Garmin 530 with WAAS

A

Aztec468

Filing Flight Plan
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Daniel
New pilot here so please excuse some basic questions. Just purchased a Garmin 530 with WAAS (it seems prices are finally coming down as this was cost me approximately 3500$), and I was curious what other things could I purchase or gather for my avionics installer. I also grabbed a Ki-206 CDI but other than that I'm not sure what else I need. Thank you!
 
Just a bit vague! I’m not a huge fan of Garmin in a lot of ways, but their stuff works GREAT together…

Got a good transponder/ADSB unit?
Good comm panel?

That pretty much takes care of the “stack” these days. The panel is another discussion. Staying vacuum or wanna go electric?

I have a nice NDB unit you can use too. The antenna isn’t an ounce over five pounds… found it bagged up and zip tied to the frame of my taylorcraft under the seat. I’ll donate it, but I ain’t paying shipping! A new wt and balance may be required.

Nice pick on the 530!
 
Aztec468 said:
New pilot here so please excuse some basic questions. Just purchased a Garmin 530 with WAAS (it seems prices are finally coming down as this was cost me approximately 3500$), and I was curious what other things could I purchase or gather for my avionics installer. I also grabbed a Ki-206 CDI but other than that I'm not sure what else I need. Thank you!
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It would help to know what you have now, how it’s equipped, and what you’re planning on doing with it.
 
Antennas, cabling, and connectors come to mind.

The rest comes down to how big is hour budget and what you want to do with the 530W.
 
TCABM said:
Antennas, cabling, and connectors come to mind.

The rest comes down to how big is hour budget and what you want to do with the 530W.
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I think this. My installer had me grab a ga35 and it seems the CDI it already has will work with the unit. I wish I could upload a picture but it’s restricting me due to being new to the site. The other nav com is the kx155Tso
 
Curious - exactly what airplane is this going into? Are you flying IFR with this? What is your install labor costs for this?

Why did you choose the GNS 530?

Enjoy hearing how folks pick and choose what they put in their planes to fit their flying.
 
WDD said:
Curious - exactly what airplane is this going into? Are you flying IFR with this? What is your install labor costs for this?

Why did you choose the GNS 530?

Enjoy hearing how folks pick and choose what they put in their planes to fit their flying.
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1966 aztec. I was told to get a 430 or 530 from my pilot friends and this one had waas and was inexpensive so why not. We will be flying IFR and I’m doing this to prepare and to train in. Labor estimate is at 1700$ shockingly. The ultimate goal is long high altitude trips
 
What other avionics do you have in it right now?

Btw. I dont disagree with your decision. I was in a similar boat. I had two like new 430's fall into my lap and financially it made a lot more sense to install that then move my 530 down and spend 15K on a 650 or 20k on a 750 plus installation.
 
I’m all for saving money. To an extent. IFR can be tricky. For me, I like the idea of being in IMC with something robust in the panel.

If that’s a GNS or a GTN is subjective call.
 
WDD said:
If that’s a GNS or a GTN is subjective call.
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And really, except for the airway issue (which can be fixed with a FlightStream) and future-proofing, there's not much bad about a 530W, especially if you haven't flown something more modern to compare it to.

As you say, it's pretty subjective. I know someone who recently purchased an airplane with a G1000nxi and feels like he's downgraded.
 
midlifeflyer said:
And really, except for the airway issue (which can be fixed with a FlightStream) and future-proofing, there's not much bad about a 530W, especially if you haven't flown something more modern to compare it to.

As you say, it's pretty subjective. I know someone who recently purchased an airplane with a G1000nxi and feels like he's downgraded.
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What is the airway issue? Also might add the flight stream as well
 
What's the biggest benefit of running two GPS units? Is this over the top or is there a lot of application?
Thanks! This is great
 
Aztec468 said:
What's the biggest benefit of running two GPS units? Is this over the top or is there a lot of application?
Thanks! This is great
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I don't know if the GNS can sync, but I have a GTN 650xi and it's little brother the GNC 355 (basically the same but without the Nav radio) that are synced.

Really like having both. Enter flight plan in one, syncs to the second one. I keep the flight plan open on the top GTN, and the bottom has the map and key metrics.

And.... almost all of my flying IFR is with GPS, RNAV approaches. For years we had twin Nav radios, partly for one to be used as a back up. Given I fly so much using GPS, any back up needed would be a back up GPS. For example, one flight many years ago I had a GNS 430 unit just go blank - turned out to be a bad photo cell and dimmed the screen as if it were night. I was VFR, but if I was IFR and needing an RNAV at an airport, I would have had a problem.
 
I’d always have a backup Nav/Com. What happens if GPS from the source goes out, ie satellites or military exercise. I’m not sure, but can the Nav part of the 530w still work if GPS is out?
 
Rcmutz said:
I’d always have a backup Nav/Com. What happens if GPS from the source goes out, ie satellites or military exercise. I’m not sure, but can the Nav part of the 530w still work if GPS is out?
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Yes, radios in a GNS will work regardless of GPS. You can still navigate via the Nav radio; VOR to VOR, ILS approaches, etc. Just change your CDI source to VLOC and it will listen to your Nav radio in the GNS. If GPS is out, you will have no GPS navigation function.
 
WDD said:
Yes, radios in a GNS will work regardless of GPS. You can still navigate via the Nav radio; VOR to VOR, ILS approaches, etc. Just change your CDI source to VLOC and it will listen to your Nav radio in the GNS. If GPS is out, you will have no GPS navigation function.
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So having a second 430/530W is as good as a second Nav/Com since they are a GPS/Nav/COM units.
 
