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PIREP: GDL88+FS210+Garmin Pilot


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Here’s an ADS-B Out/In installation and operation PIREP that hopefully will be useful to some of you.  Since it is quite long, for those of you just interested in the bottom line, get your installation done now, don’t wait like I had been doing.  You will be pleased with the results and increased situational awareness, safety and functionality.

 

A two-year process of research, consideration and waiting comes to a very happy ending...

Like many of you, I have been evaluating the multiple options available to meet the ADS-B mandate for my M20J.  I gave up multiple times in frustration over the equipment costs, interoperability with my existing equipment, and fuzzy plus sometimes hidden costs of installation.  I have also been waiting, betting and speculating on the price of the equipment and installation becoming more affordable, and hoping for an FAA extension to the 2020 mandate.

 

Until this past May 2015, I was comfortable with waiting while using my portable Skyradar ADS-B In solution and WingX. However, I have been dissatisfied with the partial traffic information received, and only when there was another aircraft using ADS-B Out in my vicinity.  I partially filled the gap using a ZAON MRX Portable Collision Avoidance System (PCAS), which I found very useful in alerting me to nearby traffic.  I have the MRX for traffic warnings on the glare shield and within my scan when looking outside, but getting the traffic on my iPad required me to spend too much time looking inside instead of outside.  However, having an ADS-B Out installation is the only way I know to continually get the full traffic capabilities from TIS-B, which is very important to me from a flight safety perspective.

 

After evaluating many potential configurations and their functionalities, I had decided to go with the configuration that I will describe next.  I was also waiting for the equipment prices to come down some more, or new/more capable equipment options, while searching to find the most affordable (and high confidence) total installation cost.  Recent close calls with other traffic, forced my decision to act now, and get the increased situational awareness and functionality from a full ADS-B Out/In solution. 

 

RESULTS: After talking with many shops, I contacted SMART Avionics (N71) on the recommendation of another Mooney owner and satisfied customer, and then flew the airplane to N71 to discuss the details.  I knew what I wanted and had a price range differential of around $2,000 from lowest to highest from other avionics shops.  Ben Travis (owner) has done several similar installations on Mooneys, so he was able to give me a high confidence estimate on the spot, and he was able to fit me into his schedule just a couple of weeks later, which was a major factor in my decision.  I delivered the airplane on a Monday ang got it back mid-day Friday the same week.  The work was performed on schedule and within the price quoted and I am very pleased with the end-to-end process and results.

 

HARDWARE CONFIGURATION:  The installation in my M20J integrated the existing GNS-530W with the installation of a new Garmin GDL-88 plus ADS-B Antenna (bottom only), new Garmin Flight Stream 210 (FS210), and replacement of my obsolete (but functional) altitude encoder with a new ACK A30.9 Mod 9 Altitude Encoder.  The GDL-88 and FS210 were installed on the shelf in the tail battery compartment, and cabling was run forward to connect with the 530W and Altitude Encoder.  The GDL-88 receives traffic on both the 978 MHz and 1090 MHz frequencies but transmits only on 978 MHz.  The 1090 MHz reception enables direct reception of traffic reports from other aircraft, instead of having to rely on being within ground station coverage or ADS-R for the complete traffic picture; another nice feature.  Other than a new circuit breaker for the GDL-88/FS210 and replacement of the existing encoder, nothing new was added to the cockpit.

 

SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION:  GNS-530W Main Software updated from v5.0 to V5.2, plus new Garmin Pilot (“Pilot”) installation running on the iPad-mini (“iPad”).  Before making the decision to proceed with the ADS-B configuration, I learned that getting the maximum functionality out of the installation would require using Garmin Pilot instead of my long-time favorites WingX and Foreflight.  I installed and used a 30-day trial version of Pilot and was surprised at how quickly I learned the features, some of which I like far better than those in WingX and Foreflight, as well as new features not available in either.

 

Using the ADS-B Out/In during the trip home was great, and better than expected...

