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Trig remote head com & transponder

Dark Horse Aviation

Dark Horse Aviation

SPONSOR
Somewhere in middle America
I`m in the process of replacing a king com and garmin transponder in a PA-18. Would like to get some feedback on the TRIG remote head comm. and TRIG remote head transponder. These are on the top of the list, mainly for saving weight and space consumed by the install, we have no actual ops experience with either unit. All thoughts and or personal experiences greatly appreciated...
 
I’ve installed and used three of each. Very nice units and the remote head format makes install in smaller panels very nice. I’m installing a full Dynon system right now and was surprised to see the remote boxes are the same Trig units but with Dynon heads
 
I installed the Trig com & transponder in my PA-18. Their Tech support is excellent. You will be very happy with these units both with the install and operationally.
 
I have used them in the last three Super Cub rebuilds and multiple panel upgrades including my own Super Cub. Com, Transponder and ADSB. I just have the Com and really like it. Monitoring two frequencies is great and wiring it with a VOX/PTT intercom switch is nice when you want to fly the door open with a passenger. I am a Trig dealer as well and can help you with purchase and installation advice.
 
These are great units. Very good quality. The remote heads are great for panels with clearance issues. Just make sure your coax and wire harness are high quality also.

Web
 
By the way, if you are installing the TT22 transponder, you only need to add the TN70 system to make it a certified ADS-B out system.

Web
 
Steve you mentioned that adding a vox/ptt intercom switch is great for open door flying with a pax, the com model being looked at is the TY91 which has a voice activated intercom, is it weak from the standpoint that outside noise can activate the intercom causing excessive background noise?
 
Dark Horse Aviation said:
Steve you mentioned that adding a vox/ptt intercom switch is great for open door flying with a pax, the com model being looked at is the TY91 which has a voice activated intercom, is it weak from the standpoint that outside noise can activate the intercom causing excessive background noise?
Click to expand...
The intercom works great but the VOX can activate when the window and door are open and your passenger doesn't keep their mic out of the in coming air so I install the switch to use either VOX or intercom PTT at my discretion.
 
Insert my objection to built in intercoms here, lol.

My observation is that you will get better control and function from a stand alone intercom than with any built in system. As you change circumstances (i.e. doors open vs doors closed, low power vs high power maneuvers, or even mixes of headsets) it is much easier to reset volume and vox squelch settings with the knobs on an intecom box instead of the programming menu from a com radio. If you plan on flying mostly with doors/windows open, you can even install a high power intercom made for open cockpits.

Web
 
I've got my TY91 wired like Steve's - momentary intercom push-to-talk with a toggle switch to enable voice activation. It works well enough for most of my open-door flying. A dedicated intercom can probably do a better job, but it's another box and a few more wires to deal with. If I were flying Young Eagles every weekend I might consider a standalone PS Engineering.

The radio itself is excellent. I consistently receive transmissions from > 50 nm away, sometimes > 100 nm from skydive operations if conditions are right. Airports I'd never even heard of on the other side of Lake Michigan. The squelch could probably be more discriminating as I really don't care what's happening that far away.
 
Trig remote head com & transponder

wireweinie said:
Insert my objection to built in intercoms here, lol.

My observation is that you will get better control and function from a stand alone intercom than with any built in system. As you change circumstances (i.e. doors open vs doors closed, low power vs high power maneuvers, or even mixes of headsets) it is much easier to reset volume and vox squelch settings with the knobs on an intecom box instead of the programming menu from a com radio. If you plan on flying mostly with doors/windows open, you can even install a high power intercom made for open cockpits.

Web
Click to expand...

But it’s a cub. I can hear them screaming over the engine noise. And most of the time the radios off.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
After doing both I agree with web on this. Getting the squelch settings right with the internal intercom was not easy. The VOX switch made it tolerable but the quality was not the best. At least with the set up I had I would have preferred an intercom. The radio itself is excellent

wireweinie said:
Insert my objection to built in intercoms here, lol.

