Garmin is such a bargain.

[DustinNwind]

USB power:

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/647247/pn/010-02201-10#   (" easily and economically add USB power capability to their aircraft" - AOPA)

vs

https://www.amazon.com/Crave-CarHub-Charger-Qualcomm-Charge/dp/B01DOOPZF8/ref=asc_df_B01DOOPZF8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310039037276&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2301606605576970236&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030997&hvtargid=pla-574298703732&psc=1

 

[Emmet]

Apples and oranges ...

[kpaul]

22 minutes ago, DustinNwind said:

USB power:

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/647247/pn/010-02201-10#   (" easily and economically add USB power capability to their aircraft" - AOPA)

vs

https://www.amazon.com/Crave-CarHub-Charger-Qualcomm-Charge/dp/B01DOOPZF8/ref=asc_df_B01DOOPZF8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310039037276&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2301606605576970236&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030997&hvtargid=pla-574298703732&psc=1

 

At least compare it to a like item...its still $50 more expensive than Stratus' version.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/stratuspower11-14946.php?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvdXpBRCoARIsAMJSKqKex3IW58eQDyqFJjcDV7eojiHIPv8hgcyRFBbhhY9id-eXAODFKDwaAk_2EALw_wcB

 

[DXB]

So far I see a comparison between an apple and some really f'ing expensive TSO'd apples.  

[Trailboss]

I have both a panel mount and the "cigarette lighter" version(s) in my airplane.  With the "expensive TSO'd apples," I don't get radio interference.  With the AutoZone special, you have to watch where power cords are hanging as it will mess up the radios.  Maybe a small detail, maybe money spent on certified equipment is worth it sometimes...

[DXB]

Cheapo plug 12V plug in USB outlets do carry interference risks, as do the charging cables themselves I believe, even if plugged into a TSO'd outlet. Intermittent grounds on the 12V outlets themselves can also be a problem.  FWIW I've had great luck with this USB outlet:  https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/front-and-backseat-usb-charger.html   Also I've had an interference issue previously - snapping small ferrite filters onto the ends of all my charging cables seemed to take care of it so I don't think it was the USB outlet.

 

[jaylw314]

7 minutes ago, DXB said:

Cheapo plug 12V plug in USB outlets do carry interference risks, as do the charging cables themselves I believe, even if plugged into a TSO'd outlet. Intermittent grounds on the 12V outlets themselves can also be a problem.  FWIW I've had great luck with this USB outlet:  https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/front-and-backseat-usb-charger.html   Also I've had an interference issue previously - snapping small ferrite filters onto the ends of all my charging cables seemed to take care of it so I don't think it was the USB outlet.

 

How about just using one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S322S1P/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07S322S1P&pd_rd_w=5eVIo&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=Ofgol&pf_rd_r=CWFPNC87R1NN3Z4EG6Q0&pd_rd_r=0e6a10ec-63e5-4226-bd57-1ec1fb911d3b

There's no worry about radio interference to speak of.  If you can plug in enough equipment to use up a 25,000 mAH battery in one flight, more power to you (ugh, pun not intended).  To put it in perspective, the normal max current through a USB 3.0 port is 0.9A.  If you ran 2A of equipment, that's still 12+ hours of power.  And people in the back seat can use it.

[Yetti]

Same with Dynon

https://sarasotaavionics.com/avionics/dynon-usb-port-panel-mount

One is required for each screen.   So the dual would be so much better and $80 cheaper and less panel space.

 

https://www.amazon.com/BATIGE-Square-Extension-Motorcycle-Dashboard/dp/B078LXX3MD/ref=asc_df_B078LXX3MD/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241923266288&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1116791579615912480&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9061130&hvtargid=pla-407865884050&psc=1

[Jim Peace]

When I had the cigarette lighter version of the usb plug I found it could not charge the iPad unless it was dimmed and all it really did was allow it to slowly drain. 

I installed the stratus usb block and I can charge my iPad at full bright to 100%. 

Like others have said don’t be a cheap bastard. 

For some reason I have a feeling that when cheap bastards sell their plane they ask top dollar. 

