Adding GTN750.... keep 530W?

[DesertNomad]

I have a GNS530W and a KX155 (no glideslope). The KX155 is a bit scratchy.

I am adding a GTN750 and considering my options for COM-2.

1. Sell the 530W and keep the KX155.
2. Sell the 530W and the KX155 and buy a GNC255 + new indicator.
3. Sell the KX155 and keep the 530W to use as COM/NAV-2, plus buy a new indicator.

Thoughts?

 

[bflynn]

Sell the 530, keep the kx155 and add a G500?

 

[DesertNomad]

The 750 plus the G500 would be well beyond my budget - maybe I could go G500 in a few years.

 

[Blueangel]

Maybe sell the 530W and get a 650 to complement the 750?

 

[GRG55]

I believe the 750 can be wired to cross fill a 530W. Must be a WAAS GNS, does not work on the non-WAAS versions. I would check with Garmin or your installer about this. If my recollection is correct that might be sufficient reason to keep the 530 as the second unit.

What is the motivation for the 750. Seems a lot of money for incremental functionality over a 530W?

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

Trade me your 530 for my KX-155 with a glideslope?

 

[Clark1961]

Keep the 530w, add flightstream. Pocket the money you were going to spend on the 750 or use it for hookers n blow.

 

[DesertNomad]

I have a FS210 in the plane already (and a GDL88). My motivation to move to the 750 is for a larger screen with a much more intuitive interface. Much easier to add/remove/change flight plans and use airways. It also displays more targets with ADS-B and when I add a Wx500 Stormscope it has a much better display than the 530W.

 

[WannFly]

Gift the 530 to me

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Clark1961]

I have a FS210 in the plane already (and a GDL88). My motivation to move to the 750 is for a larger screen with a much more intuitive interface. Much easier to add/remove/change flight plans and use airways. It also displays more targets with ADS-B and when I add a Wx500 Stormscope it has a much better display than the 530W.

I'm sure you will enjoy the 750.

 

[CMongoose]

I'm not sure how the new Garmin subscriptions work, but I assume you'd be paying for two subscriptions every year for those two different boxes. Don't know if I would find that sufficiently valuable.

 

[James331]

The 750 doesn't give you anything the 530W doesn't do, aside from a whizbang touchscreen.

Seems like if this is a real IFR ship, I'd be investing in a HSI and autopilot/GPSS

 

[ZeroPapaGolf]

The 750 doesn't give you anything the 530W doesn't do, aside from a whizbang touchscreen.

That's a whole lot of not accurate. The GTN adds remote transponder and audio panel, airways, geo-referenced approach charts and taxi diagrams, drag to edit, radar control, terrain, etc, etc.

 

[bnt83]

Sell the 530w, sell the KX155, buy another GI106A, buy a GNC255. Add a Aera 660 with a panel doc. Buy pilot pak subscription to cover all radios as desired or just nav data for the 750. Also install a garmin G5.

Need a newer tablet? (ipad?)

 

[James331]

That's a whole lot of not accurate. The GTN adds remote transponder and audio panel, airways, geo-referenced approach charts and taxi diagrams, drag to edit, radar control, terrain, etc, etc.

Lol, those are not really working features, only benifit is the airways which isn't new to jus the GTNs and isn't also that big of a deal, the transponder and tiny onscreen charts aren't really much more than whiz bang.

The both shoot the exact same approaches to the exact same mins, don't mean to make anyone feel bad about spending their money, but as someone who makes a living behind a IMC panel, it's just not that much of a benefit, and being able to manipulate the GPS eyes off off touch is a step in the direction of the GNS.

Going from no GPS to a GTN, meh, if you get a deal ok, but "upgrading" from a good GNS430/530W to a GTN is kinda spending money to spend money, and if you're doing that and don't even have a HSI or AP with GPSS, that's money spent in the wrong place IMO

 

[DesertNomad]

Going from no GPS to a GTN, meh, if you get a deal ok, but "upgrading" from a good GNS430/530W to a GTN is kinda spending money to spend money, and if you're doing that and don't even have a HSI or AP with GPSS, that's money spent in the wrong place IMO

I have an STEC-30 and am adding GPSS at the same time. I do not have an HSI but at $12K probably never will - I'd maybe get an Aspen someday which has HSI in it.

 

[ZeroPapaGolf]

Lol, those are not really working features, only benifit is the airways which isn't new to jus the GTNs and isn't also that big of a deal, the transponder and tiny onscreen charts aren't really much more than whiz bang.

