Re: PS Engineering Report - my PIREP

"W9MV" wrote
> Do you have a preference in color? White seems to be a standard.

When I asked the wife (being it was her idea) she said "red" (favorite
color), I automatically thought black to blend in with the unit.  White
would probably work too, but what would be the best color to also work at
night?  To take advantage of the panels interior lighting?  That'd probably
be the best choice.  Maybe in the future those can be internally lit.  The
wife also mentioned the problem (minor, mind you) she had was that the
switches didn't stick out very far and she was afraid of pushing one of the
buttons next to it.  So tackiness with rubber/plastic and a little more
length I guess is what she meant.  I supposed it'd be a good idea for the
marker switch as well right above it.

> The 182, if I'm not mistaken, has its battery in the rear of the aircraft.
The
> engineers at Cessna felt that using the airframe for the ground return
path
> saved weight (no copper cable) and certainly aluminum is an excellent
> conductor (ask all those home owners who wired their homes with
> aluminum in the '80's).  Anyway, one strong possibility is that the noise
is
> coming from your charging system, and that would be because the who
> airframe has the noise supperimposed on it from the return charging
current.

Now that you mention it I've read that somewhere else, too.  That's probably
the case.  Minor thing.  I forgot to ask the kids if they heard a similar
sound during their CD/DVD playback through ENT2.

> Are you using your cigarette ligther adapter to power your entertainment
> device? If you are, USE BATTERIES, otherwise you will have ground
> loop noise from the power source.

Yes, it was powered from the cig lighter.  Being it's an Ipaq with internal
batteries, I'll try it unplugged.  The Ipaq itself may put out some noise.
I should also mention, right above the audio panel was a TrafficScope, which
should be only a receiver, not emitting a signal.

> "The manual says in the ISO mode the pilot should hear ENT1 at a muted
> level, I wasn't hearing it at all."
>
> Again, sounds like it is working the way it is designed, you'll notice our
> mute level is very low. Without the engine running sometime (preferably on
> the ground) get your entertainment running, speak into the mic, and listen
to > the mute level, it's way down.

Now I'm a little confused.  Earlier you said..."We had more recommendations
to have the entertainment turn off when in ISO mode for the pilot than the
other way around."

Are we talking about two different modes?

> "The bleed through of ENT2 and back passengers to the pilot position"
> Now this is an anomoly, because the isolation of Ent 2 and passengers is
> even greater than the mute level of Ent 1. There may be some wiring issue
> here. I'll need to speak to your installer if this level is annoying.

Actually I was going to forward my original post and your reply to my
installer to let him know how it's going so far.  He'll be happy to see what
you wrote ..."it is most certainly one of the most high tech ones I have
read about."
We emailed and phoned back and forth alot before this work was done to
really iron out what I needed.  They did a thorough job on time and on
budget, really happy with their work so far.  (AvWest - Ft. Collins, CO).
As far as the level of annoyance, my son had to have his mouth right on the
mic and going at it pretty loud, or it had to be a really loud scene in the
DVD.  When I asked the wife why I wasn't hearing it all the time, she said
much of the time the kids unplugged the mic portion of their headset.  I'm
pretty sure when their mic wasnt plugged in, no sound bled through.  Like I
said, those are cheapo headsets they have, but able to jump the intercom
while in CREW mode?

After I wrote my report I got a KidREP on the setup.  I was wondering why
the kids would get upset at my wife when she'd go into ISO mode to talk to
them.  It'd cut out their ENT2 input, so another reason to get that Karaoke
mode switch for the back of the airplane.  At first didn't think it was that
big a deal, I was advised differently.

> Actually, the PAV80 is different, it has two seperate outputs and does
> working in a multifunction fashion. What I mean is that the crew could
> listen to say your external music device (through the PAV80) while the
kids >could what their favorite DVD. Or, maybe mom and dad want to play
their >favorite MP3 songs in the PAV80, and the kids could plug in their
video >game into the PAV80 and use the PAV80's display.

Uh oh.  We'd just decided to get a portable DVD player, but it doesnt let
them play video games on it (just when I convinced them they could live
without it every now and then).  I like how the PAV80 separates the outputs,
that's slick.  May have to rethink that.  And if the kids find out I can
hook up more than one display, and if the wife finds out she can have her
own display, too....  Now if only it can be like the airlines and have a
moving map of the flight, etc.  If theyre quiet and happy, we're very happy.
This is mostly a cross country machine, 3 hour legs are the norm.  Otherwise
alot of this wouldn't matter so much.  7 & 10 year olds aren't always the
easiest to keep patient that long, this setup sure helped.

> Let me know if I can be of any service.
> Sincerely,
> Mark Scheuer
> PS Engineering, Inc.

Already have, thanks for your response and your product.  I'd been looking
into the options for a couple years.  Went back and forth between the
GMA340, the Apollo unit (that you make apparently) and the PMA6000M.
Luckily I waited.  A few avionics shops I talked to directly steered me
towards PSE, glad I took their advice.
Chris