What is the best way to install headset jacks for an intercom? Where do you locate jack mounts?
Mark Gooderum:
I’m having the ashtray mounts done on the rear seats for the new intercom install in my A23-24. They’re being mounted holes down (plugs up). A little harder to plug in – you can’t see the holes – but less likely to have things fall in the holes and less stress on the headset cords as they aren’t bending the 180 from up to down (my experience is that almost all audio cable shorts develop at the junction between the cord and the plug bodies where the greatest flex occurs). I’m going to mark the hole positions with a “big” and a “little” white dot, Most non-flyers don’t know the mic from audio jack, but they CAN tell one is bigger than the other, if you point it out the first time.
There’s an example at http://www.edmo.com/index.php?module=products&func=display&prod_id=18595&cat_id=450. Gulf Coast Avionics sells these as well (page 50 of their hardcopy catalog, page 9 of the PDF at http://www.gulf-coast-avionics.com/pdfs/GCA2005-42-62.pdf). It looks like most are not pre-drilled, to allow the installer to account for variations in mounting and clearance.
For sidewall install (like up front) something like (angled, surface) http://www.edmo.com/index.php?module=products&func=display&prod_id=18423&cat_id=450 or (angled, flush) http://www.edmo.com/index.php?module=products&func=display&prod_id=18429&cat_id=490 works nice.
I’m not a big fan of the under panel mount; I’m trying to clean up my panel’s under panel warts, to cut down on banged/scraped knees. There are currently two sets of jacks and the instrument light switch on the pilot side, and a 4 place box intercom and a 3 spot breaker panel on the passenger side. It would be different if anyone made them with rolled edges, but nobody seems to have heard of this basic finishing technique for sheet metal, when it comes to intercom mounts ;-).