Pedestal bay, NAV, COMM, ADF and the rest...

[Nick1150]

Hi,

My project needs a pedestal.

I am between CP Flight, Open Cockpits and CockpitSonic pedestal products. I have decided to go to a PnP solution and not build my own. I want to go to a COMM1/2, NAV1/2 plus one ADF one transponder, and a dummy backlighted fire suppression panel solution.

CP takes the lead because of my CPF MCP737EL and double EFIS I alreay have and I am very happy with. The COMM1/2, NAV1/2, ADF and transponder will be connected to the MCP without any external power as the CP manual says ( Radio modules do not require an external power supply adapter since they are directly supplied by the MCP). I am guesting that I have to get a pedestal bay from fly engravity right ? Or can I purchase a OC or better a cockpitsonic pedestal bay ? Has anyone any experience with CP radios and pedestal bay from another supplier ?

On the other hand OC has half the price than CP as far as the radios and and the pedestal bay is concerned, so that gives me the possibility to go for a used TQ with the rest of the cash left.

Last CockpitSonic offers a good solution on pedestal and radio products which are in between CP and OC in price. I really do not know the quality of those but I am very happy with my CockpitSonic MIP, so I am guesting the same would happen with the radios.

What is your opinion on those three radio and pedestal products ?

Any ideas ?

Thanks

Nick

[bussgarfield]

Hi Nick,

I am in the process (amongst other things) putting together my pedestal. I already have OC radio - Comm 1/2 and Nav 1/2 running without the pedestal and they work just fine. The software is downloaded from the OC site and works a treat. You do not need a power supply - but if you want back lighting then I would suggest you also order the power leads that go with them. They are compatable although separate from the OC MCP and FMC that I have. They will work just fine with your CP MCP.
They are true scale and I have no regrets in buying them. I cannot how ever make any comparisons as they are all I have but I am sure others will say the same.

Gary

[Nick1150]

Thanks Gary for your answer

Actualy I am leaning towards CP flight hardware.... you know how it goes... Since the MCP is CP, something tells me to continue with CP for the radios too.

I am searching for a dummy fire panel (prefferably backlighted)... any ideas ?

[nax228]

Hi Nick
I have the same solution as what you explain here.
I have a pedestal from cockpitsonic with all radios from CPFlight. firepanel and other panels in the pedestal is cockpitsonic and maybe OC. Bought it used, so i'm not sure about the OC bit.
Radios fit perfect.

You'll soon start think about the MIP, and I got the DualTrainer complete from Cockpitsonic... just if you wonder about something.
Another thing to take into consideration is what cockpitsoftware you will use. Do not jump to conclusions about software. Take your time to try all demos and ask around.

Pedestall pics:

[Nick1150]

Hi nax,

Thanks for the reply. Actualy I also have the DST from cockpitsonic, and I am trying to expand to the pedestal too. Can you please tell me about the fire panel and the rest of the panels except the radios ? Are they dummy ? Are the backlighted ? What do you think about the quality ?

Thanks

Nick

[nax228]

All the panels are ready to interact, meaning buttons are buttons and dials are potmeters. Annunciators can be functional with adiode + apropriate interface and logic.
Panels are not backlighted as they come, but I'll do that in the same operation as everything else that need backlighting (mip & oh).

The firepanel is kinda cheap qualityvice, but looks ok enough. In real the 3 red handles need to be pulled before they can be turned, mine is free to turn without pulling.
They are switches just like the DU switches and only glued to the panelplate. Very easy solution... too easy in my eyes. One of them is loose. I hope to find a better way to fasten them all instead of simly gly the loose one back.

All in all they do the work for me.

[ChrisKLAS]

I've got the full suite of CPFlight radios (2x COMM, 2x NAV, 2x ADF, 1x xpndr, 1x rudder/aileron trim) and couldn't be happier. I also heard from Paolo at CPFlight about a month ago that they have more pedestal products (cargo fire panel, audio panels, engine/apu fire, etc.) in the pipeline and should have news soon, which would be outstanding!

[Nick1150]

Thanks Chris

To be honest I was on holidays and did not make any decisions yet.

I have quotes from CP & OC and OC are half price !!!!

My question is are CP worth the extra money comparing with the OC ones ?

@Gary -> Just a note OC in their message told me that all PnP pedestal radios ARE backlighted and do require only one USB cable. Maybe they have changed that for the PnP modules ?

[bussgarfield]

Hi Nick.
Hope you had a good holiday or more than one as you said it was plural !!!

Just to clarify, the OC pedestal radios are indeed back lit via the USB cable but they also have a 5v DC input available which would be beneficial if you are running loads of PnP devices into a hub as most of us do. It serves to minimise any voltage drop over the USB cables.

Just as an aside, the OC MCP does require the 5v input but is not back lit.

My pedestal will have 'dummy' devices where they are duplicated so I will be installing my own back lighting in any case.

Sorry if I caused any confusion.

Gary

[choffmann]

Nick,

as you know I use the cockpitsonic parts. The pedestal is functioning very well. What is not functioning is the audio panels and the trim panel. For the last one, I would recommend to use the CP trim panel, which looks to me very good.
I dunno any company providing a functioning audio transmission panel, does somebody here? That would be something very nice for online flying, unless you have a yoke with in-built press-to-talk button. Although I had my cockpitsonic dual linked yokes manufactured with an additional button for this function, I have not yet connected it to a USB board. I am using a small USB keypad for the time being.
What is also not functioning in the cockpitsonic pedestal is the ATC 1/2 switch in the transponder unit, which of course would be very helpful in online flying when you want your F/O to monitor another frequency (e.g. to capture ATIS at destination). Is someone here aware, if these functions are realised by the units of other companies, esp. FDS???

Cheers
Chris