Comments on AvMap EKP-IV

Comments, is it as good as it seems?

I played with it at OSH '04, (I've got last year's model AvMap EKP IIIC) and
found that it addresses both of the weaknesses of my unit without
compromising its advantages.

1. Bulk. The IV is quite a bit smaller than my III, yet the screen is the
same size or larger.

2. Battery backup. The IV now has internal battery back-up, something the
III did not. (I worked around this by buying a battery pack to plug the
cigar lighter attachment into if needed.)

There is simply no substitute for screen size, and the AvMap has it in
spades. It is so much bigger and brighter than the competition, it's hard
to imagine why anyone buys the smaller, more costly Garmin 296.

Even though it's large, by hand-held standards, the III fits quite nicely in
the yoke. (The IV would thus fit even better.) Here's a pic of our
installation:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?V3EF424C6

With all of its features, the "paper clutter" in the cockpit is greatly
reduced. Need an airport diagram? It's in the AvMap. (And it's actually
big enough to read.) Need the next frequency? It's in the AvMap. Need
the FBO? It's in the AvMap. Want to know the instrument approaches into
any airport? AvMap's got it.

We still carry sectionals, but over time they've been relegated to "backup"
status.

To say the AvMap changed the way we fly is not exaggerating.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" writes:

Comments, is it as good as it seems?


[...]

Thanks for the reponse :-)


Even though it's large, by hand-held standards, the III fits quite nicely in
the yoke. (The IV would thus fit even better.) Here's a pic of our
installation:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?V3EF424C6

What did you use to mount it on the yoke? It seems like there is no
factory made yoke mount (at least for the -IV)



With all of its features, the "paper clutter" in the cockpit is greatly
reduced. Need an airport diagram? It's in the AvMap. (And it's actually
big enough to read.) Need the next frequency? It's in the AvMap. Need
the FBO? It's in the AvMap. Want to know the instrument approaches into
any airport? AvMap's got it.

As i understand it, some of the map data is stored internally to the
unit (like Garmin does) so the unit itself is locked to a region
(Americas,Europe etc.) but you can expand this with CF cards containg
maps and Jeppesen data. Am I correct in that assumption?


[...]


To say the AvMap changed the way we fly is not exaggerating.

Hmm, I currently hace a GPSMap 196, and I must say this looks a _lot_
better, unfortunatley so does the price. Lowest I could find in a quick
search here in Europe ca approx. 1900 EUR :-(
It seems to be much cheaper in the US, but I guess that's with the US
map data, which doesn't do me much good.
Pity.



Hans-Christian

In a previous article, "Jay Honeck" said:
With all of its features, the "paper clutter" in the cockpit is greatly
reduced. Need an airport diagram? It's in the AvMap. (And it's actually
big enough to read.) Need the next frequency? It's in the AvMap. Need
the FBO? It's in the AvMap. Want to know the instrument approaches into
any airport? AvMap's got it.

Too bad it doesn't have JeppView type geo-referenced approach plates.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Their constitution is unwritten, and is mostly based on common law and
practice. In other words, they do something wrong and it then becomes
the norm. -- Laurie Couturier, on the British legal system