Garmin GNS 430W Newbie Questions

[RudiGreyling]

Gents,

our local South African currency is strong (Big Walmart buyout happening here) and I want to buy a 430W new from the USA, to take advantage of it strong currency, but I have not had time to do all my research, so please assist.

I am new to the 430W, I want one in my RV10, so my queries...

1) Does a USA 430W come standard with a USA database or can you decide after purchase what to load? Aircraft spruce does not offer you to choose your database, I need one for South African Region.

2) What is the cost, process for updating and changing the 430W Database.

3) What else do I need to purchase that is not in the box, to get it working (Antennas, connectors, converters) ?

Sorry and thanks in advance.

Rudi

[pierre smith]

...I just installed one in my -10 last December. It has three coax inputs, Comm, Nav/ILS/GS and GPS, so plan your antenna install accordingly.

The Bob Archer wingtip antenna that I used for Nav and ILS works great, mounted sufficiently far enough rearward, so that the strobe pulsation isn't an influence. It receives VOR's as many miles away as the lower, tail mounted cat's whisker, for the SL-30. You're going to love the 430W....it'll almost play, "O boereplaas, geboortegrond.."

I have dual comm antennae on the belly, side by side, between the gear legs and all is well. One for my SL-30 and the other for the 430W.

Don't know about Suid Afrika database....sorry.

Best,

[Kevin Horton]

Originally Posted by RudiGreyling

1) Does a USA 430W come standard with a USA database or can you decide after purchase what to load? Aircraft spruce does not offer you to choose your database, I need one for South African Region.

My original 430 (I did the WAAS update later) came with a US database. If you buy your 430W from ACS it will almost certainly have a US database. There should be some info included with the unit offering one free database update. You might be able to convince them to make that update for your part of the world.

2) What is the cost, process for updating and changing the 430W Database.

If you want a subscription to database updates every 28 days, you can't purchase just Africa. The best you can do is purchase "International" for $US475, which gets you the whole world except for North and South America.

For the updates, you have two options as I understand it:

1. You can have Jeppesen mail you a data card with the new database, and you mail the old card back to them.
2. You purchase a USB card writer ($US50) download the database updates online and write the new database to your data card. The software to download the database is Windows only. I had it working with Wine for awhile, but eventually cracked and purchased a copy of Win 7 which I run in VMWare Fusion.
   
   I also purchased a second data card ($US200), which I keep at home. I download the new database when it becomes available, and have it ready to load in the aircraft when needed. Otherwise you need to predict when your last flight will be before the database expiry, and remember to bring the data card home. Or, if you have a laptop, you can download the update to the laptop, take it to the hangar and write the new database to the data card before going flying.

Considering the cost of postage for 13 updates in a year, option 2 is almost certainly cheaper than option 1.

[Dave62]

Rudi,
A couple of other things you will need. You will need an antenna spiltter to split the VOR antenna signal to give a glide slope input. These are US $120 or so. You will also need an indicator head. Many people use the Garmin
106A indicator. These are new US $1800. The antennas you need are the VOR/glideslope and the com....about $500 USD. Hope this helps.
Dave (Swift Driver)

[pierre smith]

...with a glass cockpit. My Dynon 100 has an integral HSI/GS/LOC/VOR indicator and so does GRT and AFS and MGL.

Best,

[Noah]

I could've sworn that my GNS430W has 4 antenna inputs, glideslope is separate from nav. Maybe this is a newer version than those with three?

[Brantel]

VOR/LOC
GS
COM
GPS

You can use the same antenna for the VOR/LOC/GS but you must use a diplexer to split the signal.

[pierre smith]

4 is correct. You can make an easy GS antenna by stripping about 18" of coax, IIRC, placing it up in the front of the cabin top, horizontally and run the cable down the brace.

Best,

[SteinAir]

Hi Rudi,

Don't buy it with a US database...they can't be easily changed. They are available brand new with several different databases (Atlantic, Interantional, US, etc..) so you should specify that one when you order it. Costs are no different for the different databases.

The unit comes with a new GPS antenna, but no Comm or Nav. You'll also need a splitter like a CI-507 included, as well as a special TNC connector for the GPS antenna (the rest of the connections are standard male BNC).

That's about it. Also note that if you need an 8130/JAR1 with it - that needs to be specified at the time of order as it can not be generated after the fact (we've learned that one the hard way) and it doesn't cost extra for the 8130.

Anyway, if you have any more specific questions please feel free to ask.

Cheers,
Stein

[RV7ator]

Rudi,

Garmin's install manual (which, BTW, isn't included with the unit, but readily available by google-ing) specifies a 3-6db loss required between the GPS antenna and receiver. Garmin suggest using 20 feet of RG400, but that's a mighty weighty and expensive route if you intend to mount the antenna on top of the glare shield. Instead, buy a suitable RF attenuator.

Stein, you have one already picked out that you sell, so we don't have to go on an archaeological dig to pin down a proper one?

John Siebold