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No Longer Active
09-08-2009, 11:14 AM
A standard GA rack is 6.25 wide, so what does virtually every sim product manafacturer do...? Makes them 8 inches wide (ie opencockpits, goflight, saitek, desktop aviator etc)

Why do they make it 8 inches wide when a GA rack is 6.25 inches wide? How dumb is that? They havent got a clue!

Then comes along simkits and flight illusion, they at long last have the right idea, a decent bendix king lookalike.But leave you with a hefty cost.....800 euros for simkits radio and board and flight illusion at 570 euros.

Why are on earth cant someone make a nav/com radio with a 6.25 width, it makes so much sence, if you make radios designed for GA aircraft, common sence says design it with a 6.25 width so it can fit in a GA rack. what Cessna or piper uses radio equipment over 8 inches? The Cessna doesnt, the Piper doesnt, and Im sure many others dont!

To me there is a massive gap in the market for GA radio gear with a 6.25 width, a Nav/Com radio that displays BOTH nav and com on the same radio panel under the £150 mark and is plug and play would sell like hot cakes!

dnoize
09-08-2009, 12:11 PM
Well, there's a market opportunity for you !

;-)

i'll be your first customer for my c172 sim !


Stef

Geremy Britton
09-08-2009, 12:17 PM
Well, there's a market opportunity for you !

;-)

i'll be your first customer for my c172 sim !


Stef

Hahaha! :p

No Longer Active
09-08-2009, 12:56 PM
dnoize.....

How about you make me a Bendix king look alike, pretend that engravity made it, and sell it to me for for my price range!

Haha! lol

dnoize
09-08-2009, 04:08 PM
actually ive been thinking of doing that.

Although your price range is somewhat unrealistic.

Even with budget solutions like open cockpits hardware (mastercard, 2 display cards, encoder card, dual concentric encoders, digits, small parts) you will allready get in the 150 UKP range...and thats without the front panel if you really want it to look like a bendix.

But you got a point there.

* I think the flight illusions Collins set is very affordable...but i dont like the collins radios.
* The simkits radiostack is worth every penny, but is way out of my budget (but honestly, the level of detail of that radio stack, the realism offered, the time and money invested to develop them makes them worth every single penny you pay for them !!)
* The VRinsight radiostack is deadcheap and offers alot for what you pay for, but well....the looks...not quite in par with what i want my c172 sim to look like.

I have been thinking of making new front panels for them to make them look more like bendix units and get rid of the way the digits look.

But i ended up buying some old bendix/king units on ebay.
Got an old KNS80 Nav systems for 25$, going to rip all the guts out and replace the inner with my own stuf and just pretend its a KAP140 autopilot.

Same for the KX155/165 NAV/COMM's, found the faceplate of the real one on ebay, and make my own radios.

Looks like the real thing for a budget price. But i doubt it will be below the 150 pounds pricerange.

Honestly i dont think anyone can offer a unit like you want (simkits appearence with goflight pricetag) and survive commercially.....


Stef

No Longer Active
09-08-2009, 05:16 PM
I too am considering buying some real radios and gutting the **** out of them, very do-able, its just a matter of finding them cheap and waiting for one to come along!

I really do like the idea of an old style radio stack, it will give my sim so much more character and realism as to a radio that just looks like a piece of plastic with encoders popped through them, I like the worn look you get on some vintage radio's, makes you think how many miles they have done and where they have gone!

But then again, I do love the mish mash look of a radio stack with a mix of new and old radios combined....its an odd desire...but its what I like....kind of hard to explain why I like old radios.....I guess its because it is just how they used to be in the good old VFR days, no more than a map and a basic radio!

I guess if you want the 6.25" stuff you just have to pay the price!

In the long run...its worth it....but not just yet.....maybe one day without a doubt!

Cheers mate!

Alex

dnoize
09-08-2009, 05:25 PM
you can find old collins units on ebay for just a few pounds. Both the american and british ebay. You just have to be patient.

Stef

No Longer Active
09-08-2009, 06:09 PM
Im after something like this, but its hard getting the yanks to ship to UK:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ARC-RT-328T-Nav-Com-sn-9260-Cessna_W0QQitemZ270451946624QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Aviation_Parts_Gear?hash=item3ef8313480&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245#ht_500wt_1182

and:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KING-KX170B-720-CH-NAV-COMM-WARRANTY_W0QQitemZ230375798108QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Aviation_Parts_Gear?hash=item35a377b55c&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245#ht_1130wt_1163

Kennair
09-09-2009, 05:27 AM
Alex, having a look at a recent post by one of our newest members from Finland Julhami, I would be having some serious talks with him. Recall his post HERE (http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17215)displaying a very realistic Bendix King radio panel among other things.

Ken.

No Longer Active
09-09-2009, 07:32 AM
Ken, His radios are pretty spectacular, the guy should sell the facias, he would make a killing!

Top work without a doubt!

old radios vs new radios.......mmmm I can't decide? lol

Alex