GA GPS options

FlyBoyAndy

FlyBoyAndy

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Apr 20, 2011
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FlyBoyAndy
My plane is equipped with an older model panel mounted Garmin GPS with steam gauges, and my quick research shows that Garmin, Avidyne and Bendix are available manufacturers of panel mounted GPS's. I will continue to research for more.

When attempting to "modernizing" the plane, what manufacturer is a better option? I'm referring to being able to interface with other equipment easily. I'm asking this because I'm planning to work towards my IFR rating and at some point want to make the plane better IFR equipped.

I had someone tell me that Garmin equipment doesn't interface with other equipment and systems easily, and I didn't know what questions to ask the person about that comment. There was mention of autopilot, Foreflight, ADSB (not sure why) and so on.

I can give more details about the specific plane if needed.
 
Don't rely on what "someone" says....go to a radio shop.

Bob
 
If doing a new installation you would be pretty crazy not to go Garmin in my opinion. I think they have the best models out bar none. If you wanted to upgrade for a 430W then Avidyne is the way to go as they offer a slide in replacement for the 430. I wouldn't even consider the King unit.
 
First of all, if you're looking at GPS avionics, get ready to spend a TON of money. When I was looking it was more than just a $7 AMU unit that was required. I also took a $2 AMU indicator, a $2 AMU audio panel and $4-$6 AMU install cost. Total all in was $16 AMU. And you still don't have ADS-B out.

My opinion is that Garmin is probably the biggest and most common but I'm sure others do the job well too.

I can't comment on the interface. I didn't have the money for GPS so I never installed any. I use an iPad and VOR's. :)
 
I have a good understanding of the requirements and the work involved to achieve and then hopefully maintain my IFR, and I look forward to it. My reason for this thread resulted from flying with some very experienced IFR pilots, and seeing the equipment they are using. Barring instrument failure, these instrument flights appear so easy for them. I'm not saying that they can't use minimum IFR capabilities, but watching them is a bit unreal.

Cost is always going to be a factor and I'll calculate that at every step.
 
Sooooo many ways to skin this cat.

I would suggest going flying with other pilots in their planes to see their set up in action and talk about what they like and don't links about it. Go see the different set ups from Garmin and Avidyne and Aspen and such.

From there, start making your equipment selections and talking budget with the local avionics shop.
 
Forget Bendix. Don’t forget Dynon certified.
 
Bendix KSN770 is AMAZINGGGG :rolleyes::confused:
 
Avidyne and Garmin will cost the same for nav data updates. Avidyne seems to have a lower cost to update firmware, in some cases possible to do yourself. Garmin primarily interfaces with other Garmin equipment, unless there is a partnership with another company. Avidyne seems to interface with lots of other equipment, using standardized protocols. Purchase price is about the same. Unless you factor in Garmin's requirement to only sell through one of their dealers. Avidyne equipment can be installed by anyone, but of course it still takes an IA for the 337 signoff. Both companies will be around for the long haul, so take a look at user interface differences and get PIREPs from actual owners/users.
 
JohnAJohnson said:
Dynon makes a certified panel gps?
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No. OP mentioned integrating with a other stuff to make IFR workload easier.

Without details other than steam panel and not much research done nor make/model listed, I just threw out an idea to research.

If I was going to do a panel refresh today, I’d look at a used GPS navigator and Dynon real hard as there’s a lot of bang for the buck there in my opinion.
 
TCABM said:
If I was going to do a panel refresh today, I’d look at a used GPS navigator and Dynon real hard as there’s a lot of bang for the buck there in my opinion.
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Yep, that's my plan. When Dynon gets the Cardinal on the AML I'm going to take a serious look at everything they offer but I'm pretty sure I'll go with others for NAV/COM/GPS (probably Avidyne), second NAV/COM (probably Garmin), and the audio panel (probably PS Engineering).
 
Lots of choices. For IFR I'd be looking at WAAS GPS and an ADSB in/out panel solution to keep everything tidy. Wifi (best) or bluetooth capability to push data to your EFB. You can't go wrong with the Garmin GTN series, or their transponders. The Lynx NGT9000 is another ADSB option. Count on spending an obscene amount of money to get WAAS and ADSB. $20k would not be out of the question.

