Aircraft owners who have Garmin GMA340 audio panels can test drive PS Engineering’s PMA8000 plug-and-play replacement panel for free to see if they want to switch.
Owners can contact a PS Engineering dealer, have the GMA340 swapped out for the PMA8000 free of charge, and fly around with it for a couple of weeks (the company hasn’t set a hard deadline) before deciding if they want to purchase the product.
The difference in the two audio panels will be immediately noticeable on the first flight, a PS Engineering spokesman said Oct. 10 at AOPA Aviation Summit in Fort Worth, Texas. However, pilots can use the PMA8000 for two weeks or so to discover the many enhancements it offers, including Bluetooth capability (for the PMA8000BT model) and monitoring functionality that routes telephone calls and music so that radio transmissions aren’t missed.
The PMA8000 series offers automatic VOX intercom squelch, aircraft radio playback, monitor mode that lets the primary radio mute the secondary radio, cellular telephone interface with full duplex operation, front panel music volume control and four different music mute modes, the ability to turn off aircraft radio traffic to passengers, and a three-year warranty in which the company will send a replacement unit.
PS Engineering has not set an end date to the free flight trial. The PMA8000B costs $1,895 and the PMA8000BT costs $2,095. The company ran a similar trial offer in late 2011 and early 2012.
