"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message
news:6823bf21e87c61799d150096f329071b@TeraNews...
| Garmin's website now says they are "committed" to providing WAAS GPS
| approach capability for the 400/500 series by the "end of 2004."
|
| UPSAT's site states that their CNX-80 is WAAS approved now but I cannot
find
| an explicit statement that it supports WAAS approaches at this point.
|

UPS told us that the CNX-80 database needs an upgrade before you can do WAAS
approaches and has promised that it has already been release and that we
should get it soon.

Howdy!

1. WAAS is turned on but only "approved operators with approved
equipment" may do the LNAV/LPV/WAAS/GPS Precision Approaches.
2. The CNX80 is ONLY approved equipment for NON-PRECISION GPS
Approaches.
3. The CNX80 is NOT approved for PRECISION GPS Approaches
(RNAV/VNAV/etc) and will not be for several months to come.
4. GARMIN's 530/430 equipment is only approved for NON-PRECISION GPS
Approaches.
5. GARMIN's 530/430 equipment may or may not beat UPSAT's CNX80 in the
quest for PRECISION GPS Approach Approval.
6. IFR Enroute, Terminal, and Oceanic IFR-Approved GPS units with an
IFR-Approved installation AND CURRENT database may be used as a
substitute for DME in the U.S. (Consider that the rest of the world
still thinks NDBs are a pretty neat idea and the U.S. DOD OWNS and
OPERATES GPS. Of course the rest of the world still has their heads up
their arses when it comes to GPS, they didn't think of it first, and a
valid concern about the US military's ability to turn off GPS.)

I don't think GARMIN has missed the boat at all. Their delay in
implementing WAAS upgrades is deliberate to allow the FAA to turn on
WAAS all over the country and not just the 16 Approaches that could be
flown with GPS/WAAS equipment. WAAS and LAAS are not fully
operational, and GARMIN wants to see which system will win, if not
both, and GARMIN's upgrade will handle the appropriate system. This is
why GARMIN is implementing Terrain and TAWS this year, and WAAS next
year. At this time, terrain is a software upgrade, TAWS is a hardware
upgrade, and that will probably change before GARMIN ships the units.
GARMIN is planning for WAAS to be a software upgrade. The difference?
Software upgrades can be done at a dealer.

UPSAT's CNX80's WAAS-Enabled GPS is a bunch of marketing hype until
such time that the FAA allows Precision GPS approaches. Aloft, a
difference of 1' (WAAS) versus 3' (GPS) doesn't make a critical
difference in avoiding terrain or other obstacles. Being 200' over the
end of the runway, 1 foot versus 3 feet might make a critical
difference, hence the extended wait for GPS Precision Approaches.

The FAA's slowness in implementing WAAS approaches and approvals might
be deliberate due to the number of airspace and altitude busts by
pilots with the fancy GPS units on board. The FAA may be waiting for
the pilot community to get themselves trained on these GPS units
before certifying the system as safe for the general aviation pilots.

Where is my information from? The technical standard orders for
precision and non-precision GPS units, several days at the Aircraft
Electronics Association Convention, digging through the pounds of
manuals and installation manuals for the various units, and from the
mouths of the engineers and techs themselves at GARMIN, UPSAT, and L3.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein
www.slantgolf.com (in progress)