lowrance 500 opinion

[d&tm]

Just saw a new lowrance airmap 500 on ebay ( australia) and am thinking of
bidding for it. anyone here have experience with this unit? is it suitable
for a low hour PPL flying C172 or warrior. Did a google and they seem cheap
compared to Garmin. Is there a good reason for that?
terry

[Vaughn Simon]

"d&tm" > wrote in message
...
> Just saw a new lowrance airmap 500 on ebay ( australia) and am thinking of
> bidding for it. anyone here have experience with this unit? is it suitable
> for a low hour PPL flying C172 or warrior. Did a google and they seem cheap
> compared to Garmin. Is there a good reason for that?

I would characterize myself as a fairly low time VFR pilot who knocks
around in 152's and 172's. I have had my Airmap 500 for a couple of years now
and consider it money well spent. It does everything I need a GPS to do. The
display is plenty big enough and clear enough for my old eyes to focus on.
The battery life is satisfactory, & the reception with the supplied antenna has
been 100%. Be sure that you are getting all of the original accessories that
came with it or drastically discount the price accordingly. In particular you
will need the mount and the manual.

The 500 does not include terrain, but I live in flat country so that is not
an issue to me.

Vaughn


> terry
>
>

[d&tm]

"Vaughn Simon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "d&tm" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Just saw a new lowrance airmap 500 on ebay ( australia) and am thinking
of
> > bidding for it. anyone here have experience with this unit? is it
suitable
> > for a low hour PPL flying C172 or warrior. Did a google and they seem
cheap
> > compared to Garmin. Is there a good reason for that?
>
> I would characterize myself as a fairly low time VFR pilot who knocks
> around in 152's and 172's. I have had my Airmap 500 for a couple of years
now
> and consider it money well spent. It does everything I need a GPS to do.
The
> display is plenty big enough and clear enough for my old eyes to focus on.
> The battery life is satisfactory, & the reception with the supplied
antenna has
> been 100%. Be sure that you are getting all of the original accessories
that
> came with it or drastically discount the price accordingly. In particular
you
> will need the mount and the manual.
>
> The 500 does not include terrain, but I live in flat country so that
is not
> an issue to me.
>
Thanks Vaughan, It is pretty flat down here also and I just want the basic
features to keep me out of controlled airspace and to be able to find any
airfield I want and be reliable. I had been using a Magellan 330 which only
has an internal antennae, was ok in the low wing warrior but had a habit of
losing the signal in the cessna which was a little inconvenient.
terry