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GTN 750 vs current upgrades


Fookz92

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So 2018 has been fun but burned my wallet thin. With the initial purchase of the aircraft and getting her back to airworthy status, my 2018 budget is GONE!

2019 is fast approaching. 

So here is what I'm up against for the J. I want/need: ADS-B (GDL82) for my GTX327, WAAS upgrade for my G530, and engine monitoring system ( looking at the JPI 830). 

Sarasota Avionics has a sweet trade up program currently ongoing. http://sarasotaavionics.com/gtn-upgrade-promotion 

So my question, is it better to upgrade current GPS to WAAS, buy and install JPI 830, and go with the in line ADS-B out. Or to upgrade to the GTN750 and have everything remotely installed. price and practicability wise im sort of up in the air on this thought as it seems the 750 will still be considerably more.

 

Sidenote: I may have to upgrade the Autopilot as well. Have my eye on Trutrak

 

 

Edited by Fookz92
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This isn't what you are going to want to hear due to cost issues, but you won't believe how much happier you would be to do the following:

1. GTN 750 and sell your GNS 530 or trade it.  2. GTX 345 and sell your GTX 327  3. Engine monitor of your choice.

Reasons:  GNS 530 is now 20 year old technology.  Do you really want to spend more money on it?  You'll have ADS-B in on the large screen of the 750.  You'll have iPad interface compatibility with the 345 along with a backup AI.  Later, it you were to add a G500 TXi, you could get the FS 510 and with database concierge not have to take any cards home for database updates.

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1 hour ago, donkaye said:

This isn't what you are going to want to hear due to cost issues, but you won't believe how much happier you would be to do the following:

1. GTN 750 and sell your GNS 530 or trade it.  2. GTX 345 and sell your GTX 327  3. Engine monitor of your choice.

Reasons:  GNS 530 is now 20 year old technology.  Do you really want to spend more money on it?  You'll have ADS-B in on the large screen of the 750.  You'll have iPad interface compatibility with the 345 along with a backup AI.  Later, it you were to add a G500 TXi, you could get the FS 510 and with database concierge not have to take any cards home for database updates.

Awesome feedback. This is exactly what I am looking for. I have not been able to play with the 750 so that is new territory to me. Hence why I’m asking here. 

That will be about 15-20k once everything is sold and/or traded up. 

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I had the GTN750, GTX345 and GPSS installed earlier this year and am totally happy with it. ADSB in/out is great.  Also have the JPI 830, and CO monitor, which made me send my exhaust off a month ago to be rebuilt.

Pritch

new panal.jpg

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1 hour ago, donkaye said:

This isn't what you are going to want to hear due to cost issues, but you won't believe how much happier you would be to do the following:

1. GTN 750 and sell your GNS 530 or trade it.  2. GTX 345 and sell your GTX 327  3. Engine monitor of your choice.

Reasons:  GNS 530 is now 20 year old technology.  Do you really want to spend more money on it?  You'll have ADS-B in on the large screen of the 750.  You'll have iPad interface compatibility with the 345 along with a backup AI.  Later, it you were to add a G500 TXi, you could get the FS 510 and with database concierge not have to take any cards home for database updates.

I agree with Don on not trying to upgrade the 530.

Another option would be Avidyne IFD 540, slide in replacement on the tray.  A new waas antenna would be required.  More cost effective than the GTN750 for the same feature set.  Probably ~5-6K less overall (depending on labor rates in your area) than the GTN750... no need to buy a WiFi/Bluetooth portal (IFD has it build in), no need to buy new trays, then rip out the old ones and fabricate new wire bundles.

GTX345 is nice.  Also costly though.  It Is compatible and approved with the IFD as well.  Would provide both ADSB in and out. They cost about $4500.

if you go with the IFD540- another option would be a axp340 adsb out transponder with the sky trax100 adsb in.  That’s roughly $3200 if you shop around (avidyne was giving the skytrax away with their IFD’s a while back- May still have a similar promotion)

basically- all in (install plus hardware), you’re probably looking at (prices are from Sarasota, plus an estimated 3K for install for the Garmin, 1K for the avidyne)

~23K for a GTN750+FS510 and GTX345

(14.5 for 750, 1200 for FS, 4.3 for GTX)

~14K for a IFD540 w/axp340+skytrax

(Sarasota avionics is running a trade in special right now until Dec 31st- 9K for a new IFD540 if you swap them your 530... worth checking out- it’s an amazing deal for a trade in on an old 530 that might be difficult to sell)

@Avionics Source could probably tighten up those numbers for you- he deals in this hardware on a very regular basis.

i do admit I’m biased... I love my IFD440... happy to get rid of that 430W a few years back!