My observation is that you will get better control and function from a stand alone intercom than with any built in system. As you change circumstances (i.e. doors open vs doors closed, low power vs high power maneuvers, or even mixes of headsets) it is much easier to reset volume and vox squelch settings with the knobs on an intecom box instead of the programming menu from a com radio. If you plan on flying mostly with doors/windows open, you can even install a high power intercom made for open cockpits.

Web
Click to expand...
 
Interesting, I have done 3 lately including my own and thought they all sounded great and were easy to set up. Of course Cathy says I can't hear lots of things but I thought that was her just nagging at me again. ;)
 
Maybe I'm being fussy. I use Bose headsets in my Cub and the sound quality is awesome with a PS Engineering intercom and easily adjusted. I found in the last Bearhawk that I built the Trig intercom worked fine while alone but once someone was with me it became a problem to try and figure out how to adjust the settings while in the air so I just shut them off. Once on the ground I could make adjustments and get things dialed in better.
 
Once you got it set up did you find you had to adjust it again under different conditions. I admit it is a pain to go into the settings and set it up. I did it initially and haven't messed with it since but I rarely fly with a passenger other than my dogs.
 
I never got it really dialed in before it went to the owner but yes it was better Seems to depend on the headset the passenger was using I guess and every time I flew with a passenger it was a different headset. I’m sure it can be set up to work well but the dedicated intercom is easier to deal with.
 
Years ago, a buddy installed an Apollo / UPS / Garmin com (SL40?) with a built-in 2 place intercom.
Seemed to work fine, except....
whenever someone transmitted on the frequency, it muted the intercom.
Great for not missing a call from ATC,
but for being able to carry on a conversation with the right seater not so much--
for that, you had to tune it to an unused frequency.
Dunno if maybe that mute feature is not utilized on modern radios, or can be disabled.
 
Very Happy

Steve Pierce said:
I have used them in the last three Super Cub rebuilds and multiple panel upgrades including my own Super Cub. Com, Transponder and ADSB. I just have the Com and really like it. Monitoring two frequencies is great and wiring it with a VOX/PTT intercom switch is nice when you want to fly the door open with a passenger. I am a Trig dealer as well and can help you with purchase and installation advice.
Click to expand...

I am one of Steve's happy installs. I love my set up. The way Steve rigs the VOX/PTT is great for a cub with doors and windows open.

I would do exactly the same thing again if needed.

Bryan
 
Not just relevant to the Trig.

When wiring the headset jacks, I am considering using a three wire shielded cable with PTT, Mic audio and Phone audio on the three wires and shield/ground tied together at the radio/audio panel. The jacks are isolated from air frame ground with the jack sleeve connected to the shield. Has anyone used this and run into problems, or should I just use a 2 wire/1 wire shielded for the Mic/Phone jack?
 
I haven't used a hand mic for over a quarter century. A shielded pair is all I ever use for headset or mic, with shield grounded only at the radio, and all jacks insulated.

My friends love Trig and Becker, but I have a tough time with them. I am using the GTR-200 exclusively now. Its internal intercom is better than any stand alone I have used, and after the first three installations I left off the intercom ptt buttons.

In the Cubs with door open or closed we use voice activated with almost any good headset. In the Stearman we find that a matched pair of DC 10-13 headsets (either 4, S, or X) with foam and leather mic muffs, works great, even at full power.

Sure, when you hang your head out the window you get wind noise - but the Garmin recognizes wind noise, and partially mutes it.

Only drawback to the Garmin is a limited RF squelch circuit. Highly susceptible to RF noise, even at max setting. We live with it, even though it would be an easy fix for Garmin - they obviously know how . . .
 
flybynite said:
Not just relevant to the Trig.

When wiring the headset jacks, I am considering using a three wire shielded cable with PTT, Mic audio and Phone audio on the three wires and shield/ground tied together at the radio/audio panel. The jacks are isolated from air frame ground with the jack sleeve connected to the shield. Has anyone used this and run into problems, or should I just use a 2 wire/1 wire shielded for the Mic/Phone jack?
Click to expand...

