To keep, swap or buy more fuel..

Bman.

Bman.

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Bman.
So now that I have been working on my PPL for a while now - everything holiday gift related family ends up being all things aviation to me. I have no problem with that but at the end of the day, what I really need is just time.

The wife gave me a Garmin D2 watch. Fancy but I just don't see the real need for it nor do I read amazing reviews about this watch - primarily the biggest 'con' of the watch is "Why - what purpose does this really serve?". That's sort of the feeling I have right out of the gate. What was really on my list was a pair of pants and socks and at the bottom of my list was a Stratus II in the event someone in the family hit powerball. No one won the lotto but I did end up with some PilotWorkshop and BoldMethod classes.. and the D2.

So, the question is, keep the watch - well because I have it. Return it and put some funds toward a Stratus II or say 'Thanks!', return it, and think about the gifts of life the next time I stop by the fuel pump.

I am a student pilot and I don't need another widget distraction in the plane. I am happy with my sectional chart, nice weather and my iPAD. A stratus II sure looks nice just to have more data at a glance - but again, we are talking about a 40 hour student - so it's not really needed. In a few years when everyone has ADS-B out, I can see the serious benefits just to have traffic awareness.

Anyone out there have a D2 and find it a worth while expense given everything else in the dash or clamped to the yoke?

Benjamin
 
I don't have any experience with the watch, or have a real desire to own one.
That being said I do see two advantages (assuming I can read/remember their website advertising correctly)
Being able to get current metars somewhere. If you are out of radio range but are curious you could look it up.
I think it can also do gps nav right? Could be useful in an extreme emergency, backup to a backup to a backup per say.
Also could control a virb if you ever decide to get one.

Edit to add: it just dawned on me that you probably already knew all of this from doing your own research.
 
Thanks for the input - the Bravo model has the METAR. The D2 Pilot does not (I don't think). The "emergency" factor is the biggest selling point. I also like the alerts by vibration and always notifying you of closest airport. But... so does my ipad.. or my sectional chart. I still think data from Stratus would be more beneficial. But then again x2 the cost..

This is a good review:

Pros:
a) The main pro I see is in the alerts, especially because they can be delivered to you by vibrate. The D2 provides alerts for many things: distances, altitudes, times, and even distance intervals! I find this VERY COOL!
b) 'Vibrate' is type of notification that other devices (panel-mount, yoke-mount, tablets on laps, etc.) can never give you. I'm a firm believer in replacing as much as possible from your instrument scan, especially in IMC, to *key triggers*, so you can reduce your scan complexity. The only reason you are performing a scan is because you want to *detect* something. If I can get a vibrate on my arm for, say, 3 miles distance from a VOR, then I don't have to scan for it ... my D2 will tell me -- I don't have to babysit my panel-mount GPS for a 3-mile distance.
c) it's a great backup for almost everything.
d) The battery lasts long enough, even in aviation mode with WAAS enabled. It takes some ten hours until the battery is dead, even in WAAS-enabled mode.
e) it's great for a 'quick data at a glance' type of thinking. If you want to reduce information flow to *key items at a point in time*, as I do, this is perfect.
Cons:
a) it only supports Bluetooth Low Energy, not the regular or 'full' Bluetooth. This is frustrating, because Bluetooth Low Energy is not supported by many tablets, including the Nexus 10 with Android 4.4.2 (the latest, as of today), which is the one I am using. b) the contrast is not great. In bright sunlight it's hard to read anything. There is a 'background light' feature, but that is only red light for night time flying. c) although you can turn on WAAS-precision it seems the GPS-derived altitude measurement can be all over the place. d) the built-in database consists only of airports, no other navaids or intersections. I find this very problematic, because most flight plans consist of waypoints that are NOT airports -- they are navaids or intersections. You could cope with that by transferring your flight plan / routing from your tablet, but then item a) above comes into play: you can't always send it, because your tablet may not support Bluetooth Low Energy. e) no ability to update the built-in database. This is *in particular* frustrating, *because* the D2 only contains an airport database, and airports are disappearing in the US at a rate of one per week, whereas navaids and intersections usually stay. One of the key features is 'direct to nearest airport', usually for emergency purposes, and what if I head to a 'nearest airport' that is no longer there, because I couldn't update the airport database with a new one that doesn't have the airport anymore? The 'true' nearest airport would be a different one, the one I didn't pick. f) the airport database also doesn't seem to include private airports or heliports. What if I have an emergency and a private airport would be just fine, or if I have an emergency in a heli (where 'nearest' is *really* important because I can't go far in auto-rotation)? g) why can't I update anything with the USB connection? The D2 watch actually *has* a USB adapter, but it's only used for charging, it can't be used for data exchange (such as uploading a flight plan / routing or updating a database.


you have to know what you want to use it for. You can't say 'good' or 'bad' in some 'overall' sense. Something is always only good or bad for a particular *purpose*. Obviously you can't expect great maps or other visual features for this, already due to its tiny display, which is pretty flimsy. But if you want quick information, a quick glance of *key items* relevant for you at a particular point in time, it's great. For backup it's great, but limited in the sense that you can never update the database with current data, so you can never rely on the airports still being there. For auto-triggered alerts, it's perfect, and I see that as the main feature useful for me, especially because you can set the notification to come to you with vibrate, which never interrupts your scan and reaches your brain in a totally non-intrusive manner. No other system in the cockpit can give you a tactile notification, everything else is visual or audio. 'Vibrate' is another 'Channel' on which to reach your brain without interrupting everything else.
 
Isn't stratus only a Foreflight compatible product? You're running android so I know you don't have Foreflight. Keep the D2 and buy a Sagetech Clarity SV when you get the chance. No need to rush to get into and ADSB/AHRS as a student pilot.

Edit: I just reread and noticed that you are using an IPad and that was someone's else's review of the D2. I still say keep the D2.
 
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If you like the watch as a watch, it does have some handy features. As was previously stated the vibrating alerts are nice. I had one for a few weeks and ultimately sold it mostly because it was just too bulky of a watch for me honestly. Had it been more comfortable for me I probably would have kept it. Its a swiss army knife in terms of features. 75% of the tools you wont use but the other 25% you'll come to appreciate.

So my recommendation would be if you like it as a watch, keep it, you can do alot worse (and probably spend more if you tried) for a good watch. Most of the aviation features are an added bonus, but the few you do use will become quite handy.
 
Yep - Wife gave me the D2 watch. I put on the happy face and said great just what I need. Yesterday she asked if I was going to wear it. I should have said yes but I said thanks but it just not something I need. WRONG thing to say!!! She said oh OK, but her face showed she was very sad that I did not like it. So, it may not be what you want but is it worth hurting her feelings. NO!!!
 
Scott@KTYR said:
Yep - Wife gave me the D2 watch. I put on the happy face and said great just what I need. Yesterday she asked if I was going to wear it. I should have said yes but I said thanks but it just not something I need. WRONG thing to say!!! She said oh OK, but her face showed she was very sad that I did not like it. So, it may not be what you want but is it worth hurting her feelings. NO!!!
Click to expand...

This!
 
That. I think you just convinced me. If I slam the door on this gift all further gift giving attempts will be come to a screeching halt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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