GNS480 Vs GNS430

[mzaharis]

Garmin's website claims that a GDL-69 can feed XM weather data to an MX-20.

http://www.garmin.com/products/gdl69/

 

[Groundpounder]

Can the MX-20 display wx weather?

There is a good Garmin 480 users egroup on yahoo, gns480-users, there is a lot of good information there.

Yes, but the MX-20 and the radar we have won't talk to each other,and by the time we spend money on a new radar, MFD, GPS's, it will be way more than we want to spend at the moment.

What about hard wiring a Garmin 396 in there? Is it possible to do it without it looking too mickey mouse?

 

[BushwickBill]

Yes, but the MX-20 and the radar we have won't talk to each other,and by the time we spend money on a new radar, MFD, GPS's, it will be way more than we want to spend at the moment.

What about hard wiring a Garmin 396 in there? Is it possible to do it without it looking too mickey mouse?

Don't you and everone else who wants to save money on avionics wish....

I would love the look of that: "Oh and yes right next to our collins 21 pro line display is our trusty 396. Don't mind the suction cup marks on the windows. After we use it here we put it in our Piper Cub corporate trainer and practice GPS approaches."

 

[Groundpounder]

Don't you and everone else who wants to save money on avionics wish....

I would love the look of that: "Oh and yes right next to our collins 21 pro line display is our trusty 396. Don't mind the suction cup marks on the windows. After we use it here we put it in our Piper Cub corporate trainer and practice GPS approaches."

Yeah well thats what we want to avoid. I wish our avionics guy was more helpful.

 

[eggman76]

Garmin says the 480 won't do datalink weather. dang it..........

If you're gonna get the 480, you should definately get the mx-20. Weather, traffic, and chartview make it worthwhile.

 

[JediNein]

530 or 430 with an Avidyne Display if you really want to see weather. The Avidyne can replace most WX RADAR displays and even give color when there was not before.

Not to dis Garmin, but the 480 is a pain in the fingers to use. It is not intuitive by any means, it pretends that even though it is a GPS the last thing the pilot wants to do is fly GPS direct, and if you don't execute every flight plan change -- it didn't happen and unless you know the box cold -- you can't find your original plan.

I like the 480. It is really good for business. It takes pilots longer to come up to speed on the thing, remember how to use it if they aren't on it daily, and be *really* proficient in an emergency.

The 'internal' transponder control is quite slow. If you get a frequency and transponder change, you can't do both immediately. You can not have the FO change the routing in the GPS while you change the frequency of either VOR or COM. You can not stop in the middle of GPS programming to change a frequency.

Even though the 480 has the almighty airways database, I can get a 430 going faster on the airways than on the 480. Why? The 480 requires you to scroll through every dang intersection and VOR that makes up the airway. I can enter in the airway entry point, changeover points, course changes, and airway exit point faster. Besides, east of the Rockies I'm usually GPS Direct. I understand the folks that fly the JFK/EWR corridors are slightly faster on the 480s and airways than the manual entry method -- but you can save the airways as flight plans in either unit.

Finally, WAAS is not that much of an upgrade. While there are more approaches becoming available, slowly, that offer non-precision with vertical guidance, the precision GPS approaches are rare. Even rarer is for ATC and the constellations to align to let the 480 decide to bless you with the precision approach. Of eight attempts in the last week, only one gave us precision minimums -- but it didn't work as ATC kept us too high for too long. We had to dive on the glideslope, then halfway down the unit reverted back to non-precision capability. When WAAS is truly a means of navigation, the 430s and 530s will have it.

The 530/430 weather datalink options are the Echoflight (no!), XM (not that great - but better than nothing), and WSI (good stuff).
The 480 weather options are . . . are. . . check back after AEA's meeting in April.

If you are a couple of months out on your avionics decision, try to attend the AEA national meeting in Palm Springs. www.aea.net for details. This will let you rub elbows with the manufacturers and see exactly what is coming out now. It is possible that there are other options that will sway the 480/430/something else decision.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[SabreFlyR]

The 530/430 weather datalink options are the Echoflight (no!), XM (not that great - but better than nothing), and WSI (good stuff).
The 480 weather options are . . . are. . . check back after AEA's meeting in April.

