New (March 1, 2016) Garmin aera 660 Portable GPS

[mooniac]

Originally Posted by g3xpert

Hello Mooniac,

We did some testing to try to reproduce your report. This comment in your original posting led us to the answer. "it gets to the 660 and then sometime later I get a message on the GTN that there is an inbound flightplan"

The "sometime later" part is the key. The aera 660 is not re-sending the changed flight plan that it receives over the serial port (as you confirmed by disabling the serial port).

The behavior of the FlightStream 210 is to attempt to re-sync everything each time a new connection is made, and we can reproduce your reported issue by breaking/making the Bluetooth connection between the FS210 and the aera 660. It is possible this BT connection is not very robust due to the location of the two devices in your aircraft.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve,

I understand what you are saying but why is the aera trying to re-sync the flight plan when I have it set to only send the flight plan with user action? I have a friend who is experiencing the same issue with his 796 with the latest firmware. I would like the aera to behave like Garmin Pilot where I can always receive the flight plan from the FS210 but only send it when I manually push it. This is quite annoying otherwise since I get the message a couple of times on each flight and then I need to go and delete the flight plan from the GTNs otherwise they mess up my catalog with garbage entries at the top.

Also, how do I determine if this is really the cause as I have never noticed a BT disconnect on my Garmin Pilot?

Thanks!

[jliltd]

Steve,

I would buy one of these Aera 660's today to replace my GPSMAP 696 if I were assured compatibility with my existing usb connected GXM 40 XM weather/music antenna. It would be a great form factor for my panel. However, if the Aera 660 unit will require some sort of new proprietary SXM antenna hardware I refuse to tear apart my interior to merely placate the new antenna. It was bad enough swapping from the original 496's GXM 30A antenna to the GXM 40. I will not do it again. My alternative would be a 796 but I don't see the bang for the buck or form factor advantage to warrant the change fromr my 696.

Another question would be if the Aera 660 could interface with the G5 standby instrument to depict attitude using the G5's AHRS as a source.

Jim

[Chkaharyer99]

Originally Posted by g3xpert

Hello,

In case you didn't see this in the G5 Electronic Flight Instrument thread, we just wanted to mention that the aera 660 makes an excellent navigator for a small system with a G5, GMC 307 autopilot control panel, and servos. You can even fly coupled VNAV descents to pattern altitude with the aera 660 connected to the G5.



Thanks,
Steve

Questions.

1. I have a Garmin 430W. If I add the G5 and Aera 660 using the optional data cable, will the 430W push flight plans to the G5 and 660?

2. Will the 660 push flight plans in the opposite direction to the G5 > 430W or is a Flight Stream required?

* Note: I just purchased and will be installing a Garmin GTX 345 in case that makes a difference to the above questions.

Maybe this was answered already? Is so, I didn't see it.

Thank you,

[g3xpert]

Originally Posted by jliltd

Steve,

I would buy one of these Aera 660's today to replace my GPSMAP 696 if I were assured compatibility with my existing usb connected GXM 40 XM weather/music antenna. It would be a great form factor for my panel. However, if the Aera 660 unit will require some sort of new proprietary SXM antenna hardware I refuse to tear apart my interior to merely placate the new antenna. It was bad enough swapping from the original 496's GXM 30A antenna to the GXM 40. I will not do it again. My alternative would be a 796 but I don't see the bang for the buck or form factor advantage to warrant the change fromr my 696.

Another question would be if the Aera 660 could interface with the G5 standby instrument to depict attitude using the G5's AHRS as a source.

Jim

Hello Jim,

Thank you for considering the aera 660, but we can't provide assurance that the aera 660 will ever work with a GXM40.

The G5 doesn't provide attitude data to devices connected via the serial port.

Thanks,
Steve

[g3xpert]

Originally Posted by Chkaharyer99

Questions.

1. I have a Garmin 430W. If I add the G5 and Aera 660 using the optional data cable, will the 430W push flight plans to the G5 and 660?

2. Will the 660 push flight plans in the opposite direction to the G5 > 430W or is a Flight Stream required?

* Note: I just purchased and will be installing a Garmin GTX 345 in case that makes a difference to the above questions.

Maybe this was answered already? Is so, I didn't see it.

Thank you,

Hello Charlie,

1. I have a Garmin 430W. If I add the G5 and Aera 660 using the optional data cable, will the 430W push flight plans to the G5 and 660?

A GNS 430W serial output configured for "Aviation" will continuously send the flight plan to an aera 660 with a serial input configured for "Aviation In".

The G5 can display basic VFR navigation data from a GNS 430W or any other Garmin IFR GPS via its RS-232 input, and can display IFR lateral and vertical deviation when used with the GAD 29 ARINC 429 adapter.

Keep in mind that a G5 supports a single navigator, so if you had both a GNS 430W and an aera 660, you would need to decide which would be connected to the G5 and provide navigation data.

2. Will the 660 push flight plans in the opposite direction to the G5 > 430W or is a Flight Stream required?

A Flight Stream would be required to push flight plans from the aera 660 to the GNS 430W.

* Note: I just purchased and will be installing a Garmin GTX 345 in case that makes a difference to the above questions.

As explained above, the aera 660 makes a great ADS-B traffic and weather display when connected to one of the 4 serial ports on the GTX 345. This wiring is explained in the aera 660 manual.

Thanks,
Steve

[Chkaharyer99]

Originally Posted by g3xpert

Hello Charlie,



A GNS 430W serial output configured for "Aviation" will continuously send the flight plan to an aera 660 with a serial input configured for "Aviation In".

The G5 can display basic VFR navigation data from a GNS 430W or any other Garmin IFR GPS via its RS-232 input, and can display IFR lateral and vertical deviation when used with the GAD 29 ARINC 429 adapter.

Keep in mind that a G5 supports a single navigator, so if you had both a GNS 430W and an aera 660, you would need to decide which would be connected to the G5 and provide navigation data.



A Flight Stream would be required to push flight plans from the aera 660 to the GNS 430W.



As explained above, the aera 660 makes a great ADS-B traffic and weather display when connected to one of the 4 serial ports on the GTX 345. This wiring is explained in the aera 660 manual.

Thanks,
Steve

Thank you.

[gFlyer]

Hi Steve,

have tried update my area 660 with version 2.30 to the current. I followed the instructions.txt. Download, entranced, copy GARMIN folder to a FAT32 formatted Micro SD card.
Than connect the unit to power and inserted the SD card, but there is no prompt to confirm the update.

What to do next?

Regards
gFlyer

[gFlyer]

Hi Steve,

When I cut the cable which is coming with the unit, does this cable has the same number of wires and colours than the spare part "Aviation Mount with Bare Wires (aera? 660)" ?

Thanks
gFlyer

[Snowflake]

If it's like the Aera 500 series, the cigarette-lighter cable that comes with the unit does not have the same wiring. It leaves out the data lines, because you don't need those if you're just plugging into a cigarette lighter outlet for power.

[g3xpert]

Originally Posted by gFlyer

Hi Steve,

have tried update my area 660 with version 2.30 to the current. I followed the instructions.txt. Download, entranced, copy GARMIN folder to a FAT32 formatted Micro SD card.
Than connect the unit to power and inserted the SD card, but there is no prompt to confirm the update.

What to do next?

Regards
gFlyer

Hello gFlyer,

Rather than post questions here and go back and forth to try to assist you using forum postings, it would be much more efficient to contact us via email or phone as shown below. It should be easy to get you updated.

Thanks,
Steve