PS Engineering Offers ‘Less is More’ Pricing On New Intercom Option

By
Mark Phelps
-
5

Extra features in a panel-mount intercom can be great. But a manufacturer adding something “just because we can” might ramp up the price with bells and whistles that are rarely, if ever, used in the real world. PS Engineering, based in Tennessee, addressed this with its latest intercom option. Technical Project Manager James Krueger explains.

Mark Phelps
Mark Phelps
Mark Phelps is a senior editor at AVweb. He is an instrument rated private pilot and former owner of a Grumman American AA1B and a V-tail Bonanza.

5 COMMENTS

  1. So what features does the PMA-450b have that the -450c omits? I thought that would be the main thrust of the video, but it isn’t mentioned at all. Just a list of -450c features.

  2. I agree it’s weird they didn’t specifically cover what the C version lacks, so I took the feature lists and compared them. Here’s what I found:
    – No Flightmate (programmable custom audio alerts and checklists system)
    – No built-in timer/chronograph (weird but okay)
    – IntelliAudio has two predefined positions for COM1 and COM2 instead of 9 custom positions
    – No BT output for video recorders
    – No streaming output
    – 5 unswitched inputs instead of 6 on the “b.”

  3. Thanks. I have an original PMA-450 (before the 450a model) and I don’t use any of those features if they even exist in my unit. The newer ones have a better screen and that might be a reason to upgrade. My original has an LCD that can be difficult to read under certain sunlight conditions. But it works great.

  4. I don’t do videos well, but will pop in to say that companies may improve products and pricing, one reason being they strive to become more efficient.

    PS Engineering impressed me when they were a new company. They have stuck to audio only, though apparently cooperating with a radio manufacturer. Many features including ‘special mission’ which was the strength of Northern Airborne Technology honed in resource industries in B.C., and hopefully law enforcement.

    (Small example of the latter was civilian helicopter helping police in Nova Scotia surge for serial shooter, it could talk to police once pilot understood that it could.
    Where I live American and Canadian air and marine should be able to talk to each other, they cooperate. ‘Hands across the border’ I say, one day a Canadian boat was asked to go into US waters to a burning boat, did and helped working with USCG helo including taking offloaded pumps to Port Angles in the US which the helo took the boat occupant to hospital. In that case likely using marine distress frequency. I’ve seen a USCG helo on approach to a hospital in Canada but do not know whether it had an injured person or was just familiarizing.

  5. Glad to hear all the electrical wizards are innovating. Now kindly create an antenna augmentation to allow the KAP140 in a non-WAAS G1000 fly an LPV.

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