Musings on the Aera 760

[donkaye]

The Aera 796 has been a staple for me for over 10 years (since it came out) both in my airplane and to" normalize" for me the different avionics in all of my student's airplanes.  It's been with me on all my ferrying trips and all the teaching I've done over that time frame.  It doesn't make sense, but I almost feel guilty about permanently retiring it to where ever old GPSs go when they have outlived their usefulness.  The new kid on the block is the Aera 760.  I know its been out a year now, but it was only in the last several months that I made the decision to purchase it.  Part of the reason for the delay was that it also required the purchase of a GDL series receiver to get traffic, and weather and the GDL size made it inconvenient to place on the glare shield.

First I bought the GDL 52 and a cable to enable it to play with the 796.  That gave me traffic on the 796, something I didn't have before while teaching in an airplane without a way to get traffic to it.  That cable was a monstrosity of wires, but it did work.  So now I had the small puck of the original 796, the GDL 52, and a monstrous wiring mess to deal with.

So I broke down and ordered the Aera 760 from Pacific Coast Avionics.  It was on sale and there was a benefit of buying it in Oregon.  I really didn't know what to expect.  I had read the manual a couple of times, but until you have it in your hands and actually use it, it's hard to know how you'll feel about it.

In the beginning I was a little luke warm about it.  The screen was brighter and the menu structure was a takeoff on the GTNs, but getting around on it required a few more touches than were required with the shortcuts available on the 796.

Then things started to change, as I began seeing the additional capabilities it had over the 796.  For those interested here are some of them: 1. Larger icons and bigger characters.  2. Built in AHARS used with SVT.  3. The name of airports and VORs on the flight plan page instead of just the identifiers.  I can't say how many times I had to look up what an identifier name was on previous handhelds.  3. Ability to load departures, airways, arrivals, and full approaches.  4. Ability to load any type of hold on any radial on a waypoint and have it display on the screen as a curved track.  5. Ability to overlay approach charts on the Map page.  6. Ability to load all visual approaches to any airport, just like the GTNs.  7. Show battery power remaining as a percent of total.  8. With MapMX input from the GTN the ability to show curved tracks and holds from the GTN.  9. Lighter weight than the 796.  10. Internet access for weather on the ground.  11. Shows fuel prices.  12. Choice of internet downloads of databases or direct downloads from a computer.  13. Runs cooler than the 796.

The icing on the cake occurred last week when I had the 760 hardwired into my plane in conjunction with the GDL 52.  I decided to mount the GDL 52 out of the way on the back side window with a suction cup mount.  It actually looks good there.  So now everything is hardwired including flight plan transfer, Sirius XM weather and Audio, ADS-B Traffic and Weather, with the option of doing the same things with Bluetooth either from the GDL 52 or from the Flight Stream 510 with data from the panel mounted equipment.

The Aera 760 and GDL 52 just pop out for easy transfer to any other airplane, mainly student's airplanes.

There are reasons for also having an iPad and I do have that, but In the end, for the reasons I have the need for a handheld GPS, the Aera 760 is the best handheld GPS I have ever had.

[toto]

The one thing that remains murky for me about the 760 is its alleged ability to drive a GFC500 ... I've seen references to this in Garmin marketing materials, but I don't have any clear understanding of how this would work (or whether there is some sort of reversionary capability if a G5 dies). 

Any insights on the AP integration stuff?

(I always assumed that this was a throwback to an experimental setup where your primary flight display and AP controller might be a handheld, but that doesn't seem particularly relevant to a certified aircraft.)

[Lance Link]

Great review Don thanks for posting it.  My plane had ADS-B out when I bought it so I put in a GDL 52R for ADS-B in on 2 Aera 660s.  Will be putting in a GTN 750 and two G5’s, and plan to use an Aera 760 to round things out. It really seems like the functionality it’ll add will be substantial.  Now I just have to figure out the best place to mount it!

[aviatoreb]

7 hours ago, donkaye said:

.. I decided to mount the GDL 52 out of the way on the back side window with a suction cup mount.  It actually looks good there.  ...

Thanks for your review Don.

I don't understand how your mounting works but it sounds intriguing. I would love to see a picture.

E

[carusoam]

On 3/15/2021 at 1:26 AM, toto said:

The one thing that remains murky for me about the 760 is its alleged ability to drive a GFC500 ... I've seen references to this in Garmin marketing materials, but I don't have any clear understanding of how this would work (or whether there is some sort of reversionary capability if a G5 dies). 

Any insights on the AP integration stuff?

