Aspen or GI 275 dual setup?

[WaynePierce]

I'm especially interested in those that have made that decision and installed one or the other? I used to be in the Aspen frame of mind but as much as I dislike the Garmin Monopoly, I'm starting to lean towards the GI 275s.

 

I currently have an Avidyne 550, Lynx 9000, and KAP 150 in a 1985 J model.

Edited April 11, 2022 by WaynePierce
added info.

[hypertech]

This is an easy decision.  That KAP 150 won't live forever.  Get the GI 275.  You'll be a third of the way to the autopilot when its time.

[kortopates]

If your considering two GI-275's you should also be looking at the G3X too. 

But if your looking to drive your AP too, which only makes sense so you can eliminate your King AI,  you'll need a GI-275 or G5 with a GAD-29B to do so

[Fly Boomer]

3 minutes ago, kortopates said:

considering two GI-275's you should also be looking at the G3X

I gather the GI-275s play nice with the G3X.  Is it the G5 that does not?

[Mcstealth]

@LANCECASPER

How was your dual Aspen set up?

[elimansour]

I got both!  Kind of... I have an Aspen ProMax PFD and use the GI275 backup.  The Aspen plays very well with the KFC 150 autopilot (using the EA100 interface) and with my GNS530W/430W units.  I think the Aspen display presentation is much closer to other PFDs and the extra screen real estate around the corners which is lost in having two separate round instruments is used by the Aspen to provide a true PFD presentation.  

[David Lloyd]

2 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

I gather the GI-275s play nice with the G3X.  Is it the G5 that does not?

Think Paul was referencing dollars. The G5 plays well with the G3X, not so much the 275.

[RobertGary1]

I went with the two GI-275 and kept the vacuum attitude as a diversity backup.

 

-Robert

[EricJ]

Since the company that made the Aspens changed direction I suspect support will wane going forward.

 

[kortopates]

20 minutes ago, David Lloyd said:

Think Paul was referencing dollars. The G5 plays well with the G3X, not so much the 275.

Exactly, 2 GI-275's is getting in the vicinity of cost for the G3X. Except for the AP issue where you'll need the one of the others with GAD to drive it. And also yes, the G5 and G3X where designed together for the experimental market and better integrate than the GI-275 with G3X. 

[aviatoreb]

I got dual GI275 - it drives my current KFC200 with no extra boxes needed - and it will drive my likely upgrade to GFC500 if I ever get there and want to upgrade which I will do if my KFC200 starts to need maintenance again I would sooner at that point invest in the future technology.  So it is forward compatible with what I want.  Also I do like the slightly retro round hole look.

[PeteMc]

28 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Since the company that made the Aspens changed direction I suspect support will wane going forward.

What change?

 

[Marauder]

I think your decision will need to come down to what you plan on doing with the legacy boxes (Avidyne and the Lynx) as well as your autopilot.

The Lynx as you know will display traffic and weather on the Avidyne. It will also display weather and traffic on the Aspens but I doubt it will display anything on the 275. On my setup with dual Aspens, I receive traffic and weather on both the Aspen PFD and MFD. But, on my GTN, only traffic is displayed.

Your current autopilot will work seamlessly with the Aspens.

Garmin offers a more complete integration but it requires everything to start with a “G”.

I’m a happy Aspen owner. I love the fact that when Garmin and Aspen came up with a significant update to their products, I didn’t need to yank out a G500 to put in a whole new G3X to get more functionality. Or be a G5 owner pining for a GI-275.


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[Marauder]

What change?
 

He is talking about their merger with a mesh of companies. Some of the new partners are into high end drone operations and there was a fear that Aspen would abandon the GA market to concentrate on building technology for this new industry.

I haven’t seen any changes from Aspen indicating this is happening and the last time I spoke with my avionics shop, they indicated they still have a steady stream of new Aspen customers.


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[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, kortopates said:

G5 and G3X where designed together for the experimental market and better integrate than the GI-275 with G3X

Thanks.

[alextstone]

5 hours ago, WaynePierce said:

I'm especially interested in those that have made that decision and installed one or the other? I used to be in the Aspen frame of mind but as much as I dislike the Garmin Monopoly, I'm starting to lean towards the GI 275s.

 

I currently have an Avidyne 550, Lynx 9000, and KAP 150 in a 1985 J model.