WE have been using XM for a year and I have used WSI and the Honeywell uplink version of weather. There ain't nothing wrong with the XM weather product, it always updates on time and I get reception just fine in the Caribbean and as far south as Cabo San Lucas.

We looked at a lot of options and settled on EFB's with the XM weather on it, you can also get WSI if you like. After using Garmins 530/430 in a couple jets I would not recommend it. Sure they look nice, but all that knob twisting and having to enter all the waypoints manually really gets to be a work out if your in the Northeat corridor much.
If your radar will work with the Avidyne I would suggest that route. Some avionics shops will tell that you can't install an Avidyne in a part 25 aircraft, but I know two shops that have the approvals to do it.

 

[Diesel]

Jedi-

For those of us that use an FMS every day the 480 is a breeze to use. The 430/530 combination is great for a guy banging around in a 172. Sure a route is easier to imput in the 430/530 because you're going point to point. (thank god for fltplan.com) that gives you all the points. But if the controller says go direct to XYZ and XYZ is a straight line point along your route. Well guess what you're screwed looking into a map.

The 430/530 has an ancient screen. Reminds me of a comindor 64 with it's square blocks and whatnot.

Yes i like the 480 from ups technologies now garmin. I'm about a milimeter of ripping the 430/530 out of my stack and leaving it on the ramp. Then back over it.

Flying in the northeast you better be ready for multiple route changes and random directs to places along your route that you didn't enter in point for point in 430.

 

[JediNein]

Jedi-

For those of us that use an FMS every day the 480 is a breeze to use.

You have my deepest sympathies, especially if it is an earlier model UNS-1. The books on the various FMS units are in progress, just not the current highest priority for publication.

I'm hoping to hear updates on the 'type pad' for the 530/430 at AEA. This should reduce the knob-twisting quite a bit.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[SabreFlyR]

I'm hoping to hear updates on the 'type pad' for the 530/430 at AEA. This should reduce the knob-twisting quite a bit.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

The key pad will not fix things if they don't upgrade the data base to include airways and thier respective waypoints. Without it you still have to start thumbing thru an enroute chart and manually enter the waypoints. I am using a GNSxls, while it's not the greatest unit, I prefer it hands down to the Garmin stuff. Having a useful functioning vnav is nice, the planning pages with our weights etc etc. Garmins are nice, but they are not up to par for jet aircraft yet.
With that said if Honeywell doesn't come up with a fix soon, we are going to replace it with a UNS1-E.

 

[smfav8r]

Does the 480 have the option of a jepp view. In other words, can you put an electronic version of the actual jepp chart on the screen. Just curious.

 

[BushwickBill]

Does the 480 have the option of a jepp view. In other words, can you put an electronic version of the actual jepp chart on the screen. Just curious.

You need an MX20

 

[smfav8r]

You need an MX20

So if you have the 480 mx20 combo, you can have the electronic jepp view?

I'm looking to upgrade the avionics in a King Air and the owner would love to not have to pull out paper charts. Would this combo work?

 

[BushwickBill]

http://www.garmin.com/products/mx20/

http://www.garmin.com/products/gns480/

The GNS 480 is also seamlessly integrated to work specifically with the MX20 multi-function display (MFD). When coupled with the MX20, range changes performed on the GNS 480 are simultaneously refected on the MFD. When the pilot selects an approach on the GNS 480, the approach plate is automatically depicted on the MX20 with Jeppesen® Chart View™. Pilots can also view a vertical profile of the approach using the MFD’s split-screen capability

This should answer your questions much better than I ever could. I'm not an avionics tech. Nor have I used either the 480 or the MX20, yet.... (Hopefully soon) Anyhow the answers are always out there.

 

[PC12Cowboy]

Ground pounder,
the king 850 MFD will talk to the radar and display weather and can be driven by any GPS...so if you need a MFD that would work