Altitude Call Out is COOL

[Jay Honeck]

Okay, so I finally figured out how to turn the XM radio off without
killing all audio output from the 496. (It's not as easy as it should
be...)

This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
through our headphones.

Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
feature (since I fly VFR) -- but it's still WAY up there in the cool
factor levels. Feels like we're flying the heavy iron, now!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Greg B]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
> chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
> through our headphones.

It's calling out 500 feet and IOW is at 668? New Pathfinder Sub???
;-)

[mikem]

Jay Honeck wrote:
....
> This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
> chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
> through our headphones.

The folks on the Cessna forum have dubbed her the "Bitch in the Box".

What I object to is that the Garmin lawyers put her audio level about
6db above the entertainment. I designed an audio interface to my
headphone amplifier which partially cancels the Bitch relative to the
XM radio level...

[mikem]

Jay Honeck wrote:
....
> Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
> feature (since I fly VFR) --

Since most of my flights are about 3000' below the ridgelines, this
feature (and the terrain map) is very useful, especially on a dark
night.

MikeM

[Ron Natalie]

Jay Honeck wrote:

>
> This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
> chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
> through our headphones.
>
The 480 has a similar voice. It just chimes when you have a turn
in your flight plan coming up. But she's got a few phrases in
her bag "Localizer Alive" etc... The favorite is hearing
her say "Missed Approach Point" as you're rolling down the
runway on landing.

[Jay Honeck]

> It's calling out 500 feet and IOW is at 668? New Pathfinder Sub???
> ;-)

That's AGL, Greg, AGL!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Marco Leon]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>
> Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
> feature (since I fly VFR) -- but it's still WAY up there in the cool
> factor levels. Feels like we're flying the heavy iron, now!
>
It *does* call out obstacles as well. If you do any night VFR flying,
it can come in handy. (Having not flown with it yet, I quickly plugged
in my 496 in Simulator mode and checked it out through my PC
speakers--very cool) I just got my 496 last week and your original
PIREP was the thing that really got me thinking about jumping into the
XM Weather capability. Thanks.

Marco

[Jay Honeck]

> It *does* call out obstacles as well. If you do any night VFR flying,
> it can come in handy. (Having not flown with it yet, I quickly plugged
> in my 496 in Simulator mode and checked it out through my PC
> speakers--very cool) I just got my 496 last week and your original
> PIREP was the thing that really got me thinking about jumping into the
> XM Weather capability. Thanks.

You're welcome, Marco -- although I really should apologize for costing
you three grand...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[[email protected][_1_]]

Jay,

I did a flight shortly after getting the 396 installed. I had the
altitude voice on, and had a multi-leg route programmed into it as the
active flight. I decided to land at an intermediate airport that wasn't
at the end of the flight plan. The voice came on during final approach
with terrain warnings and demands to "pull up". Thought it was rather
amusing but it is probably a good feature to have.

Eric Bartsch
1959 Pilatus P-3 A-848
http://www.hometown.aol.com/bartscher/P3A848.html



On Dec 17, 11:36 pm, "Jay Honeck" > wrote:
> Okay, so I finally figured out how to turn the XM radio off without
> killing all audio output from the 496. (It's not as easy as it should
> be...)
>
> This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
> chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
> through our headphones.
>
> Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
> feature (since I fly VFR) -- but it's still WAY up there in the cool
> factor levels. Feels like we're flying the heavy iron, now!
>
> ;-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"

[Jay Honeck]

> I did a flight shortly after getting the 396 installed. I had the
> altitude voice on, and had a multi-leg route programmed into it as the
> active flight. I decided to land at an intermediate airport that wasn't
> at the end of the flight plan. The voice came on during final approach
> with terrain warnings and demands to "pull up". Thought it was rather
> amusing but it is probably a good feature to have.

That's a neat feature -- although I'm glad you told me about it
*before* it surprised me.

Can you imagine flying a newbie somewhere for lunch, diverting to a
different, nearby airport, and having THAT come over the intercom
turning base to final?

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Dave Butler]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>> I did a flight shortly after getting the 396 installed. I had the
>> altitude voice on, and had a multi-leg route programmed into it as the
>> active flight. I decided to land at an intermediate airport that wasn't
>> at the end of the flight plan. The voice came on during final approach
>> with terrain warnings and demands to "pull up". Thought it was rather
>> amusing but it is probably a good feature to have.
>
> That's a neat feature -- although I'm glad you told me about it
> *before* it surprised me.
>
> Can you imagine flying a newbie somewhere for lunch, diverting to a
> different, nearby airport, and having THAT come over the intercom
> turning base to final?

