. The latter was a 5 minute slide-in change from a KX155A for which I got a (from vague memory) $1.5k credit.

The above pic has a photoshopped GTN750

For ergonomics the KX165A/8.33 (note there is a non-8.33 version too) is hard to beat but there are issues, such as it being a 24V only model (can be solved with an inverter) and then there is this utterly dumb move which will in due course hand Honeywell’s entire non-US business to Garmin, who have a decent base in the UK and other places. I also think that the red displays are not that reliable if the plane is parked outdoors (moisture). It’s also not cheap, but any significant rewiring by an avionics shop will be expensive anyway.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

Yeah… the KX165A/8.33

Is it still in production? My avionics shop said that Honeywell quoted such a long delivery time (a year, as I recalled) that they suspected it was another way of saying Honeywell had stopped making it.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Seems to be available

That company, used to be called South East Aerospace, can also issue a dual release 8130-3 so it is good for an EASA-reg plane even if it is an overhauled item. One US avionics shop was advertising three overhauled ones in our Classifieds recently. However this firm is not popular with avionics installers because they don’t do trade discounts, which takes us to the old debate about user supplied parts being unpopular… unless you use a freelance installer.

BTW it doesn’t draw anywhere near the 6A spec unless driving a 4 ohm speaker directly, which in most normal installs it won’t do because it is driving an intercom.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@Peter
And I wanted to ask how the GTN750 is working out….

Tököl LHTL

If you want a com/nav I think the choice is limited. I had the same question, and
with an all king radio stack obvious choice seemed to be kx165a. However, as peter mentioned, it is old technologie, and support becomes questionable. Also 24volt only, and more expensive than garmin . So only reasonable option I found for com/nav is gnc255.

I just had it installed, flew 2 flights with it. Just as easy as kx165. To reduce knob turning you can leave it in 25khz mode until you actually need 8.3 frequency. Switch to 8.3 via setup is just a few button pushes.

It has some nice features as most modern radios (eg it can show station name, monitor standby frequency).

That being said, I think gtn650/750 is a better choice for IFR, but it’s more expensive. I also considered a refurbished garmin 430, but this is also old technology. It might be an option if you can find an affordable one (eg from a friend that upgrades from a 430 to 650), but I think it is not a long term solution.

@peter
I’m surprised you recommend kx165a, especially with the remarks you have regarding honeywells attitude. Rewiring for gnc255 (by a top quality shop) turned out to be less then the additional cost of a kx165a.
I also sincerely doubt any new kx165a are available. Afaict this is 1980 technology inside, top quality, but not made any more today (Admittedly I could be wrong here, I haven’t looked inside one).

EBTN, EBST, Belgium

The KX165A switches from 25 to 8.33 with just a pull of the knob. It is totally effortless; no reconfig anywhere. I am amazed that not everybody is using the same system.

Honeywell’s attitude is crap, sure, but in this business if you worried about every bit of bad attitude you would never fly You would probably also not start a pilot forum In the end if the equipment is OK, you may as well run with it. The advantage of the King stuff is that the MMs (maintenance manuals) are available and the boxes can be repaired, potentially by anybody who knows electronics and has some test gear. Off the books of course… if you want an EASA-1 or a dual release 8130-3 then you may have to send it to the USA. A lot of “downtime avoidance” relies on being able to maintain the aircraft using advantageous methods.

Just my POV; I can see why everybody goes for Garmin.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I didi know that a KX155 could be replaced by a KX165A 8.33 just sliding it in. Could you confirm this?
Thank you
Thomas

LFPE

KX155A can be replaced by a KX165A/8.33.

KX155 cannot be replaced unless you rewire the connector. This option is not worth doing unless you particularly want the KX165A/8.33.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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