G3X: How to change IFR/VFR Chart Regions.

[PT20J]

As I noted in another thread, even though I subscribe to both US and Canadian charts, the G3X will only allow one region to be loaded. I found this out when I flew to Alaska by way of Canada and found the Canadian charts unavailable.

According to Garmin Aviation Support, at the time you download a database from flygarmin or the Garmin Aviation Database Manager app you must select the region for these charts and only that region is downloaded to the SD card. So, if you are planning a flight across regions, you will need to download two SD cards for the same cycle each with a different chart region. Then to change regions, you need to power down the G3X, swap cards, and then power it up and load the new database. The G3X will not load a database if the airplane is in motion, so you have to do this on the ground. 

[MikeOH]

WOW!

That seems a total hassle and, frankly, really lame

[ArtVandelay]

The G3X will load databases when in motion, I’ve done this.

[Ragsf15e]

I do like the maps and functionality of the g3x, but I actually prefer Foreflight.  I keep FF updated on both my phone and ipad so i have a backup.  For my gtn xi, I just have the standard ifr database, and for the g3x, I use the free vfr database (which is the same as ifr but no approaches).  The free vfr database comes with obstacles and terrain.  The ifr database on the gtn has all the approach information and FF obviously has the database, maps and charts.  So for the price of the minimum ifr database and FF, I feel that the system is pretty robust and I have a reasonable number of backups.

[PT20J]

10 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

The G3X will load databases when in motion, I’ve done this.

I haven’t tried it. I was just going by what Garmin aviation support told me:

Just keep in mind like you said I'd recommend the G3X touch is powered off when introducing the SD card with the new database and also the display will not update if the aircraft is moving so you'll need to be on the ground as well. 

Of course, I’ve not always found Garmin support to be a reliable source of information 

[Ragsf15e]

Just now, PT20J said:

I haven’t tried it. I was just going by what Garmin aviation support told me:

Just keep in mind like you said I'd recommend the G3X touch is powered off when introducing the SD card with the new database and also the display will not update if the aircraft is moving so you'll need to be on the ground as well. 

Of course, I’ve not always found Garmin support to be a reliable source of information 

What happened when you flew out of your current region?  Just looked like you flew off the edge of the world?

[PT20J]

2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

What happened when you flew out of your current region?  Just looked like you flew off the edge of the world?

I didn’t notice it at first because I generally keep the map page up on the G3X and the charts displayed on the iPad. So, I don’t often look at the G3X charts. The map nav data and flightcharts are good for all North America. But, when in Canada, I did happen to look at the G3X charts once and the screen was just blank as I recall. 

[ArtVandelay]

I haven’t tried it. I was just going by what Garmin aviation support told me:
Just keep in mind like you said I'd recommend the G3X touch is powered off when introducing the SD card with the new database and also the display will not update if the aircraft is moving so you'll need to be on the ground as well. 
Of course, I’ve not always found Garmin support to be a reliable source of information 

It takes so long to do the updates I decided to try it while on a short local flight. I also introduced the SD card while in flight, now if you lose power during this process you might screw it up, so it might not be a smart thing to do?

IIRC, you’ll get errors from the GTN during the process.

[Pinecone]

On 3/6/2025 at 11:09 AM, Ragsf15e said:

I do like the maps and functionality of the g3x, but I actually prefer Foreflight.  I keep FF updated on both my phone and ipad so i have a backup.  For my gtn xi, I just have the standard ifr database, and for the g3x, I use the free vfr database (which is the same as ifr but no approaches).  The free vfr database comes with obstacles and terrain.  The ifr database on the gtn has all the approach information and FF obviously has the database, maps and charts.  So for the price of the minimum ifr database and FF, I feel that the system is pretty robust and I have a reasonable number of backups.

As @hubcap stated in another thread, you can fly an IFR approach on the internal G3X GPS/database.   So having the IFR database is a nice extra backup.

[PT20J]

If you load an approach from the internal G3X VFR database, you only get the final approach leg starting at the FAF and you only get lateral guidance without any vertical guidance. 

[Pinecone]

Still better than nothing.

 

[PT20J]

49 minutes ago, Pinecone said:

Still better than nothing.

 

Absolutely. I haven’t played with it recently, but in the past I noticed that the G3X would not load an approach from the internal GPS if the external GPS was operational. I had to power down the external GPS to get the load button to not be greyed out. The redundancy of the internal GPS is why I didn’t feel the need for a second IFR GPS.