What do we think of the GNX 375?

PPC1052 said:
But I don't think that one is ADSB-Out, and it's only a COM. No NAV radio.
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Correct.

175 is Navigator only
355 is Navigator and Comm (no VHF Nav)
375 is Navigator and ADS B In/Out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Not sure why the resolution really matters, but the GNS series is so prolific in working planes that I’d wager it’ll be around for a loooong time.
 
James331 said:
Not sure why the resolution really matters
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Well, you said that the format was better on 430 "than a small cramped" touchscreen. The resolution absolutely matters to whether the screen is cramped, or whether it makes good use of the screen's real estate.
 
PPC1052 said:
Well, you said that the format was better on 430 "than a small cramped" touchscreen. The resolution absolutely matters to whether the screen is cramped, or whether it makes good use of the screen's real estate.
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The format as in the knobs and buttons, I don’t even need to even look at the screen to do most important functions.

With a engine failure I can have the plane fly at best glide to the nearest airport on AP without even looking down and all within well under 10 seconds.
 
unsafervguy said:
The difference is that any good a&p or machine shop can make any part in a spam can, can’t do that with electronics
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LOL tell that to the V-tail people, or Cardinal carry-through people or comanche people or 182RG/210 actuator people or....I digress.
 
James331 said:
With a engine failure I can have the plane fly at best glide to the nearest airport on AP without even looking down and all within well under 10 seconds.
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Yeah, having a dedicated physical button for Direct To would certainly be a benefit in an emergency. But the rest of the time, the buttonology on 430 leaves a lot to be desired.
 
I've been learning to love our GNX 375 since last July, when we installed one together with an Aera 660 (which syncs to it with bluetooth) and a G5 for getting the needle necessary for IFR. I don't fly IFR hardly at all, but having this thing in the cockpit has actually motivated me to do a lot of re-learning in the hopes of doing more of it in the future. I'm new to the whole "fancy GPS world", so for me, this was all like a sudden launch into the 21st century, from over a decade in the 70's. So I can't compare it to other modern products.

I typically use the 375 in "Map" mode, and use the 660 to cycle amongst various other screens (such as sectional chart, weather, airport info, etc. etc.) as I need. Traffic from the ADS-B-In will show up on both the 375 and the 660, overlaid on just about any screen mode you're on.
I find the touchscreens difficult to use in turbulence, but the 375 also has a knob that you can do most things with, with a little practice.

It was expensive. In the interests of remaining married, I have not asked my husband exactly how much it all cost.
 
PPC1052 said:
Yeah, having a dedicated physical button for Direct To would certainly be a benefit in an emergency. But the rest of the time, the buttonology on 430 leaves a lot to be desired.
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Just to learn it, same as a new radio in a new car, thing is there are a number of things I can do on a GNS that don’t require me to take my eyes off my scan or windshield if VMC. The touch screen thing must have been a brain child of a IT or engineer type and not a working pilot.
 
Rgbeard said:
My Avionics guy said he's going to evaluate my blind encoder, and see if the GAE12 is needed. We hadn't talked about the temperature probe yet.
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Do yourself a big favor and get the GAE12 encoder. In my case the installation was nearly free as it so simple and it decouples the Static line from the Transponder. My particular case going with the GAE12 was $20 more then just rewiring my ACK encoder. The OAT probe provides real time density altitude instead of just pressure alt on the main display of the GTX-345.

edit: change auto correct error requiring to rewiring
 
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NordicDave said:
Do yourself a big favor and get the GAE12 encoder. In my case the installation was nearly free as it so simple and it decouples the Static line from the Transponder. My particular case going with the GAE12 was $20 more then just requiring my ACK encoder. The OAT probe provides real time density altitude instead of just pressure alt on the main display of the GTX-345.
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THANK YOU. Sending an email now.
 
unsafervguy said:
the eol will happen when there are no more screens, and that is rapidly approaching. lcds are not a part you just run out and have made. you have the number you expect to need for the life of the part made at one time. when garmin has none left, and that day is close from what i have been told, then any screen issue and the unit it a boat anchor. I am also sure that even if someone would do board level repairs, and that is not easy on high density surface mount boards, the components that were used in the 430 are most likely EOL also. a couple of the units in the 430 line are already non-serviceable do to parts availability.
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This is different than Garmin has publicly stated. The 430W has already gone End of Life, but they have no plans in the foreseeable future to go End of Service. They have plenty of screens, but not enough to automatically preemptively replace them on 430 to 430W upgrades. They stated they have years of parts available. The LCD screens are very reliable, unlike the gas plasma screens like the KX-155's, LCD has greater MTBF.
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
I think maybe he was confusing it with the 345?

