Peter, have you thought about moving to the Aera 660?
Wireless cockpit connectivity via Connext streams ADS-B weather (in US) and advanced traffic from compatible devices Cut the cord and database prices with Wi-Fi database downloads and the affordable Garmin Navigation DatabaseKey Features:
3D Vision Wireless Database Updating Garmin WireAware™ Connext® TargetTrend™ (When paired with compatible devices) TerminalTraffic™ (When paired with compatible devices) Smart Airspace™ Preloaded Garmin FliteCharts® Animated NEXRAD (When paired with compatible devices) SafeTaxi® Fuel Prices VIRB® XE ControlI still fail to understand why one would need aural airspace alerts. When airspaces are my responsibility, the map is an integral part of my scan. I have it open all the time and I look at it every other minute. How would I miss an airspace that way? My trajectory for the next 10 min is depicted on the map.
have you thought about moving to the Aera 660?
Funny that… just this minute arrived at the conclusion that this is the only one which fits size-wise 
It does look like it will work – subject to the airspace accuracy. I need to check out some specifics e.g. Q41 Class A near the Isle of Wight. It’s 1/3 of the price I paid for the G496… Compared to a smartphone it would save me having to build a power supply, etc.
One can put the Safetaxi stuff on it, too. That’s a big thing.
When airspaces are my responsibility, the map is an integral part of my scan. I have it open all the time and I look at it every other minute. How would I miss an airspace that way? My trajectory for the next 10 min is depicted on the map.
I do the same but one can still forget to look for a minute or two and if you do that close to CAS… in the UK, major airport, they go straight into shutdown, and it’s big trouble. On a planned flight it should not happen but still can if you are approaching CAS and are trying to get a handover to the next unit and they are taking their time, and then very late they come back to you saying they can’t do the handover and you have to set 7000 etc and work on the radio on the next one… A typical long flight in the UK involves 5-10 level changes for example – unless you do it the “UK PPL” way and fly all the way at 1500ft. I’ve never done a bust (that got reported) on a planned flight but I did one recently on an unplanned flight and if I do another within the next 100 years they will probably lock me up, with an AMC being the sitting a PPL exam from 1918 with 15 seconds per question
If you’re going Garmin, I’d look more seriously into running GP on Phone or Tablet. They have been releasing lots of updates, so:
- It’s likely to reveive nice updates, unlike the 660
- It also has safetaxi, and you can have georeferenced plates for your approaches
- It has weather (with internet). It automatically updates, so if you get some internet in flight, you can get radar rain, IR, lightning. I don’t think the 660 has.
- You can get add-on maps such as CAA
But then if you go for that you might get tempted into upgrading to a 650 or 750 (especially with the flight plan transfer) and that might cost you more!
Yes; agreed with all.
However I have the 496 in the yoke right now, since 2005, and it is desirable to make it more useful than a “GPWS box” and possibly an “emergency DCT box” which is all it does right now. So replacing the 496 with another similar box makes sense. If I can get Safetaxi on it, that would be really nice. It is always running, on every flight, and can use an external antenna which is a lot more robust than a tablet.
The point Bosco makes about disabling airspace alerts when flying IFR being too much hassle, is a good one, so I would settle for the beeps in that box.
The 650+750 will come later and yes GP will then be highly relevant. I will do that when Shoreham gets LPV.
EDIT: I have just ordered the 660, from Peter Mundy. It comes with Safetaxi bundled. I am not sure about other stuff; anything else is a bonus. I will report on it in due course.
Peter wrote:
EDIT: I have just ordered the 660, from Peter Mundy.
How much did you pay?
I’m considering this too…
Yes, GP makes a lot of sense, and using a tablet for everything makes sense, but having a dedicated piece of hardware has its merits.
I have 2 tablets and use them for redundancy, but I’d prefer to have 1 tablet with SD and one other type of HW with GP (e.g. 660).
Would really prefer the IFD440 with its 100 app on a tablet.
I appreciate the 2-way abilities of the IFD440 + app… makes sense to me.
The 540 would be even better.
I suggest you PM Peter for a price.
The IFD540 is better than the GTN750 IMHO (and 2×IFD540 would fit really nicely into the space I have – photoshop job) but I am worried about Avidyne. They are very clearly only just hanging in there, both financially and R&D-wise, with the seemingly indefinite delays on stuff like ADS-B upgrades for the TAS6xx. Obviously opinions are divided on this – lots of past threads. But I am postponing any centre stack work until Shoreham gets LPV because operationally LPV is not really relevant to me, given where I fly to. The KLN94 does all of my European IFR just fine. In this game, delaying as far as possible pays off.
Peter wrote:
seemingly indefinite delays on stuff like ADS-B upgrades for the TAS6xx
What else?
Search EuroGA for “Avidyne” – many previous threads.
Just been looking in the Aera 660 user manual. The connections, it states, require an optional cable:
The audio out appears to be stereo… whereas the 496 has a balanced output for direct drive of a loudspeaker. I wonder if the 660 actually outputs stereo in any context?
What is the simplest way of getting ADS-B IN with this? It seems to have the capability built-in.
It refers to a GDL39/GDL39R but is this applicable to Europe? We don’t have UAT here.
Obviously, for a yoke mounted unit, one has to run wires via the yoke tube; the alternative is a dreadful mess even though it is commonly seen in GA.
To make the power and audio connections, you do need the above adaptor – here. It’s about 60 quid.
It also gives you a nice quick-release mount.
The GDL39 is indeed a 1090ES ADS-B IN receiver
and whether you think this is worth paying for (more than the Aera 660 itself) depends on which side of the “everybody/nobody/almost nobody is radiating ADS-B” fence All I see is that practically zero traffic of relevance to mid-air risk (i.e. low level traffic, traffic wanting “privacy” / ability to bust CAS) is radiating ADS-B and IMHO this isn’t going to change anytime soon because the reasons for being invisible won’t change.
The GDL39 is also going to be clumsy to mount in some aircraft cockpits.
