"N2SX" wrote in message
oups.com...
I think we are all aware of the 1,500 ballpark for the 430/530 waas
update next year. I'm sorry I offended you so much by mistyping, mike.
Wish we could all be perfect.

My point was that I always assumed the 480 was the future rather than
the much older 430. My conversation with Electronic Flight was a
perspective that I hadn't considered. Keep in mind that EF has to have
a pretty close partnership with the makers of the avionics which they
make training software for. Thus, for those folks debating a 430 vs.
480, knowing whether or not the 480 is going to be around would be
pretty important. Too late for me, one way or the other.

I would say, though, that once the waas upgrade happens, the 480 and
430 will be functionally equivalent. I can't imagine, from a business
perspective, producing and selling both products. Seems to me that one
will have to go.

Elton
N2SX

Sorry to hurt your feelings but you said that he said $5000. I make a lot
of typos but I don't see by looking at my keyboard how you can get $5000
instead of $1500. Anyway it is difficult to read the mind of someone you
don't know. You then went on to say that the guy predicted that the 480
would be orphaned. Garmin payed about $40MM for UPS and they will continue
selling the UPS-designed products until they are unprofitable and they will
continue to support the product well after that. They just realeased a
transponder unique to the 480. The goal is to make $$$, period..

The 480 was designed five years later than the 430 so it is naturally more
advanced. However, most of the 430's limitations are related to the TSO and
you can see that all the 129a boxes do the same things with only minor
variations. The 430 with WAAS will be able to do everything the 480 can do
if Garmin decides to duplicate the features as it will be a 146 box. In
fact, the 430 could be doing much of it now if the 146 boxes weren't
required to have a 5hz update rate. VNAV, for instance, is trivial. If you
know where you are and how high you are, it is easy to calculate what
descent is required to reach any given point at any given altitude.
Similiarly terrain was simple to add, you have a screen and know your
location already. All that was added was geo-referenced elevation data.
Getting the FAA to approve it is somewhat more difficult than actually
developing the product though.

I agree that given the small price difference, the 480 is attractive
compared to the 430 with the additional $1500 for WAAS. Garmin's
manufacturing expertise is small lots of diverse products, if the market
wants both the 430 and 480, then both will be availible.

Mike
MU-2