Immediately after arriving at N71 for the return flight home, we fired up the avionics and Ben took me through the steps of connecting the iPad/Pilot with the FS210/GDL-88 via Bluetooth, and demonstrating the two new weather and traffic screens on the 530W, plus other features and functionality.  We then took care of the paperwork and I started up and took off for a short flight around N71 to confirm all was working as expected, which it was.  The return flight to home base was even better.

 

For the return, I filed an IFR flight plan with the iPad/Pilot consisting basically of a few intersections between departure and destination and got the weather and NOTAMS briefing. I started up for the return around 30 minutes later, linked the iPad/Pilot to the FS210/GDL88 within 5 seconds and with a single menu selection on the iPad/Pilot.  This is when I got an alert on the iPad/Pilot from ATC proposing new routing. It included a victor airway, which my 530W does not accept and would have required a bit of time to find and get the proper entry/turn/exit points entered, but not this time.  I made one menu selection on the iPad/Pilot to accept ATC’s proposed rerouting, which automatically loaded the new route on the iPad/Pilot, and made a second selection to transfer the new routing from the iPad/Pilot (through the FS210) to the 530W.  I verified the 530W flight plan had the new routing, including all appropriate points on the victor airway, and in the process saved several minutes over my past manual entry way of doing things. Since I could not raise clearance delivery on the ground, I departed N71 under VFR and climbed enroute toward the first point on the flight plan, then called departure and coordinated activation of my flight plan.  It is noteworthy that prior to the ADS-B Out/In installation, I would have departed the same way and would then have to spend quite a bit of time changing my preflight routing to the one ATC was giving me.  The first flight plan point was in the opposite direction of my eventual direction of flight, so I requested from ATC direct to the nearest intersection in my desired direction.   When ATC approved I selected direct to the intersection on the 530W and the FS210 automatically updated the flight plan on the iPad/Pilot.  Other routing changes later worked the same way, entered a new point, deleted another in the sequence on the 530W and the FS210 updated the routing on the iPad/Pilot.

 

During the flight the traffic display worked great, both on the iPad/Pilot and the 530W, and I really liked the Garmin target trend indicators for each target.  There was far more traffic around me than my prior portable ADS-B In installation would show. Having this new level of situational awareness helped me understand why ATC started providing a series of direction vectors to keep me way from the gaggle of traffic arriving at KFDK for the AOPA Fly In the next day, as well as enabling to better anticipate what ATC had for me next.  I was flying at 6,000 feet and well above a pretty solid deck from 3,000 to 5,000 all the way home and could see some thunderstorms in the distance that were showing up on the iPad/Pilot and 530W, but well clear of my route.  I was having so much fun during the flight exploring all the cool new features of my ADS-B Out/In installation that I forgot to explore the 3D Synthetic Vision and AHRS backup attitude, altitude, speed and heading the FS210 also provides.  I did check it out on the ground at N71 before departing, and will definitely be exploring its usefulness in the future.  The GDL88/FS210 installation also includes a traffic Conflict Situational Awareness feature, visually on the 530W and iPad/Pilot (I think) and through the cockpit audio, but thankfully no other traffic got close enough to set it off, so I’ll have to wait to determine how well that works.  If it is anything like the feature in the G1000 equipped C182T that I also fly, it certainly gets your attention.

 

Getting to my final ADS-B choice and how…

Before deciding on the configuration above, I explored many potential solutions and was frequently disappointed to learn that plug-and-play really is not, and often brings hidden installation costs that one may not learn about until the installation is already underway.  I discussed options and obtained widely ranging price quotes from multiple shops in VA, MD, PA and NJ, some of which I have been and will continue to do business with, others from which I will steer well clear off in the future. 

