Flightstream Connext pricing

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
The garmin site offers a RFQ only, just wondering what the ballpark pricing would be for 110 or 210. I think it involves hardware installation and a subscription.
Two GTN750s already installed.
Other questions?
 
Hardware yes, subscription maybe. You don’t need a subscription with Garmin for the 110/210. You need an app on the other side, like Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight, which likely does require a subscription. Assuming you have a Pilot Park subscription for your 750 databases, I think Garmin Pilot would be $100-$150/year. I honestly don’t remember; it’s noise compared to everything else in aviation.

I think my 210 was like 1.5 AMU. It was installed 5 years ago with a bunch of other avionics, so installation cost was non-obvious. Unless you want stand-alone backup attitude (the 210 has its own ADAHRS for tablet usage), you might consider the 510. It does almost everything a 210 does, also includes database transfer from Garmin Pilot (this does require an active Pilot subscription), and the paperwork will take longer than the installation, lowering costs.
 
Dave, the FlightStream 110/210 are for the older Garmins. On the 750, you want the 510 which is just an SD card with built-in WiFi and fancy software. Makes installation very quick and easy in comparison to the 110/210 though!

There is no direct subscription for the 510. When I bought mine (granted, 5 years ago) it was $1,495 for the card, and installation is pretty trivial so should be no more than an hour or two at your avionics shop rate.

All the features of the 510 are usable with both Garmin Pilot and ForeFlight except Database Concierge which is Garmin Pilot only. I use ForeFlight, but I have to pay $99/year for the basic Garmin Pilot subscription (grrrr). The PilotPak for databases comes with an "upgrade" from the basic Garmin Pilot subscription to the next level up, but does not come with the basic subscription.

If you don't want to use Database Concierge, you likely don't need any subscriptions you don't already have, unless you're one of those weirdos that doesn't use one of the two biggest EFBs. ;)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Dave, the FlightStream 110/210 are for the older Garmins. On the 750, you want the 510 which is just an SD card with built-in WiFi and fancy software. Makes installation very quick and easy in comparison to the 110/210 though!

There is no direct subscription for the 510. When I bought mine (granted, 5 years ago) it was $1,495 for the card, and installation is pretty trivial so should be no more than an hour or two at your avionics shop rate.

All the features of the 510 are usable with both Garmin Pilot and ForeFlight except Database Concierge which is Garmin Pilot only. I use ForeFlight, but I have to pay $99/year for the basic Garmin Pilot subscription (grrrr). The PilotPak for databases comes with an "upgrade" from the basic Garmin Pilot subscription to the next level up, but does not come with the basic subscription.

If you don't want to use Database Concierge, you likely don't need any subscriptions you don't already have, unless you're one of those weirdos that doesn't use one of the two biggest EFBs. ;)
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My 510 was 1500 two years ago. Updating the firmware in the gtn was the hardest part. I think they did charge me for the full hour of labor lol.

It kind of blows my mind they can build a functional SD card WITH Bluetooth AND wifi and it all fits in that little slot. And it just works. They got me hook, line, & sinker with database concierge. That feature alone is worth the $1500.
 
I use ForeFlight, but bought Garmin Pilot for the database Concierge feature. It used to work well, but since about Feb of this year it has been unusable, so I have reverted to just a spare SD card to update my GTN750 and G500TXi. It is faster and no hassle. With the Concierge feature, I got tired of the obligatory hour + long support call on each update cycle and won't go back to using it until I see tons of reports that the issues have been resolved. It is not worth needing to buy Garmin Pilot. There are many reports of trouble with this feature on BeechTalk. The FS510 is great, the database Concierge not so much.
 
