Garmin G5 and Aera 660
 

Greetings Garmin Exprt;

The is probable a dumb question from a novice flat panel guy. (Experience round dial guy)

I am installing a single G5 (no auto-pilot) and an Aera 660 in a non-RV experimental. I had a harness built up to connect the G5 to a Garmin GMU-11 Magnetometer. The harness came with an RS-232 pig tailed off the G5. The GMU-11 communicate to the G5 thru a series of twisted wires called the CAN bus.

So, I am thinking the RS-232 cable is for a future gizmo.

What would be the benefit to connect the G5 to the Aera 660 dock via the RS-232 cable? Does the G5 allow me to select between an HSI and PFD view? Maybe the 660 could drive a Course Deviation Indicator on the HSI view?

Help me understand.

I hooked my G5 to a Garmin 796 with the RS232. I get a Course Deviation Indicator and I can fly V-Nav profile with it. You will also get a heading bug for navigating a course set into your GPS. The RS232 gives the G5 more capabilities.

Yes, as David correctly pointed out, an Aera 660/795/796 can provide lateral and vertical (VNAV) guidance to a single or dual G5 installation (with or without autopilot servos) over RS-232.