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New product alert: Appareo 1090ES Transponder. This $2,495 newly certified transponder competes with the Trig TT31, BendixKing KT-74, Avidyne AXP 340, and Garmin GTX 335. Product announcement press release (7/74/17): "Appareo today announced another addition to its Stratus family of cost-effective, easily-installed certified avionics for general aviation. Just like Stratus ESG, the company’s flagship transponder, the new Stratus ES is a certified 1090 Extended Squitter (ES) ADS-B Out transponder designed with the common 1.65” form factor to easily replace existing transponders. While Stratus ESG includes built-in WAAS GPS for all-in-one-box 2020 compliance, Stratus ES was designed without GPS in order to provide affordable ADS-B Out to aircraft that are already equipped with WAAS GPS. Stratus ES will make an aircraft rule-compliant when paired with any of the following navigators: Garmin 430W, 530W, 650, 750, or Avidyne IFD440 or IFD540. “With Stratus ESG, we were focused on developing a simple solution to minimize installation costs for non-glass panel aircraft that didn’t have WAAS GPS,” said Derek Aslakson, aviation product manager at Appareo. “With Stratus ES, we are responding to demand from aircraft owners who have already equipped with WAAS GPS navigators and are looking for an affordable way to meet the 2020 mandate while utilizing their previous investments,” Aslakson said. “Stratus ES meets that demand with one of the most attractive price tags on the market.” View more: http://bit.ly/2yd3Wai

Below are three different dual-USB power ports that could be used in a Mooney. The first is the ‘Anker’ and it plugs into the cigar lighter port ($9.99 Amazon Prime). The second is the ‘Powerwerx’ and it is hardwired in. It may not get past an IA, but might under some sort of pilot-owners mod ($23.99). The last is Appareo’s (Stratus ADS-B, etc.) power port that is TSO’d and designed to go into an aircraft panel ($357). After looking these over, each has a pair of ports that deliver roughly 2.5 DC amps each, which is typical max charging for tablets. All have protection circuits and the Anker and Powerwerx are illuminated, the Appareo is not. The technology in all of these is not rocket science. What I would like to know is what makes the Appareo unit so ludicrously expensive? Of course, the quick answer is that it is TSO’d. Is it really that expensive to take a product and get it’s blessing from the FAA? Is it an insurance thing, that if a plane crashes and the NTSB found that the charger had failed and the tablet wasn’t working and that it ‘might have contributed to the crash’ could get Appareo sued? Even if you accounted for Mil Spec electronic parts and custom tooling , there is no way that adds over twenty times the cost. Just perplexed.

I'd like to report that we had a very positive experience with Airtronics in Lincoln, CA obtaining our ADS-B equipment and installation. From ordering our equipment, to setting the appointment for installation, the Airtronics team was professional, timely and thorough in their response to our questions about the equipment we were purchasing. Providing the option to install at our hangar, was especially valuable. For our installer it was a 300 mile RT. The installer was on time, courteous and very knowledgeable. The installation locations for the receiver, transponder and antennas have proven to be ideal for both functionality and aesthetics. The process went very quickly, and our “pass’ for the FAA rebate test flight proved that the equipment installed was in excellent working order. The system worked the first time with no glitches and the interface with Foreflight was perfect. Additionally, the instructions for the rebate test flight that they provided were invaluable to an easy “pass”. They even took our old non-functional transponder and gave us a rebate on that. We could not be happier with the service we received or more confident in the quality installation. On a scale of 1 to 10, this one goes to 11.

Just wanted to put it out there: If anyone is in need of avionics services in the California Central Valley or Bay Area, we would love the opportunity to earn your business! Tripp Walker Velocity Avionics FAA CRS# 2VER931C Modesto, CA. (KMOD) Toll Free: (888) 545-8399 www.VelocityAvionics.com

I started this new thread because the other one degenerated into a privacy cluster. I am looking at the ESG as perfect for me for the following reasons (anybody else in this club?): I am a card-carrying member of the cheap bastards society. My panel is most likely not going to be updated much, I am keeping it "close to original". If I flew for business or had more money than cents I would install an all-glass wonderland with a Garmin kool-aid dispenser. I like the idea of pulling my NARCO AT-50A out and sliding the ESG in (minor wiring mods). The ESG will use my existing transponder antenna (bonus). The ESG comes with WAAS GPS and a GPS antenna (bonus). So, the ESG will now give me a mode-S transponder and ADS-B out. Am I done? Is that all I need to be compliant? Yes, I realize that if I want ADS-B in I'll need a separate system (Stratus 2/iPad/FF will do it). I dream of <$2K ADS-B out and here it is. Yes, I know it is 3.4 AMU, but that old NARCO AT-50A of mine is not going to last forever