Is the Garmin SL-30 obsolete?

[Will Kumley]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on upgrading a few things in my Colt and considering dual G5's along with and SL-30 nav/com. When I talked to the first avionics shop the guy was quick to say that the SL-30 is about to be discontinued and obsolete. As far as I know it is already discontinued but I imagine it would still be supported for a while. Am I off base in this thinking?

For reference, my Colt has a single comm unit with no nav (King KY-197). I want something that I can use with the ability to monitor the standby frequency and a used SL-30 seems to fit that bill. It'll also be nice to have a nav function to track VORs occasionally and maybe tune into an ILS from time to time. The SL-30 and G5s alone won't make the plane IFR capable but I'm trying to avoid dumping $20K into the plane right now and figure if I did dump $20K+ into it I'd be better off with something like a GNC355 paired to a couple of G5s.

 

[Ryan Klems]

SL30 is still supported for repair, but unknown for how much longer. Interfacing the SL30 to the G5's can only be done over RS232, which means you won't be able to interface the WAAS position source over RS232. Not sure that you had a WAAS position source, so perhaps you were going to need the glare shield antenna anyway. The bonus is if that's all you are interfacing, then you don't need the GAD29B.

 

[farmrjohn]

A Trig TX-56 might meet your requirements vs. a used SL-30

 

[asicer]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on upgrading a few things in my Colt and considering dual G5's along with and SL-30 nav/com. When I talked to the first avionics shop the guy was quick to say that the SL-30 is about to be discontinued and obsolete. As far as I know it is already discontinued but I imagine it would still be supported for a while. Am I off base in this thinking?

How much were you looking to spend on a SL30? Is there a reason you aren't considering the GNC-255, Garmin's intended replacement for the SL30?

A third option would be the Trig TX56a. Pretty much the same size and same capabilities as the SL30 except it isn't obsolete.

 

[flyingron]

The SL-30 is a unit that was acquired when Garmin bought out Apollo. It's a great nav com. It is indeed discontinued as Garmin finally got their own GNC255 unit out. I've had both the SL30 and the GNS480 (which uses the SL30 internally) since 2004 or so and it's holding up great.

 

[TCABM]

The SL-30 is a unit that was acquired when Garmin bought out Apollo.

No wonder it’s such a good product.

 

[Will Kumley]

Thanks all, starting the think the GPS 175 will give me a better bang for my dollar as the comm radio in the plane works well. My only gripe is the inability to monitor a second frequency. Looks like the GPS 175 has a simlar price to a new com/nav radio.

 

[asicer]

Thanks all, starting the think the GPS 175 will give me a better bang for my dollar as the comm radio in the plane works well. My only gripe is the inability to monitor a second frequency. Looks like the GPS 175 has a simlar price to a new com/nav radio.

Do you have a KY197A or do you have a KY197(no letters)? If you have the 197A, an ICOM A-220 is a slide in replacement if you pair it with their MBA-3 adapter. That would give you monitor mode along with a couple other feature upgrades.

If you have the 197(no letters), you should slide it out and check if the rack has a 20 pin socket or a 30 pin socket. King designed it so that a 20-pin 197 can slide into a 30-pin 197A rack. Even if you have a 20-pin socket in the rack, you could grind off the left hand 5 rows (10 pins) of the MBA-3 adapter and it will still slide in. I've never tried this, but on paper it looks like it'd work. Since it's a different make/model, you'd best get an agreement with your avionics shop since they'd have to to sign off on it either way.

 

[Will Kumley]

Do you have a KY197A or do you have a KY197(no letters)? If you have the 197A, an ICOM A-220 is a slide in replacement if you pair it with their MBA-3 adapter. That would give you monitor mode along with a couple other feature upgrades.

If you have the 197(no letters), you could grind off the left hand 5 rows (10 pins) of the adapter and it will still slide in. I've never tried this, but on paper it looks like it'd work. Since it's a different make/model, you'd best get an agreement with your avionics shop since they'd have to to sign off on it either way.

Just the regular old 197, but I'm starting to dig the idea of the GPS 175 and waiting to replace the King 197 with something like the Icom A220 or Garmin GTR 200. However, if I go with the GPS 175 any radio swaps will wait so I'm not spending all my money at one time.

 

[murphey]

Love my SL30. Will probably put a Garmin COM in soon to replace the wonky TKM.

 

[asicer]

Just the regular old 197, but I'm starting to dig the idea of the GPS 175 and waiting to replace the King 197 with something like the Icom A220 or Garmin GTR 200. However, if I go with the GPS 175 any radio swaps will wait so I'm not spending all my money at one time.

I'd still slide out the 197 and take a peek back there. It's very likely you have the 20-pin socket in the rack, but maybe you're lucky and have a 30-pin. That way, you'd be ready if someone happens to come along wanting to unload an Icom A210 or A220 for cheap (for reference, I see an A210 on eBay for $790/obo).

But if you need to open up the panel and rewire things anyway, I'd probably go for the Garmin GTR200 or whichever Trig over an Icom.