Every once in a while, you come across a piece of equipment that works so flawlessly that you never give a thought to how nice it is. After 175 hours of flight time, I recently realized that my PS Engineering intercom is just such a device. I thought I'd share my experience with the group.
My wife and I were recently flying in the Cessna 140, with it's Garmin SL-40 and integral intercom. After chatting for a while, she asked me what was wrong with the intercom - it seemed to be clipping our voices, and we had to practically shout at each other in order to activate the intercom. After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that nothing was wrong at all; she was just noticing the difference between the Cessna's intercom and the PMA5000EX in our RV. Until she pointed it out, I hadn't given it a thought.
Since completing the RV last summer, I've tinkered with most components in the panel multiple times to get everything working just so. But I've literally done nothing at all with the 5000EX - it just worked perfectly from the start. It's wired for PFD annunciation inputs, two nav/coms, music input, and XM radio, and everything has worked flawlessly from day one. No buzzing, no clipping, just clear audio. The intercom is superb, and a normal speaking voice is all that's required to activate it.
Most of the aircraft I've flown over the years have cheap, neglected audio panels or portable intercoms, and I've consistently found them to be a source of frustration. I haven't used the modern Garmin audio panels, so I can't make a comparison there, but for anyone choosing an audio panel for their RV, I think it's worth giving PS Engineering serious consideration.
I hope nobody minds the shameless plug - I don't work for PS Engineering, and this is not an advertisement. I just like sharing my good experiences when I find something I'm really happy with.
Matthew
My wife and I were recently flying in the Cessna 140, with it's Garmin SL-40 and integral intercom. After chatting for a while, she asked me what was wrong with the intercom - it seemed to be clipping our voices, and we had to practically shout at each other in order to activate the intercom. After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that nothing was wrong at all; she was just noticing the difference between the Cessna's intercom and the PMA5000EX in our RV. Until she pointed it out, I hadn't given it a thought.
Since completing the RV last summer, I've tinkered with most components in the panel multiple times to get everything working just so. But I've literally done nothing at all with the 5000EX - it just worked perfectly from the start. It's wired for PFD annunciation inputs, two nav/coms, music input, and XM radio, and everything has worked flawlessly from day one. No buzzing, no clipping, just clear audio. The intercom is superb, and a normal speaking voice is all that's required to activate it.
Most of the aircraft I've flown over the years have cheap, neglected audio panels or portable intercoms, and I've consistently found them to be a source of frustration. I haven't used the modern Garmin audio panels, so I can't make a comparison there, but for anyone choosing an audio panel for their RV, I think it's worth giving PS Engineering serious consideration.
I hope nobody minds the shameless plug - I don't work for PS Engineering, and this is not an advertisement. I just like sharing my good experiences when I find something I'm really happy with.
Matthew
