Finding CTAF & PCL freq in a Garmin

[[email protected]]

I thought I was frustrated by Garmin not clearly indicating CTAF's in
their database, but found out that the frustration was due to my not
knowing where to look. While maybe no one else will suffer from this
problem, I'll take the risk of exposing my error in case someone else
may benefit.

On my Garmin 196, the CTAF is not listed on the Comm tab that goes with
the airport. This normally isn't a problem since usually the CTAF can
be inferred from other frequencies listed on the Communication tab, but
for some airports (KTVL and O57 are the ones that bugged me), there was
confusion and I wished Garmin had marked the CTAF with a C or similar.
Some research made me realize that I was looking in a logical, but
wrong place. The CTAF is on the main page for the airport, not on the
Comm tab.

A related problem that also could be catastrophic in an emergency is
looking for the PCL frequency on the COMM tab. It's on the RUNWAY tab
-- and for some airports like O57 it is not the same as the CTAF. I
don't know why the FAA allows different frequencies for CTAF and PCL,
but that is the case.

Hoping this is of some help.

[baron58y]

wrote:
> I thought I was frustrated by Garmin not clearly indicating CTAF's in
> their database, but found out that the frustration was due to my not
> knowing where to look. While maybe no one else will suffer from this
> problem, I'll take the risk of exposing my error in case someone else
> may benefit.
>
> On my Garmin 196, the CTAF is not listed on the Comm tab that goes with
> the airport. This normally isn't a problem since usually the CTAF can
> be inferred from other frequencies listed on the Communication tab, but
> for some airports (KTVL and O57 are the ones that bugged me), there was
> confusion and I wished Garmin had marked the CTAF with a C or similar.
> Some research made me realize that I was looking in a logical, but
> wrong place. The CTAF is on the main page for the airport, not on the
> Comm tab.
>
> A related problem that also could be catastrophic in an emergency is
> looking for the PCL frequency on the COMM tab. It's on the RUNWAY tab
> -- and for some airports like O57 it is not the same as the CTAF. I
> don't know why the FAA allows different frequencies for CTAF and PCL,
> but that is the case.


It helps avoid misidentification of airports and inappropriate approach
light intensity changes when several airports within radio range share
the same CTAF.

It's another example of no benefit without a cost. Staying current with
the Regs, the AIM, the Charts, the A/FD, and the capabilities and
requirements of your equipment, and thorough preflight planning, are the
costs. Thanks for sharing your experience.


Jack

[Robert M. Gary]

Make sure your database is current. I pulled up a CTAF on my 296 last
week and found the freq different than the section. Turns out the freq
had changed in the few months.

-Robert

wrote:
> I thought I was frustrated by Garmin not clearly indicating CTAF's in
> their database, but found out that the frustration was due to my not
> knowing where to look. While maybe no one else will suffer from this
> problem, I'll take the risk of exposing my error in case someone else
> may benefit.
>
> On my Garmin 196, the CTAF is not listed on the Comm tab that goes with
> the airport. This normally isn't a problem since usually the CTAF can
> be inferred from other frequencies listed on the Communication tab, but
> for some airports (KTVL and O57 are the ones that bugged me), there was
> confusion and I wished Garmin had marked the CTAF with a C or similar.
> Some research made me realize that I was looking in a logical, but
> wrong place. The CTAF is on the main page for the airport, not on the
> Comm tab.
>
> A related problem that also could be catastrophic in an emergency is
> looking for the PCL frequency on the COMM tab. It's on the RUNWAY tab
> -- and for some airports like O57 it is not the same as the CTAF. I
> don't know why the FAA allows different frequencies for CTAF and PCL,
> but that is the case.
>
> Hoping this is of some help.

[Denny]

Shucks, more than that changes every time they revise a chart ...
My airport, Saginaw Harry Brown (Mi) changed its identifer when they
turned the ILS on last month,,, It was HYX - it is now HQW...
(don't ask, I don't know why) and the NDB is still signing HYX until
they shut it off...
But, the CTAF is still 122.8...
The new ILS is 111.35...

BTW, each aeronautical chart type has it's own cycle... See this URL

http://www.naco.faa.gov/content/naco/doles/NACOVFRDOLE.pdf

So you can have two different chart types, both CURRENT and each might
show a different frequency if there has been a recent change... I
guess that is why gawd created NOTAMS - and wrote them in
Sanskrit...

cheers ... denny

Robert M. Gary wrote:
> Make sure your database is current.