Garmin really needs to do a better job of naming their stuff. The 335 and 345 are transponders, the 355 is a GPS/Com, and the 375 is a GPS/Transponder.
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Yup. To matters worse, the 345 is both a transponder and an audio panel, and I actually had in mind to install one of each.
 
We had a 375 installed in our 172 and picked it up on Saturday. We do like the unit but the biggest challenge is learning all of the features. One suggestion is mounting the unit high on the stack for better visibility. Also, entering data such as airports and squawks can be challenge when conditions are a little bumpy. I'll report back after a few more hours with the unit but so far, a big thumbs up. Image-1.jpg
 
PPC1052 said:
But I don't think that one is ADSB-Out, and it's only a COM. No NAV radio.
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Thanks PPC. You’re comment inspired me to look it up. You’re right, you give up the transponder capability. I guess they haven’t come up with the complete all in one box yet.
 
I have most of my last 500 or so hours behind a 430 / 430 W and I'm very comfortable with it. I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to aviation hardware and I'm not really keen on the concept of the touchscreen. But I don't have any experience with one. As far as far as flying GPS approaches and using a GPS navigator in general, I prefer the 430 which I don't find difficult at all once you know the button-ology or perhaps more accurately, knob-ology. However, I recognize that it is, in a sense, a sunsetted product or perhaps new soon-to-be sunsetted and I am impressed with the amount of functionality the GNX 375 provides.
 
James331 said:
The touch screen thing must have been a brain child of a IT or engineer type and not a working pilot.
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The GNX375 also has knobs too, as does the GTN series.
 
NordicDave said:
This is different than Garmin has publicly stated. The 430W has already gone End of Life, but they have no plans in the foreseeable future to go End of Service. They have plenty of screens, but not enough to automatically preemptively replace them on 430 to 430W upgrades. They stated they have years of parts available. The LCD screens are very reliable, unlike the gas plasma screens like the KX-155's, LCD has greater MTBF.
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If I was raking in over a grand each to fix them I would want the public to think that also. That’s not what I’m hearing from my friend that is in the industry. Keep using windows xp, it will run forever.
 
Simple fact the screen failure rate for LCD screens is very very low. The MTBF is very different than plasma displays. I’m not even sure what’s being debated here. Having a difficult time understanding the comparison windows PC’s and old versions of windows. The obsolescence cycle is about 3 years depending on models.

I have no issue with people buying new gear or legacy gear. Whatever works.
 
whats being debated here is if its a smart economic move to do a new install of a piece of electronic gear that has not been made in over 8 years, has un-know parts reserves for repairs, and an install cost of almost as much as the box, or should you spend more on a current production box. some think that is gamble worth taking, some of us think its a bad economic decision.
 
MIFlyer said:
Well, I think there are two issues. Since there is no slide in for a 480, if I had one, i'd probably just run it.
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Yep. It's an oddball size, too. If I had a 480 today and it quit, I'd probably look for another one on eBay that I could just slide in. Otherwise, you're looking at new-install costs.

If I had no GPS, I'd buy a new one, not pay thousands to install a used 430/530.
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Absolutely.

Now, the controversial one. What to do if you have a 430/530 that's working fine today. This is going to be different for everyone, but I think the smart money is to sell it immediately (6-7K) and slide in an IFD 440/540. My thinking is the GNS are worth gold right now, so for a few thousand bucks, you can leapfrog 15 years forward in features and supportability with a free or at most 1 hour install cost and you can sell your perfectly working GNS for top dollar right now as a lot of folks are doing panel upgrades and they are familiar with GNS.

Since I never really learned the GNS, I kind of don't want to. I'd rather start my IFR on a GTN or IFD and just stick with that for the GPS portions.
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That's an interesting idea. I think if I was buying a plane with a working 430W or 530W and I had zero experience with the GNS units, the Avidyne swap might be a good way to go. If you're going to have to learn something new, learn something NEW, right? In reality, I have a ton of experience with the GNS boxes and would leave it alone for now.

