If garmin are not prepared to find a solution to the parts problem then they will get a bloody nose from many pilots finding themselves stuck, and opting for the Avidyne slide-in replacement.
The next layer is that if they are as good as the ‘fans’ say they are, then many Pilots may become convinced and begin to loose their love of, and dedication to Garmin stuff.
A possible slippery slope I’d not want to be involved with creating, as a decision maker at Garmin.
I keep hearing parts are not available. I just can’t believe the math doesn’t work for restarting production for some of the parts in China or somewhere. There must some capable factories who would take on the task. We are talking about 6-8 of 10 aircraft, I’ve ever been in, or near, that has 1 or 2 430’s
GA_Pete wrote:
If garmin are not prepared to find a solution to the parts problem then they will get a bloody nose from many pilots finding themselves stuck, and opting for the Avidyne slide-in replacement.
No we won’t – Avidyne in many aspect is no better (maybe even worse).
No we won’t – Avidyne in many aspect is no better (maybe even worse)
Hmm. Well it would be a new unit with warranty. And I can name 2 people that have done it, and they can’t understand why I’m not considering it even before failures of my own equipment.
Many consider the IFD 440 an upgrade to the GNS 430.
I’m not convinced and still like Garmin but you and I won’t be deciding this. Only time will tell.
GA_Pete wrote:
Hmm. Well it would be a new unit with warranty. And I can name 2 people that have done it, and they can’t understand why I’m not considering it even before failures of my own equipment.
What I meant was – if you are buying a new unit, might as well buy a GTN – the fully installed price is approximately the same.
arj1 wrote:
might as well buy a GTN – the fully installed price is approximately the same.
If installed from scratch, yes. If installed as an upgrade from GNS 430(W), IFD 440 is a slide-in replacement, whereas GTN needs rewiring.
Ultranomad wrote:
If installed from scratch, yes. If installed as an upgrade from GNS 430(W), IFD 440 is a slide-in replacement, whereas GTN needs rewiring.
True! For the (w) device it can be a slide-in… And it also supports an external keyboard, I know. :)
The GTNs also are touchscreen units. We have two in airplanes in our club and I positively hate them. I would definitely go for Avidyne.
172driver wrote:
Avionics shops can repair these unitsCan they? My understanding is that the problem lies with the availability (or rather lack) of the screens as replacement parts.
Well, nobody can get new replacement screen modules anymore. But in my experience, I haven’t seen many situations with failed screens. Most screen modules I have come across relate to handling issues, like using the wrong cleaning material on the display lens, scratching the face, etc. Not including antenna issues, there is an awful lot of parts in a GNS that are not the display module.
So I would guess most GNS series failures are in components other than the screen display module. So if you were to see nothing on the screen, there is a good chance the issue is in the power supply/main board. $500 is about 3 -4 hours of bench time by a typical avionics shop. If the Nav unit, GPS unit, or Com unit is failing, send it to Garmin is probably your best be.
GA_Pete wrote:
If garmin are not prepared to find a solution to the parts problem then they will get a bloody nose from many pilots finding themselves stuck, and opting for the Avidyne slide-in replacement.
The next layer is that if they are as good as the ‘fans’ say they are, then many Pilots may become convinced and begin to loose their love of, and dedication to Garmin stuff.
25 years is a long time. I know in a previous life as an electronics manufacturer, eventually vendors parts would notify us that the part was going out of production and we should make a “last production run purchase”. We would purchase what we needed for current production and spare parts until we could release a new version if we were still going to produce the item. Garmin started production of the GNS series in 1999 and discontinued production in 2011/12, a dozen years ago. I think Garmin has done an excellent job supporting repair of older avionics. Avidyne is always an option, but it is not cheap although because it is plug and play, it is a less expensive upgrade path. I upgraded my KLN90B to a GNS430 to a GNS530 to a GNS530W to a GTN750 to a GTN750Xi. The first three upgrades were as a Garmin dealer.
172driver wrote:
The GTNs also are touchscreen units. We have two in airplanes in our club and I positively hate them. I would definitely go for Avidyne.
The latest version of the GTN Xi series has an improved UI with more customizable short cuts, more knob functions for screen selection, and what I find myself using is the audio panel “push to command” feature to tune frequencies and to select GTN pages.
