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Special for Cessna Owner & Pipers Magazines

Article Title: Headsets and Gear by Anthony Nalli

Published April 2009

Okay, I’ll fess up. I’m a techie and a gadget geek. Guilty as charged. There are some consequences that come along with such a tag. Firstly, one must have a willingness to accept some measure of cable clutter. On my glaresheild I have my SPOT, my PCAS XRX, and the XM antenna puck for my 696. Fortunately, I have managed to run the cables along the edge of the glaresheild which really helps to keep things a little neater.

The other cross to bear being one prone to “cockpit-bling” is suffering from OCS – overactive credit card syndrome! Many pilot gadgets are downright expensive (but often well worth it) but you’d be surprised at the low price of some others. It’s really more about the value of the item than the cost, but determining that can be the real challenge. Hopefully this article helps.

This month we will take a look at some headsets and other pilot gear that I’ve used personally for extended periods and will recommend based on my experience with them.

SPOT

Much has been written in recent months about the functional demise of 121.5 MHz ELTs and the introduction of new laws (in Canada anyway) requiring 406 MHz ELTs. Some lobby groups were pushing for the little orange portable satellite messenger and tracking device known as SPOT to serve some degree of compliance with the new regulations. The short answer to that was “No.” So with that aside, what value does the SPOT have if not to eliminate the need for a new transponder?

The key purpose of SPOT is to send a distress signal and trigger a search and rescue response in even the most remote environment. The signal is sent up to space and over to a monitoring center where rescue services are dispatched to your exact GPS coordinates. But like an ELT, this is a service you hope to never actually use.

Tracking, on the other hand, is a SPOT feature that can be used on virtually every flight. By activating tracking mode, SPOT transmits your GPS coordinates every 10 minutes. Friends and family can keep an eye on your flight by visiting a website where your SPOT trail is shown on a Google map. This feature has a fairly high “neat” factor (geek alert!).

There’s also non-emergency messaging where the SPOT sends a predetermined message by email or SMS to your list of contacts. This is a great way to send a quick “We’ve arrived okay” message from areas without cell phone coverage.

SPOT has a street price of about $150. The emergency response subscription costs $99 a year and the tracking service is an additional $49 a year. Over the long term the subscription costs may add up, but I think the tracking service alone is worth it.

PCAS

Full disclosure: I am the owner of PCAS.ca, the Canadian distributor of Zaon Flight Systems PCAS (Portable Collision Avoidance Systems)

As I say in my column Close Calls, mid-air collisions are rare, but close calls occur far too often. This is why I have become such a collision avoidance advocate. Quite simply, those who fly with PCAS tell me time and time again that they’ll never again fly without it.

Collision avoidance comes in two basic types: active and passive. Active systems interrogate nearby transponders, listen for responses, then display those targets for the pilot. Passive systems rely on ground radar or overflying active systems to provide the initial interrogation but similarly listen for responses, and provide target data to the pilot. Since active systems are significantly more expensive, we will discuss the two grades of passive systems.

The PCAS XRX provides target distance, relative altitude, and quadrant bearing information. It tracks up to 10 targets and displays the top 3. The XRX has the ability to display traffic data on TIS-capable GPS displays such as the Garmin 396/496/495 and 696/695. The XRX has recently been reduced to US$1395.

The PCAS MRX is less feature packed, but a fantastic value at US$489. It does not have the ability to integrate with GPSs nor does it provide bearing information. But it does show the distance and relative altitude of your top threat. The MRX is about the size of a deck of cards and runs approximately 7 hours on two AA batteries. Perfect for the student or rental pilot.

When I was introduced to PCAS a few years ago, it wasn’t more than a few flights before I realized that I may not always have been alone on those quiet solitary flights. PCAS may not be perfect, but when it points out traffic that you’d never have caught yourself, that’s when you’ll truly realize its value.

GPS

Well, Garmin takes the cake with another leading entry in the x96 series: the GPSmap 696. This amazing GPS features a huge 7 inch screen, approach plates, split screen display, a simply to use joystick, and just about every possible GPS feature you could want. But it all comes at a price. US$3295 to be exact. You can get most of that same functionality, minus the XM weather and music, in the GPSmap 695 for a slightly more affordable US$2695.