 

Since I already had a 530W for the WAAS position source, my lowest cost ADS-B Out configuration was to replace my KT-76A with a KT-74 and continue using my portable Skyradar + iPad/WingX for ADS-B In.  The sales brochures claim the KT-74 is a drop-in replacement for the KT-76A, which apparently it is, but to use it as your ADS-B Out solution also requires connecting it to a WAAS position source.  That requires a new tray (cannot reuse the one from the KT-76A, or so I’m told), and increases the equipment costs, requires more wiring and increases the total installation cost.  I also learned that to sell my KT-76A and get some money back really required selling it with its installation tray, otherwise it would bring in far less than similar units for sale with the tray.  If you have a retractable gear airplane, the installation also requires an additional airspeed switch, and yes higher installation cost.  I also considered a number of other solutions, but will only mention the next one since this is already a very long PIREP. 

 

On the high end, I considered the Avidyne trade-in program to replace my GNS-530W and transponder with an IFD540 GPS, plus AXP340 Transponder, and MLB1000 ADS-B In receiver.  This is a highly capable system, with a lot more and different functionality than my 530W and portable ADS-B In.  My installed cost quotes were more than 3.5X the cost of the KT-74 plus my existing ADS-B In.  While this may be a good option for many, for me it simply cost too much for the ADS-B Out/In and added navigation functionality, and there may be hidden installation costs in my Mooney, along with uncertainty over the functionality/interoperability with applications such as WingX and Foreflight.  For example, my discussions with sales people and avionics shop failed to identify the need for my configuration to also replace the altitude encoder.

 

Final words…stop waiting, finish investigating options, and make the switch to ADS-B Out/In, you will be very glad you did!

 

All the best - Hank

 

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Here’s an ADS-B Out/In installation and operation PIREP that hopefully will be useful to some of you. Since it is quite long, for those of you just interested in the bottom line, get your installation done now, don’t wait like I had been doing. You will be pleased with the results and increased situational awareness, safety and functionality.

A two-year process of research, consideration and waiting comes to a very happy ending...

Like many of you, I have been evaluating the multiple options available to meet the ADS-B mandate for my M20J. I gave up multiple times in frustration over the equipment costs, interoperability with my existing equipment, and fuzzy plus sometimes hidden costs of installation. I have also been waiting, betting and speculating on the price of the equipment and installation becoming more affordable, and hoping for an FAA extension to the 2020 mandate.

Until this past May 2015, I was comfortable with waiting while using my portable Skyradar ADS-B In solution and WingX. However, I have been dissatisfied with the partial traffic information received, and only when there was another aircraft using ADS-B Out in my vicinity. I partially filled the gap using a ZAON MRX Portable Collision Avoidance System (PCAS), which I found very useful in alerting me to nearby traffic. I have the MRX for traffic warnings on the glare shield and within my scan when looking outside, but getting the traffic on my iPad required me to spend too much time looking inside instead of outside. However, having an ADS-B Out installation is the only way I know to continually get the full traffic capabilities from TIS-B, which is very important to me from a flight safety perspective.

After evaluating many potential configurations and their functionalities, I had decided to go with the configuration that I will describe next. I was also waiting for the equipment prices to come down some more, or new/more capable equipment options, while searching to find the most affordable (and high confidence) total installation cost. Recent close calls with other traffic, forced my decision to act now, and get the increased situational awareness and functionality from a full ADS-B Out/In solution.

RESULTS: After talking with many shops, I contacted SMART Avionics (N71) on the recommendation of another Mooney owner and satisfied customer, and then flew the airplane to N71 to discuss the details. I knew what I wanted and had a price range differential of around $2,000 from lowest to highest from other avionics shops. Ben Travis (owner) has done several similar installations on Mooneys, so he was able to give me a high confidence estimate on the spot, and he was able to fit me into his schedule just a couple of weeks later, which was a major factor in my decision. I delivered the airplane on a Monday ang got it back mid-day Friday the same week. The work was performed on schedule and within the price quoted and I am very pleased with the end-to-end process and results.