The both shoot the exact same approaches to the exact same mins, don't mean to make anyone feel bad about spending their money, but as someone who makes a living behind a IMC panel, it's just not that much of a benefit, and being able to manipulate the GPS eyes off off touch is a step in the direction of the GNS.

Going from no GPS to a GTN, meh, if you get a deal ok, but "upgrading" from a good GNS430/530W to a GTN is kinda spending money to spend money, and if you're doing that and don't even have a HSI or AP with GPSS, that's money spent in the wrong place IMO

I agree with your last paragraph whole-heartedly. I think the biggest benefit to the GTN is seen as part of a total panel upgrade rather than a simple GNS-GTN swap. Then you see the real benefits of remote transponder, radar, etc. It makes a big difference having everything in one place in a smooth interface and removing all the individual units from the panel. I don't know what you mean that they are "not really working features". We use all of them in our setup, and I can assure you it all works exactly as advertised.

 

[Clark1961]

I agree with your last paragraph whole-heartedly. I think the biggest benefit to the GTN is seen as part of a total panel upgrade rather than a simple GNS-GTN swap. Then you see the real benefits of remote transponder, radar, etc. It makes a big difference having everything in one place in a smooth interface and removing all the individual units from the panel. I don't know what you mean that they are "not really working features". We use all of them in our setup, and I can assure you it all works exactly as advertised.

My concern is that a single point of failure causes many problems on the avionics side when using the 750 to drive everything.

 

[frfly172]

I have the aspen with a 530w 430w and the S etc with gpss works great.

 

[James331]

I agree with your last paragraph whole-heartedly. I think the biggest benefit to the GTN is seen as part of a total panel upgrade rather than a simple GNS-GTN swap. Then you see the real benefits of remote transponder, radar, etc. It makes a big difference having everything in one place in a smooth interface and removing all the individual units from the panel. I don't know what you mean that they are "not really working features". We use all of them in our setup, and I can assure you it all works exactly as advertised.

Reaching 2 inches lower to hit buttons on a transponder isn't really a issue, especially since you're not hands on the transponder all the time, I mean one or two code changes and perhaps a ident, not really a big deal, plus you still have the box, just you can't see it.

I have an STEC-30 and am adding GPSS at the same time. I do not have an HSI but at $12K probably never will - I'd maybe get an Aspen someday which has HSI in it.

But that money you spent for the GTN "upgrade" would have got you a good bit closer to that aspen, or if you are a good shopper might have snagged you a nice used HSI, flying IMC with a vac DG and a basic nav head isn't really ideal, you won't find many serious IMC ships that don't have a HSI or eHSI.

 

[GRG55]

My concern is that a single point of failure causes many problems on the avionics side when using the 750 to drive everything.

Would like to know what the Garmin recommended procedure is if that lovely 750 screen goes black all of a sudden while in-flight? The plane has a Com2, can you switch to it if the 750 screen fails?

I like independent redundancy. I spend little time in flight messing with either the xponder or audio/intercom so don't see ANY real benefit to integrating that in to my primary GPS navigator screen...and I understand Garmin charges a premium for the remote boxes compared to their stand alone equivalents.

I'm with James and Clark1961 on this one. I see no good reason to dump my 530W/430 combo.

 

[ZeroPapaGolf]

Would like to know what the Garmin recommended procedure is if that lovely 750 screen goes black all of a sudden while in-flight? The plane has a Com2, can you switch to it if the 750 screen fails?

I like independent redundancy. I spend little time in flight messing with either the xponder or audio/intercom so don't see ANY real benefit to integrating that in to my primary GPS navigator screen...and I understand Garmin charges a premium for the remote boxes compared to their stand alone equivalents.

I'm with James and Clark1961 on this one. I see no good reason to dump my 530W/430 combo.

Simple: pull the audio panel circuit breaker and COM/NAV 2, which is a standalone unit, takes over and works as normal.

 

[GRG55]

Simple: pull the audio panel circuit breaker and COM/NAV 2, which is a standalone unit, takes over and works as normal.

So the remote Garmin audio panel paired with the 750 is powered independently from the GPS navigator, and not from the 750?

 

[ZeroPapaGolf]

So the remote Garmin audio panel paired with the 750 is powered independently from the GPS navigator, and not from the 750?

It's a separate box in the rack in the nose so I would imagine so. My understanding is that loss of power (pulling the breaker) puts it in a fail-safe condition where you have direct use of Com 2.