(I always assumed that this was a throwback to an experimental setup where your primary flight display and AP controller might be a handheld, but that doesn't seem particularly relevant to a certified aircraft.)

Expect that would work well in your home built...

Probably difficult to find somebody to wire it up on your Mooney panel...

PP thoughts only not an aviation lawyer...

Best regards,

-a-

[ilovecornfields]

My panel mounted 760 AHRS acts like it’s drunk and will randomly show a turn when I’m straight and level and they took away the checklist feature that the 796 had. When I asked Garmin about it they recommended scanning my checklist into a pdf. I ended up disabling the built-in AHRS and just using the FS210 like I did with the 796. Maybe it’s too early to decide, but I preferred the 796.

I have all the fancy stuff in my GTNs so I don’t really see the added value of having it on the 760.

[toto]

1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

I don’t really see the added value of having it on the 760.

The integrated AHRS is a significant differentiating factor from other portable units that require an external attitude source. If you lose everything else, you've still got nav and attitude on a self-contained battery-powered unit. 

But if it isn't reliable, then that's worse than not having it. 

[toto]

4 hours ago, carusoam said:

Probably difficult to find somebody to wire it up on your Mooney panel...

Yeah, maybe. But I see references to the GFC500 all over the place. If it were an experimental feature, I would expect references to experimental autopilots. 

Here's a quote from the Sporty's review: 

"There are still more options for connecting to panel-mount avionics. You can find and upload frequencies to a GTR 200/225 COM radio (using an optional power/data cable), send VFR route guidance to G3X and GFC 500 autopilots, and upload/download fight plans wirelessly to FlightStream 210/510 devices. In short, if you have a panel full of Garmin avionics, the aera 760 will play very well with it."

(Emphasis mine.)

But so it's a VFR nav source for a certified autopilot. Sounds at least potentially useful in a very narrow emergency, where you've lost other nav sources but still have power to your GFC500. 

Anyway, it's something I've never seen before in a handheld. 

Ref: https://www.sportys.com/blog/hands-on-new-garmin-aera-760-gps/

[donkaye]

5 hours ago, ilovecornfields said:

My panel mounted 760 AHRS acts like it’s drunk and will randomly show a turn when I’m straight and level and they took away the checklist feature that the 796 had. When I asked Garmin about it they recommended scanning my checklist into a pdf. I ended up disabling the built-in AHRS and just using the FS210 like I did with the 796. Maybe it’s too early to decide, but I preferred the 796.

I have all the fancy stuff in my GTNs so I don’t really see the added value of having it on the 760.

Although I made a checklist for the 796, I never used it, so didn't notice it was missing.  Maybe they could add it in a future software update.  Regarding the AHARS, I'll have to try the internal one.  As you say, it is available externally from a number of sources.  I do know the attitude can be reset in flight.

[ilovecornfields]

I emailed Garmin about both issues. I was told they have no plan at this time to add the checklist (they seemed to think scanning a pdf was a good substitute) and were entirely unhelpful with the AHRS issue. I’m curious if yours suffers the same problems. The 796 worked fine with the FS210 so the built-in AHRS was really the only difference for me and as @toto pointed out an unreliable AHRS is worse than none at all.

From Garmin:

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. Sorry this is happening, first make sure the software is current which is 2.4. If it is not, you can update it at garmin.com. You can also try a reset, hold the power button down for more than 8 seconds. Let us know how it does, have a great day!
 

My software is up to date, of course. Resetting the unit in flight while it’s “tumbling” sounds like a great solution!

[donkaye]

1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

I emailed Garmin about both issues. I was told they have no plan at this time to add the checklist (they seemed to think scanning a pdf was a good substitute) and were entirely unhelpful with the AHRS issue. I’m curious if yours suffers the same problems. The 796 worked fine with the FS210 so the built-in AHRS was really the only difference for me and as @toto pointed out an unreliable AHRS is worse than none at all.

From Garmin:

Thank you for contacting Garmin International. Sorry this is happening, first make sure the software is current which is 2.4. If it is not, you can update it at garmin.com. You can also try a reset, hold the power button down for more than 8 seconds. Let us know how it does, have a great day!
 

My software is up to date, of course. Resetting the unit in flight while it’s “tumbling” sounds like a great solution!

It looks like the FS210 is compatible with the 760, so it should work for you just like the 796 for attitude.  I'll check my internal attitude source to see if mine works.  I'm not expecting much, since my unit is not panel mounted, but yoke mounted.

