Cockpit Colin wrote:

If it costs them that much then they don't know what they're doing.
There are two companies making these that I'm aware of that don't come
close to this cost and several headset manufacturers that add them to
their headsets.


That was my (uninformed) opinion too - unfortunately I had to eat humble pie
when I started asking the designers some "pointed" questions. For starters,
as I said in a previous post, you have to compare apples with apples. Show
me the microprocessor in the headset interface - show me the intercom - show
me the seperate satelite phone connection - show me the individual controls
over input / output levels for all of the above. Show me how some of the
competing products raise the mic bias level to actually make an incompatible
headset compatible (and is fine tuned even more by adjustment of the mic
volume).

That's called overkill. I have no idea what's in my cellset. Don't
care. The cellphone volume is the same as the radio volume, you don't
realize how important that is until you use a unit that doesn't do that.
Unit works flawlessly, it rings in my headset and people on the other
end cannot tell I'm in the plane. If I didn't tell them that I was
flying they would never know it. I built a little L shaped stand that
is velcroed to my windshield so the phone antenna is always looking
outside, always get a signal and makes it easy to dial while in flight.



And as with many things in life, you get what you pay for

And sometimes, as in this example, you get less than what you pay for.



I can't say too much more without breaking confidences - but I can say that
after looking at all the units on the market the US Airforce has to date
bought over 1200 flightcells

Apples and Oranges to compare the US Air Force with a spam can.



I started my Avionic training in the military back in 1978 - so it's
probably fair to say I know a think or two about avionics too - and when I
wanted a cell phone interface I thought it would be a simple thing to
design - you know "twist a few wires around a few resisters thrown in for
impedance matching) - and to a point it is - but to try and do the job
properly is a different story - trying to get one product to work with a
diverse range of cell phones and headsets is a nightmare. Things that you
don't think of initially - for example the unit comes with (off memory) 5
adaptors for the most popular types of phones on the market - and whereas
the adaptors take care of the physical connectivity one flightcell design
that works well with, say, AMPS type cell phone technology had the
interferance render it useless with the interferance generated by CDMA
phones - all issues that had to be solved in the design. Some headsets need
a 6 volt mic biad to work best - others need 9 volts or more. If you don't
get these issues solved you end up with a whole bunch of returns and a lot
of people saying the product is crap.

I have used my cellset with 7 different phones. One analog only
Motorola Star Tac and 6 various other phones, all digital/analog. They
all sound the same and work as expected. All use the same standard
plug, 2.5mm maybe, I forget.



Then you start to get into other areas people just don't think of - they're
not making millions of these things - they're not assembled by robots -
staff need wages - production lines cost money - freight on parts needs to
be paid - the mould for the case alone was over $5000 USD - money is spent
on sales staff commissions - web site design - travel / food / accommodation
/ booths at places like OshKosh. I've been privvy to a lot of these costs in
general terms - believe me the guy running the show isn't stupid - has been
doing this for a lot of years - and when I saw the rough figures on how they
got to the retail price I had to admit it was quite reasonable.

Well whatever. When you're $150 more than the competition and the
public sees the units as equal you're screwed.