There are a number of threads with mention of this company as a hopeful resource for an inexpnsive slide-in replacement for KX155.
Who wants a “NAV/COM” today anyway? Even ULs have fully integrated “do it all” glass from Garmin today. It’s that or pure basic steam gauges. Nothing in between.
LeSving wrote:
Who wants a “NAV/COM” today anyway? Even ULs have fully integrated “do it all” glass from Garmin today. It’s that or pure basic steam gauges. Nothing in between.
However the Garmin G3X Touch or Dynon Skyview both are missing Nav receivers – sure, they have GPS receivers, but that’s no good if you want a Nav receiver to tune a VOR or perhaps fly down an ILS…. If there was a relatively cheap one available somewhere, I’d install one, just in case GPS signals get shut off / jammed…. Always good to have a back up and dead reckoning when VFR on top – no, not really….
Steve6443 wrote:
If there was a relatively cheap one available somewhere, I’d install one
Which is the heart of the issue. Making relatively cheap niche products for people who might (or might not) buy it – But only if it’s perceived as cheap enough. That’s simply not a good business plan.
They and in my opinion other companions
missed a real trick by not bringing a KX155 slide in replacement to the market.
Absolutely, and they had almost 20 years to do it.
Good volumes, too. Tens of thousands.
And I never understood why TKM and others didn’t do an “adapter” tray which fitted a KX155 and routed the coax and various connections to the correct pins.
It seemed such an obvious thing to do. The radio would have to be a bit smaller (which is easy these days) and it could have fitted numerous trays and produced an easy low end swap with no installation fees
That’s a shame: I have an MX-170-C in my panel as com 2 and it’s a better radio than the 430. I’ve been waiting for an 833 version which will never come now. Any replacement involves all the old wiring issues that are often voiced here.
LeSving wrote:
Who wants a “NAV/COM” today anyway?
Wrong question.
Garmin sells large numbers of theirs, mainly to people who have KX155 units and who need 8.33 compliance. Not everyone will go for a GTN as a replacement.
The other replacements you see are small round COMs only, which take the space mostly of ADF gauges leaving the KX155 in place.
An 8.33 plug in replacement of the KX155 would have sold tens of thousands of units, quite possibly the most desirable piece of avionic of the last decades.
Trigg basically made their market with the KT76A slide in replacement transponder.
Avidyne sold hundreds of autpilots which were plug in replacements for the STEC 55X Ap.
And not least this company made it’s name with plug in replacements for the KX175, the then most popular unit in GA.
Why nobody did it is simply beyond me. Most probably again due to the insurmoutable certification hurdles, which have failed just about any other manufacturer at least once in the past
