Adding Garmin GTR-205 and it has No Speaker Output Function

Mooney Fan

Mooney Fan

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Mooney Fan
My C-150M is in the Avionics Shop having a Garmin GTR-205 installed and I just got a call from them to tell me that I would have no speaker function with the Garmin.

I have an old switcher that my #1 and #2 KX-170B radios use and both work on speaker mode.

Appears I would need to upgrade to a modern audio panel that serve as the speaker output for the the Garmin to work when I use the panel to switch between phones/speaker.

Another 5 AMU's at this point was not something I wanted to entertain. So I'm going without the speaker function capability for the Garmin.

I can only see this being a problem if I had only one radio and something went wrong with my intercom then I would have no audio. But the one radio that does have the speaker function should suffice.

Am I missing something here or does this sound like a reasonable approach? I have looked at the FAR's and I see no requirement for a second radio to have speaker functionality.

Mixing new technology with the old is not always as seamless as it would appear.
 
Do you have to proceed? If you have a working radio and audio panel then just buy a portable handheld radio as your backup. There are adapters that connect to your GA headset.

I wanted to mix old and new equipment but the extra labor to figure all that out just made more sense to stick with all new Garmin. I’m opting out of the second nav radio. I originally thought I would have 3 comm and 2 navs but I will have 2 comm and 1 nav.
 
mandm said:
Do you have to proceed? If you have a working radio and audio panel then just buy a portable handheld radio as your backup. There are adapters that connect to your GA headset.

I wanted to mix old and new equipment but the extra labor to figure all that out just made more sense to stick with all new Garmin. I’m opting out of the second nav radio. I originally thought I would have 3 comm and 2 navs but I will have 2 comm and 1 nav.
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Thanks. I'm to far along now. The Garmin will be my primary radio but it will lack a speaker function. My remaining radio works with speaker so I will have that be my B/U for listening to ATIS/AWOS etc.

I will have only 1 NAV left as well.

I also have a handheld.
 
Hey man I’m just wondering what made you choose the 205? I’m currently in a radio issue with my 75 150m I have a mx300 in it right now that is not functioning and I’m going to replace it I just had a shop install an intercom last week and today went to fly for the first time and the radio won’t transmit and I’ve had issues with it previously.. I’m trying to figure out if I should replace it with a new mx300 there over 4K so I don’t waste the install money again or upgrade to the garmin com or nav/com would you recommend the 205 or are you having so much trouble with your install to make it worth recommending it I see it’s a little over 2k and I like that price point but also I only have 1 radio so not sure if that would mess me up replacing my nav/com with a com I’m a student pilot so I’m still learning as I go just curious what you recommend since you are familiar with the 150m I’m currently having issues with thank you
 
Josephm228 said:
Hey man I’m just wondering what made you choose the 205? I’m currently in a radio issue with my 75 150m I have a mx300 in it right now that is not functioning and I’m going to replace it I just had a shop install an intercom last week and today went to fly for the first time and the radio won’t transmit and I’ve had issues with it previously.. I’m trying to figure out if I should replace it with a new mx300 there over 4K so I don’t waste the install money again or upgrade to the garmin com or nav/com would you recommend the 205 or are you having so much trouble with your install to make it worth recommending it I see it’s a little over 2k and I like that price point but also I only have 1 radio so not sure if that would mess me up replacing my nav/com with a com I’m a student pilot so I’m still learning as I go just curious what you recommend since you are familiar with the 150m I’m currently having issues with thank you
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I grew tired of my reception problems with the KX-170B. It was coupled with a localizer only CDI. I considered replacing it with the Garmin 215 NAV/COM but it would have almost doubled my total cost over that of a GTR-205. The days of me flying IFR on steam gauges has gone by way of the horse and buggy so I elected to eliminate the NAV functionality for the #2 radio and go with the COM function only.

The problems with install are minor as its only been an issue with having a speaker function using the 205. The avionics shop tells me Garmin is planning to add the function in the future. The current model rely's on a modern audio panel to provide the function which as I mentioned, was a cost prohibitive option at this time.

The shop also said if I did replace the switcher my existing intercom system likely wouldn't be able to be integrated. So I would need to address that with whatever new audio panel I selected.

The shop is a certified Garmin dealer so I am paying a bit more because of that. But they are a really good shop as I used them to install a Garmin 335 transponder last year and am very happy with it.

Out the door radio and installation. $5500.
 
Josephm228 said:
Hey man I’m just wondering what made you choose the 205? I’m currently in a radio issue with my 75 150m I have a mx300 in it right now that is not functioning and I’m going to replace it I just had a shop install an intercom last week and today went to fly for the first time and the radio won’t transmit and I’ve had issues with it previously.. I’m trying to figure out if I should replace it with a new mx300 there over 4K so I don’t waste the install money again or upgrade to the garmin com or nav/com would you recommend the 205 or are you having so much trouble with your install to make it worth recommending it I see it’s a little over 2k and I like that price point but also I only have 1 radio so not sure if that would mess me up replacing my nav/com with a com I’m a student pilot so I’m still learning as I go just curious what you recommend since you are familiar with the 150m I’m currently having issues with thank you
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Just so you know, the GTR205 stops transmitting after 30 seconds and says "COM MIC 1 KEY IS STUCK" on the screen if you do this in real life. Take a breath, the period key is right below the L. ;)
 
I put in a new used kx155 and for funsies I hit the speaker button.
 
eman1200 said:
uh, I'm just gonna go back to never using the speaker function
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Speaker function is useful if you have an older audio panel and two radios. If you put the second radio on the speaker and use it for ATIS, it's easier to still hear ATC clearly and "tune out" the ATIS without actually having to switch it off.

Newer audio panels usually/should include a balance biasing feature that makes one frequency sound like it's just to your left and the other just to your right and that works well too.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Newer audio panels usually/should include a balance biasing feature that makes one frequency sound like it's just to your left and the other just to your right and that works well too.
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It's called HRTF and it's a little bit more involved than balance biasing.
 
asicer said:
It's called HRTF and it's a little bit more involved than balance biasing.
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I just called it that 'cuz every manufacturer calls it something different, and nobody knows what HRTF is. ;) Garmin calls it "3D Audio" for example.
 
Mooney Fan said:
My C-150M is in the Avionics Shop having a Garmin GTR-205 installed and I just got a call from them to tell me that I would have no speaker function with the Garmin.

I have an old switcher that my #1 and #2 KX-170B radios use and both work on speaker mode.

Appears I would need to upgrade to a modern audio panel that serve as the speaker output for the the Garmin to work when I use the panel to switch between phones/speaker.

Another 5 AMU's at this point was not something I wanted to entertain. So I'm going without the speaker function capability for the Garmin.

I can only see this being a problem if I had only one radio and something went wrong with my intercom then I would have no audio. But the one radio that does have the speaker function should suffice.

Am I missing something here or does this sound like a reasonable approach? I have looked at the FAR's and I see no requirement for a second radio to have speaker functionality.

Mixing new technology with the old is not always as seamless as it would appear.
Click to expand...
Have you considered the PAR200B? http://ps-engineering.com/PAR200B.html
MAP is $3195 which includes a Bluetooth enable audio panel with IntelliAudio (for radio communications enhancement) and a remote mounted TY91L
There are many C150 and C152 that have this audio panel installed. It is a low cost solution (compared to individual components) for a full feather audio panel and aircraft radio solution.
Mark
 
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