comm wiring question | FerrariChat

comm wiring question

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by snj5, Apr 13, 2008.

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  1. snj5

    snj5 F1 World Champ

    Feb 22, 2003
    10,213
    San Antonio
    Full Name:
    Russ Turner
    #1 snj5, Apr 13, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I currently have one comm with a harness to the pilot mike and headphone jacks as shown, with a separate PTT to the throttle. Can I add another comm radio by simply piggybacking onto the jacks as shown below? I would have a toggle between the PTT wires to select.

    Thanks
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  2. planeflyr

    planeflyr Karting

    May 27, 2006
    174
    Hope not to get longwinded about this but the simple answer is NO. It is a little bit more complex but not very.

    The main issue is that of isolation between Com-1 and Com-2. You have already recognized that you'll need a switch to switch the mike keying between both radios. What you may not be aware of is that on GA radio equipment, using dynamic microphones with GA impedances (different from military) the radio priovides 9 volts DC bias to operate the microphones. Connecting both radios with their respective bias supplies is not a good idea. At the very least, if there is a failure of one com you may lose both by tying common items together. The same thing holds true for the headphone or audio outputs. They should NOT be tied together in parallel without some way of isolating them from each other.

    Almost all dual radio installations, going back to the 1960's had some sort of a switching panel and later electronic audio panels to perform these functions.

    Hope this helps, ring me up if you have any other questions.

    Planeflyr
     

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