I’m still debating on what to replace our narco 810 radio in our Cessna 150 with.
I’ve looked at the trig TY96 but it’s not available yet. It’s also about the same price as a PAR200 radio/intercim so I was thinking if going for one off those.
However I think it’s to complicated to use. I simply won’t the most basic idiot proof radio I can get.
I’ve therefore gone back to looking at the trig ty91. I know this has a built in intercom but all our aircraft currently have a Sigtronics spa400 which have always worked perfectly.
So which intercom would be best the inbuilt one in the trig ty91 or the Sigtronics unit. I’m thinking of keeping the Sigtronics unit as I suspect the rewiring costs will be cheaper.
If your existing intercom is working fine, I’d leave it be. We have an SPA400 in our aircraft and it’s never given a moment’s trouble.
You’re getting a lot more functionality with the PAR200 though – do you have multiple other devices? Do you need an audio panel? It’ll be a major rewiring job, plus you’ll need to find somewhere to locate the actual radio module – as you would if you went for the TY91…
Are you sure the TY96 isn’t now available? I thought it was…
I would fit the PAR200 it will provide the functionality for future equipment and is economic on panel space.
PS engineering are at the top of the aircraft audio game so the intercom will be light years ahead of the sigtronics kit that you have now.
I agree with A&C. A decent intercom will also eliminate the – usual on the spamcan scene – issues with mixed brand headsets causing problems.
Trig TY-96 is available now. The radio used with the PAR200 hass slightly less power, 6 Watt instead of 10 Watt from a TY-96. The difference is power is not as large as it seems, it will be hard to notice the difference.
Dear Bathman, I just want to reassure you that the operation of the PAR200A is simple and very straight forward.
The audio panel has three sections. The right knob is how you change megahertz and kilohertz, once you have your frequency dialed in the Standby window, you push that knob and the standby frequency goes to the COM frequency
The middle portion is the audio selector panel where you can have two com and two navs. You can select to transmit on either one or you can take advantage of the split mode, where the Pilot is on one COM one while the copilot is on the other, at the same time.
The left knob is your intercom and your radio volume. The intercom is hi-fi stereo with Bluetooth and has three intercom modes, isolate, all, crew. if Iyou have any questions please feel free to email or ask on this forum thanks for considering our audio panel with the trig transceiver.
Sincerely
Mark Scheuer
Founder and CEO
PS Engineering
I replaced my Narco 810 with a Garmin GTR225A which also has a built in intercom.
Before making the change I was planning to do the same that was advocated here – leave the intercom in since it worked fine, so I would only have to rewire the stuff near the radio itself. However, I ended up changing my mind when I started planning the installation and looking at the things that needed to be done:
So the intercom came out. The audio wiring is now very short – just from the back of the radio to the audio jacks underneath the radio – so for example the microphone cabling from the jack to the radio is only ~8 inches of shielded twisted pair instead of several feet of unshielded unpaired wiring, and the only wiring that has to go any distance is the power and antenna (the antenna’s in the aft fuselage). Tx audio quality is MUCH better now, some of this will be due to a newer better radio, but I have to imagine some of it will be that the high impedance microphone signal doesn’t travel through several feet of unshielded wire any more and is no longer picking up stray noise off things like the ignition.
I would suggest have a look behind your panel. If it’s all neat and tidy and done nicely, perhaps you may want to keep the intercom – but if it’s a rats nest this is probably a good time to eliminate it and simplify your installation.
The intercom in the TY91 works very well, has good functionality and supports auxiliary input etc. The stereo capability means you can hear main input on one side and the standby frequency on the other. So you could simplify the wiring, have a good intercom and save some money by just using the Trig.
If you would want the TY-96, which is also easier to install, so lower installation cost compared to TY-91 or PAR-200 you will also have a 2 place intercom, with aux input if you need that.
Ok many thanks.