Rgbeard said:
I feel the Garmin 650 is closing in on withdrawal from marketing, as it's nearly 10 years since general availability. I was twitchy about investing in one. That is one of the reasons why I chose the newly-released 375.
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The GNS series lasted 12 years as Garmin's flagship navigator. The GTN series is only 7 years old right now. I think to some extent the iPhone pushed Garmin towards the GTN, as multi-touch touchscreens in general with the iPhone and iPad got really popular in a lot of new places. It was 5 years from the iPhone's introduction until the GTNs came out. What is the thing that's happening now, or very close, that will push toward something new? I don't know.

I also think Garmin learned a hard lesson from Avidyne in terms of upgrades. They lost a lot of customers to the slide-in Avidyne and I feel like they'll work a lot harder to have a slide-in replacement for the GTN next time around so they don't lose another wave of customers. I think you're already seeing that lesson at work in the upgradability from the G500, G600, and G1000 to their TXi/NXi versions.

I had no qualms about installing a GTN 750 two years ago, knowing that it was likely half its "marketing life" over. I'm expecting to get lots of good use out of it, and hopefully have an upgrade path. It's a fantastic unit, love the big screen.

James331 said:
Not sure why the resolution really matters, but the GNS series is so prolific in working planes that I’d wager it’ll be around for a loooong time.
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It'll be around for as long as Garmin has spare parts. It may be more than 5 years, but it will almost certainly be less than 10. Maybe some of you aren't planning on owning your planes for that long, or even flying that long, but I sure am.

MBDiagMan said:
The 345 is an audio panel?:eek:
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Ugh. I forgot that one, since my audio panel is a 350c.

But yes... You really need to include the entire model name when talking about the Garmin stuff now. GMA 345 = audio panel (GarMin Audio). GTX 345 = transponder (Garmin Tran"X"ponder).
 
I really hate the Garmin 530 that is in our airplane. Just far too many knob spins and button pushes to put in a flight plan with multiple airways. The most logical replacement at this point is the Avidyne 540/550, and now that they are entering the big airplane FMS market, I feel a lot more confident that they are going to be around for a while.

But we'll see what next year brings us.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I also think Garmin learned a hard lesson from Avidyne in terms of upgrades. They lost a lot of customers to the slide-in Avidyne and I feel like they'll work a lot harder to have a slide-in replacement for the GTN next time around so they don't lose another wave of customers.
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I don't understand how any of the manufacturers missed that lesson. Why place an unnecessary and expensive hurdle in the form of extra installation costs between you and the sale of a new unit when you aren't even the one that receives the revenue from the installation charges?
 
PPC1052 said:
I don't understand how any of the manufacturers missed that lesson. Why place an unnecessary and expensive hurdle in the form of extra installation costs between you and the sale of a new unit when you aren't even the one that receives the revenue from the installation charges?
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I know! I understand how they wanted to support their dealers, but I think they could have kept a slide in option and then put campaigns and promotions together to help their dealers sell G5's, G500's GTX 345's alongside a slide in navigator install, which would give the customer more value, garmin more revenue, and still given the avionics shops lots of work.
 
Groundpounder said:
I really hate the Garmin 530 that is in our airplane. Just far too many knob spins and button pushes to put in a flight plan with multiple airways.
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Put in a FlightStream 210, and your 530 becomes a whole new thing, beaming flight plans back and forth from your iPad and giving the twisty knob a much-needed rest.

The most logical replacement at this point is the Avidyne 540/550, and now that they are entering the big airplane FMS market, I feel a lot more confident that they are going to be around for a while.
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I wouldn't get too confident. It'll make them more stable eventually, provided they have some success in the market, but in the meantime it puts them at higher risk of going under if they're unable to absorb the R&D/certification costs.

PPC1052 said:
I don't understand how any of the manufacturers missed that lesson. Why place an unnecessary and expensive hurdle in the form of extra installation costs between you and the sale of a new unit when you aren't even the one that receives the revenue from the installation charges?
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Well, maybe they wanted to have a clean-sheet design and not hamper themselves with the constraint of being a slide-in... I mean, the 750 is significantly larger than the 530 was. I'm not sure it'd be as good if it weren't so big. But I hope they don't do that again.