WDD said:
a GTN 650xi and it's little brother the GNC 355 (basically the same but without the Nav radio)
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Not exactly. Aside from the NAV radio, the GTN can do a few things the GNC cannot.
 
asicer said:
Not exactly. Aside from the NAV radio, the GTN can do a few things the GNC cannot.
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True. But “basically” close, but not same. I do like the bigger screen of the 650xi for example.

The idea is the same though; they are close enough that syncing them creates a slick system. And I can use either by itself for navigation should one fail.
 
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Aztec468 said:
What is the airway issue? Also might add the flight stream as well
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You can’t load airways as airways in the GNS series. You have to enter them one waypoint at a time. With FlightStream, you can load the airway in ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot and then push the group of waypoints to the GNS.
 
Aztec468 said:
I was told to get a 430 or 530 from my pilot friends
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You need some new friends. The 530W is already no longer fully supported by Garmin - Display issues turn it into a boat anchor. It won't be much longer before the entire unit is unsupported. Given the price of installation on a GPS/Nav/Com, it's usually worth buying a well-supported unit. That said, with the number of GNS navigators being removed for upgrades, you might be able to get by for a while.

Aztec468 said:
Labor estimate is at 1700$ shockingly.
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Wow... That's a steal. Did you get that in writing? :o

Aztec468 said:
What's the biggest benefit of running two GPS units? Is this over the top or is there a lot of application?
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I suppose you could put the map page on one and the data page on another and see a lot at a glance, but I haven't flown a lot of planes that have dual GPS.

If you need a second Nav/Com and you can find another GNS unit and get that same installation price, it wouldn't hurt to have a second one. You can have them auto-sync.
 
Aztec468 said:
What's the biggest benefit of running two GPS units? Is this over the top or is there a lot of application?
Thanks! This is great
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Now, backup for unit failure and, after all, if you are going to have a comm 2, might as well have other functionality.

There used to be others. For example, dual GPS users would use GPS #2 as a “sandbox” to test out route changes before pushing to #1. Syncing the two would allow one to display the moving map while the other, say, the flight plan. But those functions have been taken over by our EFBs, so these days us really more about NAV/COM backup than second GPS functionality.
 
WDD said:
Except that the display screen isn’t repairable or replaceable. So maybe not fully? Which I read as that was the point being made.

Lots of people still use and like the GNS options. Still works and is safe. Just know about the current state of serviceability and make your decision accordingly.
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You dont repair screens you replace them and the table at the bottom of the page indicates the 530s display is currently available for replacement.
 
saml01 said:
You dont repair screens you replace them and the table at the bottom of the page indicates the 530s display is currently available for replacement.
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Ah ha - my mistake. You are correct.
 
saml01 said:
Still fully supported
support.garmin.com

GNS Series Repair Service Changes | Garmin Customer Support

Garmin Support Center is where you will find answers to frequently asked questions and resources to help with all of your Garmin products.
support.garmin.com support.garmin.com
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The 530 screen is a 5" diagonal, 4"x3" WxH, QVGA resolution (320x240) LCD. The fact that those are common dimensions bodes well for longevity, unlike the oddball size screen in the 430.
 
asicer said:
The 530 screen is a 5" diagonal, 4"x3" WxH, QVGA resolution (320x240) LCD. The fact that those are common dimensions bodes well for longevity, unlike the oddball size screen in the 430.
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Ah, but that doesn't really matter to the FAA. It's not certified with any random screen of those dimensions and resolution, it's certified with specific parts and when the manufacturer end-of-lifes those parts, Garmin gets one last shot to buy as many of them as they'll ever need before production stops. They can't just randomly sub in some other manufacturer's part, even if the specs are the same, without doing a song and dance with the FAA.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
They can't just randomly sub in some other manufacturer's part, even if the specs are the same, without doing a song and dance with the FAA.
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But at least that song and dance is an option, unlike the 430. I wonder what's the exact part number. Maybe there's still some demand for it outside of the 530.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
They can't just randomly sub in some other manufacturer's part, even if the specs are the same, without doing a song and dance with the FAA.
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You'll find product or article OEMs have a wide latitude to alter or upgrade their equipment without a formal recertification process. Simply changing a 3rd party vendor for things like screens or similar is usually done as an EO in-house in my experience. Now whether Garmin would want to do that to extend the 530 line is something completely different.
 
Products that must be returned by Garmin as unrepairable due to an announced unavailability of repair parts will incur a $500 processing fee per unrepairable unit.

They charge you $500 for not fixing your GNS? Damn...........
 
IIRC if this was not purchased from Garmin they won't issue the STC for it...(?)
 
$1,700 for the install is shocking, true. Most quotes I’ve seen are well north of that.

The 530 is a very good unit. The main argument against it is the longitivtiy and it takes a bit of practice to become fluent with it. The install cost doesn’t translate at all for a future upgrade. If you can really instal it for 1.7 AMU it seems like a deal.

You are at the top of the slippery slope of avionics installs. If you want, I am fully qualified to help you turn this into a 6 figure project. POA is a good place to get help spending your money.
 
Another potential benefit for GNS 430/530
… if touch screen on newer models a challenge in TB, twisting/pushing a physical knob can be easier.
For newer Garmin options, raised ‘ergonomic’ bezel to brace hand doesn’t help adequately (for me). YMMV.
 
MikeNY said:
Another potential benefit for GNS 430/530
… if touch screen on newer models a challenge in TB, twisting/pushing a physical knob can be easier.
For newer Garmin options, raised ‘ergonomic’ bezel to brace hand doesn’t help adequately (for me). YMMV.
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There are things you can do with the knobs on the GTNs too, but nobody ever seems to notice that because the touchscreen is easier. Plus, it seems like most installs are getting a FlightStream or other Connext device which helps you rely on the touchscreen even less.
 
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