Desert Rat
Well Known Member
Hey all-
Just wanted to post this as a public service announcement in case anybody is ELT shopping. Maybe common knowledge, but I din't know until I did some research.
I was looking at two different ELT's; The Artex 345 and the Ack E-04.
The Ack is about $100 cheaper at Spruce, but it takes two strange size batteries for the remote and buzzer in addition to the main battery. Also, the main battery is only good for 5 years.
The Artex has a 6 year main battery, no additional batteries to deal with, so I went with the Artex.
Also, the Artex manual shows that it will receive GPS data at either Aviation Format data at 9600 baud or 4800 baud NMEA data.
post install opps check revealed an error code for no GPS input data.
In my setup, GPS data is coming to the unit via the RS-232 from the GDU-460 pfd.
A little research shows that the GDU-460 sends NMEA data, while the garmin navigators send Aviation format.
I thought that it would be simple to set the Artex for the right input source, but it turns out that the ones that Spruce sell are programmed for Aviation Format, and that the selection of data input type is not user configurable.
It has to be sent to an Artex dealer for programing to change the data type if you want it to talk to the GDU-460.
overall, it's not really that big a deal, just an annoyance, but I wanted to throw it out here so people could factor it into their decision if they're shopping ELT's.
I think I would still have gone with the Artex due to the battery simplicity I already mentioned, but it would have been nice to have a heads up!
Just wanted to post this as a public service announcement in case anybody is ELT shopping. Maybe common knowledge, but I din't know until I did some research.
I was looking at two different ELT's; The Artex 345 and the Ack E-04.
The Ack is about $100 cheaper at Spruce, but it takes two strange size batteries for the remote and buzzer in addition to the main battery. Also, the main battery is only good for 5 years.
The Artex has a 6 year main battery, no additional batteries to deal with, so I went with the Artex.
Also, the Artex manual shows that it will receive GPS data at either Aviation Format data at 9600 baud or 4800 baud NMEA data.
post install opps check revealed an error code for no GPS input data.
In my setup, GPS data is coming to the unit via the RS-232 from the GDU-460 pfd.
A little research shows that the GDU-460 sends NMEA data, while the garmin navigators send Aviation format.
I thought that it would be simple to set the Artex for the right input source, but it turns out that the ones that Spruce sell are programmed for Aviation Format, and that the selection of data input type is not user configurable.
It has to be sent to an Artex dealer for programing to change the data type if you want it to talk to the GDU-460.
overall, it's not really that big a deal, just an annoyance, but I wanted to throw it out here so people could factor it into their decision if they're shopping ELT's.
I think I would still have gone with the Artex due to the battery simplicity I already mentioned, but it would have been nice to have a heads up!