GPS Which One??
InfiNET
What is the difference between a standard GPS and an Aviation GPS?
Do the aviation GPS's have airport information for Canadian Airports too?
Which GPS would you recommend ?
Thanks
InfinET
Jeff Millard, CFI
airspace, Navaids) and often includes features geared towards flying. e.g. a
nearest airport button, wind calculator, readouts in nautical as well as
statute miles. To use a GPS as the primary means of navigation under
Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) it has to be certified and is therefore is
much more expensive ($5k and up). These also have databases which must be
regularly updated at a cost of a couple hundred per year or so.
Most of lower-end hand held units geared toward aviation have enough
features that are worth the premium over the $99 backpakers special you see
from time to time.
As to which one is the best? These debates will go on forever.
Jeff
"InfiNET" <inf...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:x_F18.8250$467.3...@news2.calgary.shaw.ca...
Kevin Black
Aviation GPS have the Jepp Aviation database, there are a limited
number/type of them and they cost about double or more of the non-aviation
GPS. You CANNOT upgrade a non-aviation GPS to an aviation GPS. Having said
that, there was a program that vendors had that allowed the Jepp data to be
uploaded to a Magellan 315 - it then became a magellan 315a. I didn't like
the unit, but they sold a few. You cannot do it with Garmin units since
there are firmware differences even though the StreetPilot III looks like a
GPSMAP 295 and the GIII Plus looks like a GIII Pilot.
> Do the aviation GPS's have airport information for Canadian Airports too?
Yes, the Jepp DB you get is for your part of the world (and from what I can
see has a squillion countries in it that you are unlikely to ever visit).
> Which GPS would you recommend ?
Many will say get a non-aviation GPS with moving map and simply enter in the
waypoints and I have a degree of sympath for this view. I have used an
e-Map which I liked and it was cheap. I briefly owned a GPSMAP 195, but it
was way too big and the cable connections were prehistoric. I now own a
Garmin III Pilot which I like and would personally recommend (but then
people often recommend stuff they own) . I'd also not recommend buying the
yoke mount kit - a waste of money for me at least. I wouldn't buy the cig
adapter - the unit gets 24hrs from 4AA batteries - I would, however, buy the
PC/GPS data cable.
BUT if I were to do it again, I'd probably go non-Aviation and just upload
user Waypoints.
One of the real problems with Aviation GPS is that there is no 3rd Party
software to allow you to upload a route (say) made up of Jepp data and user
data, ie. you need to key the route in on the GPS, a painfully slow way of
doing it if you want to do that. Actually there is one package (and I use
it), but it's a bit convoluted. So most perople replicate the Jepp data as
user data so they can upload routes etc from a PC - wotta waste of effort
and wotta waste of an aviation DB - by doing this and apart from the
depiction of airspace and some airport info you'd be better off using a
non-aviation GPS and much wealthier
Many are using the Anywhere map (and other) software and iPAQ, but I didn't
want cables and multiple devices and bits and pieces. Some love it - some
hate it.
A PDF style book and web site addressing all these issues is at:
http://www.geocities.com/handheldgps/
AVWeb also has reviews of the Lowrance and Garmin aviation uinits -
www.avweb.com and look in the section 'reviews'.
YMMV,
Kevin
BARR DOUG
The aviation units have the aviation databases. They also have antennaes
for "in the air" reception. The GPS engine and basic underlying stuff is
similar.
My Garmin 195 (and the Garmin III), have "North America" databases. All
of Mexico, lower 48, Canada and Alaska and Hawaii (yes Alaska and Hawaii are
part of USA!)
Larry Heilman
points for airports etc.--
I use a Lowrance Global map 100 (costs about $200) with pc interface
cable(serial port) and software for the pc that you can get from
Lowrance. The pc software makes it much easier to load waypoints and
routes than using the buttons on the hand held gps.
I have taken this unit on commercial jet flights and it works great just
keeping it near the window. It showed speeds above 500mph and alitudes
at 36,000 ft. just fine. Sure made those long flights more interesting
and you could see how far out of the way using victor airways took you
compared to going direct!
If you can afford it, the aviation gps units are best for flying, but to
save a Few hundred dollars the non aviation units can be a great help in
navigating.
Mark
it mainly in rental planes that don't have DME, so I know for sure how far I
am from where I'm going. It gives me my ground speed so I can keep track of
fuel, and as long as I've kept the arrow pointing forward, I've always ended
up mid-field of where ever I've been going. Of course such a GPS should be
used as a supplement to the sectional and so on as it doesn't have airspaces
or even a map for that matter.