HARDWARE CONFIGURATION: The installation in my M20J integrated the existing GNS-530W with the installation of a new Garmin GDL-88 plus ADS-B Antenna (bottom only), new Garmin Flight Stream 210 (FS210), and replacement of my obsolete (but functional) altitude encoder with a new ACK A30.9 Mod 9 Altitude Encoder. The GDL-88 and FS210 were installed on the shelf in the tail battery compartment, and cabling was run forward to connect with the 530W and Altitude Encoder. The GDL-88 receives traffic on both the 978 MHz and 1090 MHz frequencies but transmits only on 978 MHz. The 1090 MHz reception enables direct reception of traffic reports from other aircraft, instead of having to rely on being within ground station coverage or ADS-R for the complete traffic picture; another nice feature. Other than a new circuit breaker for the GDL-88/FS210 and replacement of the existing encoder, nothing new was added to the cockpit.

SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION: GNS-530W Main Software updated from v5.0 to V5.2, plus new Garmin Pilot (“Pilot”) installation running on the iPad-mini (“iPad”). Before making the decision to proceed with the ADS-B configuration, I learned that getting the maximum functionality out of the installation would require using Garmin Pilot instead of my long-time favorites WingX and Foreflight. I installed and used a 30-day trial version of Pilot and was surprised at how quickly I learned the features, some of which I like far better than those in WingX and Foreflight, as well as new features not available in either.

Using the ADS-B Out/In during the trip home was great, and better than expected...

Immediately after arriving at N71 for the return flight home, we fired up the avionics and Ben took me through the steps of connecting the iPad/Pilot with the FS210/GDL-88 via Bluetooth, and demonstrating the two new weather and traffic screens on the 530W, plus other features and functionality. We then took care of the paperwork and I started up and took off for a short flight around N71 to confirm all was working as expected, which it was. The return flight to home base was even better.

For the return, I filed an IFR flight plan with the iPad/Pilot consisting basically of a few intersections between departure and destination and got the weather and NOTAMS briefing. I started up for the return around 30 minutes later, linked the iPad/Pilot to the FS210/GDL88 within 5 seconds and with a single menu selection on the iPad/Pilot. This is when I got an alert on the iPad/Pilot from ATC proposing new routing. It included a victor airway, which my 530W does not accept and would have required a bit of time to find and get the proper entry/turn/exit points entered, but not this time. I made one menu selection on the iPad/Pilot to accept ATC’s proposed rerouting, which automatically loaded the new route on the iPad/Pilot, and made a second selection to transfer the new routing from the iPad/Pilot (through the FS210) to the 530W. I verified the 530W flight plan had the new routing, including all appropriate points on the victor airway, and in the process saved several minutes over my past manual entry way of doing things. Since I could not raise clearance delivery on the ground, I departed N71 under VFR and climbed enroute toward the first point on the flight plan, then called departure and coordinated activation of my flight plan. It is noteworthy that prior to the ADS-B Out/In installation, I would have departed the same way and would then have to spend quite a bit of time changing my preflight routing to the one ATC was giving me. The first flight plan point was in the opposite direction of my eventual direction of flight, so I requested from ATC direct to the nearest intersection in my desired direction. When ATC approved I selected direct to the intersection on the 530W and the FS210 automatically updated the flight plan on the iPad/Pilot. Other routing changes later worked the same way, entered a new point, deleted another in the sequence on the 530W and the FS210 updated the routing on the iPad/Pilot.

During the flight the traffic display worked great, both on the iPad/Pilot and the 530W, and I really liked the Garmin target trend indicators for each target. There was far more traffic around me than my prior portable ADS-B In installation would show. Having this new level of situational awareness helped me understand why ATC started providing a series of direction vectors to keep me way from the gaggle of traffic arriving at KFDK for the AOPA Fly In the next day, as well as enabling to better anticipate what ATC had for me next. I was flying at 6,000 feet and well above a pretty solid deck from 3,000 to 5,000 all the way home and could see some thunderstorms in the distance that were showing up on the iPad/Pilot and 530W, but well clear of my route. I was having so much fun during the flight exploring all the cool new features of my ADS-B Out/In installation that I forgot to explore the 3D Synthetic Vision and AHRS backup attitude, altitude, speed and heading the FS210 also provides. I did check it out on the ground at N71 before departing, and will definitely be exploring its usefulness in the future. The GDL88/FS210 installation also includes a traffic Conflict Situational Awareness feature, visually on the 530W and iPad/Pilot (I think) and through the cockpit audio, but thankfully no other traffic got close enough to set it off, so I’ll have to wait to determine how well that works. If it is anything like the feature in the G1000 equipped C182T that I also fly, it certainly gets your attention.