MIFlyer said:
I know! I understand how they wanted to support their dealers, but I think they could have kept a slide in option and then put campaigns and promotions together to help their dealers sell G5's, G500's GTX 345's alongside a slide in navigator install, which would give the customer more value, garmin more revenue, and still given the avionics shops lots of work.
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Except that none of those things existed at the time. The GTNs came out in 2011. The only retrofit glass Garmin had at the time was the original G500/G600 series. Their only ADS-B solution, I believe, was the GDL 90, which was revealed to not meet the 2020 mandate for some reason (I think @azure knows more about this, since she bought a plane that had one). They didn't have that much else to offer.

It's amazing how much has changed since then, and how much has been introduced by Garmin!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Put in a FlightStream 210, and your 530 becomes a whole new thing, beaming flight plans back and forth from your iPad and giving the twisty knob a much-needed rest.



I wouldn't get too confident. It'll make them more stable eventually, provided they have some success in the market, but in the meantime it puts them at higher risk of going under if they're unable to absorb the R&D/certification costs.



Well, maybe they wanted to have a clean-sheet design and not hamper themselves with the constraint of being a slide-in... I mean, the 750 is significantly larger than the 530 was. I'm not sure it'd be as good if it weren't so big. But I hope they don't do that again.



Except that none of those things existed at the time. The GTNs came out in 2011. The only retrofit glass Garmin had at the time was the original G500/G600 series. Their only ADS-B solution, I believe, was the GDL 90, which was revealed to not meet the 2020 mandate for some reason (I think @azure knows more about this, since she bought a plane that had one). They didn't have that much else to offer.

It's amazing how much has changed since then, and how much has been introduced by Garmin!
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fair points. I like Garmin quality, just don't like their default UX. even the GTX345 is really counterintuitive to remove a Bluetooth host so that you can add yours (if you have 10 other pilots in your club). I always have to pull up the manual
 
texasclouds said:
I’d like to try the Garmin Pilot flight plan transfer function.
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It works with ForeFlight too, FWIW...

Groundpounder said:
Not going to invest $1500 or whatever a FS210 costs on mid 90’s technology.
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It's a helluva lot cheaper than a new GPS, and really is a game-changer in terms of user experience. Worth the investment if for no other reason than to make the existing gear tolerable until the next generation of navigators comes out in another 5 years or so.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Except that none of those things existed at the time. The GTNs came out in 2011. The only retrofit glass Garmin had at the time was the original G500/G600 series. Their only ADS-B solution, I believe, was the GDL 90, which was revealed to not meet the 2020 mandate for some reason (I think @azure knows more about this, since she bought a plane that had one). They didn't have that much else to offer.
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Not a whole lot more. I have taken it on faith that the GDL 90 doesn't meet the mandate, but I've never heard a good technical explanation of why. The best person around here to ask if anyone is interested is probably @John Collins.
 
The one thing folks forget when installing legacy technology is the hardware limitations imposed for integration with future advances. So you might save a little bit of money on a GNS430 compared to something more recent like an IFD440, but your GNS430 may or may not be fully compatible with data display from other devices you might want to connect to it now or in the future. For example, an NGT9000 can display everything on an IFD440, but cannot display radar at all, and can only display a limited number of traffic targets on a GNS430. How long before the puny, proprietary memory cards are too small for the full nav database? (I don't know, but I remember Garmin auto GPS units that were rendered essentially useless by lack of memory capacity and ability to use larger external memory cards to accommodate the growing map data.) Something designed 20+ years ago can't always be retrofitted to tomorrow's avionics and data capacity. More recent stuff has better chances.

I see an IFD440 in my not too distant future, but will keep with the GNS430 as long as it still works. I would never install another one now...there are better options, and the total install price difference is not large enough to be saddled with a legacy unit in an integrated panel.
 
I just installed a new Garmin GPS 175 in a Cherokee in the last few weeks as an assisted IA installation to save some money. (Little brother of the GNX 375 with no transponder and ADSB-in functions) While it was a lot of work as the entire interior had to be pulled to install the GPS antenna in the back and my transponder had to be relocated to right side of panel, I'm glad my IA talked me into this route. I wanted to pull one of my working radios (two nav coms) and find a used 430W. For same reasons others have listed above, with plane with no GPS installed, doesn't make sense to install older GPS when the new 175/355/375 prices are so competitive. I'd also get nothing out of my old radios as used, so 'throwing' away one of my properly functioning NAV/Coms, one with G/S not necessary.

