flyboy1963

flyboy1963

Well Known Member
Notwithstanding cost, features etc. I am having a **** of a time choosing a GPS.
It was a real shock when I printed all the units at full size, then tried to position them in the cockpit where I wanted them, could reach with my right hand, and not have them block my line-of-sight.
Even if it was free, I couldn't fit the Big Garmin or Avmap unit. I also thought I HAD to have the screen taller than wide ( portrait) mode to see where I was going, but am now thinking that I'll always have the little data windows displayed to some degree, which squares up the screen anyway.
I also want a good HSI, so that uses up a third of the screen also!
looks like the winner is more likely the Avmap Geopilot II, or something similar.
(Have a look if the link works! :)

http://picasaweb.google.ca/payaremchuk/RV9PanelGPS#slideshow/5296467684562940626

I'm also trying to avoid moving/deleting, buying different instruments, but that may become a necessary evil.

....so, how did you do it?
 
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If you don't need weather, I still think the Lowrance 2000c is, by far, the best bang for the buck at <$600. I think it does everything you indicate it needs to do in your post, especially if you have it hooked to a Dynon or other EFIS. Good luck with spending your money!
 
Very simple process:

1) Throw away (or lock up) all adds, spec sheets, pictures, etc for all the units you think are out there.
2) Sit down with a pad of paper, and list all the FEATURES that you want from your GPS. This doesn't just have to mean software features, it can also mean hardware stuff, like shape of the screen. It can even list cost, if that is a driver.
3) now pull out the Adds, and go to the internet. List a column for each unit, and start checking off which of YOUR features are provided by each unit.
4) Now pick the one that has the most features that are important to YOU.

Start with requirements, then move to unit selection. You might be surprised with the unit you end up with, but I bet it does what you want!

Paul
 
Well, here's a first - not sure I completely agree with Paul on this one.

Maybe it was just my limited experience, but there are many, many features on my Garmin 296 that I would never would have thought of before I bought the unit that I subsequently found quite useful. I am not trying to convince anyone to buy Garmin here - its probably the case for many GPS units. For example, the vertical navigation feature is nice to tell you when to start a nice leisurely descent into an unfamiliar airport, and I recently found out from this forum that the unit will display glideslope, which certainly makes that part of the flight testing program easy. I dont remember either of these being advertised in the literature. I dont believe glidslope is even mentioned in the manual - you have to find it in the on-screen list of paramters that can be displayed.

My suggestion would be to browse through as many of the product manuals as you can to get a feel for all the features they offer. Perhaps these are available online? Hands on experience would be an obivous plus as well, but thats not easy to get. My experience has been that people tend to like whatever unit they currently have, as it is always better than whatever they had previously.

regards

erich
 
Ironflight said:
Very simple process:

1) .......
2) Sit down with a pad of paper, and list all the FEATURES that you want from your GPS. This doesn't just have to mean software features, it can also mean hardware stuff, like shape of the screen. It can even list cost, if that is a driver.
.......
Start with requirements, then move to unit selection. You might be surprised with the unit you end up with, but I bet it does what you want!

Paul
Click to expand...

My problem is I'm not smart enough to even list the features I want in a GPS.;)

These days my flying is mostly local, looking out the window. the XC's I've done I used a Lowrance2000C and charts. BUT once the RV gets done, I plan on making a few long XC's(VFR) every year. So here's my thoughts:

1. Lowrance 2000 did everything I have needed to this point
2. I like the look and symmetry of the AvMap IV in combo with the DynonD180
3. Both the above seemed user friendly when Demo'd at NWEAA flyin
4. I need money to be able to move forward.:(
 
I should clarify....I was sort of writing tongue in cheek when i said to throw away all the brochures at first - clearly, you need to study the market to understand what kind of features you want. My point was that the FIRST thing to do is decide on a feature set you need, and THEN look at makes and models. Otherwise, you end up in the sales game, and you just stay confused....

Paul
 
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Paul Dye managed to talk me into a new Garmin 696, even though I didn't have room for it. He didn't say anything personally, but just kept writing about it! :)

So now I have one, and think it's the best "handheld" ever! It's my sixth aviation moving map GPS.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
Wow! somebody on their 6th!...ummm, would you have any old ones laying around that I could 'test drive'!???!?
Certainly actually flying with one would be the 'acid' test, and I've read all the online pdf users manuals until I'm almost blind!.....(some are really cute when they translate from another language! )
Next to flying with one, just trying to program it in demo mode at home would be good, but as you say, it's tough to get your hands on one.

thanks for all the inputs guys!
 
I vote for Avmap

After getting over the initial "wierdness" of the Avmap operating system, and subsequent practice using it in the Simulator mode, I must say, the EKP IV has proven to be a great GPS. The Display is very legible, even in bright sunlight, and has performed very well. Weather is still a problem, as the unit won't get weather and provide data output to your Dynon and AP at the same time. If weather isn't on your gottahave list, I recommend the unit highly.

