Avionic Upgrade Advice

[Speed Merchant]

4 hours ago, Schllc said:

I have never had any big panel changes, only repairs, software, transponders and a waas upgrade installed, on my mooney’s. 
all of them had little glitches, errors or omissions and required trips back. 
all under warranty, and relatively easily fixed but all required trips back. 
I would really try to find someone close to where I lived for this kind of work if possible. 
if I was hours away it would have been a real pita...

good point

[Speed Merchant]

14 hours ago, carusoam said:

Did you say you were looking for a shop to do the work..?

Jesse Saint is somewhere in the middle of Florida... and has some really good experience working with Mooney avionics...

Of course I only visited his shop one day... while he was out of town...

Got my first up close introduction to a Dynon unit... 

I was touring with Alan...

Best regards,

-a-

I will try to look him up thanks

[chriscalandro]

3 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

I'll say the same thing I said in that thread.  I would not expect Garmin to spend the time and money to do some other manufacturer's job.  If those manufacturers want their equipment to work with Garmin autopilots then they can do the work.  TT had to work with other navigators because TT doesn't make navigators.  Now that TT is BK, maybe they won't care if it works with others (big mistake since though since nobody buys the BK navigators). STEC makes AP's but not navigators.  Dynon doesn't make navigators.

Garmin will play just fine with others as long as the others are willing to ensure compatibility.

If you think Garmin tries to exclude others, just look at the interface compatibility list for the GI275.  The other manufacturers didn't do that for Garmin.  Garmin took the time to ensure all those parts worked.

I agree it’s for the other manufacturers to do, but it needs to be done with the help and support of Garmin. They own the STC and all the paperwork. 
 

If the alternative option manufacturer can’t get the support from Garmin or any idea that their work will end up with their stuff on the paperwork, why would they do that?

 

Yes, fundamentally you are right, but at the end of the day there still has to be a communication channel.

Have you ever tried to call Garmin for support? I have. It is not a pleasant experience. It’s my understanding the manufacturer contact path isn’t any better. 

[kris_adams]

3 minutes ago, chriscalandro said:

Have you ever tried to call Garmin for support? I have. It is not a pleasant experience. It’s my understanding the manufacturer contact path isn’t any better. 

The 1 time I've had an experience the call was answered quickly by someone who helped solve the issue we were having...1st call btw.  Of course that was working with my avionics shop who not surprisingly does a lot of Garmin (and Aspen) work.  I've also had the misfortune of calling into EI many times...supposedly a good company and the support guy was nice but they never could get all the bugs out of my solution (which wasn't even integrated into anything)-long story of replacing probes and devices rebooting inflight...no thanks.  Went with Garmin EIS and very happy so far. 

[kris_adams]

23 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

If you want to replace the GNS530w, I'd probably go with either the GTN750 or GTN650.  Either the original or the Txi version.  While the Avidyne would be cheaper to install than the Garmin, it won't necessarily allow your GFC500 to do everything it is capable of.

Speed,

Looks like you might be ok with panel space for now, but I went with the 750 so I could use a remote-mount transponder and audio panel.  You could always do that down the road if you don't want to do that now.  It's a great option and I love having it all integrated into the 750-I think you can do this on the 650 as well if you go that route.  You might want to double check.  Btw, I think the smaller screeen on the 650 would be perfectly fine for the remote xponder and audio panel if supported.  I normally do use the g3x for the xponder anyway but it's equally easy on the 750.

I upgraded from a Century IIB to the GFC500 so admittedly I had limited experience with autopilots, but the GFC is completely amazing.  Good luck! -K

Edited July 22, 2020 by Kris_Adams

[Speed Merchant]

2 hours ago, Kris_Adams said:

Speed,

Looks like you might be ok with panel space for now, but I went with the 750 so I could use a remote-mount transponder and audio panel.  You could always do that down the road if you don't want to do that now.  It's a great option and I love having it all integrated into the 750-I think you can do this on the 650 as well if you go that route.  You might want to double check.  Btw, I think the smaller screeen on the 650 would be perfectly fine for the remote xponder and audio panel if supported.  I normally do use the g3x for the xponder anyway but it's equally easy on the 750.

I upgraded from a Century IIB to the GFC500 so admittedly I had limited experience with autopilots, but the GFC is completely amazing.  Good luck! -K

Thanks for the comments

 

2 hours ago, Kris_Adams said:

Speed,

Looks like you might be ok with panel space for now, but I went with the 750 so I could use a remote-mount transponder and audio panel.  You could always do that down the road if you don't want to do that now.  It's a great option and I love having it all integrated into the 750-I think you can do this on the 650 as well if you go that route.  You might want to double check.  Btw, I think the smaller screeen on the 650 would be perfectly fine for the remote xponder and audio panel if supported.  I normally do use the g3x for the xponder anyway but it's equally easy on the 750.

I upgraded from a Century IIB to the GFC500 so admittedly I had limited experience with autopilots, but the GFC is completely amazing.  Good luck! -K

Thanks for the comments