Hi Jay,

You can get the same warning even at the destination airport. I talked
to a Garmin engineer who explained how they decide whether you are
landing or just too close to terrain.

At the destination airport, there is a virtual surface that is lower
along the axis of the *primary* runway at the airport. If you break that
surface, you get the warning. Landing on some runway other than the
primary runway, the virtual surface is higher and you are more likely to
get the warning.

For example, I get it all the time when landing on runway 32 at RDU
(Raleigh/Durham, NC). The primary runways at RDU are 05/23 L and R.

There seem to be some other anomalies where you can get the warning. I
used to get it all the time when turning final for runway 21 at TTA
(Sanford, NC). I never could find anything unusual about the terrain or
obstructions there. I think another r.a.o poster also mentioned this
anomaly. Come to think of it, I just did that landing the other day, and
didn't get the warning, so maybe they've changed something in the later
versions of the firmware.

I try to remember to warn my Angel Flight passengers that they might
hear the warning. It's quite alarming if you're not prepared for it.

Dave

[Montblack]

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
> Can you imagine flying a newbie somewhere for lunch, diverting to a
> different, nearby airport, and having THAT come over the intercom turning
> base to final?


Forget the newbie - I fear for the machine, once Mary has announced "Sterile
Cockpit".

http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/directline_issues/dl4_sterile.htm
Googled web page - The Sterile Cockpit


Montblack :-o
YOU got Me in trouble ...I was quiet as a church mouse! <g>

[Jay Honeck]

> Forget the newbie - I fear for the machine, once Mary has announced "Sterile
> Cockpit".

ROTFL! I wonder if she'll "shush" the 496 the way she did you? (And
me!)

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Doug Vetter]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
> feature (since I fly VFR) -- but it's still WAY up there in the cool
> factor levels. Feels like we're flying the heavy iron, now!

If you think that's cool, you should fly with the GTX330. Betty says:

"Traffic" (when a conflict occurs)
"Traffic not available" (when leaving radar coverage)
"Leaving altitude" (when using the altitude alerter and +/- 200 ft)
"Timer expired" (really cool when that coincides with DH on an ILS)`

among other things.

Last summer I took up someone who had never flown in a small airplane
before. We have radar coverage almost to the ground at our home field,
so Betty usually calls out "Traffic not available" a few moments after
touchdown. And because everything is generally far quieter at this
time, Betty's voice stands out. The passenger commented "wow, I had no
idea small airplanes had a co-pilot!" :-)

-Doug

--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

[Thomas Borchert]

Doug,

> "Traffic not available" (when leaving radar coverage)
>

Actually, she says that on final right when you're trying to understand
your landing clearance (at least in Scottsdale, AZ). But it is cool.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Doug Vetter]

Thomas Borchert wrote:
>> "Traffic not available" (when leaving radar coverage)
>>
> Actually, she says that on final right when you're trying to understand
> your landing clearance (at least in Scottsdale, AZ). But it is cool.

When I was demoing various systems in our avionics shop's Bonanza prior
to the purchase, I noticed that the SkyWatch he had installed bitched
incessantly in the traffic pattern. I asked him whether we could shut
that off and he said he had (unfortunately) routed the audio through an
unswitched input in the audio panel.

Needless to say we routed the GTX330's audio through a spare switched
input to prevent this problem. We usually leave it enabled, obviously,
but can shut it up in a quick flick of the appropriate button.
Incidentally, the shop even replaced the button on the audio panel with
one that says "TCAD". Highly recommended.

Not to get too far off topic, but the bigger problem I've heard is with
the new Garmin terrain warnings. The thing just won't shut the hell up
when flying near the mountains, and I don't think you can legally route
the audio through a switched input (at least on the "approved" version
in the 530). That's speculation on my part, however...I really don't
know what the rules are. Just food for thought for anyone considering
the terrain upgrade.

