Need advice about adding radios to HDX

[Rhino]

Actually I need three radios (long story involving some special mission, non-aviation stuff), so I'll be using a PMA8000. That's another factor in the limited panel space. I can handle the volume knob for a primary Dynon radio though. I worked avionics in the Air Force, and I can put a volume knob just about anywhere, which helps a tiny bit. So I'm in the same boat as Setthrust. I have to redesign my panel yet again. I've lost count of how many times I've done that now, so I guess I should be getting used to it.

 

[pacecapt]

PS makes a combination Audio Panel and COM radio (PAR200B). If you're going to have two radios (I don't know why folks believe they need two radios any more, since almost all decent radios, including the Dynon/Trig radio, can monitor a backup frequency, but personal preference, I suppose) then you're going to need an AP. So get the one Dynon radio and the PS combo, and you're still in the same position - you don't need a second "head" for the second radio. Or just forego the 2nd radio and lose the Audio Panel as well. Or use (if you don't care about stereo) the PS PMA4000 AP, which is small and simple - can deal with two COMs and two NAVs. Lots of choices here.

I don't necessarily disagree with you on having two radios. The problem with the Dynon/Trig radio is that you can't send the audio from the "Dual" feature to either the copilot or another ear on your headset and as soon as someone presses the key on the primary frequency you can no longer hear the dual side. This always tends to happen while I am trying to get weather on the dual freq...

 

[Jaque]

Sorry to not completely clear this up. The control head IS required to use our COM radio. There's no way to control volume remotely otherwise. I suppose one could remotely mount the head off of the instrument panel, as long as you have the ability to reach behind somewhere to adjust volume when you need to (this obviously isn't ideal).

If you had two Dynon COM radios, you'd need two of the panels. The primary can be almost completely controlled through HDX's on-screen controls, with the panel still needed for volume. The other radio would be completely controlled via its physical control panel.

I have an HDX with a Garmin GTR200 (integrated intercom) wired in on a serial bus. I was thinking of adding a Dynon radio/intercom but the wiring for this isn’t clear. Is there some diagrams on how to do this and secondly, could the HDX effectively manage the two? Rhino has offered some good insight but am hoping the Dynon guys have an example of this set up in their bag of tricks.

 

[LouRubin]

I am planning an upgrade in my Jabiru 430.
I have a functioning Skyview HDX with knob and AP panel. Looking to add skyview radios.
Issues are:
I need four place intercom
I need dual radios

Need advice as to what set ups users may have that will fit this need. My reading seems to indicate Dynon only produce a two place intercom.
any advice?

I love the PS Engineering Audio panel with a built in 4 pl intercom.Its less money then Garmin as well. The intercom is clear a bell and IMHO exceeds Garmin quality.
The support is second to none I really like the Dynon comm since it talks to the HDX.and very user friendly. My second Navcom is a SL30 which is a good radio too.
Stay away from MGL. Yes they are cheap. Like everything, you get what you pay for. Not user friendly at all or comparable in quality with other brands.

 

[Dynon]

There are two sides to the installation to consider:

First, there's the audio connectivity. As Lou says above, two radios really deserve an audio panel to best be able to hand the audio inputs and switching to your headsets.

Next, there's the data and feature interactivity with SkyView. The Dynon radio connects to SkyView via SkyView network - that's pretty straightforward. Single cable from the control panel to the SkyView system, and then the connections between the control panel and transceiver (both documented in the installation manual). It doesn't change your physical connection to the GTR200 at all, but it might change the way SkyView works with it.

SkyView tightly integrates with that radio: if you have a Dynon radio, we'd recommend using it as your "primary" com. When you set a radio to your primary com, it shows up on the top bar on the display, and you can also push frequencies to it from the airport/com airport information pages in SkyView.

You probably have your GTR set up as your primary com right now, which means you can send frequencies to it. But it doesn't support the more robust data features that SkyView's com radio does. For example, when the SkyView radio is set as primary, you can send the entire airport over the the SkyView com.

One last configuration is to leave your GTR as primary, so you can send it frequencies, and leave the Dynon com as a secondary. You won't be able to "send" frequencies to the Dynon com in that case, and it won't show up in the top bar. But since the Dynon com is still connected via SkyView Network, you'll be able to pull frequencies and airports via the Dynon com's control panel. In this configuration, the GTR will show up in your top bar, not the Dynon Com. As mentioned, we don't recommend this configuration, but it should be possible.

 

[Jaque]

There are two sides to the installation to consider:

First, there's the audio connectivity. As Lou says above, two radios really deserve an audio panel to best be able to hand the audio inputs and switching to your headsets.

