Better vs Best

During the Space Race in the 1960s, NASA found itself in a conundrum: technology was changing so fast that by the time a spacecraft was ready to fly, some of it's systems such as computers, etc, were obsolete and could be replaced by lighter equipment that could do the same job faster. Unfortunately, replacing a system often had effects on other systems, which required changes, which led to cost overruns and delays, and by the time the spacecraft was ready to fly something else would have changed and there'd be something else New and Improved out, which led to..... Over time, this became known as the "Better vs best" syndrome, as when an engineer would say "I can make it better!" and someone else would counter with "But it's already the best we need."


I always swore that when I owned an airplane of my own, I'd have an excellent radio. No crappy scratchy tin cans on a string radio for me, I've been spoiled by the digital radios in the airliners I fly. The best radios were built by Garmin, and Garmin might just was well be spelled Goldmin for their prices. Some limits were even beyond my capabilities.

When I designed my panel last year the PAR100EX was the current hot radio within my pricepoint,  and even though it was more than I needed (designed for a dual nav/com setup, with a built-in 4 place intercom) I went with it and we wired it into OspRey. I still remember the night earlier this year when Jim and I stayed late and were able to throw the switch for the first time, see all the pretty lights and talk to each other. We were very happy.


Damn you, Garmin.


Now that I've got my avionics all wired in and happy, what does Garmin do this year at Oshkosh but release a single comm/2 place ICS radio with twice the power at half the price of my PAR100EX. Stop me if you've heard this before, but the GTR 200 got rave reviews, and it was designed to interface with the Dynon Skyview. I took a hard look, and when I mentioned my dilemma around the airport I quickly found a buyer for the PAR. It only meant undoing the wiring harness, getting access to hard to reach areas while leaning over the fragile hull, and redoing something Jim busted his arse off building.

I thought long and hard, went back and forth a few times, and finally made the decision to make the change. Jim ordered the radio and new wiring harness through Approach Fast Stack, a local avionics tech I know has agreed to keep an eye on me, and a few minutes ago the box with the new toys arrived. I'm off the rest of the week, and it's probably one of the most stupid things I'll do, but I'm off to undo a bunch of hard work, and work even harder making the change. Stay tuned.