Transponders

[Bartman1959]

For those who have a Transponder installed in their KF airplane, what one do you have, and how do you like it?



Thanks,
Bart

[Dave S]

Bart,


We have a Garmin 320A which is a few years old now but has worked flawlessly. The 320a is all solid state without the old cavity tube used in earlier generation transponders.



I originally paired this with an Ameri King encoder, which failed miserably and is a complete POS - apparently I got the ameri king unit which was built after the company started substituting fake/cheap components which were not compliant with its approval.


On a related issue, we also installed the echo UAT ADS-B unit with a WAAS which pings off the transponder antenna for mode C data without any complicated wiring.


Also purchased an iFLY 740-b GPS at a different time than when we got the echo uat and was pleasantly surprised that the iFly wified directly into the echo UAT to provide on screen traffic and weather without any additional hardware, software and no subscriptions.

The final result of having the Garmin transponder, a functioning encoder, the IFLY GPS and the Echo UAT is that I found myself entering the 21 century (maybe around the year 2010) with a 2020 ADS-B compliant system with both in and out on top of the GPS NAV.


The whole business is about as cheap as a person could expect, and it works fine.

[Bartman1959]

Dave S,


Thanks, that all sounds pretty good. Any chance you can post a picture or two of your panel?


Thanks,


Bart

[Dave S]

Bart,


I can't seem to get the upload feature to work due to the file size.


However, if you go to the "Show us your panel" thread and scroll down to entry #5 on the first page there is a photo of our panel with the Garmin transponder mounted under the radio. Then imagine the iFly screen mounted just above (between the two screws showing near the top center of the panel). It's a 7" wide screen so it fits in the space sticking up a bit above the rim of the glareshield.



http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=1930


The ADS-b only has a switch and breaker added so no other change to the panel.


Dave

[Dorsal]

Garmin 327, fairly inexpensive (got mine used) and a few nice features when upgrading from the 320 which I had first.

[DesertFox4]

Sorry about the on going photo size glitch guys. Especially during AirVenture.:confused: Remnants of the data base move to a new hosting server.

Working on it.

[Bartman1959]

Thanks for the info guys. Dave S, that's a really nice panel. I'm looking at a KF 5, and "if and when" I get it, upgrading the panel will high up on the agenda.


Bart

[cap01]

garmin 327 has a fantastic display, bright sunlight doesn't phase it. unlike the crappy display on the icon radio that can't be read in bright sun

[PapuaPilot]

There are so many choices for transponders right now. You need to be thinking about having ADSB out too. I have a remote Garmin GTX-23ES transponder and I added the Garmin GPS-20A WAAS GPS to make it ADSB compliant.

If was doing a new panel I would be thinking about the Garmin GTX-335 (all in one) or a used Garmin 327 or 330 with a sniffer type device for adding the ADSB out; Garmin and Uavionix have reasonably priced units for doing that.

The best advice I got on avionics is to not buy anything till you are ready to install them. Things are changing so fast, every few months new stuff comes on the market.

[neville]

I started out with an Advanced 5600 EFIS in 2013 and a Garmin mode A/C transponder. Then in 2016 added a Garmin GDL-39 for ADDs-B in. In 2018 I replaced the Garmin mode A/C with a Dynon/Advanced mode S transponder in order to meet the 2020 mandate. Big improvement because the mode S transponder is remote mounted and weighs under 1 lb. It interfaces with the 5600 for control.

[mr bill]

I have a GDL39-3D for ADS B in to a Garmin 660 GPS. For ADS B out, I have a Garmin GTX 335 with built in Waas GPS and altitude encoder. If I were doing it today, I would lean to micro Avionics. Things are changing quickly.

[Bartman1959]

You guys all have some great "words of wisdom." Phil, I think you're absolutely right, wait until I'm ready to install, then decide what exactly I want.

[GMKman]

I now have a Trig tt31 transponder. When I bought the plane, it had a kt76a. The trig is a direct-slide in transponder to the kt76a tray. I think all I need now is a trig tn72 receiver and ta70 antenna (about $700 for both) and should be ads-b compliant. Still looking into that.

[jiott]

I have the Dynon Skyview system and bought their mode S remote transponder (made by Trig I believe). When I was ready to add ads-b out the transponder was already compliant and all I had to do was buy a new WAAS GPS antenna puck.

[PaulSS]

If you have an EFIS (and in particular MGL) then the Trig transponders tie in very well. You can buy just the TT21/TT22 box (remote transponder) and control it through the EFIS, so have no panel-mounted heads.

For me this is great, as it means the EFIS provides the extended squitter of the Mode S transponder with the GPS position and, thereby, provides ADSB Out. This is permitted under the 'experimental' rules of the UK and is a simple and cheap way of ensuring more people have ADSB Out (it is not mandated there). I do, however, appreciate the rules are different in the US but it might be an option to use for those aircraft that won't have ADSB mandated but think it's a good idea to have it.....just in a cheaper form.