My $.02 on that subject.
~Mark
"InfiNET" <inf...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:x_F18.8250$467.3...@news2.calgary.shaw.ca...
mani
both for europe and usa.
would i do it again ? YES !
they are great little portable machines,
and you can rely on getting the battery
life out of them, no worries.
but perhaps: as has been mentioned earlier, buying a cheaper reliable gps,
with nmea0183 output, and hooking it up to a lovely colour screen on your yoke
(compaq ipaq with anywhere software)
well, that would come a close 2nd for me !
its very much a "suck it and see"
situation. everyone likes different things,
so i'd recommend you get flights with people that use these equipments,
and sort out your preference before
you part with $$$'s.
regards, alex
C J Campbell
those designed for other purposes any more. Some aviation GPS's brag about
sealed cases filled with nitrogen, etc. The big difference is software, and
IMHO the Garmins all have the best software. They pick up and track more
satellites, lock on more quickly, and have simpler menus. They do have a
tendency to flake out once in awhile, though, requiring resetting the unit.
An aviation GPS will have aviation data built into it; a Garmin will come
with either an Americas, Pacific, or European database depending on where
you get it, but you can change the database if you are traveling elsewhere.
I don't really recommend it; the Americas database still contains
significant European information, for example, and it just doesn't seem
worth the cost and hassle to me. The aviation GPS is well worth the
difference in cost.
More interesting, though, is the AnywhereMap software from ControlVision
running on a Windows CE device such as the Compaq Ipaq. Coupled with a cheap
GPS receiver, you can have a color system with far more features and
flexibility than the top handheld GPS's for a fraction of the cost. There
are newer competitors out there, too, offering good palmtop software. I
believe these units to be a far better value than handhelds such as the
Garmin GPSMap 295. You can take a look at it at www.controlvision.com or you
will find it in the latest Sporty's catalog.
"InfiNET" <inf...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:x_F18.8250$467.3...@news2.calgary.shaw.ca...
joe
have? From what I understand, the non aviation units aren't designed to
track fast moving vehicles. Also, aren't they switching over to GPS for IFR
by 2004? If that's the case wouldn't it be better to invest in a good panel
GPS?
"Kevin Black" <kevin...@megabit.com.au> wrote in message
news:3c476e21$1...@news.iprimus.com.au...
Kevin Black
engine (or variants on a theme), ie. 12 channel tracking. I know of no
Garmin uint that doesn't employ 12 channel tracking. The very old Garmins
(45??) had difficulty over 100mph. Many have reported using the cheaper
non-aviation handhelds in commercial acft showing 400+kts. That's just not
an issue (although I'm told that there may be a 999kt limit on some). The
e-Map I used worked just fine in a C172.
Panel mounts aren't very useful if you rent unless it's already bolted into
the acft. A Garmin 430 installed is in excess of US$10,000, that's bout
$20,000 of my dollars. The cheapest IFR certified panel mounts aren't
cheap. There are already IFR GPS approaches, they may all be NPAs I'm not
sure and it could be with WAAS etc you can do a precision approach, maybe
that's what's happening by 2004 - I'm the wrong person to answer that
question.
You can by a good moving map handheld for underUS$300.
See: http://www.geocities.com/handheldgps/
Kevin
"joe" <j...@joe.com> wrote in message
news:4u528.9715$8P3.3...@news02.optonline.net...
David
the newer ones too) were only suitable for up to about 70 to 90Kt if I
remember correctly. i.e they were only suitable for cars and walkers!
David
Piper Warrior G-BHJO
Scotland, UK
E-mail (Remove Space after pilot): pilot 20...@lochaber-physio.co.uk
mani
i pulled a muscle
:)
Doug DeFrees
are in the same category as two-way pagers, i.e. strictly forbidden for
use while in flight. Did you get permission from the captain to use your
GPS en route?
Doug
Mad Dasher
I've done the same thing Mr. Heilman has described. Had it hooked up
to my laptop on the plane and could track where exactly where we were.
Very cool watching my plane cross the NM, AZ state line at 35000 feet
at 400+ MPH on my laptop. Didn't ask the captian for permission and
nobody told me not to do it..
However, it was a different time (pre-9/11) and I don't think I'd so
much as turn on a GPS onboard a commercial plane as it would likely
arouse concern by someone.
The GPS does not "transmit" anything as a 2-way device does. The only
frequencies emitted are those of local oscillators and intermediate
frequencies and are quite weak outside their shielding. So they are
unlikely to cause a problem with any system on the plane..