Folks,
I just (finally) converted my 430 to WAAS. Should have done it when Garmin was only charging $1500 - but convinced myself that the unit was terrific w/out WAAS and I didn't need to spend the money. I'd coupled it with an ADI II autopilot and was pretty happy - no I was Thrilled after hand flying my old Mooney for all those years.
But there were some "nagging" little issues. When I'd fly an approach, I had to "manually" fly the hold. The ADI/430 would get me to the IAP and then say "you got it". The 430 would show the hold course - but wouldn't fly it. I'd twist the ADI heading select for the hold course or manually fly it. Then when I Activated the Vector To Final, I could tell the ADI to take over. I had to fly the descent - but it was non-precision unless I had was on an ILS. ... No vertical guidance on the RNAVs. None of this was a real problem. But having vertical guidance on RNAVs sure looked nice.
But I'm an old software guy. So when I saw Garmin calling the non-WAAS unit a "Legacy" unit with a "discontinued product" label, I got a little nervous. They said they still supported it. But I got nervous just the same.
So last month I finally shopped around and found Trevor at Tech Aero Avionics close by in Denton, Tx. He gave me the best discount I could find and said he'd give the same to any RV folks. He jotted down my settings before he sent it off and put those into the unit when it came back from Garmin. He delivered when he said he would (about 10 days) and charged what we agreed on. If I sent him an email, he responded quickly. And when I called him, he knew the answer.
The install was easy. I had to replace my antenna RG58 with RG142 and bolt on the new antenna (same bolt pattern and slightly larger foot print so there weren't any paint issues).
The RNAVs w/ vertical guidance sure are nice to fly. The ADI II still won't fly holds but I think it's because my ADI II only listens on RS232 (vs ARINC 429). And I think the 430 only puts the commands to fly the hold on the ARINC 429 wire and not the RS232 wire. But with the upgrade I'm all set when TruTrak get's their Gemini released .... and I can find the $$
So if anyone is thinking of converting, I can recommend Trevor. He said to ask for the
"RV Discount". His email is
trevor@techaeroavionics.com and their website is
http://www.techaeroavionics.com
RV Discount on 430->430W
Linear Mode
