Glove Box Radio

[TimHicks]

I'm in the middle of recovering my airplane now.
But I'm starting to consider what the cockpit will look like when I've got it all back together.
I've always had a tangle of wires in the cabin. Portable intercom on the floor, handheld (hanging from a tie-wrap) on the dash with wires going to intercom, PTT on the yoke with wires going between my legs to the intercom.

I think that I can do better.

I've read, with great interest, Mark J / MikeRice / Doc / DJ's collaborations on cabinets that include panel-mount radios and sit on the floor.

I'm pretty close to doing something like that. But I'm wondering if anybody has used the glovebox space to do basically the same thing (install a panel-mount radio, panel-mount intercom, still powered by a battery).

[Robert Lees]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Close, and you've flown in it.

Left-hand glovebox contains two sealed lead-acid 7Ah batteries and intercom with throw-over switch to swap power between the two batteries.
One battery runs radio & intercom (high drain); the other runs GPS (low drain). Throw-over switch swaps them over.

Probable modifications since you came over:
RH seat headset jacks now on RH side.
Mode C Transponder in RH glove box, powered by separate 26Ah battery (with yet another switch to power the above two systems as well, if the above two batteries go dud).

Rob

[M Towsley]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Tim,

My BC-12's have had the same mess as yours, but my L-2 had the Microair 760 in the dash and it was great. Expensive, but great. You could install that in the glovebox door. The battery was mounted under the seat in the L-2 with a charging jack as part of the mounting box.

[TimHicks]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Robert, I don't remember looking at your radio set-up. Do you remove the batteries through the face of the glovebox opening to charge them?

Can I find pictures at your .UK site?

And the radio and intercom that you use are panel-mounted and stay in the airplane all the time, right?

[Robert Lees]

Re: Glove Box Radio

1 Yes
2 Maybe (a few photos of the Txpdr installation here)
3 and half yes (the radio mounts on the door pillar; the intercom is built-in behind the glove-box door).

Remind me in a day or two if I don't produce photos; I'm up to my neck in painting bloody Tiger Moth airframe at the moment.

[TimHicks]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Marty,
Since you posted, I looked at the MicroAir 760 online and noticed that it has an internal intercom. Did you use that intercom? If so, were you happy with its performance?
Or did you have another intercom? If so, where was it mounted?

Tim

[M Towsley]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Tim,

The internal intercom was used. The prior owner had a push to talk switch installed to activate it, but I believe it can be voice-activated, too. Worked just fine.

[TimHicks]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Thanks Marty,
Where did you and your passenger plug your headset jacks?
Were you happy with that location?

[M Towsley]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Tim,

This was in an L-2 so my headset jacks were hidden up and under the left side of the instrument panel. The passengers was set-up at the back of the engine controls panel which was mounted on the left side of the plane.

[astjp2]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Why not just copy the 337 from the tech ref. section and install the microair? Tim

[mike bc12d]

Re: Glove Box Radio

I made a new panel where the left glove box was and mounted a microair 760. The radio has a sideband intercom so I wired it so that I can switch off the intercom so that I have less noise, when you want to talk you push a button and talk to each other. I can also switch it back to on at all times. I use a 12 ah sealed battery in a pocket on the area on the floor below the seat. I have a solar panel on the glare shield plugged in to charge the battery as I fly or parked on the ramp it's charge rate is enough to keep the battery up when it is in standby mode plus a little extra. The headphone plug ins are on the panel down by the floor that is the front of the seat so they come up on the side for the pilot and co-pilot. My antenna is mounted on the metal band that wraps around the wing attach gap. This system has worked great so far.

Mike

[woodmw]

Re: Glove Box Radio

Mike,

Sounds like a nice setup. Any info on the output of the solar panel? Source? I got one from Harbor Freight years ago, but it just maintains a battery in bright sunshine. I might need to look into getting a higher output one.

[mike bc12d]

Re: Glove Box Radio

It is a Guide 10 sold by GoalZero. It is rated at 3.5watts of power which is a hair under the stand by consuption of the Microair radio. I chose this panel because it was the only one that fit the space on top of the glare shield. Check Amazon.com the price will probable be better. You can add the AA battery charger to the panel and it will charge them then you use the battery pack to charge your cell phone. I use my iPhone running WingsX app and a Bad Elf to navigate by so I don't have to worry about the gps draining the battery.

Mike