Has anyone installed the garmin weather system. My avionics guy said it is about 1400 to 1500.he put one in a bonanza said it worked good. Thanks From Don
In reply to:
Has anyone installed the garmin weather system.
I’m tempted, Don. It’s driving me nuts waiting for the Avidyne Datalink, especially when nobody can offer a definitive upgrade date.
Needs an antenna, and that really complicates things.
My avionics guy says that the antenna that Avidyne and Cirrus are working on should work with the Garmin.
Availability for that use is another matter.
Andy
Don: I would suggest waiting. Assuming you have the Avidyne display you have the basis of the best weather system out there. I saw the Garmin “road show” of their products last night including a display of the Garmin satellite weather system. I believe the subscription cost for the Avidyne is also less. Garmin collects a monthly fee for usage at various levels. Avidyne charges only by the data unit transmitted to you. Plus, the weather will be on the large Avidyne display and not on one of the GNS 430s.
Avidyne has the EX500 certified and running now. This means that the data center and the subscription system are already in place. The system software is essentially the same between the Avidyne 500 and the 5000 series. All that remains is the FAA certification for the weather system for the Cirrus. This involves a new antenna that combines the satellite reception with the com antenna. I am surprised that the process is taking so long for the Cirrus, particularly since Avidyne has a large number of the Avidyne displays already in use in Cirrus aircraft. Has anybody talked to Cirrus lately about this?
At the very least, take a look at what Avidyne is showing with the weather system for the EX5000. They are probably at Sun and Fun and certainly will be at Oshkosh.
The latest issue of Flying magazine has an article on the Garmin datalink and the Bendix/King system. After reading it is evident that both systems have significant limitations that may make waiting for the Avidyne system the best option. A little too early to tell though.
The Bendix /King system is limited by reception due to its ground based configuration. The Garmin uses low orbit satellites which solve this problem but the limited data strem capability of those orbiting units make it impossible to get continuous broadcast of data. Do all reception has to be on a request/reply format which results in time delays and limitation of the size of the data. The radar images therefore or of poor resolution and often overestimate the precipitation.
It would not be my first choice.
On the other hand Brian, overestimating the bad weather is MUCH better than underestimating it.
Overestimate of the weather is just one inaccuracy of their system but you are right; better to have it show too much than too little.
I sense, although we do not for sure yet, that the Avidyne system will be better as it is continuous broadcast, more able to customize, and radar images will be closer to real time.
Remains to be seen however.
Since I have an older SR20 with ARNAV, I checked their site and they appear to have an intergrated NEXRAD system available