I currently have one Aspen and one GI275.  The GI275 feeds data to my GFC 500.  Both are good units...they just have very different "switchology"  I agree that the Garmin GI275 prepares you for the future more so than the Aspen.

[LANCECASPER]

6 hours ago, Mcstealth said:

@LANCECASPER

How was your dual Aspen set up?

I had three Aspens and the EA100 (Electronic Attitude) was wired to the KFC150.

[Ragsf15e]

7 hours ago, kortopates said:

If your considering two GI-275's you should also be looking at the G3X too. 

But if your looking to drive your AP too, which only makes sense so you can eliminate your King AI,  you'll need a GI-275 or G5 with a GAD-29B to do so

I don’t think the G5 w gad29b can drive a Kap-150 unless I’m mistaken?  
 

i do use dual g5s to drive my stec30a but they only provide heading info and gpss.  His kap will require a gi-275.  Even the g3x won’t.

While I agree a g3x and g5 is a great setup, it’s not great if you still have the kap-150… the -275s are better because they can actually drive that ap.

[kortopates]

5 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

I don’t think the G5 w gad29b can drive a Kap-150 unless I’m mistaken?  
 

i do use dual g5s to drive my stec30a but they only provide heading info and gpss.  His kap will require a gi-275.  Even the g3x won’t.

While I agree a g3x and g5 is a great setup, it’s not great if you still have the kap-150… the -275s are better because they can actually drive that ap.

Garmin added G5 legacy autopilot support through the GAD29B

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/aviation/third-party-autopilot-support-for-g5-expanded/

But I suspect what you're referring too is that the G5 provides limited support. The G5 was only able to provide provide DG & HSI input to the BK autopilots requiring you to keep BK AI; unless that has changed. But with dual GI-275s you can replace both the BK AI and DG/HSI. - which is an important point. 

[Ragsf15e]

13 minutes ago, kortopates said:

Garmin added G5 legacy autopilot support through the GAD29B

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/aviation/third-party-autopilot-support-for-g5-expanded/

But I suspect what you're referring too is that the G5 provides limited support. The G5 was only able to provide provide DG & HSI input to the BK autopilots requiring you to keep BK AI; unless that has changed. But with dual GI-275s you can replace both the BK AI and DG/HSI. - which is an important point. 

Yes exactly what I meant.  If you’re going to go big with new avionics, you’ll want to be able to ditch the old tech adi.  No sense getting dual g5s and still having to keep the bk adi as well (and possibly as primary)?

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, Ragsf15e said:

I don’t think the G5 w gad29b can drive a Kap-150 unless I’m mistaken?  

No it can't

[WaynePierce]

thank you all for the thoughts and guidance. This will probably be the last "big" (to me) upgrade on this plane. (Knock on a Mooney M20As wing...) I just want to make sure I don't screw it up, now that I'm on that retirement fixed income :-)

 

[StevenL757]

23 hours ago, WaynePierce said:

I'm especially interested in those that have made that decision and installed one or the other? I used to be in the Aspen frame of mind but as much as I dislike the Garmin Monopoly, I'm starting to lean towards the GI 275s.

I currently have an Avidyne 550, Lynx 9000, and KAP 150 in a 1985 J model.

GI275s any day of the week.  Twice on Sunday.

The GI275 (AP) will drive your KAP150 nicely.  Good on you also for the Lynx NGT9000.  One helluva' capable box.  If you have nothing else to do with $4,000, consider getting the NY164 antenna and the "+" unlock for active traffic.  Complete traffic picture over and above any ADS/B solution.

But then, it's easy for me to spend folks' money.  ;-)

[carusoam]

MS Phrase of the day…. Knock on an M20A’s wing!   

Way to go Wayne!

Good luck isn’t going to be required the way you handle your avionics upgrades….

Best regards,

-a-

[WaynePierce]

Well, I bit the bullet this morning and decided on the dual GI275s. The shop had one ADAHARS unit on the shelf and I ordered the second one to go with it. I'm getting the AI with AP as well as the HSI unit. We'll see how long it takes to get the second unit in to the shop. Of course I'll also be getting a single GMU 11. I elected to not invest in the USB panel plug installed, we'll see if this was a good idea or not...

Thank you again for your time and  guidance on this big, to me, decision.