[NotarPilot]

13 hours ago, DustinNwind said:

USB power:

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/647247/pn/010-02201-10#   (" easily and economically add USB power capability to their aircraft" - AOPA)

vs

https://www.amazon.com/Crave-CarHub-Charger-Qualcomm-Charge/dp/B01DOOPZF8/ref=asc_df_B01DOOPZF8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310039037276&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2301606605576970236&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030997&hvtargid=pla-574298703732&psc=1

 

Yeah but does the second one say “Garmin” on the box? 

I rest my case. :))

[1964-M20E]

The biggest thing about USB outlets is you need to make sure you get the ones that are capable of 2.5A output on an individual port to power the iPads and other items such as the Raspberry PI based Stratux systems.   You also need to make sure you have a heavy duty USB cord to carry that power with minimal voltage loss and use the shortest length cord that you can.

There are marine versions of the mounted ones that I believe are cheaper than the aviation ones.   While I am not an A&P or an IA, my opinion this is a minor mod and what ever your A&P or IA will allow you can do.

USB ports (universal serial bus) were primarily designed to be data ports powering the memory circuits in jump drives or data cards if necessary.  This has morphed into powering electronics, lights, and fans.   Personally I prefer electronics that have a regular input power plug and then converts that to other voltages utilized inside the device.

[jaylw314]

3 hours ago, 1964-M20E said:

The biggest thing about USB outlets is you need to make sure you get the ones that are capable of 2.5A output on an individual port to power the iPads and other items such as the Raspberry PI based Stratux systems.   You also need to make sure you have a heavy duty USB cord to carry that power with minimal voltage loss and use the shortest length cord that you can.

There are marine versions of the mounted ones that I believe are cheaper than the aviation ones.   While I am not an A&P or an IA, my opinion this is a minor mod and what ever your A&P or IA will allow you can do.

USB ports (universal serial bus) were primarily designed to be data ports powering the memory circuits in jump drives or data cards if necessary.  This has morphed into powering electronics, lights, and fans.   Personally I prefer electronics that have a regular input power plug and then converts that to other voltages utilized inside the device.

Apple hardware and a lot of "fast charger" devices can take up to 2.5A, but only while fast charging.  Most non-Apple phones and tablets I've seen will switch to normal charging if they (presumably) see the voltage drop too much as they increase the current.  AFAIK, Apple devices just sit there petulantly if you don't give them a high current source, even if they don't need fast charging.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab A (the one from Costco) charges on a 1.0A USB port fine, and even unplugged on the brightest setting, I know it lasts for about 6 hours continuously.  The things you learn when you forget to plug your stuff in...

The Stratux (Raspberry Pi) with two radio receivers runs fine with a 1.0A USB port

[EricJ]

42 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

Apple hardware and a lot of "fast charger" devices can take up to 2.5A, but only while fast charging.  Most non-Apple phones and tablets I've seen will switch to normal charging if they (presumably) see the voltage drop too much as they increase the current.  AFAIK, Apple devices just sit there petulantly if you don't give them a high current source, even if they don't need fast charging.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab A (the one from Costco) charges on a 1.0A USB port fine, and even unplugged on the brightest setting, I know it lasts for about 6 hours continuously.  The things you learn when you forget to plug your stuff in...

The Stratux (Raspberry Pi) with two radio receivers runs fine with a 1.0A USB port

You can also get adapters with a display that cycles between the input voltage and the supplied current.   I have an older version of this, and it's very handy to keep an eye on what the connected devices are drawing as well as the system supply voltage.

https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Ainope-Adapter-Display-Detector

You can also get the type that is permanently mounted for not much money.   This one supplies 18W (3.0A) to each socket:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FXH5ZZK/

I prefer the cheapie plug-in adapters for a number of reasons.   The specs for plug-in device connectivity changes every few years, and it's pretty easy to swap in a new adapter to the cigar lighter rather than spend way too much money updating something like the OP linked.   If the adapter is creating interference (which I've had happen), it's not hard to isolate it as the problem and remove it, and very inexpensive to replace it.   I carry a spare or two in my flight bag.   They're cheap and light and small, so it's not a big deal.   

I have two 12V cigar-ligher power sockets in my panel, one that has a two-USB-port adapter plugged into it that also displays input voltage and output current, and the other one powers the B-Kool during the summer.   I also have two in the cabin side panels just in front of the rear seats.   The one on the pilot side has a USB adapter in it with a cord that charges the battery connected to the stratux that lives suction-cupped to the window back there.