John Collins said:
I use ForeFlight, but bought Garmin Pilot for the database Concierge feature. It used to work well, but since about Feb of this year it has been unusable, so I have reverted to just a spare SD card to update my GTN750 and G500TXi. It is faster and no hassle. With the Concierge feature, I got tired of the obligatory hour + long support call on each update cycle and won't go back to using it until I see tons of reports that the issues have been resolved. It is not worth needing to buy Garmin Pilot. There are many reports of trouble with this feature on BeechTalk. The FS510 is great, the database Concierge not so much.
Click to expand...
I have been working with Garmin tech support since last April on trying to resolve issues with database concierge. They fixed it once but broke it again on the next rev. of pilot. If you are using the latest rev. of pilot, every time you use it to send a feedback message, a log file will be attached to your email. It has literally gotten that bad, they are thrashing to fix it. I too am using SD cards for updates.
 
Seems like every one I hear of having issues with dbc is using it to update multiple units. That's not an excuse... you paid big bucks for those units and it should work, but I will say that for updating my single gtn it works flawlessly.
 
Jim K said:
Seems like every one I hear of having issues with dbc is using it to update multiple units. That's not an excuse... you paid big bucks for those units and it should work, but I will say that for updating my single gtn it works flawlessly.
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Interesting, I do use database sync to do the GI-275's. Next time I am flying, I will try and just do the 750. Thanks!
 
Jim K said:
My 510 was 1500 two years ago. Updating the firmware in the gtn was the hardest part. I think they did charge me for the full hour of labor lol.

It kind of blows my mind they can build a functional SD card WITH Bluetooth AND wifi and it all fits in that little slot. And it just works. They got me hook, line, & sinker with database concierge. That feature alone is worth the $1500.
Click to expand...
I agree 100% I've had my GTN750 with the FS510 for over 3 years now and its pretty much bullet proof! The database concierge works outstanding! My data bases are never expired anymore.
 
I think the FS 510 is well worth it without the database Concierge. But until Garmin fixes its issues with the database Concierge, Garmin Pilot is not worth it if you are just using it for that function.
 
The FS210 gives you a back up AHRS that the 510 does not. It supports pretty much everything else like flight plan sync, ADSB traffic and WX. It's also quite a bit cheaper, but it requires installation so the cost may be a bit of a wash. Having 2 sets of SC cards makes the updates reasonably painless. I have the 210, and thought about upgrading to the 510, but no interest anymore.
 
Hang 4 said:
The FS210 gives you a back up AHRS that the 510 does not. It supports pretty much everything else like flight plan sync, ADSB traffic and WX. It's also quite a bit cheaper, but it requires installation so the cost may be a bit of a wash. Having 2 sets of SC cards makes the updates reasonably painless. I have the 210, and thought about upgrading to the 510, but no interest anymore.
Click to expand...
In most installations, the FS510 is much cheaper because of the installation costs. If you have a G500TXi, its AHRS is used.
 
If you have a GTX 345 it can also serve as a back-up AHRS source that can stream to FF/GP on an Ipad. I have a GTX 345/GTN 650 and am in the process of getting the FS 510 installed.
 
I didn't either until I linked my Ipad to the GTX for ADSB in data for ForeFlight. I activated AHRS in the app expecting the big red X but had the AI/synthetic vision active. I then RTFM.....:oops:.
 
Jim K said:
Seems like every one I hear of having issues with dbc is using it to update multiple units. That's not an excuse... you paid big bucks for those units and it should work, but I will say that for updating my single gtn it works flawlessly.
Click to expand...

Even when I just had a single GTN, I started having issues with Database Concierge.

I don't think it's all Garmin's fault... iPadOS just REALLY REALLY wants to have an Internet connection. I have a hunch that if you connect to WiFi that is not connected to the Internet, sometimes the iPad will disconnect and start looking for WiFi that does have an Internet connection, and boom, dead update.

There is one other thing that IS Garmin's fault that seems really dumb, though - If you are in the hangar, it doesn't like to update. It seems to want a GPS signal before it updates. I'm guessing that's because they're relying on GPS time to determine whether an update is needed, but you'd think they could at least fail back to the system clock.

Hang 4 said:
The FS210 gives you a back up AHRS that the 510 does not.
Click to expand...

