I had my Cherokee in for it's vfr transponder check the other day and
asked about radio upgrades. I have an Apollo/UPS/Garmin GX 65 so I
asked about support for it in case something goes wrong. The avionics
guy looked it up on a sheet of paper and said that Garmin is still
repairing them but there was a $400 blanket charge no matter how
trivial the problem. You sure want to make sure it's broke before you
send it in, he said.

He had a used King audio panel and was going to check into a used
KX155 and glideslope for me. We're talking 4500 to $5000 to get to
IFR equipped here. I'm a vfr pilot and probably won't get my IFR
rating. Give me some guidance here group. Do I dump this kind of
money in a 1966 Cherokee 140 in slightly better than average condition
or do I invest in just a comm only to replace my fried navcom and call
it good? I've read a hundred threads in the past about this subject
and am still torn what to do. I'm reading in another thread about bad
support on the King KX-155's, too.

Joe Schneider
8437R


"Ron Rosenfeld" wrote in message
...
On 24 Aug 2004 12:15:08 -0700, (C Kingsbury)
wrote:

Googling the group yielded little so here goes...

1979 172, overall average condition with mostly original radios and
wiring (one RT-385 recently replaced by a TKM radio, M1 Loran from
a
few centuries ago)

The Cessna 300 ADF has gone flaky. The box tests fine on the bench
which suggests a wild goose chase may be in store to find the
gremlins. One of the two ILS approaches at my home field require
ADF,
and a few fields I go to are ADF/GPS-only so I need one of the two.

My idea is to find a good used Apollo GX-50/GX-60 unit and replace
the
ADF. No need to touch the Loran, it makes a good backup. I'll get
legal ADF and DME capability not to mention a moving map. Trying to
convince 4 other partners this is a good idea b/c it will make it
easier to sell shares in the future and even if they are VFR-only
the
moving map is a big plus.

The local flight school says they've been spending an average of
$6000
to do this with their birds at the local shop. Those of you who've
done this recently, any thoughts?

Bet,
-cwk.

Whether or not the Apollo units are a good idea or not is not
something I
will address. Don't forget that they are essentially "orphaned"
units.
Also, to be legal, there may be instances where you need to have the
ADF
equipment on board.

However, a recent install of my CNX80 was priced at 45 man-hours for
the
installation (@ $60/hr = $2700). In addition to that labor cost,
there was
also about $1,000 in extra equipment required not included in the
price of
the CNX80.

I believe the unit you are considering will also require remote
annunciators of some sort, which would cost in addition to the labor
and
cost of the unit itself.

$6,000 sounds about right. (My CNX80, installed, was about double
that).


--ron