In the UK the requirement is listed in CAA Standards Doc 7
Specific Radio Equipment Requirements for the IR Skill Test
a) For all skill tests for the initial issue of the IR, the minimum radio equipment must include the following:
2 x VHF Comms. Radios
1 x VOR / ILS Receiver with Glide-slope
1 × 75 Mhz Marker Beacon Receiver
1 x DME
1 x ADF
1 x Transponder with elementary Mode S
1 x RNAV equipment certified to RNAV 5 (BRNAV) – see (e) below
Does anyone have a worldwide or international database subscription for a GNS430W or 530W for their aircraft? If so, can you contact me via email?
Here in the US, as far as I can tell, only one airline, Horizon Air has adopted WAAS and is capable of flying an LPV approach. WAAS is a GA thing, the airlines could care less and don’t want to spend the money to add its capability. For the airlines it is ILS and RNP with Baro-VNAV. They may adopt GLS with GBAS, but so far haven’t.
The KNS80 is only of historical interest of course. It’s a near useless device and where you find it today, it’s mostly illegal because of FM immunity (Annex X). I wonder if that device is actually digital or still analog.
My KNS80 has had its feelings hurt by your remark. It thinks it is useful 
and I use it all the time as a backup DME, GS, Localizer and VOR receiver. I also use the RNAV capability for enroute backup navigation. I normally keep all 4 entries loaded. The RNAV function doesn’t work with a localizer-DME as there isn’t any azimuth information. At typical cruise altitudes, it has a useful range of approximately 80 NM per waypoint. There are only 10 VOR-DME RNAV approaches left in the US.
All of the ILS DME stations are in the GNS database in the US. I checked, and IFNW is in the database. But I would not use the database value if this were a US procedure, I would use the GPS map that would show the threshold and NIBAP on the screen. The distance after NIBAP would be distance to the threshold and would read 0 at the threshold and 4.3 when at the 4.3 DME location. We are permitted to use ATD based on a known fix location, in this case the threshold. It would be child’s play. Of course the CDI would have VLOC selected for lateral navigation and the Magenta line on the map would be for situational awareness only.
Thanks! Now I wonder if the ILSs are in the GNS430 database as waypoints! Have not tried that one yet …
Here’s an example an ILS DME approach as is the standard noways in Germany (no more markers). It’s Frankfurt ILS 25R, probably familiar from your €500 traffic patterns 
The DME is part of the ILS antenna and is physically colocated with the localizer antenna at the end of the approach runway. The zero reading is 0.2 NM inside the runway (i.e. in the TDZ, you can see it because the last check altitude is D4.3 with 4.1 NM to the threshold) but that is not a true DME reading as the station “fakes” the answer by returning the ping faster than it should — exactly by the time to get the desired zero reading at the TDZ.
Now if I choose to do this without DME I would search the station IFNW (the name of the ILS) in my GPS and use that reading. Am I 100% sure that the location of this is the TDZ and not the end of the runway where IFNW is physically located? When on an RNAV approach, the final waypoint is the threshold and I can read the distance but when on an ILS, I really have to be sure which waypoint I’m getting the distance of. Getting the wrong waypoint is the perfect way to establish an ILS on a side lobe and happily continue flying it.
how can I see if the DME station can be used with the GPS? Maybe I don’t really understand, but the Approach Chart shows only the transmitted distance that would show on the DME, right? I know it’s okay in EDMA, for exampl,e DME and GPS distance are the same (if you ignore the minimum slant range failure).
If it is a standalone DME, or a DME collocated with a VOR or NDB, it is not normally a problem, since the DME zero range is set at the point of the DME location.
The problem are DMEs associated with the ILS, you need to know where the zero range is (typically the threshold), and what waypoint to set in the GPS.
I would happily substitute GPS for the former, I think the latter (ILS paired DME) is problematic and I would prefer to have the kit.
With a single GPS [or with crossfill on], however, using it for DME substitution makes it unusable for area navigation from the point you use it as a DME onwards.
Once GPS receivers start using GPS, Galileo and Glonass at the same time, there will be another significant increase in precision
Not necessarily. I have a (commercial) GPS that can compute positions from both GPS and Glonass at the same time. Precision however is not better, sometimes slightly worse. Reasons are that Glonass uses a slightly different coordinate system, and conversion between the two are not infinitely precise, and the Russians only seem to have one monitoring station near Moscow, so expect Glonass accuracy to drop with the distance from Moscow.
Russia did something very clever: they passed legislation that every satellite receiver chip sold in Russia must support Glonass.
AFAIK they didn’t outright ban GPS only chips, but asked higher import duties.
Peter/Achim
how can I see if the DME station can be used with the GPS? Maybe I don’t really understand, but the Approach Chart shows only the transmitted distance that would show on the DME, right? I know it’s okay in EDMA, for exampl,e DME and GPS distance are the same (if you ignore the minimum slant range failure).
