Garmin GNS430 upgrade "schedule"

[Andrew Gideon]

Has anyone a good grasp of the schedule of upgrades coming for the Garmin
GNS430? With at least two - WAAS and TAWS - requiring a unit to be shipped
for an upgrade, I'd like to do some planning to avoid having the units
(we've four in our club) away multiple times.

I've searched on their website, and all I can find is an out-of-date press
release (TAWS in 2003 {8^).

Thanks...

- Andrew

[Victor J. Osborne, Jr.]

Looking for this same info. I even sent my 530 to the avionics shop b/c
they said it was ready to ship to Garmin for upgrade. The shop owner knew
better and sent the unit back.

Garmin's sales people have said the same thing for 2 years; "this spring."
I wonder what the 'official' line w/b at AOPA in October? "Have you seen
our new 480?"

Still waiting ...... {|;-(

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.

[Victor J. Osborne, Jr.]

Just got off the phone w/ Garmin 530 'expert support' line. WAAS next year
(3-4th qtr) Terrain data, no fixed time frame. Maybe late next year.

I knew I made a mistake in buying Garmin! They said they were putting my
weather (WX Works) and the terrain data on the 530. So I bought Garmin
instead of the competition. Opps.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.



take off my shoes to reply

[Thomas Borchert]

Jr.,

> So I bought Garmin
> instead of the competition.
>

Which would have been? Part of the problem is that there is none.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Al Marzo]

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 14:07:02 -0400, "Victor J. Osborne, Jr."
> wrote:

>Just got off the phone w/ Garmin 530 'expert support' line. WAAS next year
>(3-4th qtr) Terrain data, no fixed time frame. Maybe late next year.
>
>I knew I made a mistake in buying Garmin! They said they were putting my
>weather (WX Works) and the terrain data on the 530. So I bought Garmin
>instead of the competition. Opps.

What's the competition? I thought Garmin bought the competition.

[Victor J. Osborne, Jr.]

At the time, the competition was Apollo. Their box provided WAAS, terrain,
etc. I don't remember all of the comparison points but I went w/ the 530
due to traffic, weather and other features for the future based on Garmin's
"We're going to have WAAS in a year and terrain in 3-6 months."

Right off the bat, I saw the GeeWiz 1000 getting all of the R&D time. (We
all know why - Can you say "Glass Cockpit?") Now we wait for the upgrades
promised sooo long ago. I know I've said it before but it bears repeating:
How do you tell when a salesman is lying? When his mouth is moving.

Whine mode off, {|;-(

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.

[Thomas Borchert]

Jr.,


And that's the Garmin 480 now.

> I saw the GeeWiz 1000 getting all of the R&D time
>

That would be my guess, too.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Andrew Gideon]

Victor J. Osborne, Jr. wrote:

> Just got off the phone w/ Garmin 530 'expert support' line. WAAS next
> year
> (3-4th qtr) Terrain data, no fixed time frame. Maybe late next year.
>
> I knew I made a mistake in buying Garmin! They said they were putting my
> weather (WX Works) and the terrain data on the 530. So I bought Garmin
> instead of the competition. Opps.

Here's what I've put together after a dialog with Garmin.

First of all, a question suggested by someone else in the club was whether
Garmin would have any type of trade-in program from the 430/530 to the UPS
GPS (480?). Alas, it appears that the answer is "no".

Terrain:

TAWS-B should be available for the 530 in October (ie. later this
month).

Uncertified terrain awareness will be available for the 430 perhaps
a month later.

This update will involve new software and a database (with an upgrade
cycle?), but should not require a trip to the factory.

WAAS:

6-12 months out, date unspecified.

This will require shipping the unit to the Factory.

WxWorks:

GDL 69 will be in production "in the coming months". This will
provide WxWorx capability. It will be interfaced initially with
the G-1000. It *may* be interfaced with the 430 some time after
the 430 gets WAAS.

Airways:

Unknown. The concern is that this would make the User Interface
too complex.

Finally, a question suggested by someone else in the club was whether Garmin
would have any type of trade-in program from the 430/530 to the UPS GPS
(480?). Alas, it appears that the answer is "no".

- Andrew