I did WAAS a long time ago (GNS430W) and just added the NGT9000. It is very capable. If I upgraded the GPS today, I'd go with either Garmin or a slide-in Avidyne. Definitely check with various avionics shops for recommendations.
 
FlyBoyAndy said:
My plane is equipped with an older model panel mounted Garmin GPS with steam gauges, and my quick research shows that Garmin, Avidyne and Bendix are available manufacturers of panel mounted GPS's. I will continue to research for more.

When attempting to "modernizing" the plane, what manufacturer is a better option? I'm referring to being able to interface with other equipment easily. I'm asking this because I'm planning to work towards my IFR rating and at some point want to make the plane better IFR equipped.

I had someone tell me that Garmin equipment doesn't interface with other equipment and systems easily, and I didn't know what questions to ask the person about that comment. There was mention of autopilot, Foreflight, ADSB (not sure why) and so on.

I can give more details about the specific plane if needed.
Click to expand...

Please do - What's the GPS that's in it right now, what other equipment does it have, and is there anything else you're looking to replace? Are you ADS-B equipped yet? What's your budget?

Until we know the answers to those questions, it's hard to make a good recommendation. If the "older panel mounted Garmin" is a 430, you should at least consider a 430W upgrade, though that may not be possible any more.

It's hard to go wrong with the Garmin GTN series. They're the new hotness and will certainly help your plane sell faster and for more money when the time comes.

Some people like Avidyne, but with their reliability and customer service issues, I won't be buying anything from them.

TCABM said:
Forget Bendix. Don’t forget Dynon certified.
Click to expand...

Definitely forget Bendix/King. Their older navigators were fine for their time (back in the 1900's!) but their only WAAS capable GPS is the KSN 770, which is a flaming pile of crap.

Dynon does not have a certified GPS - I guess that's the most expensive piece of avionics to certify, so they're recommending the Avidyne GPS units (440/540) to go with their new certified glass panel suite because they obviously don't want to recommend their competition (Garmin).
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Some people like Avidyne, but with their reliability and customer service issues, I won't be buying anything from them.
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I've heard good things about customer service, but haven't heard any negatives about reliability. I am interested in Avidyne products. Can you elaborate please?
 
Some of the early Avidyne units were reliability challenged. Not sure if that’s improved recently or if they’re still somewhat unreliable.

And upgrading the older 430/530 to WAAS is still very doable. In fact, Garmin won’t repair the older units until the upgrade is done.
 
I'm not a fan of Garmin. I feel like they are the typical evil corporation. Swallowing competitors, ditching legacy support, charging way more than they need to simply because they're the only game in town.

Hate them. But ... they're essentially the only game in town.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 
JohnAJohnson said:
I've heard good things about customer service, but haven't heard any negatives about reliability. I am interested in Avidyne products. Can you elaborate please?
Click to expand...

Well, my first bit of scary knowledge of Avidyne came from an accident report. "According to maintenance records, the PFD was replaced on June 4, 2004, at 12.2 hours, on September 14, 2004, at 55.2 hours, and on December 20, 2004, at 80.6 hours." The plane crashed at 98 hours TT, on its FOURTH PFD, with the pilot reporting "avionics problems" and being clearly disoriented.

Next: I know a guy who worked for a company that does reliability testing. They build robots to exercise all the knobs and buttons, see that all the code gets run at some point, etc. They did work for both Garmin and Avidyne when the G1000 and Entegra were being developed. He refused to get on an Avidyne-equipped airplane, period.

So I swore off anything Avidyne for a while, time passed, they came out with the DFC90 autopilot which was the first retrofit autopilot to offer things like an IAS mode (similar to FLC on the GFC 700). Feature wise, it looked amazing. I kinda wanted one. Another person I know got one put into his SR22T. Within a week of the warranty expiring a year later, the lights all went out on the buttons, requiring a new control board at a cost of $5,000 and Avidyne would not even give him a discount on it. LESS THAN A WEEK out of warranty.

I know some others have had better experiences and like the equipment, but IMO they still need to prove themselves on both reliability and customer service. They're not going to do it on my dollar.
 
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