PS Engineering introduced two new audio panels at the March 22-25 Aircraft Electronics Association Tradeshow and Convention. The PMA8000C adds a third transceiver while retaining Bluetooth connectivity for cell phones, while the PMA8000D allows for dual audio installations where the separate and independent audio selection is required.
The new PMA8000C is the result of “many requests from businesses, fish spotters, law enforcement and the Coast Guard Auxiliary who needed a third transceiver, in many cases a non-aviation two-way radio,” notes PS Engineering’s founder and CEO Mark Scheuer. “We didn’t want to give up the phone, and Bluetooth lets us have it all!”
Meanwhile the PMA8000D allows for installations where the pilot and copilot (or flight crew and tactical observer) require separate and independent audio selection. “Over the last decade we have gained lots of experience with dual audio panels with the PAC24,” said PS Engineering’s Production and Test Manager, Greg Ledbetter, “We are very successful with that utilitarian audio panel, and now we want to bring the capabilities of the PMA8000 to that market.”
Each panel’s capabilities include the Monitor Mode, four modes for muting the stereo music input, three com transceiver selection, Bluetooth telephone and music streaming, and PS Engineering’s IntelliVox intercom squelch protocol.
The PMA8000D uses a proprietary digital interface, IntelliAudio, to communicate the intercom modes and transmit status to other audio panel.
“A dual audio system is much more than sticking two (or more) panels in the airplane” continued Ledbetter, “at any moment the audio controller needs to handle intercom configuration, independent transmitter selection, but prevent simultaneous transmission on the same radio by the crew, and so on.”
