Upgrading Saratoga panel

smoothsailing said:
@Jamie Kirk and @Walboy is your dislike of Avidyne limited to the Saratoga? Or is it a dislike in Avidyne in general?

Trying to learn what would be the proper avionics build for a C182... garmin vs dynon/avidyne.

Thanks in advance!
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For me, it's the Avidyne navigators.

My hangar neighbor put in an IFD 550 in place of his Garmin 530 and regrets it. He wishes he would have intalled the GTN 750xi.

Maybe if I spent more time with it I would grow to like it, but I don't run across that many of them. Both avionics shops I deal with don't have enough Avidyne sales volume to keep their dealership. Not enough demand.
 
smoothsailing said:
@Jamie Kirk and @Walboy is your dislike of Avidyne limited to the Saratoga? Or is it a dislike in Avidyne in general?

Trying to learn what would be the proper avionics build for a C182... garmin vs dynon/avidyne.

Thanks in advance!
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Their charts are not IFR legal. And they do t have plates. So you have to use an iPad. Pointless with glass.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Their charts are not IFR legal. And they do t have plates. So you have to use an iPad. Pointless with glass.
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Who uses a gps to show a plate? No thanks.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Why is a go-around button necessary these days?
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I put one in my plane. The use case is going missed on an approach. Without the TOGA button, I would have to disconnect the autopilot, set power, establish a climb, optionally re-engage the autopilot, and unsuspend the approach on the GPS. With the TOGA button, I only have to push it and set power. It's not relieving me of a huge burden, but it is relieving me of some burden at a critical, busy time.

Salty said:
Who uses a gps to show a plate? No thanks.
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The GTN 750 Xi is a great MFD for plates or getting other information while you have the plate up on another display. If you have a 10" PFD plus a 750, you tend not to use your iPad after you upload your route to the panel. It's definitely a matter of personal preference but the only thing I would do over in my RV-14 if I redid the panel would be to take out the second G3X Touch screen and GTN 650 Xi and put in a 750 Xi. The latter would be a more convenient MFD than reaching so far to interact with the copilot-side G3X.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
With my 430s no longer being supported after 2024 I decided instead of doing a simple upgrade go for broke.

Opinion of panel layout and equipment?
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Current panel:
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Equipment list:
Garmin G500 TXi 10.6" Landscape PIlot Side
Garmin G500 TXi 10.6" Landscape CoPilot Side
Garmin G500 TXi EIS 7" Portrait
Garmin GI 275 Pilot and CoPilot Side
Garmin GTN 750 Xi
Garmin GTN 650 Xi
Garmin GMA 35c Bluetooth Audio Panel
Garmin GTX 345R Remote Transponder
Garmin GFC 500 Autopilot with Pitch, Roll, Yaw, and Trim
Garmin GDL 69A XM/Weather Receiver
Garmin GDL 60 Datalink with Planesync
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What, no clock?
 
Wiring all done, Planesync added a week as Garmin changed the install schematics and did t inform anyone lol.

Should be done in 2 weeks.
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Wiring all done, Planesync added a week as Garmin changed the install schematics and did t inform anyone lol.

Should be done in 2 weeks.
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455 Bravo Uniform said:
Why is a go-around button necessary these days?
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TO GA button is helpful for VFR take-off's for added safety, should something happen to the seats and provide time to recover from loss of ability to manage the yoke. A real problem on classic Cessnas.

Regular maintenance and compliance with seat rail and seat wheel housing AD's is important step in prevention. Should a seat track related failure occur, the plane would be properly pitched and wing leveled for a safe climb and opportunity for the pilot to safely regain control.
 
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NordicDave said:
TO GA button is helpful for VFR take-off's for added safety, should something happen to the seats and provide time to recover from loss of ability to manage the yoke. A real problem on classic Cessnas.

Regular maintenance and compliance with seat rail and seat wheel housing AD's is important step in prevention. Should a seat track related failure occur, the plane would be properly pitched and wing leveled for a safe climb and opportunity for the pilot to safely regain control.
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How does a TOGA switch help with an unsecured seat in any way?
 
NordicDave said:
Autopilot holding a pitch when the pilot can't.
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When I depart VFR I don’t program in an approach to the gps so pushing the TOGA switch would do nothing for me.

Pushing the TOGA switch does not immediately co trip the pitch.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
When I depart VFR I don’t program in an approach to the gps so pushing the TOGA switch would do nothing for me.

