Avidyne vs Garmin

tmyers

tmyers

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Tim Myers
Has anyone seriously checked into the Avidyne touch screen GPSs?
 
You are correct, I thought they would be out by now. I am hoping a little competition will help with prices.
 
Initial descriptions and functionality look promising. But we're getting into year 3 since initial announcement and no delivery.

Anyone hear anything on why the holdup?
 
I bet those that plopped down the $8k last fall aren't real happy with the delays.
 
Definitely not a good sign (the delay) but I remain hopeful. Garmin needs some competition as is King certainly isn't offering any.
 
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LDJones said:
Definitely not a good sign (the delay) but I remain hopeful. Garmin needs some competition as and King certainly isn't offering any.
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I thought Avidyne was somehow involved with King on this deal
 
Avidyne is in the "final FAA certification" stage, but that's still a months-long endeavor at best, and it will be / has already been adversely affected by the federal sequester situation, so that doesn't help.

Avidyne has been posting fairly frequently on their own message forum re: the certification work. The most informative / up-to-date thread is here: http://www.avidynelive.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=238&title=ifd540-certification-status
 
It would be of interest to me to see the "punchlist" of items that must be done to gain final approval.
 
AggieMike88 said:
It would be of interest to me to see the "punchlist" of items that must be done to gain final approval.
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You mean something beyond
- Jump through hoop
- Wait
- Jump through hoop
- Wait
- Grease palm
- Wait
- Jump through hoop
- Wait
- Wait
....etc.
 
The KSN770 was "almost here" long before Avidyne announced their effort, and it isn't here yet. So what's the likelihood that Avidyne will beat BK to certification?
 
Ron Levy said:
The KSN770 was "almost here" long before Avidyne announced their effort, and it isn't here yet. So what's the likelihood that Avidyne will beat BK to certification?
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depends. Avidyne has been innovative while bk... not so much. I wonder if maybe Avidyne has a better relationship and understanding of the current process.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
 
Ron Levy said:
Yeah, well, I'm waiting to be amazed.
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Yeah, well, if jumping through wickets to get FAA certification was easy, everyone would be doing it. If Avidyne makes it through the gauntlet, that'll be...let's see, let me count 'em up, here...square root of pi...carry the one...integrate over the path...and you get...

...TWO companies with an IFR-certified panel GPS for certificated GA planes like mine.

Thanks for keeping us safe, FAA!
 
TMetzinger said:
depends. Avidyne has been innovative while bk... not so much. I wonder if maybe Avidyne has a better relationship and understanding of the current process.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
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Avidyne is over 2 years late on their synthetic vision...
 
Jim_R said:
Yeah, well, if jumping through wickets to get FAA certification was easy, everyone would be doing it. If Avidyne makes it through the gauntlet, that'll be...let's see, let me count 'em up, here...square root of pi...carry the one...integrate over the path...and you get...

...TWO companies with an IFR-certified panel GPS for certificated GA planes like mine.
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I believe King is still making the KLN-94, so that would make the total three.

Thanks for keeping us safe, FAA!
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The FAA has its marching orders from Congress and the President. If you have a problem with the way the FAA does business, complain to them. In the meantime, I feel pretty good about it when I'm flying my Tiger on an LPV approach to 200-1/2 with my Garmin GNS530W.
 
Ron Levy said:
I believe King is still making the KLN-94, so that would make the total three.

The FAA has its marching orders from Congress and the President. If you have a problem with the way the FAA does business, complain to them. In the meantime, I feel pretty good about it when I'm flying my Tiger on an LPV approach to 200-1/2 with my Garmin GNS530W.
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Kln94 is discontinued
 
Ron Levy said:
The FAA has its marching orders from Congress and the President. If you have a problem with the way the FAA does business, complain to them. In the meantime, I feel pretty good about it when I'm flying my Tiger on an LPV approach to 200-1/2 with my Garmin GNS530W.
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Actually, I do feel pretty safe when I'm flying approaches with my GNS430.

But I don't feel good about it. $10,000+ for that box? Really?

Really??

And for about 10 years, there was no one else who could compete against that? (KLN-ninety-whatnow?)

Really??!?

Yeah, I don't feel good about that, at all. I don't care whose fault it is.
 
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Jim_R said:
But I don't feel good about it. $10,000+ for that box? Really?
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If I have my numbers right, a GNS430W costs about the same in real dollars today as a KX-175 did 30-40 years ago. Seems to me we're getting a lot more for our money today.
 
