Hello,
Those of you commenting about the terrain alerts being too sensitive might want to read the Terrain Settings section of the manual for your Garmin product.
There are user adjustable settings (on both portables and G3X systems) that may make a big difference in whether or not you receive "nuisance" alerts.
Look Ahead Time?Determines the maximum time when an alert annunciation occurs. For example, if 120 seconds is selected, the G3X Touch provides an alert up to 120 seconds before you reach the terrain or obstacle.
Alert Sensitivity?The three Alert Sensitivity settings (Terrain, Obstacle, and Descent Rate) determine what level of alerts are annunciated. The G3X Touch defaults to ?High? sensitivity, which annunciates all red and yellow alerts at the time set in Look Ahead Time. ?Medium? sensitivity annunciates all of the red and the highest priority of yellow alerts. ?Low? only annunciates red alerts. ?Off?disables the alert.
For example, you might find that reducing the Look Ahead Time from the default of 120 seconds to 60 seconds works better to reduce alerts from distant terrain.
Reducing the terrain or descent rate Alert Sensitivity to only alert on higher priority alerts can also be effective, but of course there are trade-offs.
If you are flying along on a dark night you might prefer the 2 minute look ahead with highest alert sensitivity.
Personally, I would never reduce the sensitivity on obstacles because for the majority of flying I do (daytime), I feel that towers present one of the greatest hazards. If there is one database I always want up to date (besides navigation/frequencies), it is obstacles.
There are some of us who feel that the most significant factor for the reduction in CFIT accidents is the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of portable GPS units with this feature being used in aircraft of all types, most of which are not otherwise fitted with terrain warning equipment.
Thanks,
Steve