Raul, in the final analysis there are just so many other added features to the 760 that when used for awhile, I don't think you would NOT want to go back to the 796.  It does take some getting used to, though.

[ilovecornfields]

18 minutes ago, donkaye said:

It looks like the FS210 is compatible with the 760, so it should work for you just like the 796 for attitude.  I'll check my internal attitude source to see if mine works.  I'm not expecting much, since my unit is not panel mounted, but yoke mounted.

Raul, in the final analysis there are just so many other added features to the 760 that when used for awhile, I don't think you would want to go back to the 796.  It does take some getting used to, though.

I think you’re right, I was just a little disappointed because the “new” version lacked some nice things that the “old” version had. I’m not nearly as tech savvy as you are and I had originally planned to remove the panel mounted 796 and replace it with two GI-275’s but when I saw the built-in AHRS I thought maybe I could just swap them out (I know, apples and oranges comparison). I was just a little disappointed that the built-in AHRS was unreliable since this was the major reason for the “upgrade.” Also seemed a little dangerous to have a wonky AHRS that doesn’t flag when it’s failing. It does have some nice features that the 796 didn’t have, but I already have those in other places on my panel.

It does play well with the FS-210 and that is how it is set up now. 
 

Does this mean you’re back to instructing again?

[donkaye]

11 minutes ago, ilovecornfields said:

Does this mean you’re back to instructing again?

Yes.  Having completed the vaccine regimen and waited an additional 3 weeks to build up immunity, I feel comfortable flight instructing again.  I still maintain requiring masks in the cockpit and carry a bottle of sanitizer wherever I go.

[donkaye]

On 3/16/2021 at 2:54 AM, ilovecornfields said:

My panel mounted 760 AHRS acts like it’s drunk and will randomly show a turn when I’m straight and level and they took away the checklist feature that the 796 had. When I asked Garmin about it they recommended scanning my checklist into a pdf. I ended up disabling the built-in AHRS and just using the FS210 like I did with the 796. Maybe it’s too early to decide, but I preferred the 796.

I have all the fancy stuff in my GTNs so I don’t really see the added value of having it on the 760.

So I checked out the 3D vision on a flight yesterday and it seemed to work as advertised.  I just "Caged the Gyro" when in level flight and the Horizon was reset.  In turbulence it could be more sensitive than in smooth air.

I, also, discovered another upgrade in the 760 I hadn't see before.  With Metars available from XM or Fis-B both the headwind and crosswind component to a runway are displayed on the Airport (Waypoint) Page under Runway.

[squeaky.stow]

On 3/15/2021 at 1:03 AM, donkaye said:

the Aera 760 is the best handheld GPS I have ever had.

Great review Don. 
Any comments on how it compares to Garmin Pilot on an iPad?

I was a FltPlan Go user until recently because it’s free. However when I had a Flightstream 210 installed, I decided to try Garmin Pilot for a while. I have been using it like a poor man’s GTN to push airways to my GNS530 and display user defined holds (can’t push those to the GNS unfortunately) 
I like it so far. The user interface is a lot nicer than FltPlan Go, but I wonder what else I would get with the dedicated hardware?

[donkaye]

3 hours ago, squeaky.stow said:

Great review Don. 
Any comments on how it compares to Garmin Pilot on an iPad?

I was a FltPlan Go user until recently because it’s free. However when I had a Flightstream 210 installed, I decided to try Garmin Pilot for a while. I have been using it like a poor man’s GTN to push airways to my GNS530 and display user defined holds (can’t push those to the GNS unfortunately) 
I like it so far. The user interface is a lot nicer than FltPlan Go, but I wonder what else I would get with the dedicated hardware?

There's a need for both.  Each serves unique functions with Garmin Pilot providing briefing and flight plan filing services.  Internet access on the 760 is limited to some weather on the ground (IR Satellite, METARS, Radar (Base and Composite Reflectivity, and TAFs), and database downloads from Garmin.

Until recently Garmin was making all of its interfaces the same with a Main Menu of Icons.  They recently changed the Garmin Pilot interface and eliminated the Menu Page Icons.  Instead they have a row of icons along  the bottom of the application.  This does save an extra tap.  Also, the number of icons has increased so it makes it easier to see them all.

The 760 is easily viewable in sunlight, where the iPad is not.  Also, I like having the 760 on the yoke for quick access to frequencies and data I use frequently.  For me the iPad is too big and I prefer the aviation dedicated unit to the iPad, even the mini.