Today's boxes are a huge bargain compared to the old days. I think I paid $8k for a KNS-80 in 1982.
Ron Levy said:
If I have my numbers right, a GNS430W costs about the same in real dollars today as a KX-175 did 30-40 years ago. Seems to me we're getting a lot more for our money today.
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Sure, through the narcotic haze of the aviation crack pipe, it all looks normal. It's only when you compare it to the rest of the world that it starts to look crazy.

What would a $10,000 laptop computer look like, for instance? (Besides "1981", that is.)
 
I have a GNS 530AW and I am very happy with it. 100% reliable. I do not feel compel to replace it with the IFD540 or KNS 770. The only noticeable difference I see is that the new ones have the buttons on the screen while the 530 have them on the bezel. Having the buttons on the screen takes moving map space and requires double entry to recall the keys. It is also less intuitive. But if you do not have a 530 then either the IFD540 or the KNS 770 or the GTN 750 are your only options for a new navigator. You can also consider getting a used 530 for half the price.

José
 

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Piloto said:
I have a GNS 530AW and I am very happy with it. 100% reliable. I do not feel compel to replace it with the IFD540 or KNS 770. The only noticeable difference I see is that the new ones have the buttons on the screen while the 530 have them on the bezel. Having the buttons on the screen takes moving map space and requires double entry to recall the keys. It is also less intuitive. But if you do not have a 530 then either the IFD540 or the KNS 770 or the GTN 750 are your only options for a new navigator. You can also consider getting a used 530 for half the price.

José
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I agree completely with the notion that the 430 or 530 is more than adequate for my limited mission. I think the fear is that Garmin feels like they have the market cornered and can do anything they want. If they decide they are not selling enough new gtn's they will cease to support the 430's and 530's and force us to upgrade whether we want to or not. Garmin also (from what I have heard) refuses to play nicely with the Aspen products. I will probably never own an Aspen product but i still resent the fact that Garmin feels they can just ignore the many requests for compatibility simply because they can.

Even if I can never afford the Garmin or the Avidyne gps's I really hope Avidyne can knock them off of their throne and bring them back to a more humble position as a service provider.
 
tmyers said:
....Garmin also (from what I have heard) refuses to play nicely with the Aspen products.....
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Curious to know what they won't play nice with. I haven't had any problems in the two planes I fly that have Aspens. One has a 650 and the other dual 430's.
 
We had a discussion recently in our flying club about the integration between the two and that the latest Garmin firmware update eliminated the limited compatibility they already had. I don't have all the details but some of those that had the Aspen and Garmin set up were not happy about it. If I get any more details I will post it.
 
tmyers said:
I agree completely with the notion that the 430 or 530 is more than adequate for my limited mission. I think the fear is that Garmin feels like they have the market cornered and can do anything they want. If they decide they are not selling enough new gtn's they will cease to support the 430's and 530's and force us to upgrade whether we want to or not. Garmin also (from what I have heard) refuses to play nicely with the Aspen products. I will probably never own an Aspen product but i still resent the fact that Garmin feels they can just ignore the many requests for compatibility simply because they can.

Even if I can never afford the Garmin or the Avidyne gps's I really hope Avidyne can knock them off of their throne and bring them back to a more humble position as a service provider.
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I don't think I've seen an Aspen that wasn't connected to a 530 or 430.
 
tmyers said:
I agree completely with the notion that the 430 or 530 is more than adequate for my limited mission. I think the fear is that Garmin feels like they have the market cornered and can do anything they want. If they decide they are not selling enough new gtn's they will cease to support the 430's and 530's and force us to upgrade whether we want to or not. Garmin also (from what I have heard) refuses to play nicely with the Aspen products. I will probably never own an Aspen product but i still resent the fact that Garmin feels they can just ignore the many requests for compatibility simply because they can.

Even if I can never afford the Garmin or the Avidyne gps's I really hope Avidyne can knock them off of their throne and bring them back to a more humble position as a service provider.
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You do not need Garmin for continued support of the G430/530. There is plenty of avionics shops wiling to get into this big market (about 60,000 sold). There is plenty of Garmin engineers and techs looking to put their own repair shop or working with one. It happened before like with the KX-170 that still supported by avioncs shops. Just imagine a shop selling refurbish/yellow tagged 430/530 at half the price of a GTN-750.

José
 
I hope you are correct about others coming out in support of the 430/530 Garmin.

I guess my concern, and maybe it is unfounded, but I think Garmin certifies who can and who cannot work on their line of products. I would think they could also pull that certification for certain products.

It would be great if an avionics person could comment on this.
 
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