Believe it or not though, the 696 does not necessarily obsolete the 496. The GPSmap 496 is still a highly capable GPS powerhouse that might be more suited to users demanding a smaller unit. It has that 3.75 inch screen that I’m sure most of you have seen as well as many of the same traditional features Garmin has become known for. The 496 sells for US$2395 and its XM-less counterpart, the 495, can be had for an impressive US$1595.

The newest addition to the portable GPS game is the Bendix-King AV8OR. The most junior in the AV8OR line can be found for around US$650. Garmin has nothing to fear though. Comparing the AV8OR to the 696 or even 496 is like comparing a 2008 Cirrus SR-22 to a 1966 Cessna 150. Not knocking anything here, but clearly two completely different things.

Shortly after its release last year at Oshkosh, the AV8OR was found to be a little buggy. A few updates later, many of these bugs have been addressed but my overall impression of the AV8OR was that it was perhaps better as a backup portable or a secondary GPS than a primary one.

The AV8OR probably is better suited to compete with the Lowrance line than Garmin. Lowrance offers capable GPSs with a price point that’s more attractive to many. I personally find Garmin’s user interface to be more intuitive and have never much liked Lowrance even though I hold on to the AirMap 500 I picked up for a song on eBay – just in case. For the budget GPS shopper, I’d recommend a Garmin GPSmap 296 for US$995. I’d consider the AV8OR or Lowrance only if even the 296 is more than what you’d prefer to spend.

RAM Mounts

Having all of these wonderful gadgets is good and well but they all need to find a home in your cockpit. Garmin has recently adopted my beloved RAM Mounts as the mount of choice for the 696 and 695. There are also RAM Mounts for PCAS, SPOT, and XM antennas.

RAM Mounts come in as many shapes and sizes as you can dream up. I usually describe them thusly: just determine exactly where you want your gadget or accessory to be in the end state and there are RAM components to make it end up there.

There are various cradles for virtually every kind of GPS or other electronic device as well as a wide variety of arms and necks. But the real creativity is in the base mounts. Favorites include the surprisingly strong suction cup mount and the popular yoke mount. There’s also a clamp for the edge of the glaresheild, a bar that can be installed between seat rails, and of course several simple mounts that can be screwed or bolted in place to serve as a stable base.

RAM Mounts are very affordable, extremely versatile, widely available, and are being adopted by more and more electronics manufacturers and resellers.

Headsets

I have flown wearing the Bose Aviation Headset X for years. But that long and satisfying streak ended last year when Lightspeed introduced their Zulu. Many have tried to dethrone Bose from their perennial position as "the #1 headset" and as a recent convert myself, I believe Lightspeed has done just that.

Both headsets are incredibly light and comfortable and can quite easily be worn for many hours on end. The ear cups on the Bose's are slightly more visually appealing with their minimalist design but the ear cups on the Lightspeed are markedly smaller than some earlier models like their Thirty 3G's which made me look a little like Stewie Griffin from TV's "Family Guy."

It's that design, however, that makes the Zulu's far superior to Bose in terms of passive noise reduction. But in my opinion that really shouldn't be a determining factor. With both headsets providing battery life of about 40 hours, any reasonably prepared pilot should be able to muster up a spare pair of AA's after a several hours of low battery warnings.

It's the quality of the active noise reduction (ANR) that really matters - and both of these headsets offer simply incredible noise reduction. I'd go as far as saying that they're neck and neck when it comes to ANR.

What really sets the Zulu apart are the additional features clearly designed to appeal to the gadget-prone. There's an audio jack for MP3 players or XM radio and an interesting sound enhancement known as Front Row Center. There's even Bluetooth so you can connect your audio devices or cell phone wirelessly! All of this combined with comfort, impressive ANR, and a price tag of US$850 (versus US$995 for the Bose) makes the Zulu the new king of headsets.

But what about the opposite end of the spectrum? If you're in the market for a passenger headset that may only be worn once in a while and you can't justify spending hundreds of dollars, then the GCA 9T from Gulf Coast Avionics is for you. This is a solid passive headset that you'll find for less than $100. They're comfortable enough to be worn for a few hours at a time and noise reduction is pretty darn good considering the low price.

Anthony Nalli is the Director of Canadian Development, General Aviation Collision Avoidance and President of SciDac Corporation. SciDac is dedicated to the implementation of affordable collision avoidance devices in General Aviation with a mission to eliminate mid-air collisions and dramatically reduce close calls. Anthony can be reached at CloseCalls@PCAS.ca, 1-888-PCAS-123 (GTA: 416-225-9266), and www.PCAS.ca

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