[ForeverLearning]

I have an Aera 796, which worked fine for years.  Over the past year or so it has developed an issue where it inaccurately displays altitude (and issues terrain warnings) at altitudes near the ground.

I compare it with the GPS altitude of a GNS 530W (as well as a pressure altimeter which is within 100 ft. of GPS altitude).

The altitude on the Aera lags far behind actual GPS altitude on climbout to the point where it is showing 1400 MSL, when actual GPS altitude is nearly 2200 MSL.

When taking off from a valley, this creates a ton of "Terrain! Pull up!" alerts - kind of creepy, especially at night.

Once I'm a few hundred feet AGL, the Aera's altitude seems to become accurate. (Maybe it can't keep up with calculating altitude and processing terrain?)

I've consulted with multiple avionics techs about this.  We've tested both internal and external GPS antennas.  The Aera has a good GPS signal and reports lateral position correctly, just not altitude.

The issue may have appeared when I downloaded one of the firmware or database updates.  Online research shows that some other Aera 796 owners experience this same issue.  I have the latest firmware version installed (v5.60, I believe)

Does anyone else have this issue?  Have you figured out a solution?

Thank you.

Al

[jetdriven]

I don't think it has a real ahrs, I think it takes ground speed and infers some kind of flight path like the AV20 does,  but it's not any good at all. Another thing  that they sold heavily was it 2-way flight plan transfer, but it's supposed to use map MX format one which is a one-way only protocol.

[LANCECASPER]

15 hours ago, jetdriven said:

I don't think it has a real ahrs, I think it takes ground speed and infers some kind of flight path like the AV20 does,  but it's not any good at all. Another thing  that they sold heavily was it 2-way flight plan transfer, but it's supposed to use map MX format one which is a one-way only protocol.

This thread is about the Aera 760, but the 796 which he is talking about doesn't have any built in AHRS capability.

@ForeverLearning Garmin still supports the 796 - give them a call.

[jetdriven]

I was talking about the Aera 760. I was mixing replies, The AHRS commment was in regard to this:

On 3/16/2021 at 5:54 AM, ilovecornfields said:

My panel mounted 760 AHRS acts like it’s drunk and will randomly show a turn when I’m straight and level and they took away the checklist feature that the 796 had. When I asked Garmin about it they recommended scanning my checklist into a pdf. I ended up disabling the built-in AHRS and just using the FS210 like I did with the 796. Maybe it’s too early to decide, but I preferred the 796.

I have all the fancy stuff in my GTNs so I don’t really see the added value of having it on the 760.

[donkaye]

I've read some of the latest comments and reviewed what I had to say a couple of years ago.  I have to say I haven't changed my opinion at all.  For me it is just the best handheld that Garmin has produced.  Those things that people don't like, I have found completely unnecessary like the AHARS and Checklists.  The size is small, the case doesn't fall apart or is bulky like that of the 796.  It doesn't overhead and sometimes shut down or get sluggish like the 796 sometimes did.  I can quickly get to airport data and favored runway in use when used in conjunction with the GDL 52.  Independently, from any GPS input I can get the full approach waypoints instead of just the final approach fix and missed approach waypoint.  It has VFR approaches.  You can overlay multiple weather products on a page instead just one.  Although sometimes a couple of more taps are necessary to get to what I want, I've gotten the menus down so pat that I can get to any page I want faster than with the 796.

Like pretty much anything in life, if you want to become expert at it, it takes time and a lot of practice.  For me it was well worth that time.

[Pinecone]

I would like it to have a reasonable AHRS to be a back up for the panel equipment.   Also, I do fly a lot with another pilot in the right seat, so with a good AHRS it would work as a PFD for the right seat.

And if it has one at all, why not make it one that works well???

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

I have an Aera 660 / GDL-50 combo and absolutely love it for all the reasons Don stated. But it, too, is worthless as even an emergency attitude reference. I think Garnin should just remove that functionality if they can’t make it work properly.  My solution, though, was to hardwire in a Dynon D3 for that.  Dynon goes out of it’s way to state that it’s “pocket panels” contain the same AHRS as do their certified units and I believe it. The D3’s UI isn’t quite as slick as the Garmin stuff is, but it has been rock solid for me for probably 100 hours of operation now.  It doesn’t do that much but what it does it does well.  

Based on your recommendation on another post, I bought a Dynon D3 and mounted it on the top of my compass post. On the G1000 Mooneys (pre-Ultra) the backup instruments are way over to the right, which is not ideal in a stressful situation. I like the D3 and believe I could stay right side up if I lost the G1000.