TheCowGod
Filing Flight Plan
I'm researching various low-end aviation GPSes, just to have something in the cockpit that will tell me my groundspeed, how close I am to that class-C airpspace I'm approaching, how far I am from an airport (for position reporting), and where's the nearest airport to land at when I find I'm suddenly a glider pilot.
I've just about narrowed it down to either a used Garmin 195 (looks like about $200 on ebay) or a Lowrance AirMap 1000 (running around $300 used on ebay). Lowrance has a great little software emulator for each of their GPSes, so you can play with it on your computer and see how you like the interface and capabilities. Based on that, I can tell that the AirMap 1000 would meet all my needs. But the software interface seems a little clunky and unintuitive, or maybe it's just different than what I'm used to (my training plane had a Garmin 430 in it, so I'm already familiar with the way Garmin does things). I'd like to play around with a 195 to see if its interface is more inline with what I know and like. I know it's older so it may work totally different than a newer unit like the 430, but if it's got the features I need and the interface is pleasant, it'd sure be great to also save $100 in the process. But it doesn't look like there's a software emulator for it, and since it is long since discontinued, I'm sure I won't find display models at FBOs.
So I'm curious if anyone near me (Knoxville, TN) happens to have one that you would let me play with for a few minutes. I don't need to actually take it flying, I just want to look around the menus, try planning a route, etc. If you do, I'd be happy to buy you lunch (though hopefully a relatively cheap lunch, keeping in mind I'm trying to save $100 here
I'd much appreciate a PM if you can help me out. I'm also interested in hearing from anyone with one of these two units for sale. Thanks.
Dan
I've just about narrowed it down to either a used Garmin 195 (looks like about $200 on ebay) or a Lowrance AirMap 1000 (running around $300 used on ebay). Lowrance has a great little software emulator for each of their GPSes, so you can play with it on your computer and see how you like the interface and capabilities. Based on that, I can tell that the AirMap 1000 would meet all my needs. But the software interface seems a little clunky and unintuitive, or maybe it's just different than what I'm used to (my training plane had a Garmin 430 in it, so I'm already familiar with the way Garmin does things). I'd like to play around with a 195 to see if its interface is more inline with what I know and like. I know it's older so it may work totally different than a newer unit like the 430, but if it's got the features I need and the interface is pleasant, it'd sure be great to also save $100 in the process. But it doesn't look like there's a software emulator for it, and since it is long since discontinued, I'm sure I won't find display models at FBOs.
So I'm curious if anyone near me (Knoxville, TN) happens to have one that you would let me play with for a few minutes. I don't need to actually take it flying, I just want to look around the menus, try planning a route, etc. If you do, I'd be happy to buy you lunch (though hopefully a relatively cheap lunch, keeping in mind I'm trying to save $100 here
I'd much appreciate a PM if you can help me out. I'm also interested in hearing from anyone with one of these two units for sale. Thanks.Dan