I flew at lunch today for half an hour in bumpy conditions and had no real problem with the touch screen. I tried a few different functions and the large touchscreen 'blocks' used to pick different functions are big enough to hit the right spot, unlike a tablet using Foreflight or Avare. Many of the features can be controlled like the 430W using the inner/outer control knob including text/digit selection as well as changing over quickly to the 'nearest' screen to quickly find closest field.

I chose a 'Visual Approach' for the runway I was using and it gave me both a lateral and vertical navigation on the indicator just like a RNAV procedure. Neat feature that let me quickly verify everything is 100% working, but also nice if flying into airport with multiple runways to verify lined up on right one. Many more features I will have to learn.

I give it a big thumbs up so far.
 
hindsight2020 said:
LOL tell that to the V-tail people, or Cardinal carry-through people or comanche people or 182RG/210 actuator people or....I digress.
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I've never heard of anyone that owns those airplanes wanting to trade for an Arrow. Those airplanes fly circles around an Arrow!
 
Chris Ellington said:
I just installed a new Garmin GPS 175 in a Cherokee in the last few weeks as an assisted IA installation to save some money. (Little brother of the GNX 375 with no transponder and ADSB-in functions) While it was a lot of work as the entire interior had to be pulled to install the GPS antenna in the back and my transponder had to be relocated to right side of panel, I'm glad my IA talked me into this route. I wanted to pull one of my working radios (two nav coms) and find a used 430W. For same reasons others have listed above, with plane with no GPS installed, doesn't make sense to install older GPS when the new 175/355/375 prices are so competitive. I'd also get nothing out of my old radios as used, so 'throwing' away one of my properly functioning NAV/Coms, one with G/S not necessary.

I flew at lunch today for half an hour in bumpy conditions and had no real problem with the touch screen. I tried a few different functions and the large touchscreen 'blocks' used to pick different functions are big enough to hit the right spot, unlike a tablet using Foreflight or Avare. Many of the features can be controlled like the 430W using the inner/outer control knob including text/digit selection as well as changing over quickly to the 'nearest' screen to quickly find closest field.

I chose a 'Visual Approach' for the runway I was using and it gave me both a lateral and vertical navigation on the indicator just like a RNAV procedure. Neat feature that let me quickly verify everything is 100% working, but also nice if flying into airport with multiple runways to verify lined up on right one. Many more features I will have to learn.

I give it a big thumbs up so far.
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What's the CDI setup?
 
Chip Sylverne said:
What's the CDI setup?
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Garmin GI-106B. Got off ebay for about $1500 plus tax. Paid a little more than I could have got a King or older Garmin GI-106A, but the one I bought had only been in service for one year before pulled for upgrade and is basically new. Wish I had the funds for a G5 HSI, but that would have doubled cost of equipment as I would have wanted a G5 attitude indicator as well..

I'll probably start a thread and share some pictures in the next week or so. Need to replace some placards and clean up a few items.
 
lblandina said:
I've never heard of anyone that owns those airplanes wanting to trade for an Arrow. Those airplanes fly circles around an Arrow!
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Had a GNX 375 installed in Cherokee back in July. We used it as a way to be ADSB compliant and add IFR GPS capability. Avionics shop had a slightly used King KI-209A indicator that we paired it with. The unit has been fantastic. The ability to easily send flight plans or change in flight plans to/from Foreflight is great. Touch screen works well but when it gets bumpy you can still use the inner and outer knobs to make your selections, change pages etc. Overall its a way more capable and user friendly unit than the 430w I have used in a plane I rent occasionally.
 
BrianM said:
Had a GNX 375 installed in Cherokee back in July. We used it as a way to be ADSB compliant and add IFR GPS capability. Avionics shop had a slightly used King KI-209A indicator that we paired it with. The unit has been fantastic. The ability to easily send flight plans or change in flight plans to/from Foreflight is great. Touch screen works well but when it gets bumpy you can still use the inner and outer knobs to make your selections, change pages etc. Overall its a way more capable and user friendly unit than the 430w I have used in a plane I rent occasionally.
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BrianM,

I've only been able to take 3 total flights in mine and was in a hurry to get back and forth so no time to play with the unit much.

Are you using the built in Bluetooth for the Foreflight flight plane transfers, or are you required to have a Flightstream 510 card? I've read the manual and it appears to only require the built-in Bluetooth connection and add-on card is only required for easier database updates, but I haven't had time to link my iPad to the GPS175 yet.
 
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