A Product Born From Necessity: As many of the best inventions are, our line of Battery Eliminator (battery power replacement) products was born by our own frustrations with batteries going dead when you least want them to.
Several years ago, our co-founder was a new General Aviation pilot and enjoying his new hobby adventure. As he was managing all of the complex details of piloting; aviation instruments, watching for other “traffic” and keeping his rented Cessna 172 on heading, all of a sudden, his Noise Cancelling Communication Headset (David Clark’s ubiquitous product popular for years) stopped functioning. Suddenly, the roar of the engine was echoing in his ears and the communications intercom and two-way radio was nearly impossible to hear. Instantly, he knew exactly what it was and what to do about it. Without taking his eye off the horizon, he reached down into his flight bag and rummaged for a replacement 9 Volt battery. He was sure there was one in there, somewhere. Unfortunately, none was to be discovered that day. Fortunately, this was a clear and calm sunny, week-day and air traffic was minimal at this home base airport in Stow, MA (Minuteman 6B6). So he cut his flight short and landed. Once down, he thought, "Gee, there’s DC power available via the Automotive/Cigar Plug below the instrument panel. Why can’t I use that to power the headsets?" Alas, the David Clark headset had no external DC power connector, it only had the 9V battery compartment contact terminals. He reasoned he would need a 9 Volt battery sized shell with contacts and a small wire to make connection. So, he and his son (both Electrical Engineers) began looking for a solution, but none was available anywhere, so they decided they would have to make their own. As they spoke to other pilots they learned this was a common problem that needed a solution. This seemed like a good business opportunity and fun too (for two problem-solving geeks!). Within a few weeks, prototypes were built and the concept was confirmed. Then over then next few months, custom injection molded parts were designed and made to fit a custom PCB with the voltage regulation needed to convert the aircraft’s 12-28VDC power to the 9 VDC the headsets required. The two then co-founded QC Avionix, LLC and thus the Battery Eliminator Store’s first product was born, the BE-9-DC. It has proven very popular over the years and is still available today.