WAAS and Garmin 430/530

I didn't mean to infer Garmin should pull out all stops to provide 146
capability to the 430/530. But the fact of the matter is, and I can only
speak for myself on this, part of my purchasing decision was based upon
Garmin's statements. I just believe they should live up to their own
marketing hype. Granted, LNAV/VNAV approaches are few and far between right
now, but there are more published every day. I typically fly into and out of
airfields that do not have precision approaches, and are fortunate to have a
GPS overlay of an NDB approach. LNAV/VNAV is a capability I am really
looking forward to using.

Garmin was founded and headquartered in Olathe, KS until a reorganization in
1999 or 2000, I believe. That moved their HQ to the Caymans (tax haven) and
became the "Britainized" Garmin LTD. The Taiwan facility is just a fab shop,
if my research is correct principally for lower margin consumer electronics
(iQue, Rhino, eTrex...)

Believe me, I have no beef with Garmin, other than my resentment of
Corporate tax havens. These guys are sharp businessmen, and vicious
competitors. My concern is, and will remain with their commitment to the
markets that got them where they are now.

Just take a look at what is happening with pharma after "merger mania". The
organizations have gotten so big, innovation and competition have died off
in many market sectors. Bigger is not always better.


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
. net...

"Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message
...
I own Garmin products, but I also know they are vicious in protecting
their
pricing and controlling distribution (which is why I am still suspect of
their UPSAT purchase.) You are correct, that autos represent the biggest
market and lowest margins, but the most successful technologies are the
ones
that can generate high volume sales (witness Wi-Fi or the old VHS over
Beta...) GPS did not become ubiquitous until "cheap" solutions came to
market. Garmin also incorporated in the Cayman's as a tax haven.
Perfectly
legal, but considering the bulk of their operations are in the US, a tad
on
the sleazy side for my taste. Aerospace is a great market for Garmin,
because it is niche. The 35 "mouse" was way overpriced for many years
until
others came to the market, they really milked that one...


Garmin is more of a Taiwanese company than a US one.


Don't get me wrong, the 430/530 are still amazing for what they do. I am
just concerned that they overpromised continued support of these
products.
When making my UPSAT vs Garmin decision a few years back, my discussions
with Garmin engineers "suggested" Garmin had a software solution for a
WAAS
upgrade. Now we know it is a major hardware upgrade, and really don't
know
when it will be ready (or if it will ever pass the TSO...) I know from
discussing from individuals working in engineering that most of their
resources and talent are pushing the G1000. Upgrading the 430/530 may be
on
the back burner for a while since they have bet their aerospace future
on
the G1000 (and spending a lot of coin to get it out the door.)


When Garmin "suggested" that they would have a software WAAS upgrade path
for the 430/530, the TSO was not availible. When the FAA issued the TSO,
it
required 5 updates per second and that was beyond what the processor on
the
430/530 could do. Their was no way to see this coming and Garmin
certainly
hasn't had any problem integrating WAAS into their non-IFR-certified
products. You seem to be inferring that not having WAAS for the 430/530
today is an issue and that Garmin should pull out all the stops to get
WAAS
into the 430/530. I disagree. There is no functional advantage to having
a
146 box today.

Mike
MU-2



"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
. net...
Actually what you are referring to is Chrysler and Garmin did not lose
the
business.. The system bought by Chrysler from Alpine was at a higher
price
(~$1600) point than the one being developed by Garmin for Chrysler.
The
stock was ready to take a hit, having run from $20 to $50 with no real
pullbacks. Automotive is indeed going to be the largest market but
the
margins are going to be the lowest.

Mike
MU-2


"Mark T. Mueller" wrote in message
news I believe it was GM. It was reported back in June. Garmin's stock
took
a
hit
after the announcement, since the auto sector represents the
greatest
revenue growth potential for GPS equipment makers...

Aviation, as we all know, is a very small, niche market compared to
the
auto
sector.


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
link.net...

"Mark T. Mueller" wrote in
message
...
The 430/530 do not meet the WAAS TSO (146a, I believe). They
were
designed
long before this TSO went final. Garmin always said the 430/530
would
be
"upgradeable", but I think the final TSO caught them by
surprise.

You WILL need a hardware upgrade in the boxes to provide the 1
Hz
refresh
rate required by the TSO. Garmin reps at OSH this year stated
the
upgrade
should be available early next year, but based upon Garmin's
typical
schedule challenges, it will probably be more like late 04
before
they
can
provide good turn-around, and that's assuming they don't find
any
"issues"
with the hardware upgrade...

There will be a significant software upgrade as well.

Seeing as there are only a handfull of LNAV/VNAV approaches
published,
I
don't see the hurry in finding the que. I will wait a bit until
the
hardware
upgrade is on the street for a couple months and any inevitable
problems
are
worked out...

In the meantime, were I to buy right now, I would probably go
for
the
CNX80,
but I would be concerned that Garmin has just bought UPSAT and
future
product support. The "gist" I got from the Garmin reps at OSH
was
their
entire engineering staff is focused on rolling out the high
dollar
G-1000,
and everything else is taking a back seat at the moment. Kind of
disappointing, since I was hoping they would come out with an
interface
for
the 530 with WxWorx instead of that pathetic EchoFlight...

Garmin lost a major auto contract recently because of their high
pricing
structure. Don't know how that's going to effect their business
model,
but
I
hope they refocus on their core aviation market.

I'm waiting.

DB

What auto maker was that?

Mike
MU-2