Getting to my final ADS-B choice and how…

Before deciding on the configuration above, I explored many potential solutions and was frequently disappointed to learn that plug-and-play really is not, and often brings hidden installation costs that one may not learn about until the installation is already underway. I discussed options and obtained widely ranging price quotes from multiple shops in VA, MD, PA and NJ, some of which I have been and will continue to do business with, others from which I will steer well clear off in the future.

Since I already had a 530W for the WAAS position source, my lowest cost ADS-B Out configuration was to replace my KT-76A with a KT-74 and continue using my portable Skyradar + iPad/WingX for ADS-B In. The sales brochures claim the KT-74 is a drop-in replacement for the KT-76A, which apparently it is, but to use it as your ADS-B Out solution also requires connecting it to a WAAS position source. That requires a new tray (cannot reuse the one from the KT-76A, or so I’m told), and increases the equipment costs, requires more wiring and increases the total installation cost. I also learned that to sell my KT-76A and get some money back really required selling it with its installation tray, otherwise it would bring in far less than similar units for sale with the tray. If you have a retractable gear airplane, the installation also requires an additional airspeed switch, and yes higher installation cost. I also considered a number of other solutions, but will only mention the next one since this is already a very long PIREP.

On the high end, I considered the Avidyne trade-in program to replace my GNS-530W and transponder with an IFD540 GPS, plus AXP340 Transponder, and MLB1000 ADS-B In receiver. This is a highly capable system, with a lot more and different functionality than my 530W and portable ADS-B In. My installed cost quotes were more than 3.5X the cost of the KT-74 plus my existing ADS-B In. While this may be a good option for many, for me it simply cost too much for the ADS-B Out/In and added navigation functionality, and there may be hidden installation costs in my Mooney, along with uncertainty over the functionality/interoperability with applications such as WingX and Foreflight. For example, my discussions with sales people and avionics shop failed to identify the need for my configuration to also replace the altitude encoder.

Final words…stop waiting, finish investigating options, and make the switch to ADS-B Out/In, you will be very glad you did!

All the best - Hank

Where are you based Hank? I want a demo!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Good write up

One small correction for the KT 74 paragraph . You only need to change the tray if you want features like altitude alert and audio alert and TIS-A traffic

If you are ok with a bare bone ADS-b compliance , you can keep your tray and use the same connector. all you need is pull 1 wire from the WAAS source (RS232 output) to the existing connector and two wires from the switch ( very simple ) to the existing connector .

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Thank you Hank for yor very educational pirep.

You made an excellent decision to go to Ben Travis at SMART avionics.

Ben is a very knowledgeable and honest gentleman.

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Marauder,

I am based at KHWY and glad to support.  We could meet somewhere in between, like Kay's at KCGE for lunch and go from there.  Send me a separate PM and we can coordinate the details offline.

 

OR75.

Thanks for the clarifying correction regarding the re-use of the KT-76A tray, it will be useful to others considering such an option.  In my case, the need for the altitude and traffic audio alerts became an important requirement for the installation.  Also, i had planned to sell my KT-76A on eBay or elsewhere and recover some of the installation cost, and a highly reputable avionics shop that I also use convinced me the best way to maximize the price I was able to get was to include the installation tray with the transponder.

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Marauder,

I am based at KHWY and glad to support.  We could meet somewhere in between, like Kay's at KCGE for lunch and go from there.  Send me a separate PM and we can coordinate the details offline.

 

Will do. Sometimes I am in that neck of the woods when I do Pilots N Paws flights. I was down at Tappahannock a few weeks back.