Haven't had any trouble with any of that stuff in a long time.
 

[jaylw314]

20 minutes ago, EricJ said:

You can also get adapters with a display that cycles between the input voltage and the supplied current.   I have an older version of this, and it's very handy to keep an eye on what the connected devices are drawing as well as the system supply voltage.

https://www.amazon.com/Charger-Ainope-Adapter-Display-Detector

You can also get the type that is permanently mounted for not much money.   This one supplies 18W (3.0A) to each socket:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FXH5ZZK/

I prefer the cheapie plug-in adapters for a number of reasons.   The specs for plug-in device connectivity changes every few years, and it's pretty easy to swap in a new adapter to the cigar lighter rather than spend way too much money updating something like the OP linked.   If the adapter is creating interference (which I've had happen), it's not hard to isolate it as the problem and remove it, and very inexpensive to replace it.   I carry a spare or two in my flight bag.   They're cheap and light and small, so it's not a big deal.   

I have two 12V cigar-ligher power sockets in my panel, one that has a two-USB-port adapter plugged into it that also displays input voltage and output current, and the other one powers the B-Kool during the summer.   I also have two in the cabin side panels just in front of the rear seats.   The one on the pilot side has a USB adapter in it with a cord that charges the battery connected to the stratux that lives suction-cupped to the window back there.

Haven't had any trouble with any of that stuff in a long time.
 

I've just found with portable lithium batteries becoming larger in capacity and less expensive, the appeal of any type of mounted USB power supply has decreased.  I still keep a USB plug in the cigarette lighter simply because it's in a convenient location for stuff on the glareshield, but if it somehow went kaput, I'd probably just use a lithium battery and Velcro it to the armrest (would I have to placard the cigarette lighter INOP?)

As it stands, I run my Stratux and a camera stuck on one of the rear windows, and I just run a wire to the battery and tuck it in the back seat pocket.  It stays out of the way nicely that way, and a 10,000 mAH battery lasts about 6 hours with those two running.

[Steve W]

I will point out that many of those plug in-devices will work for those of us who have 28V planes(and 28V to the lighter outlet) but even if they say they do work I personally do a bench test at maximum load and 30V input to make sure they don't blow up. I also try a quick interference check with my handheld radio, but that's not always a guarantee that there won't be interference.

[Baker Avionics]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:49 PM, DustinNwind said:

USB power:

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/647247/pn/010-02201-10#   (" easily and economically add USB power capability to their aircraft" - AOPA)

vs

https://www.amazon.com/Crave-CarHub-Charger-Qualcomm-Charge/dp/B01DOOPZF8/ref=asc_df_B01DOOPZF8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310039037276&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2301606605576970236&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030997&hvtargid=pla-574298703732&psc=1

 

Do "we" work for Garmin?

[M016576]

$350 for a usb outlet! Hah! Plus install cost!

“a fool and his money are soon to be parted” comes to mind....

just buy a PS engineering PMA450... that’s like getting a cutting edge audio panel for 500 bucks to go along with your usb plug!

Edited July 27, 2019 by M016576

[tigers2007]

I have the $300+ Appareo USB in mine. Keep in mind that the pricey ones don’t inject interference into your system. Most of that junk on Amazon puts out horrible interference. Trust me the search is on by ultra-CB ham radio dudes for the unicorn 12V USB power supply that doesn’t cause mayhem with their radios.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jetdriven]

On 7/22/2019 at 6:35 PM, jaylw314 said:

How about just using one of these?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S322S1P/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07S322S1P&pd_rd_w=5eVIo&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=Ofgol&pf_rd_r=CWFPNC87R1NN3Z4EG6Q0&pd_rd_r=0e6a10ec-63e5-4226-bd57-1ec1fb911d3b

There's no worry about radio interference to speak of.  If you can plug in enough equipment to use up a 25,000 mAH battery in one flight, more power to you (ugh, pun not intended).  To put it in perspective, the normal max current through a USB 3.0 port is 0.9A.  If you ran 2A of equipment, that's still 12+ hours of power.  And people in the back seat can use it.

