Icarus SAM GPSS ... and More!

SCCutler

SCCutler

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Spike Cutler
So i am beginning to dream about new and creative ways to spend money on the airplane (!). I am scheduled for the WAAs upgrade to the 430 in May, and have been thinking seriously about getting a GPSS module; everyone I have spoken to who has one, loves it.

So I read this article in a recent ABS Magazine, touting the Icarus SAM, which is a capable GPSS, but also includes programmable audio alerts for a whole raft of stuff, like target altitudes on climb / descent, minimum altitude on approaches, gear warnings (!), vacuum failure, low fuel, overtemp on CHT/EGT, waypoints, etc. Sounds like a real blast. The cost is not that much more than the GPSS-only from S-Tec.

I know it would be more expense on installation, but it provides a lot of value.

http://www.icarusinstruments.com/samgps/Home.html

So, any of you have it, or know someone who has it? PIREP, please!

Granted
 
FWIW my radio guy has great things to say about Icarus. That's his suggestion for GPSS on 36PD.
 
SCCutler said:
So, any of you have it, or know someone who has it? PIREP, please!
Click to expand...

I have one of the earliest SAM installations. It replaced a DAC GDC-31 I had installed when I upgraded my GPS to a GNS-480. The bottom line is I like the SAM very much and use many of it's features on every flight. I connected it to the landing gear, oil pressure sensor(s), and my JPI engine monitor to get audible alerts from them. It's driving a Century III autopilot which is also connected to a KCS-55 HSI.

I switched from the GDC-31 for two reasons. One is that the GDC-31 was interfering with my comm radio and the other is that I really wanted an altitude alerter since I had lost that function when I removed the KLN-94. The audible alert for oil pressure and engine monitor were an added bonus since all of those instruments are located well out of my normal scan. The gear alert has the potential to prevent a gear up landing although it depends on the pilot inputting the elevation of the destination airport to work properly (SAM asks for that at power on).

I do have one problem with it but the fault lies primarily with the GNS-480 and hopefully will be cured when the next (and final) GPS software version is released this spring. The SAM was designed to detect that things weren't working out and revert to heading mode if the GPS indicates the airplane is very far off track. Unfortunately when the 480 flies a holding pattern the information it provides to the SAM indicates how far you are from the inbound course even when you are turning to the outbound leg and that causes the SAM to disengage on my airplane if I fly the hold at "normal" speeds for a Baron. I don't believe this is a problem with the GNS-430W.
 
gibbons said:
FWIW my radio guy has great things to say about Icarus. That's his suggestion for GPSS on 36PD.
Click to expand...

lancefisher said:
I have one of the earliest SAM installations...

I switched from the GDC-31 for two reasons. One is that the GDC-31 was interfering with my comm radio and the other is that I really wanted an altitude alerter since I had lost that function when I removed the KLN-94. The audible alert for oil pressure and engine monitor were an added bonus since all of those instruments are located well out of my normal scan. The gear alert has the potential to prevent a gear up landing although it depends on the pilot inputting the elevation of the destination airport to work properly (SAM asks for that at power on).

...
Click to expand...


These are the sorts of real-world information I crave.

Thanks, guys!
 
No experience with the Icarus, but you NEED GPSS with that 430W :)
 
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