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Need to decide on an audio panel

Carl Froehlich

Well Known Member
I?m just about ready to pull the trigger on the second large avionic buy (dual SkyView install). I was planning on using the PS Engineering PDA360EX audio panel but for for the extra $1K over the Dynon Audio Panel I get Bluetooth - nice but for calling to get IFR clearance I currently use the Bluetooth in the headset.

Those you are using the Dynon audio panel - happy?

Carl
 
I have the Dynon intercom and it has worked great for me. But Dynon now says not to use it to control two radios as it doesn?t have a transmit inhibit function and the two radios could interfere with each other. Dynon told me they are trying to fix it with software changes but that was a year ago. So for one radio, intercom works fine. For two radios, potentially not so much. Also there is not a pilot isolate switch on the intercom which Would be nice to have.
 
I have the Dynon intercom and it has worked great for me. But Dynon now says not to use it to control two radios as it doesn?t have a transmit inhibit function and the two radios could interfere with each other. Dynon told me they are trying to fix it with software changes but that was a year ago. So for one radio, intercom works fine. For two radios, potentially not so much. Also there is not a pilot isolate switch on the intercom which Would be nice to have.

I have their intercom and while I probably would opt for another if I had to do it again, it?s worked well for me with two radios. I missed Dynon?s warning about this. Where was this posted? Also since it doesn?t actually ?control? the radios, I am confused about that. I have a separate switch to select which transmitter is keyed.
 
I?m just about ready to pull the trigger on the second large avionic buy (dual SkyView install). I was planning on using the PS Engineering PDA360EX audio panel but for for the extra $1K over the Dynon Audio Panel I get Bluetooth - nice but for calling to get IFR clearance I currently use the Bluetooth in the headset.

Those you are using the Dynon audio panel - happy?

Carl

I can?t offer any opinions on the Dynon. I?ve got a PSE8000BT that works as advertised. They have a new model that was just realized that supports two Bluetooth sources.

Mine is currently setup for phone that I use primarily for clearances. But on long trips it would be nice for music too.
 
The Dynon is an intercom, not an audio panel. As is mentioned, it can work with 2 com radios, but is no longer recommended for that. The main problem is the crossfeed you can get when transmitting from one com while the other has the volume turned on/up. You basically control which you listen to with volume and then switch which one you transmit on.

As you said, Bluetooth in the headset is often enough, especially if your passenger doesn?t like the same music as you do. I personally rarely listen to music, but if my passenger wants to, I?ll let them do it through their headset. I think it would be nice to have a poll of how many people use music ports, headset Bluetooth or audio panel Bluetooth to listen to music and/or make phone calls (of course, only for clearance on the ground).
 
+1 For the PSA 8000BT

Very nice unit, and bluetooths to my headset/telephone --- handy for making and answering phone calls (on the ground) --- I have never listened to anything other than ATC in flight, (and my wife), so the music, etc capabilities are never utilized.

Ron
 
The Dynon is an intercom, not an audio panel. As is mentioned, it can work with 2 com radios, but is no longer recommended for that. The main problem is the crossfeed you can get when transmitting from one com while the other has the volume turned on/up. You basically control which you listen to with volume and then switch which one you transmit on.

).

The crossfeed issue is easily delt with if the radio has an audio mute input (e.g., Garmin 430 series). Just run an extra wire from the #1 PTT line to the #2 audio mute input, and similarly for #2 PTT and #1 audio mute. This does mean that you cannot receive on #2 while transmitting on #1, but if you have a cross-feed issue that would interfere with reception anyway.
I use this wiring with my home-brew intercom ‘audio panel’ and have zero crossfeed problems.
 
I have the Dynon intercom and it has worked great for me. But Dynon now says not to use it to control two radios as it doesn’t have a transmit inhibit function and the two radios could interfere with each other. Dynon told me they are trying to fix it with software changes but that was a year ago. So for one radio, intercom works fine. For two radios, potentially not so much. Also there is not a pilot isolate switch on the intercom which Would be nice to have.

Most radios have a xmit interconnect to solve this issue. Connect unit A's PTT to Unit B's xmit interconnect and vice versa. When the radio sees the ground on the xmit interconnect pin, it inhibits reception. You shouldn't need any intercom functionality to make this work. It's possible the Dynon radios don't have this feature and why they made that recommendation, but most radios have it.

Larry
 
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Our aircraft had a PMA8000B audio panel and it worked very well. Wanting Bluetooth functionality, and thanks to a member here who was liquidating some avionics, I purchased and installed a PDA360EX.

I was hesitant to make the switch to the EX because, well, the PMA8000 sets a pretty darned high standard and I was afraid of what PS Engineering might have cut out of the EX in order to get the cost down.

I should never have feared. PS Engineering will not cut corners on audio quality. The PDA360EX works beautifully. I'm glad I have the Bluetooth capability and appreciate how it is integrated, especially for telephone functionality. I've had several calls in the air trying to coordinate ground resources and most folks simply cannot believe one half of the conversation is coming from the airplane.

As far as having multiple comms, the transmitter inhibit as mentioned above is a great feature to use if you have a simple audio system. While that feature works, it's not nearly as nice as having a real audio panel. You might change radios over time, but if you've got a good audio panel and it's well installed, you will never regret having it and it will quickly become the one thing in your airplane you just won't change (unless it's for a newer, more feature rich model from PS Engineering, as I've recently learned!).

Never scrimp on the installation of the audio panel. Wire it right, especially when it comes to shielding of wires. After all, your ears are listening to that audio every second you fly. A well-installed audio panel is the core of an avionics installation so do it right and you'll be a very happy camper for many years to come.
 
Most radios have a xmit interconnect to solve this issue. Connect unit A's PTT to Unit B's xmit interconnect and vice versa. When the radio sees the ground on the xmit interconnect pin, it inhibits reception. You shouldn't need any intercom functionality to make this work. It's possible the Dynon radios don't have this feature and why they made that recommendation, but most radios have it.

Larry

As I read the Skyview manual, the 25K "US version" Comm radio does not have a Transmit Inhibit input while the 8.66K "EU version" Comm does.
 
I use the Bluetooth music function of the PDA360EX all the time in my RV-10. We have sold a lot of PDA360EX audio panels and they work great.

Rob Hickman
N402RH RV-10
Advanced Flight Systems
 
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