ADS-B Won't Fit!

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ifrpilot
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ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by ifrpilot »

Very frustrated to find a reasonably priced ADS-B out solution for my 2003 DA40-180. I recently replaced the Garmin 530W with an Avidyne 540. The deal included a free Avidyne AXP340 transponder which would have given me ADS-B out. It would have only been 1k more for installation. Well unfortunately the shop didn't check clearances (me neither) and it wouldn't fit into the hole the Garmin 327 is presently in. All new transponders seem to be at least a couple inches deeper which then would get in the way of the canopy strut. Has anybody found a solution to this for a non-G1000 plane? I also have a Garmin 430 which I was thinking of removing, putting the AXP-340 in its place and then putting a comm radio where the old transponder was. I would lose my secondary VOR and ILS but I'm not sure that would be that big a deal.
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Charles
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Charles »

That's a surprise. My plan was to upgrade to a 345 and I never gave any thought to the physical dimensions of the units, wrongly assuming they were identical.

Would a GTX345 fit in the hole where the GTX327 was? The depth of the 327 is 8.73 vs. 10.07 for the 345.
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Keith »

I recently had a GTX345 installed to replace the GTX327. Labor was minimal and the shop didn't mention any problems with the fit.
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Charles »

That's strange, I looked it up and the Avidyne, at 9.4" deep, is almost one inch shorter than the 345.
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ifrpilot
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by ifrpilot »

The 327 is 8.73" deep. The 345 is 10.07. The Avidyne 340 is 9.4".
Pacific Coast Avionics in Aurora, OR told me the 340 wouldn't fit. They even charged an extra hour of labor messing with it.
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Keith
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Keith »

Definitely fit fine in our plane. 2002 w/530w and 430w
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by BlackMammoth »

We have a GDL-88 and a Flightstream 210, however if you are moving away from Garmin I don't a see benefit to this route. I don't know if you have a TAS-600 but if you do, the target corelation that the GDL-88 does works really well.

You can go with a "Box" solution like: http://www.freeflightsystems.com/produc ... ransmitter

We have a 530w/430w stack with GDL-88, GDL-69A, Flightstream and the TAS-600. We still have the "old" transponder for the precise reason you have discovered - the updated model is too deep!
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Rich »

I had that problem installing a KT74. The location of the transponder on the right side of the panel produces an interference with the right canopy support arm. Our solution was to cant the KT74 toward the pilot.

The interference wasn't the box itself, it was with the connector where it came out of the mount. The canting moved this off to the side.
20150208_102252.medium.jpg
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by pilotmichael »

Reviving an old thread here. So by reading through this it seems there is a depth issue between the 02's and 03's as far as the transponder mounting spot (the 345 fits in the '02 but not the '03s)? Or was this a case of avionics shop issues?

I'm shopping for DA40's at the moment and want to understand any avionics idiosyncrasies. I'm assuming that the GTX345 might be the best option at the moment but not if it doesn't fit in the 03's of course.
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Re: ADS-B Won't Fit!

Post by Rich »

I have an '02. All of the mode-S transponders I've looked at so far (GTXxxx, KT74) on which ADS-B out transponders are based are deeper than the original GTX327 that came with the early DA40's. And if it's mounted over on the right side (common when A/P is fitted), that additional 1-2 inches is enough that there are clearance problems with the right canopy arm.

My solution was to cant the KT74 transponder as shown. Some have simply let a GTX330 protrude its entire width about 1-1/2 inches from the panel. In my case I think the transponder tray itself would (barely) clear but the connector sticks out behind and was in the way. The canting got rid of that problem.

The 335/345 units are about 0.8" shorter than the KT74 and about 1.1" longer than the 327. It might fit OK without any additional gyrations.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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