My 2,
Chris
 
Just a different perspective if money is the issue - you do not have to buy a new GPS have decent navigation capability.

I have a Garmin 295 (bought in 2003) that is WAAS capable, has NMEA output to an autopilot and fits nicely in the panel just below a Dynon D10A. I am finally getting around to activating some of the features of it and the D10A, and found out from Dynon this week that it will accept the NMEA data in parallel with the auto pilot to provide winds aloft on the D10A screen.

(The D10A with the latest software is indeed a poor man's choice if nothing else fits the budget. It has more features packed into its little case than I have time to take advantage of.)

The only thing I do not have that is available in later versions of GPS is XM weather. That is very nice but like anything else really nice, you pay for it including the annual subscription.
 
My first handheld GPS was a Garmin 195 purchased from Tropic Aero. At the time, I thought it had so much capability, much of which I rarely used that it made stepping up to a 196 an easy transition. Next came the 296. Currently I possess a 496. All these models operate in essentially the same way so relearning a new system has been a relatively quick and easy exercise for me. As a longtime customer of Tropic Aero, they occasionally contact me with the latest Garmin product and have always accepted the previously purchased GPS at their top trade-in price. Apparently this speaks to the excellent resale value Garmin products enjoy. Garmin does seem to raise the bar on technical excellence and its range of consumer products enjoy widespread market acceptance. There are a few things about Garmin's business practices that I am not all that wild about but hey....nothing in this life is perfect. As far as GPS's go, I'll continue to stick with Garmin.
 
AvMap now provides XM WX on 2 models, the EKP-IV and the GeoPilot II+. We also offer the Vertical Navigation feature mentioned above, as well as many other features.

If WX is not an interest, the GeoPilot is an excellent, inexpensive solution. It provides the same 5" screen as the GP-II+, as well as most of the SW features including terrain warning, private airport database (not in Lowrance), V-Nav, checklists and many many more.

If you need to hook into other on board systems such as EFIS or Auto Pilot, The EKP-IV and GP-II+ offer this feature as well. The GP-II+ also offers Car Navigation, if this is of interest.

If any of you have specific questions regarding AvMap products, please shoot me an e-mail at [email protected] or post on this thread. I will keep an eye on it.

Thanks!
 
Rick6a said:
My first handheld GPS was a Garmin 195 purchased from Tropic Aero. At the time, I thought it had so much capability, much of which I rarely used that it made stepping up to a 196 an easy transition. Next came the 296. Currently I possess a 496. All these models operate in essentially the same way so relearning a new system has been a relatively quick and easy exercise for me. As a longtime customer of Tropic Aero, they occasionally contact me with the latest Garmin product and have always accepted the previously purchased GPS at their top trade-in price. Apparently this speaks to the excellent resale value Garmin products enjoy. Garmin does seem to raise the bar on technical excellence and its range of consumer products enjoy widespread market acceptance. There are a few things about Garmin's business practices that I am not all that wild about but hey....nothing in this life is perfect. As far as GPS's go, I'll continue to stick with Garmin.
Click to expand...

Garmin service is excellent. You get to talk to someone in Olathe, Kansas, not someone India.

I bought a Nuvi 200 at Wal Mart for about $148 last fall mostly to help me find the Barrett engine shop in Tulsa. It is an incredible piece of technology with a data base covering the entire country. Yesterday I finally got around to registering it with Garmin but before I could do that on the internet it had to be upgraded to the latest software. OK, followed the instructions but the down load stalled out at 89%. Called service and Lauri got everything staightened out by having me delete 74 of 80 languages in the package, everything except English. Evidently, the unit ran out of storage in the down load process. She also sent via email a special package to complete the upgrade. Could be they have a teething problem with this product and upgrades when using a Mac computer but they sure fixed it pronto when I called. The unit is up and running fine on version 5.
 
GPS choices

David,
drives me crazy to see the new automotive GPS with big screens etc. for $300. I've read on a few sites that these can be hacked to add aviation nav features....but of course I'm not keen on the reliability of that route.

also mentioned previously.............
Love the Dynon D10a, but at $2200 plus some kind of GPS to drive it, I don't see the bargain.????

thanks everyone for the 'input.'
 
GPS provided by EFIS manufacturers

Gentlemen,

This will probably add to the confusion, but has anyone used the internal GPS available with the GRT EFIS or with the internal GPS supplied by Advanced with their EFIS? There are others out there but these are the two that interest me.

How do they compare with the external GPS in terms of user interface?


thanx,

Normand RV8 fuselage slo build
 
Don't think there is a user interface difference with an internal GPS vs an external one other than the GPS status info pages..
 
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