Pushing the TOGA switch does not immediately co trip the pitch.
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The TO in TOGA stands for takeoff. In our bugsmashers, the button is typically wired to two separate things. One is to unsuspend an approach in the navigator, to fly the missed approach leg. The other is to set the autopilot to takeoff/go-around mode, which establishes wings-level and nose-up pitch for an initial climb. If there is no approach loaded in the navigator, the button still activates the flight director in that straight-ahead, climbing attitude (and the autopilot will follow it if it is engaged).
 
iamtheari said:
The TO in TOGA stands for takeoff. In our bugsmashers, the button is typically wired to two separate things. One is to unsuspend an approach in the navigator, to fly the missed approach leg. The other is to set the autopilot to takeoff/go-around mode, which establishes wings-level and nose-up pitch for an initial climb. If there is no approach loaded in the navigator, the button still activates the flight director in that straight-ahead, climbing attitude (and the autopilot will follow it if it is engaged).
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Interesting. Never tried that.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Wiring all done, Planesync added a week as Garmin changed the install schematics and did t inform anyone lol.

Should be done in 2 weeks.
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It's been 4 weeks. Did they get your plane put back together? Hopefully the radio silence is just because you're too busy flying it!
 
iamtheari said:
It's been 4 weeks. Did they get your plane put back together? Hopefully the radio silence is just because you're too busy flying it!
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It’s all being configured now.

Planesync caused an issue. There was 1 relay for the whole system but apparently Garmin changed that. So every connection had a relay now. That caused a week or so delay as Garmin had to send new parts and they had to rewire.

I was getting a heading issue when strobes were on, even with shielded wires. Solution was to replace wingtips LED on which solved the issue.

It’ll be ready for pickup on the 15th but I’ll be out of town till the 24th.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
It’s all being configured now.

Planesync caused an issue. There was 1 relay for the whole system but apparently Garmin changed that. So every connection had a relay now. That caused a week or so delay as Garmin had to send new parts and they had to rewire.

I was getting a heading issue when strobes were on, even with shielded wires. Solution was to replace wingtips LED on which solved the issue.

It’ll be ready for pickup on the 15th but I’ll be out of town till the 24th.
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How did LED strobes cause a heading issue?
 
WDD said:
How did LED strobes cause a heading issue?
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I did not have LED side strobes. The new heading sensors get mounted in the pilot wingtip. When they removed the strobes the heading error went away.

Swapping wing tips with a plane that had LED wing tip strobes the heading issue went away.

They assumed the old strobes were causing magnetic interference
 
Well, I am really ticked off now.

I told this shop I didn’t want to bring plane in till all hardware was received.

I confirmed prior to dropping plane off all hardware received. Was even told they started bench testing.

I confirmed at drop off all hardware good to go.

Each time I visited I was told all on track and good to go.

Well as you can tell I am almost 6 weeks past my RTS, twice as long as I quoted. And after basically saying WHAT THE CRAP (but not crap) IS GOING ON!? I found out all the screens are back ordered with Garmin and no ETA.

What. The. You can finish this part yourself.

I am extremely ****ed off and I let them have it. I’m basically waiting for my 3 G500 TXI units to SHIP from Garmin with no date available.

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What shop is this if I may ask?
 
WDD said:
What shop is this if I may ask?
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Neal Aviation in El Cajon. Their director emailed me right now and deeply apologized, took responsibility and point blank said he has no idea why the screen were not ordered and he should have caught that. Looks like someone made a big mistake. He took responsibility and said hopefully an answer Thursday.

This doesn’t fix my frustration but I can always appreciate when someone ownes up and says I screwed up it’s on me.
 
6 weeks for a full panel upgrade would be a optimistic estimate. I now double all estimates and sometimes they even miss that, especially true since Covid.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
6 weeks for a full panel upgrade would be a optimistic estimate. I now double all estimates and sometimes they even miss that, especially true since Covid.
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At 6 weeks all work was done minus the PlaneSync and wing tip LED addition.

I paid up front for all equipment and wanted it in, bench tested and techs ready to work on it.

It would have been done at 7 weeks if the G500s were ordered and in.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
At 6 weeks all work was done minus the PlaneSync and wing tip LED addition.

I paid up front for all equipment and wanted it in, bench tested and techs ready to work on it.

It would have been done at 7 weeks if the G500s were ordered and in.
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I'm a little surprised you didn't check the boxes of parts at the time you dropped off the plane.
 
asicer said:
I'm a little surprised you didn't check the boxes of parts at the time you dropped off the plane.
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Should have, live and learn. Up until this point the shop was very forward and up front. They had 2 PA32s in prior to me and they were done on time. I think someone just screwed up and assumed it was all ordered.
 
For my project, they showed me all the boxes for my plane. There seemed to be more than enough, so I did not go through and check for everything. :D
 

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Not that my predicament compares, but my boss' Cirrus Jet went through its annual faster than my plane is getting a new alternator. I'm going to have to take up knitting.
 
Pinecone said:
For my project, they showed me all the boxes for my plane. There seemed to be more than enough, so I did not go through and check for everything. :D
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I had TWO of those racks full of my stuff lol. It’s amazing to me how much stuff is shoved behind our panels.
 
There were several boxes on the floor. :D
 
Whelp, Garmin says ship date of March 26th

Shop feels horrible, they goofed. But they want to do my annual for free.
 
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