 

[bnt83]

So the remote Garmin audio panel paired with the 750 is powered independently from the GPS navigator, and not from the 750?

It's a separate box in the rack in the nose so I would imagine so. My understanding is that loss of power (pulling the breaker) puts it in a fail-safe condition where you have direct use of Com 2.

The audio panel is typically bolted to the upper surface of the 750 tray, behind the upper portion of the screen. The actual chassis/cage that hold the PC boards of the 750 isn't much bigger than the 650 chassis. The screen part of the chassis is much bigger of course.

There will be three breakers powering the audio panel & 750. GTNs with com radios require two breakers. I can pull the com breaker on my GTN650 and it red Xs the com radio window on the screen but everything else functions normally.

 

[Briar Rabbit]

I would like to offer an alternate suggestion. We used to have a 530 in our Centurion with a kx155 and standard mode c transponder. We replaced the Garmin 530 with a Avidyne 540, a Avidyne transponder with ads b in and out and a EDM 900 engine monitor system. I think this change was less money than you are considering spending. The Avidyne 540 is light years ahead of the Garmin 530, much more user friendly and quicker to program in flight. The new transponder also quicker to change and with the ADS-B gives us some in flight color weather graphics plus traffic display.

 

[Briar Rabbit]

Continued from above. The EDM 900 eliminated the need for every gage on the right side of our radio stack and we installed a Ram mount on the dash and full size I-Pad air with ForeFlight and synthetic vision. This gives us cheaper plates and low enroute packages. Now we have fuel Gage's that are accurate on the EDM and a lot more meaningful engine monitoring equipment. Avidyne is offering their IFD 100 package that links the 540 display and controls to the I-Pad for an even larger color touch screen control. We retained the King radio and a DME but very seldom turn them on. The Avidyne can be set up with 5 preprogrammed com frequencies & just hit a toggle button to bring them up. We have had some issues with the traffic display and Avidyne is replacing our MLB unit which should cure that issue, have been happy with their service. This makes IFR work much easier! Has worked well for us.

 

[WannFly]

Continued from above. The EDM 900 eliminated the need for every gage on the right side of our radio stack and we installed a Ram mount on the dash and full size I-Pad air with ForeFlight and synthetic vision. This gives us cheaper plates and low enroute packages. Now we have fuel Gage's that are accurate on the EDM and a lot more meaningful engine monitoring equipment. Avidyne is offering their IFD 100 package that links the 540 display and controls to the I-Pad for an even larger color touch screen control. We retained the King radio and a DME but very seldom turn them on. The Avidyne can be set up with 5 preprogrammed com frequencies & just hit a toggle button to bring them up. We have had some issues with the traffic display and Avidyne is replacing our MLB unit which should cure that issue, have been happy with their service. This makes IFR work much easier! Has worked well for us.

On a different note, what's the feature diff bw EDM 830 and 900?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[labbadabba]

I would like to offer an alternate suggestion. We used to have a 530 in our Centurion with a kx155 and standard mode c transponder. We replaced the Garmin 530 with a Avidyne 540, a Avidyne transponder with ads b in and out and a EDM 900 engine monitor system. I think this change was less money than you are considering spending. The Avidyne 540 is light years ahead of the Garmin 530, much more user friendly and quicker to program in flight. The new transponder also quicker to change and with the ADS-B gives us some in flight color weather graphics plus traffic display.

Love this idea. I don't see the need to add a 750 if you already have a WAAS GPS and an iPad (or two).

 

[Briar Rabbit]

On a different note, what's the feature diff bw EDM 830 and 900?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

The EDM 900 series is TSO/STC and can legally be used to eliminate gauges or permanently cover them up so they are not visible. The 800 series may be used in addition to primary gauges but you still have to have the primary gauges operational and visible. The 900 provides Manifold Pressure, RPM, Fuel flow, oil pressure, oil temp, fuel gauges, estimated remaining fuel range, amperage, voltage, EGT & CHT for all 6 cylinders, OAT and more. We mounted the 900 on the left had side of the radio stack and this made the entire area on the right side of the radio stack available for new things - plenty of room for the I-Pad Air. Using a ram mount we were able to turn it towards the pilot making it easier to read than a docking station plus it was easier to put in and take out and has ample cooling. Most non-pilots know how to operate an I-Pad and makes it easier for assistance too. Foreflight is a great addition with easily updated plates and maps. I have tried to attach pictures of where we placed the 900 and what it replaced, new to the forum so hope it works?