What gps setup for dynon panel

Lucky man

Lucky man

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Lucky man
Hey everyone,

What's your vote for the type of gps to put in my upcoming dynon panel. I'm currently a vfr pilot who will be getting an instrument rating after the upgrade

Options:
1. Garmin gps175 and separate garmin nav/com
2. Avidyne ifd 440
3. Avidyne ifd 540

Thanks for chiming in.

Dale
 
If you can fit an Avidyne 540 in your panel and the price differential doesn’t bother you, that’s the way I’d go. FWIW, here’s why that would be my personal preference.

You didn’t mention whether the Dynon is a single or dual screen setup but, either way, mapping capability is covered, as is most of the information related to the current leg and next waypoint, as with any good PFD. What’s left for the IFD the FMS screen - the flight plan/approach sequence and the ability to make changes in the fly. That’s my preferred view with just about any GPS I fly, regardless of age. I love the IFD, but for that view I find the smaller screen to be too limited to be as useful as the 5 series.

If you haven’t, download the IFD iPad trainer. Load a destination with an approach and look at it in both the 440 and the 540. You’ll see what I mean and whether it makes a difference to you.
 
You could just go with the GPS175 and no nav/com. If you plan on flying a lot of IFR, then a nav radio is a good thing to have. If not, an IFR GPS is all you need.
 
I lean towards voting for the IFD 440, primarily due to its powerful feature set. Of course, if panel space and budget were completely unrestricted, the IFD 540 would indeed be a highly tempting choice.
Lucky man said:
Hey everyone,

What's your vote for the type of gps to put in my upcoming dynon panel. I'm currently a vfr pilot who will be getting an instrument rating after the upgrade

Options:
1. Garmin gps175 and separate garmin nav/com
2. Avidyne ifd 440
3. Avidyne ifd 540

Thanks for chiming in.

Dale
Click to expand...
 
A great combination with my 172 complete panel last year was the 10” Dynon, GNC 355 and a GNC 215. Highly recommended, and not as painful on the budget.
IMG_1263.jpeg
 
Last edited:
kep5niner said:
A great combination with my 172 complete panel last year was the 10” Dynon, GNC 355 and a GNC 215. Highly recommended, and not as painful on the budget.
Click to expand...
how're you liking that Dynon autopilot? Does it play nice with the 355?
 
The Dynon AP is surprisingly capable, and the integration with the 355 has been seamless. The altitude pre-select is a great feature as well. I wish I had that in my 414 - the 55x and Aspens only offer the altitude alerter in that airframe.
 
It's really personal preference...the Dynon doesn't care if you're flying behind an old 430, a 750, an IFD 540 or anything in between. Some customers swear by Avidyne, others think a kitten dies every time you install Garmin, while others think it's the cat's meow - it's just a matter of preference. We've installed it with all...

Many customers are surprised that the HDX comes with its own VFR GPS (built directly into the antenna), and we've had a couple of installs where that's genuinely all they want and need (for now, anyway :) )
 
I just purchased a new bendix king aeronav 800, which is a rebranded IFD440, for quite a bit less than the IFD440. Cheers
 
I’m dual Dynon with the 175 and love it. You could do the 355 and eliminate a device. Personally - I really like the integrated Dynon com radio. Really is a workload reducer.

I think the biggest key whichever route you go is a consistent procedure of using the navigator for navigation (vs the Dynon). You get really use to interacting with the Dynon and you can trip yourself up mistakenly making flight plan changes in the Dynon.
 
if you already have nav/comms, just reuse those and install the 175,
otherwise doesn't really matter, i'd probably go 355, 650 or 440
 
I currently have two narco nav/coms. One works great and the other has a little flicker that goes away if I tap the screen :) All my stuff is pretty old, so I'm going to update it all and end up with the bendix king nav/com (IFD440) along with the dynon com
 
Lots of recommendation for the IFD's. I concur I have 540 and 440 in my panel. I really like the logic and features. I'm newly rated IFR and did my training behind the IFD's.
 
The GPS175 is all you really need, but if you really feel the need to install radio nav, then the IFD440 is great. The IFD540 is even better with the bigger screen, but a lot of planes won't fit the 540, and the extra $3,000 isn't insignificant. I personally have IFD5xx in my 172 and my RV-10, both with the Dynon system.
 
Am working a panel upgrade for a Comanche. Planning dual Dynon HDX's (10 & 7 inch) with engine monitoring plus Trio Auto Pilot (Dynon AP not approved for PA-24), Garmin 355 and Garmin 215. Alternate is to include Dynon radio and use Garmin 175 instead of 355). Thoughts/comments on Dynon radio vs Garmin 355?
 
Whiskey Sierra said:
Am working a panel upgrade for a Comanche. Planning dual Dynon HDX's (10 & 7 inch) with engine monitoring plus Trio Auto Pilot (Dynon AP not approved for PA-24), Garmin 355 and Garmin 215. Alternate is to include Dynon radio and use Garmin 175 instead of 355). Thoughts/comments on Dynon radio vs Garmin 355?
Click to expand...
Can you tune the 215 via the Dynon panel? If so, I don't think it makes any difference.
 
The quick access to frequencies are much better in the Dynon Com than anything else.
 
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