NEVER combine audio and mic functions in a shielded set of wires!This WILL cause noise as the audio signal is much stronger than the mic signal and will bleed over to the mic circuit. On Trigs, I use a two conductor shielded wire for the mic, with one conductor for PTT, one for mic hi, and the shield for mic lo. All audio circuits use a single conductor shielded wire with the center conductor for audio hi and the shield for audio lo.

Web
 
flybynite said:
When wiring the headset jacks, I am considering using a three wire shielded cable with PTT, Mic audio and Phone audio on the three wires and shield/ground tied together at the radio/audio panel.
Click to expand...


I can't say for sure that this will cause problems but it is not good practice to twist audio input and audio outputs together in the same shield. The goal would be to isolate inputs from outputs and twisting them together ensures that there will be coupling.
 
frequent_flyer said:
I can't say for sure that this will cause problems but it is not good practice to twist audio input and audio outputs together in the same shield. The goal would be to isolate inputs from outputs and twisting them together ensures that there will be coupling.
Click to expand...

I see that I doubled with Web. Most of the audio wiring in my aircraft is stereo so it uses shielded twisted triple. Stereo is not only desirable for music it also makes the GTR 200 split monitor function very effective (primary channel in left ear and monitor channel in right ear).

As an aside - CubCrafters built about 100 aircraft with the left and right stereo channels reversed. They fixed it on mine but never issued a service bulletin.
 
Last edited:
Absolutely correct. When I use a shielded pair, it is audio high and audio low, shielded. A separate pair for mic and headset - four shielded sets in a Cub.

I know nothing about stereo, being of the one-eared persuasion - but I suspect triple wires in one shield would not seriously impact a stereo headset. Does stereo help with situational awareness in an aircraft, or is it just for entertainment?
 
Strictly speaking its for the music. If you get creative you can rig up something like frequent flyer did in post #24. There is no such thing as a stereo signal from ship to ship, or ship to ground. Mono only.

If you like to 'shift' audio so it sounds like it's coming from the left or right, go get yourself an NAT intercom, model AA83. They have adjustments to make the intercom and com audio sound like it's coming from your left or right. Some guys really like that and some don't.

Web
 
wireweinie said:
If you get creative you can rig up something like frequent flyer did in post #24.
Click to expand...


Nothing "creative" in this case. Left and right channel separation is a standard feature of the Garmin GTR 200 monitor mode (user selectable configuration option).

Many years ago when I was doing parachute drops over the city I did improvise a left/right channel hookup with ATC in one ear and the jump ground coordinator in the other ear using a separate radio.
 
I have been one-eared for over three decades. I was able to get the ATIS, monitor ATC, and call for wheelchairs on the company radio simultaneously. Just adjust volumes to prioritize ATC.

I use the left channel in the GTR - Garmin said ok to just not hook into the right channel. Works fine.
 
bob turner said:
I have been one-eared for over three decades. I was able to get the ATIS, monitor ATC, and call for wheelchairs on the company radio simultaneously. Just adjust volumes to prioritize ATC.
Click to expand...

Not so easy with only one COM radio. When I purchased the FX-3 I was sure I would need to add a GTR 20 to supplement the GTR 200. I found that the single GTR 200 was quite adequate for receiving ATIS or monitoring the other tower frequency using the monitor mode. If the primary frequency is very busy it doesn't work as well as having two radios though. Any activity on primary mutes the monitored frequency.
 
bob turner said:
I have been one-eared for over three decades. I was able to get the ATIS, monitor ATC, and call for wheelchairs on the company radio simultaneously. Just adjust volumes to prioritize ATC.

I use the left channel in the GTR - Garmin said ok to just not hook into the right channel. Works fine.
Click to expand...

For anyone considering this set up, it's mono audio connected to a stereo intercom or headset. With a stereo headset you have a separate left audio and right audio. What Bob has is all audio connected to the left audio side.

If you go this route, you could connect another audio source to the right audio side for monitoring.

Web
 
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