A navigator with a com radio inside it still leaves most IFR panels wanting a second com, and a VFR panel built around a big display often needs its only one. The slim radios that fill that slot differ in more ways than their price: height in the stack, depth, transmit power, channel spacing, and whether the radio sits in the panel at all.
Garmin GTR 205X: $2,400
The GTR 205X is Garmin's experimental com. Aircraft Spruce lists it at 1.35 x 6.25 in. and 10.32 in. deep with rack and connectors, transmitting 10 watts (16 watts with an optional enablement), with a two-place intercom built in. It tunes 760 channels at 25 kHz spacing or 2,280 at 8.33 kHz, the spacing used in European airspace. Garmin lists it at $2,400. Garmin's installation manual for the certified GTR 205 gives 0.84 A receiving and 3.62 A transmitting at 14 V. In Hangar Flying's 2026 designs the GTR 205 family appears 148 times under one listing and 40 under the other.
Garmin GTR 200: $1,695
The GTR 200 is shorter at 9.39 in. deep and 1.38 lb, with a stereo intercom. Garmin gives 0.6 A receiving and 3.0 A typical while transmitting. It's in 67 of this year's designs.
Garmin GTR 225A: $4,075
The GTR 225A is 1.65 in. tall and 11.23 in. deep, at 2.36 lb. It is the deepest com in this list. It's in 25 designs.
Trig TY96: $2,378.20
Trig's TY96 (the TY97 is its 28-volt version) is a 6.25 x 1.3 in. panel radio about 9.1 in. deep in its tray and 2.33 lb. Trig gives a typical 6.3 watts at 14 V. Aircraft Spruce lists it at $2,378.20.
Trig TY91 and Dynon SV-COM: the radio behind the panel
Trig's TY91 puts only its TC90 controller in the panel, 2.5 x 1.75 in., and mounts the radio elsewhere. Trig gives the radio as 0.77 lb in its tray and 3.2 A at most. Aircraft Spruce lists it at $1,679, and it's in 69 of this year's designs. Dynon's SkyView com works the same way: a 3.53 x 1.8 in. panel, 1.27 in. deep, with the transceiver mounted remotely. Dynon gives the transceiver as 3.0 A transmitting and 0.2 A receiving at 12 V. Aircraft Spruce lists Dynon's TSO'd 25 kHz transceiver, the SV-COM-T25, at $1,552 and the SV-COM-760 at $839. The Dynon panel is placed 152 times vertically and 120 times horizontally in this year's designs. For a shallow panel, a remote radio is the way to add a com without the 9 to 11 inches a slimline box needs.
Sources
- Aircraft Spruce, Garmin GTR 205X (size, depth, power, channels, intercom). Read October 27, 2026. Garmin list prices for the GTR 205X, GTR 200 and GTR 225A as read for Hangar Flying's Panel Designer, October 16 and 27, 2026.
- Garmin, GTR 205/GNC 215 TSO Installation Manual 190-02766-01 Rev. 6, Tables 1-2 and 1-9; GTR 200/200B Installation Manual 190-01553-00 Rev. P, Tables 1-2 and 1-3; GTR 225/GNC 255 TSO Installation Manual 190-01182-02 Rev. F, Tables 1-2 and 1-9.
- Trig Avionics, TY96/TY97 Installation Manual 01238-00 Rev AK and TY91/TY92 Installation Manual 00839-00 Issue AE, section 3; Aircraft Spruce, TY96, TY91. Read October 27, 2026.
- Dynon, SkyView System Installation Guide Rev AX, Tables 3-5; Aircraft Spruce, Dynon SkyView (SV-COM-T25, SV-COM-760). Read October 27, 2026.
- Hangar Flying, Panel Designer: count of members' panel designs started January 1 to October 27, 2026.