Edited by M016576
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For what it's worth, in all these past years and being a full time flight instructor in Mooneys, to date I've not had one student who has an Avidyne product (I've had about 440 students so far).  As a result, I've not had a chance to try them out.  Those that have them swear by them.  As a Garmin fan, I'll swear by their products, too.  By waiting for rebates, and selling all my removed hardware, I figure I saved over $25,000 on my installation.  Admittedly Avidyne hadn't come out with their products at that time (2014), but I wanted no hassle connectivity with all products installed, and even today that would still lead me to choose Garmin over all other Vendors.

G500 TXi.jpg

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8 hours ago, M016576 said:

More cost effective than the GTN750 for the same feature set.

Not quite the same feature set. The GTN will fly new approaches with RF legs which are starting to be published and RNP approaches. The IFD will not. That’s one difference and there are others.

Edited by m20kmooney
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14 minutes ago, INA201 said:

GTN 750 also has voice command which is very handy.  Just say "tune destination CTAF," or "tune destination weather," and boom the frequency is loaded on standby.  Look up voice command for the 750.  

However you need a Garmin 35 (remote) or 350 audio panel.

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2 hours ago, m20kmooney said:

Not quite the same feature set. The GTN will fly new approaches with RF legs which are starting to be published and RNP approaches. The IFD will not. That’s one difference and there are others.

Exactly.  Along with @donkaye's assessments, the extra money spent on the 750 is well-worth it.

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8 hours ago, Niko182 said:

Id say do a IFD540 with a lynx ngt9000 transponder. Save yourself the hassle and do the EDM 900 instead of the 830. when your gauges start to die, youll be happy you did the 900, instead of the 830.

Agree on either the EDM-900 or EDM-930.  Both are priced within $1k of each other, so the larger-footprint 930  (along with its mounting arrangement now aligned closer to that of the 900) is becoming a better option.

Also look at the NGT-9000+ rather than the 9000.  The "+" adds active traffic (TAS or TCAS - whichever route you go) and gives the most complete traffic picture...more so than ADS/B alone will ever be able to show.

Steve

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10 hours ago, Fookz92 said:

Awesome feedback. This is exactly what I am looking for. I have not been able to play with the 750 so that is new territory to me. Hence why I’m asking here. 

 

You can now download the GTN simulator for the iPad from Garmin for free. It's as close to the real thing as you can get.

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10 hours ago, Niko182 said:

Id say do a IFD540 with a lynx ngt9000 transponder. Save yourself the hassle and do the EDM 900 instead of the 830. when your gauges start to die, youll be happy you did the 900, instead of the 830.

I replaced my EDM 700 with the 830 and am happy enough with it, but if I were putting in a monitor from scratch, I would have gone with the EDM 900. While all my original gauges still work, I know they are 30+ years old, and will die at some point. If you are going to spend the money on wiring all of the sensors for an engine monitor, why not do it just once and replace your analog gauges?

+1 on the IFD 540. The main benefit I find in it is the ability to use touchscreen or knob entry and the lack of ripping out a tray from my avionics stack. Throw in the iPad keyboard app and the lower cost (from Sarasota) and it looks even better.

+1 on the LynxNGT 900+ with one change - @StevenL757 has a good point about the non-ADS-B future traffic, and you can get the NGT 9000+R and have it remote mounted.

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1 hour ago, StevenL757 said:

Exactly.  Along with @donkaye's assessments, the extra money spent on the 750 is well-worth it.

One other very important feature with the new software on the GTN 750 ( and 650, too); the ability to fly VFR approaches to almost all non private runways in the US.  Most also have a 3° slope calculated and associated with them.   This is huge for situational awareness, especially during time of reduced visibility and darkness.

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7 minutes ago, donkaye said:

One other very important feature with the new software on the GTN 750 ( and 650, too); the ability to fly VFR approaches to almost all non private runways in the US.  Most also have a 3° slope calculated and associated with them.   This is huge for situational awareness, especially during time of reduced visibility and darkness.

That's a very cool feature... I hope Avidyne will add that feature to my IFD540 at some point in the future ;)

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These threads make me want to spend $$$.  A 750 would sure be nice...


Yeah, lots of talk money spending but no one actually saying what those panels actually cost. For an owner these are significant financial decisions with implications.

Hunter - plan it out with both your short and long term goals. Spending $40k to $50k on plane that you may not keep, is worse than throwing money down a bottomless pit. Owners like Don, Bob and Steven are and will be long term owners of their planes. Others have the financial means to throw into the pit and don’t care about the future resale implications.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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I love these threads! We CB Pilots are really good at spending other people’s money.

I was going to do a new audio panel and slide in a 440 to replace a 430w along with a GTX345. You might as well this that and the other!  I ended up dropping 45k.  Did I double my budget? Yes.  Do I have one single regret? No. Will you have any regrets?  

I can’t remember who gave this advice here. “Opening up your panel is like major surgery and the more you accomplish while it’s opened up the better.” I agreed and went for it. Keep us posted.

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