Next, there's the data and feature interactivity with SkyView. The Dynon radio connects to SkyView via SkyView network - that's pretty straightforward. Single cable from the control panel to the SkyView system, and then the connections between the control panel and transceiver (both documented in the installation manual). It doesn't change your physical connection to the GTR200 at all, but it might change the way SkyView works with it.

SkyView tightly integrates with that radio: if you have a Dynon radio, we'd recommend using it as your "primary" com. When you set a radio to your primary com, it shows up on the top bar on the display, and you can also push frequencies to it from the airport/com airport information pages in SkyView.

You probably have your GTR set up as your primary com right now, which means you can send frequencies to it. But it doesn't support the more robust data features that SkyView's com radio does. For example, when the SkyView radio is set as primary, you can send the entire airport over the the SkyView com.

One last configuration is to leave your GTR as primary, so you can send it frequencies, and leave the Dynon com as a secondary. You won't be able to "send" frequencies to the Dynon com in that case, and it won't show up in the top bar. But since the Dynon com is still connected via SkyView Network, you'll be able to pull frequencies and airports via the Dynon com's control panel. In this configuration, the GTR will show up in your top bar, not the Dynon Com. As mentioned, we don't recommend this configuration, but it should be possible.

Excellent.
I do have my headphone jacks and two PTT buttons wired directly to the Garmin and would obviously have to redo all that to the audio panel. I was hoping to find some diagrams for that but can probably work through it with Dynon’s and Garmin’s published info. If anyone does have a similar set up, would love to see your schematics.

 

[Rhino]

The GTR 200 Installation Manual has an example diagram for using the GTR 200 as Com 1 or Com 2 using a GMA 240 audio panel. You just need to replace the 240 pins with the PS Engineering audio panel pins. Which ones those are depends on which PS Engineering audio panel you choose. I imagine you're looking at the PMA6000B or PMA4000.

 

[Jaque]

Actually looking at just adding the Dynon radio and audio panel as I already have my panel cut for their head components. I do have the Garmin manual and am working on a conversion schematic. In a perfect world it would have been nice to use the integrated intercom on the GTR 200 but doesn’t look at all possible.
Nice summer project. It’s -10C in the hangar right now

 

[Rhino]

Dynon doesn't have an audio panel. If you mean the Dynon intercom, there's not much point, because that will cause the same issues mentioned in the other thread where you brought this up. The GTR 200 would probably give you better options, since it has a built in mixer for receive audio. You'd still have potential issues with transmit audio to overcome no matter which intercom you use.

We can address it in that other thread if you want. I don't want to try discussing the same topic in different threads.

Garmin GTR-200 intercom

I have an HDX with a Garmin GTR-200 wired in a serial bus. Is it possible to add a Dynon radio (head and transceiver) and use the integrated Garmin GTR-200 intercom?

forum.flydynon.com

 

[Jaque]

I haven’t sat down to look at the company wiring yet but assumed the Dynon intercom would have a more seamless interface between two radios and the Skyview. I guess not. The other thread would be a good idea.
Thanks again.

 

[cbretana]

Too bad there's not a wire on the Skyview harness thst you could hook up to a rheostat mounted in your panel that would remotely control volume on the selected radio, without a control head, like you can with Skyview display brightness.

 

[Rhino]

Too bad there's not a wire on the Skyview harness thst you could hook up to a rheostat mounted in your panel that would remotely control volume on the selected radio, without a control head, like you can with Skyview display brightness.

There is. You can put a rheostat on Phones Out, pin 2 on the T25. I'd probably use an audio taper potentiometer though. You'd get a more linear response.

 

[jaredyates]

Too bad there's not a wire on the Skyview harness thst you could hook up to a rheostat mounted in your panel that would remotely control volume on the selected radio, without a control head, like you can with Skyview display brightness.

Yes! Having this would convince me that Dynon wasn't omitting the option just to get an extra $425. Seems like a lot of money but also a lot of valuable panel real estate just for a knob.

 

[Rhino]

$425 gets you more than just a knob, so that's not a fair comparison. But if all you want is a knob, you could try using one of these, as I mentioned in post 32 above;

https://www.jameco.com/shop/KeywordSearchResultView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&search_type=jamecoall&freeText=Audio+Taper+potentiometer#/filter:ss_attr_resistance:1$2520KOhm

There's even a dual one for controlling two radios simultaneously.

I've never had the opportunity to test this, but it should work. I should also note that you don't get a true linear response with an audio taper potentiometer. The human ear perceives audio levels in a logarithmic rather than linear manner. Increases at low volume sound more pronounced than those at higher volume. What an audio taper potentiometer does is give you a response that 'sounds' linear to the human ear.