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One thing I would interested in is how the Garmin Pilot/Flightstream handles user waypoints. On my last two IFR flights I was given an airway to airway intercept (for GTN users, read below) without an intersection. On Garmin Pilot I would touch the intersection of the two airways and then create a user waypoint. Then I would drag the line to the next assigned waypoint. Do you know how this works or doesn't on the Flighstream transfer to the navigator?

GTN Users: I was pleasantly surprised that one of these non intersection defined waypoints is in the GTN database. Take a look for a waypoint call LRP14 in your GTN. I was asked to intercept V210 while on V170 and then proceed to BUNTS. LRP14 is a waypoint on the LRP 104 radial at 19.4 nm. This corresponded to that airway to airway intersection. I saw it on the pull down list.

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One thing I would interested in is how the Garmin Pilot/Flightstream handles user waypoints. On my last two IFR flights I was given an airway to airway intercept (for GTN users, read below) without an intersection. On Garmin Pilot I would touch the intersection of the two airways and then create a user waypoint. Then I would drag the line to the next assigned waypoint. Do you know how this works or doesn't on the Flighstream transfer to the navigator?

 

I have not tried what you suggest with user waypoints, only established intersections, etc.  However, once you make the manual user waypoint selection on the iPad/Pilot flight plan as you describe, the FS210 "should" transfer it to the GTN flight plan, just like any other Waypoint on the flight plan. 

 

An alternative would be to select the graphical plan editing mode on the Pilot by clicking on your flight path and choosing the edit menu selection, then dragging your flight path line to the intersection of the two airways and accepting the option to create a user waypoint.  Select save to incorporate into the flight plan, after which the FS210 should automatically communicate with the GTN to update the flight plan there.  Pretty cool.   Definitely something i will experiment with next time I go up.

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Let me know how it works out. I recreated what I saw in the GTN. This LRP14 waypoint if I recall correctly is on V170. I was ready to do the "set a VOR to V210 and turn when I got to it thing" when I found the waypoint on the airway.

28bb7d4301a887882c4554bad52c5225.jpg

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One thing I would interested in is how the Garmin Pilot/Flightstream handles user waypoints. On my last two IFR flights I was given an airway to airway intercept (for GTN users, read below) without an intersection. On Garmin Pilot I would touch the intersection of the two airways and then create a user waypoint. Then I would drag the line to the next assigned waypoint. Do you know how this works or doesn't on the Flighstream transfer to the navigator

GTN Users: I was pleasantly surprised that one of these non intersection defined waypoints is in the GTN database. Take a look for a waypoint call LRP14 in your GTN. I was asked to intercept V210 while on V170 and then proceed to BUNTS. LRP14 is a waypoint on the LRP 104 radial at 19.4 nm. This corresponded to that airway to airway intersection. I saw it on the pull down list.

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After all it is a Garmin!!

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Very interesting post, and also glad to hear Ben Travis does nice work- I've scheduled a major install with him including ads-b, after getting several quotes and ruminating for months.  I had strongly considered GDL88/FS210.  Instead I'm going with the KT-74 for ads-b out to save costs and sticking with Foreflight on ipad plus Stratus for ads-b in.  I'm already in too deep for $ here, given my lowly M20C with limited resale value. I'm vaguely hoping another low cost means will appear soon to get route data entered in Foreflight transferred into the GTN 650 I'm getting installed.  Also I think OR75 is correct - that the KT74 will take a GTN 650 or other GPS input without changing the KT76A tray?  I think Bendix has a $300 trade in for the KT76A without the tray when purchasing the KT-74.

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A couple weeks ago I created some user waypoints to fly the Grand Canyon corridors. I named them in Garmin Pilot. The waypoints transferred but the names did not. I wound up with USER001, USER002, etc. in my GTN flightplan.

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  • 1 month later...

As Peter says "after all, it's a Garmin "

Well I just finished a couple of flights with my newly acquired VIRB elite, which since "...it's a Garmin" integrates really nicely with Garmin Pilot on the iPad, so I have access to most of the controls of the remotely mounted camera right at my finger tips -- sweet!

 

Blue Skies - Hank

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