Garmin GNC 250XL

Anyone got one of these units?

http://www.garmin.com/products/gnc250xl/

It seems to combine two very useful things (a VFR moving map GPS and a Com
radio) into one compact unit.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

http://www.garmin.com/products/gnc250xl/

As a follow-up, can anyone figure out why the GNC 300XL (the IFR-certified
version of this unit) is actually available for LESS money on Ebay and other
sources?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

It may have something to do with the installation costs. If you're going to
install the 300XL as an IFR unit you'll need a CDI and an annunciator - not
cheap. I *THINK* that you can probably install it as a VFR only unit which
would seemingly make it a better deal than the 250XL.

Just my $.02

-Brian
N33431
Iowa City, IA


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:X0qkd.321946$wV.199876@attbi_s54...
http://www.garmin.com/products/gnc250xl/

As a follow-up, can anyone figure out why the GNC 300XL (the IFR-certified
version of this unit) is actually available for LESS money on Ebay and
other sources?

My guess is that people make a list of units in their head that they are
going to look for, and they a priori exclude IFR units thinking they will be
much more expensive. Therefore, the demand for the 250 is greater, and
drives the prices higher.

As for a VFR-only install, you could install a ham sandwich and call it a
VFR GPS, for all the FAA cares.

-cwk.

"Brian Sponcil" wrote in message
...
It may have something to do with the installation costs. If you're going
to
install the 300XL as an IFR unit you'll need a CDI and an annunciator -
not
cheap. I *THINK* that you can probably install it as a VFR only unit
which
would seemingly make it a better deal than the 250XL.

Just my $.02

Brian Sponcil wrote:
It may have something to do with the installation costs. If you're going to
install the 300XL as an IFR unit you'll need a CDI and an annunciator - not
cheap. I *THINK* that you can probably install it as a VFR only unit which
would seemingly make it a better deal than the 250XL.

For an IFR install, you also need a means to interface it to your altitude
encoder. This often means purchasing a serializer to convert from grey
code (I think) to RS-232c. I know that on my GX-60, you can go into
system setup mode and tell it to behave like a VFR-only GPS.

If you're seriously thinking about these two units, I definitely think you
should go with the 300XL, just in case you want to get it IFR certified at
a later date. A used UPSAT GX-60 is probably a good buy, too.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

"Jay Honeck" writes:

Anyone got one of these units?

http://www.garmin.com/products/gnc250xl/

It seems to combine two very useful things (a VFR moving map GPS and a Com
radio) into one compact unit.

A friend of mine has one in his homebuilt (a Kitfox). Works great.

-jav

It seems to combine two very useful things (a VFR moving map GPS and a Com
radio) into one compact unit.

Jay
You are not about to ditch your AvMap?
I am thinking about putting a GNS480 into my 172 Cessna.
Will keep the AvMap as backup.
Hank

You are not about to ditch your AvMap?

Ditch the Avmap? Heck, no!

The panel mount Garmin's display and functionality is so vastly inferior to
the AvMap, that I would certainly look at *it* as the back-up unit -- not
the other way around.

However, I've got an old Narco 120 Com that works fine but is getting pretty
"long-in-the-tooth". I've also got an old Narco DME that works perfectly,
but is utterly useless to me.

I'd like to yank both those units, save about ten pounds, sell them on Ebay,
and replace them with a new Garmin GPS/Com combo. I think that would be a
great upgrade -- but I'd like to hear from folks who have one before making
the leap!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:stqkd.321972$wV.301196@attbi_s54...
I'd like to yank both those units, save about ten pounds, sell them on
Ebay, and replace them with a new Garmin GPS/Com combo. I think that
would be a great upgrade -- but I'd like to hear from folks who have one
before making the leap!

I used to have one in a previous plane. Worked great. In addition, it can be
IFR certified, in case you decide to go that way. Can't remember the
subscription price, which in any case, has probably gone down since you can
probably renew through the Internet rather then sending data cards bck and
forth. In fact, I don't even remember if it used data cards, although I
assume it did...

Michael

Michael 182 wrote:

: "Jay Honeck" wrote in message
: news:stqkd.321972$wV.301196@attbi_s54...
: I'd like to yank both those units, save about ten pounds, sell them on
: Ebay, and replace them with a new Garmin GPS/Com combo. I think that
: would be a great upgrade -- but I'd like to hear from folks who have one
: before making the leap!

: I used to have one in a previous plane. Worked great. In addition, it can be
: IFR certified, in case you decide to go that way. Can't remember the
: subscription price, which in any case, has probably gone down since you can
: probably renew through the Internet rather then sending data cards bck and
: forth. In fact, I don't even remember if it used data cards, although I
: assume it did...

The subscription is about $360/year for internet based updates. That gets
you an update every 28 days (13 a year). You may be able to get a
subscription for a smaller geographic area for less $$$ (I can't with my GPS).

The 250XL is not IFR upgradeable. The 300 XL is IFR upgradeable with
apropriate additional equipment: CDI and annunciator/switch. The 300 XL can
be installed as a VFR only unit. Why the 300Xl is cheaper than the 250XL is
anyones guess, but I'd get the 300Xl over the 250Xl were it my choice.
--
Aaron Coolidge