However, many of us have other units that do have an AHRS, and the FS510 *will* pass that data through. In my plane, both the GTX 345 and the GI 275 have AHRS, and the FS510 passes it through to ForeFlight.

Let'sgoflying! said:
A transponder can provide ahrs info? Had no idea.
Click to expand...

Not just any old transponder, but the GTX 345 does have AHRS and is a very popular unit.
 
Jim K said:
Seems like every one I hear of having issues with dbc is using it to update multiple units. That's not an excuse... you paid big bucks for those units and it should work, but I will say that for updating my single gtn it works flawlessly.
Click to expand...

I don't know that it's a "multiple unit" issue. I have a GTN 750 and a GI 275 that I use Database Concierge for, both through the 510. The 510 updates the 750 and uploads the 275's databases to the 750, then the 750 sends them to the 275. I do need to reboot the 275 at least twice for everything to transfer and become effective though, and sometimes I need to poke and prod it a bit to get it to realize that there's an update.

Those issues all happen after I'm finished using Database Concierge, though, so maybe what you're hearing is a misunderstanding people have of what the path is that their databases travel...

I have only tried to connect the iPad directly to the GI 275 once, when I was having trouble with the 510. IIRC it didn't work any better that way, so I decided to KISS and just connect to the 510.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Two GTN750s already installed.
Click to expand...

On a tangent here - WOW!
325bf782-dde1-4e89-bcee-d4ad1305f958_text.gif


Jim K said:
My 510 was 1500 two years ago. Updating the firmware in the gtn was the hardest part. I think they did charge me for the full hour of labor lol.

It kind of blows my mind they can build a functional SD card WITH Bluetooth AND wifi and it all fits in that little slot. And it just works. They got me hook, line, & sinker with database concierge. That feature alone is worth the $1500.
Click to expand...

Is it faster, or just easier than inserting an update card every month?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Even when I just had a single GTN, I started having issues with Database Concierge.

I don't think it's all Garmin's fault... iPadOS just REALLY REALLY wants to have an Internet connection. I have a hunch that if you connect to WiFi that is not connected to the Internet, sometimes the iPad will disconnect and start looking for WiFi that does have an Internet connection, and boom, dead update.

There is one other thing that IS Garmin's fault that seems really dumb, though - If you are in the hangar, it doesn't like to update. It seems to want a GPS signal before it updates. I'm guessing that's because they're relying on GPS time to determine whether an update is needed, but you'd think they could at least fail back to the system clock.



However, many of us have other units that do have an AHRS, and the FS510 *will* pass that data through. In my plane, both the GTX 345 and the GI 275 have AHRS, and the FS510 passes it through to ForeFlight.



Not just any old transponder, but the GTX 345 does have AHRS and is a very popular unit.
Click to expand...
The GNX375 as well, mainly because it is more or less a GPS IFR navigator with an internal GTX345.
 
WDD said:
On a tangent here - WOW!
325bf782-dde1-4e89-bcee-d4ad1305f958_text.gif




Is it faster, or just easier than inserting an update card every month?
Click to expand...
I'd say yes to both. It takes about 10s to transfer the update. I'm only doing the nav database though, no charts at terrain.
 
robin ardoin said:
Actually the GTX345 will communicate directly to FF.
Click to expand...

It will, but if you have the FS510, the GTX 345's Bluetooth is to be turned off per the install manual.

The FS510 will pass through everything the GTX 345 can offer anyway, plus it can do database concierge and flight plan transfer, which the GTX 345 by itself does not.
 
So if you have FS 510 you can’t use your GTX345 to put ADSB on your FFlight tablet?
 
WDD said:
So if you have FS 510 you can’t use your GTX345 to put ADSB on your FFlight tablet?
Click to expand...

Same with a FlightStream 210 or (I’m pretty sure) GI-275. You still get the same data, just relayed through the other Connext device. I’m sure there’s a reason other than simplicity, but thems the installation rules.
 
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