Appareo Stratus ESG transponder

[Rezrider]

Hi folks,

Has anyone installed one of these ADS-B transponders? I'm considering one.
Was it simple enough that my IA can do it?
Did it fit in place of your KT-76?
Anyone have a 337 example I can borrow?

Thanks all,
PB

[DavZeeMXT]

I’ve got one and paired with the Stratus 3i. Was installed by an avionics shop. It’s in the same place as the old transponder and the 3i is wired in under the panel. Works great and was affordability priced. I’m super happy with it.

[asa]

Like any transponder, in terms of skills required, as long as you or your mechanic can crimp and pin out a D-sub connector based on a wiring diagram, it’s simple. Verify that your current encoder will work with it. The encoder is really the complicated wiring, otherwise it’s just power/ground/antenna to the xpdr itself. Perk of Garmin transponders, they come with a tiny encoder that you don’t have to wire, it has a discrete connector.

Personally I’d go GTX335 but I’ve flown with ESGs in multiple planes and they are fine. Screen color is ugly haha.

[Rezrider]

Thanks Davzee.

I’ve got one and paired with the Stratus 3i. Was installed by an avionics shop. It’s in the same place as the old transponder and the 3i is wired in under the panel. Works great and was affordability priced. I’m super happy with it.

[Rezrider]

I'll take a look at the Garmin too, it's the same price.
Thanks.

Like any transponder, in terms of skills required, as long as you or your mechanic can crimp and pin out a D-sub connector based on a wiring diagram, it’s simple. Verify that your current encoder will work with it. The encoder is really the complicated wiring, otherwise it’s just power/ground/antenna to the xpdr itself. Perk of Garmin transponders, they come with a tiny encoder that you don’t have to wire, it has a discrete connector.

Personally I’d go GTX335 but I’ve flown with ESGs in multiple planes and they are fine. Screen color is ugly haha.

[gbarrier]

Installed a bunch of the Stratus over the last five years. Worked great and never had a problem. Much simpler to install and set up than the Garmin. Be sure to do the 3i for a few bucks more and ADS-B in. Be sure to replace your encoder while you are there. They don't last forever and the serial interface (one wire from transponder to encoder instead of about eight) is a snap. You also get altitude in increments of ten instead of one hundred feet. For $250 or less the Trans Cal SSD120-35C-RS232 is a good choice. Again, power, ground, and one wire to transponder. If your mechanic doesn't want to do the harness I see some vendors offering a premade harness for $300. Shop around to see who has them in stock. Looked last week and Sporty's and a few did. Manufacturer is running a few weeks behind right now.

[andy]

I installed an ESG with Stratus 2i in my Maule about 4 years ago. It's worked very well with no problems. I like the blue display. It doesn't send traffic and weather to my Garmin GTN 650. Not a big disadvantage since I use an iPad Mini 5 with Foreflight to connect to the 2i and display traffic and weather on a larger screen. A disadvantage is that there is no antenna diversity kit available for the ESG. When I first installed the ESG, I had a non-WAAS GPS so the ESG with in integral WAAS GPS position source was about $1,000 less expensive than the Garmin GTX 345. Later on I replaced my non-WAAS GPS with a Garmin GTN 650 WAAS GPS. If I had done that first, I probably would have gone with a Garmin GTX 345 transponder with antenna diversity kit. The diversity kit is important if you plan to fly in Canada since it allows the ADS-B transceiver to be used with ground stations in the USA or satellites in Canada.

[Rezrider]

I thought that the Canadians hadn't decided on the diversity requirement yet?
Good point though.
Thanks.

I installed an ESG with Stratus 2i in my Maule about 4 years ago. It's worked very well with no problems. I like the blue display. It doesn't send traffic and weather to my Garmin GTN 650. Not a big disadvantage since I use an iPad Mini 5 with Foreflight to connect to the 2i and display traffic and weather on a larger screen. A disadvantage is that there is no antenna diversity kit available for the ESG. When I first installed the ESG, I had a non-WAAS GPS so the ESG with in integral WAAS GPS position source was about $1,000 less expensive than the Garmin GTX 345. Later on I replaced my non-WAAS GPS with a Garmin GTN 650 WAAS GPS. If I had done that first, I probably would have gone with a Garmin GTX 345 transponder with antenna diversity kit. The diversity kit is important if you plan to fly in Canada since it allows the ADS-B transceiver to be used with ground stations in the USA or satellites in Canada.

[criley]

Just an FYI for the Diversity update for Canada.

the mandate will come into effect as follows:

Class A Canadian airspace on August 10, 2023
Class B Canadian airspace on May 16, 2024
Class C, D and E to occur no sooner than 2026 and will be determined pending further assessment.

This from the latest update in August. Also keep in mind this is from NAV Canada and not Transport Canada... https://www.navcanada.ca/en/news/news-r ... nada-.aspx

Other manufactures such as Daher have already made the Diversity units standard in all of the aircraft they are building now. I will be adding a 345D when I do make the change for when I do want to cross the border. But I don't really have to worry about it until at least 2026.