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Advice on what to keep


David Lloyd

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My 1975 M20C has a wonderful panel full of radios.  Wonderful for 1995.  Time to update.  The HSI and Stec 60-2 will stay, most everything else will go.  The DME, transponder, ADF, audio panel, intercom, antique GPS and one of the navcoms will be replaced with a PAR200B audio panel/com and a Garmin GTX375 driving the HSI and autopilot. My question is, should I keep the MAC 1700 or the KX-165?  Both are the same age. Both have had repairs (capacitors). Both transmit and receive, seem to be equal in that regard.  The MAC is connected to the CDI now. If the 165 is kept, it would have to be connected to the existing CDI.  Today, the 165 might be worth something, don't know about the MAC.  What would you do?  

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I was in a similar situation 3 years ago.  I kept the 165 .... although the Nav side started acting up 3 months ago.  Bevan overhauled the 165 for $1400.  Now it works great and hopefully will last a long while.

I didn't go with a Garmin GNC 255 as although it was cosmetically a nice radio, it didn't add any real functionality.  All in, it would have been another $6 AMUs to swap the 165 for a new 255.

Looking at resale, the -21 (14 Volt) 165s are commanding decent prices if they are in great operational shape with nice faceplate & lenses.  Having a yellow tag would be a big plus.

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I'm a big fan of the MAC for it's ability to store and retrieve frequencies, but I think it might be redundant with the PAR200B.  The big question for me would be how easy and intuitive is it to store and retrieve multiple frequencies in the PAR200B.  It can store 5 frequencies, but if it's a pain to store, retrieve, or know what those frequencies are for, I'd keep the MAC.  If that is all simple and straight forward, I'd save the panel space and go with the 165.  I also have no idea how difficult or expensive it would be to reconnect the 165 to the CDI, so that may factor into the decision to keep the MAC after a talk with the installer.

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The MAC does have a glideslope, the CDI does have a glideslope needle. They do work now.


I would keep what you have if it is in decent shape. I had a Narco 12D+ that gave me a lot of issues. Eventually replaced it with a GNC 255B. If you are flying IFR, having a decent second radio, is, in my opinion, a necessity.


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What I would do, and what I did for both of my Mooney’s, is get rid of all the legacy electronics that I could. Everything except the existing autopilot. Pay me now or pay me later. But if you are selling soon I would just do the minimum.

My mistake was doing a lot of upgrades to my J thinking I would keep it a long time. Then I wanted more capability.... So I bought the Encore and then upgraded it even more. Hopefully that was the last time.

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At 68 and retired, most of my miles are behind me.  IFR for me will be punching through a layer on the way to nice weather.  Either the 165 or the MAC will be the backup.  Primary and lawful navigation will be the 375, primary comm will be the PAR200B.  If the 165 or MAC dies of old age before me, I'll replace it with current tech.  If the HSI croaks, G5 or whatever new.  Just trying to figure out now, 165 or MAC.  My experience with the 155 and 165 is a repair every couple years, no information on the MAC. I had thought the MAC was a POS but at this point it does everything advertised.

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From what I can tell from my logbooks the 165 installed in my plane is one of the two originals from 1982. I can’t find anything indicating that radios we we repaired or replaced. I haven’t touched it since I purchased the plane 13 years ago. 

Maybe I’m lucky but 37 years before failure seems pretty darn good. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 9/19/2019 at 11:20 AM, skydvrboy said:

The big question for me would be how easy and intuitive is it to store and retrieve multiple frequencies in the PAR200B.  It can store 5 frequencies, but if it's a pain to store, retrieve, or know what those frequencies are for, I'd keep the MAC. 

Hi Skydvrboy, we made a significant improvements on storing and recalling frequencies. Thanks to the 3-soft keys and OLED graphics display, we have a dedicated “Rcl” soft key. Simply press “Rcl” and select one of the five store frequencies, press enter and it immediately places it into active while the previous frequency goes into standby.

Storing a frequencies is just as easy.

I hope I’ll be able to put some videos together this week on some of the key enhancements. I think the biggest one is IntelliAudio.

Edited by Mscheuer
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4 hours ago, Mscheuer said:

Hi Skydvrboy, we made a significant improvements on storing and recalling frequencies. Thanks to the 3-soft keys and OLED graphics display, we have a dedicated “Rcl” soft key. Simply press “Rcl” and select one of the five store frequencies, press enter and it immediately places it into active while the previous frequency goes into standby.

Storing a frequencies is just as easy.

I hope I’ll be able to put some videos together this week on some of the key enhancements. I think the biggest one is IntelliAudio.

Mark is right, the improvements they have made are simply phenomenal!  Bottom line, like we tell all of our customers, PS Engineering, in my opinion, is the best in their niche because "It's What They Do".  They do not try to put their hand into Nav, GPS, AP, FMS, Transponders, they are the best at what they do for a reason and they are more than happy to stay that way!!!!  

 

Hats off to you Mark!!!!!  Keep up the great work!!!  We appreciate all you have done and are doing!!!

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