I wouldn’t trust a Chinese “Todamay” brand, non UL listed battery pack in my plane like that. I do have an Anker unit, but for the trouble of carrying it and charging it, I put the Stratus dual USB plug in.  

[EricJ]

50 minutes ago, tigers2007 said:

I have the $300+ Appareo USB in mine. Keep in mind that the pricey ones don’t inject interference into your system. Most of that junk on Amazon puts out horrible interference. Trust me the search is on by ultra-CB ham radio dudes for the unicorn 12V USB power supply that doesn’t cause mayhem with their radios.

I'm a EE and spent about 35 years doing R&D on wireless communications.   I have a pretty well-equipped lab at home where I can do a lot of relevant testing and measurement.   A few years ago while travelling in a buddy's Cherokee we sorted out that a USB plug that I'd brought along to run my tablet was the source of some interference we were experiencing.  A cheaper, crappier one was used instead and it cleared up the noise and didn't bother anything.   This got me curious so I tested a large variety of 12V USB power adapters, everything from ones I'd spent a fair amount of money on to spiff-free crap that had been handed out as swag to various friends.   The idea was to see whether there was a trend or any kind of identifiable feature that would give away which ones were noisy and which weren't.

First, it's easy to identify a noisy one with a spectrum analyzer.   The DC-DC converters that are the guts of these things have oscillators that provide the chopping frequency to make the DC voltage change.   Bad ones generate a lot of harmonics from the oscillators and those can get fed back into the 12V source via conduction, they don't even need to radiate it, it just goes back into the power system and old or cheap radios or audio panels that don't have good power conditioning send it straight into the receiver, or the transmitter, or whatever place will maximize the annoyance to you.   The radiated energy can cause trouble, too, but this is one of those cases where a common path of the impairment is conducted, through the power supply or perhaps the ground.

Anyway, my conclusion was that which ones are noisy and which ones aren't doesn't have anything to do with the manufacturing source or how much it cost, or anything like that.   It may have more to do with whether it got dropped somewhere along the way and there's a solder crack on a capacitor or other filter element and now the thing is just noisy.   The quietest one I tested, i.e., the least noisy, was a cheap unit that had been given given away as swag at a real-estate event.   I went out and sorted out who made them and bought some more, and they're all pretty quiet, and since they're also nearly flush I use them in the jacks that feed my back seat outlets, so that they minimize the physical interference to the passengers, front seats, etc.

My personal view is that the sorts of things that make one noisy or not can happen just as easily to a $500 in-panel unit, but when it craps out, what are you going to do?    If you have a cheap unit plugged into a 12V outlet and it starts making noise, you take it out and grab another cheap one out of your flight bag and go on your way.   So, just IMHO, using the cheap ones provides improved safety by giving you a quick way to solve the problem in-flight if needed.   If an in-panel unit goes bad, you may need to pull a breaker to shut it up, and you'll also lose anything else wired to that breaker. 

[EricJ]

Jeebuz, forgot I did this:

http://ericjacobsen.org/Files/USB_Power_Supply_RF_analysis_2.pdf

From the thread below a couple of years ago.   FWIW, a two-year old analysis on stuff like this is essentially obsolete, because the implementations change so frequently.   An adapter bought today will likely have significantly different guts than the ones I tested.   I think the conclusion is still valid, though, that there's going to be a lot of variation in units, and if you get a noisy one just take it out and replace it with something else.   Even another one from the same multi-blister-pack might be a night-and-day difference.
 

 

[M016576]

Just think about this for a second....

the USB plug + install costs the same amount as an iPad.  

The “aviation panel mount” USB plug in... the thing that they give away with an iPad... COSTS THE SAME AS AN IPAD!

if that’s not an aviation mark up... I don’t know what is.

....and people in the other thread are wondering why a new mooney costs 800K and you can’t build a J for 200K anymore.  This is why.

Edited July 27, 2019 by M016576

[David_H]

^............. 100% on point.

[TX-Champ]

Here's another option - 14V and 28V compatible.  Tested and passed FCC limits on RFI.  It works.

 

Dual USB CLA 14V or 28V

[Jesse Saint]

I have installed several of these with very good results. Can be data ports and charging ports as desired. 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/eicrgr30p-usb.php