-Doug

--------------------
Doug Vetter, ATP/CFI

http://www.dvatp.com
--------------------

[Mike Spera]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> Okay, so I finally figured out how to turn the XM radio off without
> killing all audio output from the 496. (It's not as easy as it should
> be...)
>
> This has enabled us to finally hear the little "Southwest Airlines"
> chime, followed by bitchin' Betty purring "Altitude...500 feet..."
> through our headphones.
>
> Call me silly, and I honestly can't think of a real use for this
> feature (since I fly VFR) -- but it's still WAY up there in the cool
> factor levels. Feels like we're flying the heavy iron, now!
>
> ;-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

All right Jay, you are just asking for it. The Luddites that want us to
stay with a whiskey compass and oil pressure gauge are going to come
down hard on you for this. Altitude callout? What nonsense! You are
supposed to find your altitude the old fashioned way: by unrolling a
weight on a looooooong string all the way to the ground, That is the way
REAL PILOTS were taught.

I hope they go easy on you...

Mike

[Mike Spera]

>
> You can get the same warning even at the destination airport.
..stuff snipped
> There seem to be some other anomalies where you can get the warning. I
> used to get it all the time when turning final for runway 21 at TTA
> (Sanford, NC). I never could find anything unusual about the terrain or
> obstructions there. I think another r.a.o poster also mentioned this
> anomaly. Come to think of it, I just did that landing the other day, and
> didn't get the warning, so maybe they've changed something in the later
> versions of the firmware.

I get the "pull up" terrain warning on my 396 when turning base at too
high a sink rate. We have towers nearby and my theoretical flight path
would put me too close to them if I did not turn final. Somehow I am
outside the zone of "landing" at that point. With the aerodynamics of a
2 by 4, I come in a wee bit higher than some expect (Cherokee 140 -
nuff' said). I finally see "red over white" on short final. Maybe that
does it. It seems to be coupled to the sink rate cuz I sometimes get it
on final.

Mike

[Roy Smith]

Mike Spera > wrote:
> All right Jay, you are just asking for it. The Luddites that want us to
> stay with a whiskey compass and oil pressure gauge are going to come
> down hard on you for this. Altitude callout? What nonsense! You are
> supposed to find your altitude the old fashioned way: by unrolling a
> weight on a looooooong string all the way to the ground, That is the way
> REAL PILOTS were taught.

With a bit of tallow on the end, so you can see what kind of bottom you've
got.

[Alan Gerber]

Mike Spera > wrote:
> With the aerodynamics of a
> 2 by 4, I come in a wee bit higher than some expect (Cherokee 140 -
> nuff' said). I finally see "red over white" on short final.

Is that because you're doing power-off landings? I fly a Warrior, which I
assume has simular aerodynamics, and have no problem holding the
glideslope. With power in, you'd be able to control the descent rate, no?

.... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com

[Jay Honeck]

> > With the aerodynamics of a
> > 2 by 4, I come in a wee bit higher than some expect (Cherokee 140 -
> > nuff' said). I finally see "red over white" on short final.
>
> Is that because you're doing power-off landings? I fly a Warrior, which I
> assume has simular aerodynamics, and have no problem holding the
> glideslope. With power in, you'd be able to control the descent rate, no?

That's the way I do it, too (and I think most Cherokee pilots carry a
bit of power to land smoothly) -- but a lot of guys like to do
power-off landings, just to prepare themselves for the eventuality of a
failed engine in the pattern.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Mike Spera]

Alan Gerber wrote:
> Mike Spera > wrote:
>
>>With the aerodynamics of a
>>2 by 4, I come in a wee bit higher than some expect (Cherokee 140 -
>>nuff' said). I finally see "red over white" on short final.
>
>
> Is that because you're doing power-off landings? I fly a Warrior, which I
> assume has simular aerodynamics, and have no problem holding the
> glideslope. With power in, you'd be able to control the descent rate, no?
>
> ... Alan


No, No, No, my friend. The tapered wing is WAY different than a constant
chord wing. Power is at around 17500 rpm and it sinks like a rock. Go
for a ride in a 140 and you will be enlightened (or scared to death).

Yes, you can control the descent rate right at 500fpm. But, you do so at
a MUCH greater angle to the ground than your Warrior. First time I flew
a tapered wing I could not believe how flat you had to come in to avoid
floating right past the airport. If you tried that with the 140, your
CFI would immediately pull the power back and announce "Engine Out" and
laugh while you quickly figured out you would NEVER make the runway.

Try it out.
Mike