Roy Page wrote:
Well thanks guys for all the comments and *be careful* tips.
Being used to digital flip flop nav/coms, I have to say before I bought this
PA28-181, I thought KX170B's were so just antique j..k.
I have to say that the pair I have work really very well. They put out
really good audio and on the receive side they are quite sensitive.
So I am keeping them for a while, well don't tell the number two, but it
will get retired and the number one will sit in its tray, because the above
hole will be filled with a ............. you guessed it ............ shhh
.... GNS 430.

I'm no avionics expert, but back when I owned a couple of KX170Bs, the avionics
shop told me there were some things to be done to extend their life. Cleaning
and lubrication were involved, IIRC. After the treatment, the dials worked much
more smoothly, but I don't know whether the life was extended any. There were a
couple of engineering updates they put on, too, I think. I probably spent more
on them than they were worth, but what are airplanes for?