GTN 650xi and Flight Stream 510 memory card.....for traffic/weather

[maduro]

Guys, just got an airplane with the 650xi and I am looking to get traffic on it and weather. I am learning that I need the Flight Stream memory card to get traffic? Does the Flight Stream 510 memory card replace the existing card? Also, does the Flight Stream memory card give you ADSB traffic & weather or do I need to get the GDL88? Or should I just get the GDL88 to get weather and traffic and forget the Flight Stream 510? Thanx.

 

[Hang 4]

All a flitestream card does is allow a wifi and/or bluetooth device to talk to the GTN (and the rest of a Garmin system).
With a 510 and Garmin Pilot on an iPad you can do your database updates. You can also move flight plans between the GTN and GP or Foreflight. If you have an ADSB receiver, the 510 will display traffic and weather on your iPad.
You need an ADSB receiver to get traffic/weather.

 

[maduro]

Yea... yea... I realized my momentary cranial-rectal-inversion. My question is...does that 510 memory card a replacement for the current card? Or does it go into the 650 somewhere? Thanx.

 

[Hang 4]

The 510 is an SD card. Goes in the slot that the regular SD card goes in. What's the rest of your panel got? And do you use Foreflight or GP in the plane. You might not need it.

 

[maduro]

So the 510 card replaces the regular SD card??

 

[Hang 4]

Yes. It's an SD card with a wifi and bluetooth transmitter/receiver. You can load Databases on it like any other SD card, or use the wifi with Garmin Pilot.

 

[Hang 4]

Before you haul off and drop $1,500 on a 510, tell us about the rest of your panel or panel upgrade if that's what's going on. There may be other ways to solve for what you're looking for.

 

[bnt83]

We have 2 650Xis in 2 different airplanes

One is a 650Xi paired with a GTX345 -> the best weather and traffic
One is a 650Xi paired to a GTX327 and a GDL88 -> weather and traffic works good but the GTX345 is a better setup.

Both have a FS510 and its nice to have so all the weather & traffic is blue toothed to our EFBs and phones but I mostly just use the GTNs.

 

[maduro]

We have 2 650Xis in 2 different airplanes

One is a 650Xi paired with a GTX345 -> the best weather and traffic
One is a 650Xi paired to a GTX327 and a GDL88 -> weather and traffic works good but the GTX345 is a better setup.

Both have a FS510 and its nice to have so all the weather & traffic is blue toothed to our EFBs and phones but I mostly just use the GTNs.

Got it... thanx for the great info.

 

[Gary Ward]

We have 2 650Xis in 2 different airplanes

One is a 650Xi paired with a GTX345 -> the best weather and traffic
One is a 650Xi paired to a GTX327 and a GDL88 -> weather and traffic works good but the GTX345 is a better setup.

Both have a FS510 and its nice to have so all the weather & traffic is blue toothed to our EFBs and phones but I mostly just use the GTNs.

Also use a 650, GTX345 and a FS510. It is very nice like said. I use my I pad for traffic and weather and flight planning. Yup it was bunch of money. Mine was put in in 2018 and I have close to 1300 hobbs hours on my panel since then. Getting my money's worth out of it.

That's where I run my I pad, up close to my face. I don't have to look down during IMC.

 

[Gary Ward]

You don't want to see this, if you do get $1295 out of your wallet if yours is out of warranty.

 

[M20K]

Guys, just got an airplane with the 650xi and I am looking to get traffic on it and weather. I am learning that I need the Flight Stream memory card to get traffic? Does the Flight Stream 510 memory card replace the existing card? Also, does the Flight Stream memory card give you ADSB traffic & weather or do I need to get the GDL88? Or should I just get the GDL88 to get weather and traffic and forget the Flight Stream 510? Thanx.

I'm going to repeat a couple of things others have said, but I think it is important to think the whole process through.

First, what Transponder do you have? And have you checked on the 650's Traffic screen to see if you're already getting Traffic? Traffic and Wx need to come from an ADS-B **IN** device and often that is the Transponder. Though as you said, you can buy an external device like the GDL88 if your Transponder is not ADS-B In/Out.

Next question is what else is in the panel, do you have a GI-275, GNC355 or GPS175? They have Bluetooth built in, so you may not need to buy a FS510. You can connect your EFB to one of those devices that should allow you to get Traffic, Wx and send Flight Plans to/from the GTN. NOTE: All the devices need to be configured correctly for this to work. So if you one of these other devices and it does not work at first, check with your avionics shop.

And as others have said, no the FS510 will not give you Traffic or Wx. It is just a WiFi and Bluetooth device to make up for the shortcomings of Garmin for not installing it in the first place. (I get the orig. 650 didn't have BT, there is NO excuse why the Xi does not.)

Also note if you do have other devices. With your Garmin OnePak you can create a single update SD Card for your Garmin devices. You then update the GTN with that SD Card and then the other devices will be updated from the GTN. Again, this needs to be configured correctly, but it is the normal setup and should have been done at the installation.

 

[Pinecone]

My plane came into my hands with a GTN-650 (not Xi) and GTX-345.

That gave me traffic and weather on my iPad on the GTN using the BT in the 345.

I upgraded to GTN-650Xi and added the FS-510. They added the ability to update the GTN databases wirelessly using my iPad Mini and Garmin Pilot.

Current panel is G3X, GTN-750Xi, GTN-650Xi, and GTX-345R. So similar to before. I wirelessly update the GTN-750Xi and it cross fills the update to the 650Xi, but the G3X still needs to be updated with an SN card. I am hoping that the G4X/G3Xi will allow wireless updating.