GPS advice

[cyberpilot]

Some advice please on what 3rd party GPS units can be installed in the Bonanza and what are the best options.
From my limited research it seems to be a toss up between the Flight1 GTN 650/750 or the RXP GTN750.
I believe a RXP Garmin 500/600 is also going to be released soon.
So what's the pick of the bunch?!

[MrMe85]

I'm looking for some advice as well.

Was looking at the GTN750, but I hear there is no way to update the database without a real world unit and subscription. This is my number 1 concern. Curious if the other units have the same issue.

[Orlaam]

The GTN 650/750 is your best bet. Much enhanced features and newer database. I haven't found too many waypoints missing. The SID and STARs are behind, but in reality you wouldn't use those in a GA much. I understand being fixated on updated navdata in a commercial aircraft but not a small GA. The benefits far outweigh the negative of slightly outdated navdata. You don't have working Wx overlay or other features either, so it's always a give and take. FWIW, the GNS 430/530 have a really old database. It's actually too old IMO.

[MrMe85]

So, I ended up with the Flight1 GTN 750/650.

In retrospect, I think the RXP750/650 may or may not have a few more features since it uses the latest Garmin trainer, but it is also much more expensive as well and requires the 750/650 to be bought separately? The Flight1 GTN seems well worth the price albeit using an older trainer and older database. I did manage to figure out how to update the Flight1 GTN to use the 2018 database found in the new trainer though, which makes a world of difference for me. Having used a GTN750 in real life before, I found the Flight1 pretty thorough in functionality and well worth the purchase. With the latest bonanza, I was able to shoot a full LPV approach with coupled autopilot as well . Really, the only feature that seems missing appears to be crossfilling between two GPS's (that and the various weathers that I don't think you can get with the garmin trainers anyways).

[joediamond]

I did manage to figure out how to update the Flight1 GTN to use the 2018 database found in the new trainer though

Care to share this information?

[MrMe85]

I did manage to figure out how to update the Flight1 GTN to use the 2018 database found in the new trainer though

Care to share this information?

Yeah sure, it's really quite straight forward. First off, go into your windows control panel, and under appearance and personalization, look for file explorer options. Open that up and ensure "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" is ticked. This is because the database files are tucked away in a somewhat hidden folder.

When you install the latest F1 GTN750/650, you also installed the 2016 garmin trainer as well. This garmin trainer dumps it's database files into c:\ProgramData\Garmin\GTN Trainer Data\DB folder by default. Have a look inside and you should see some bin files, some odb2 files, and some "card" files.

If you do a quick google search for garmin GTN trainer, you should be able to find an updated trainer released in August of this year. Download that and install it. By default, this new trainer dumps it's database files into a different folder: c:\ProgramData\Garmin\Trainers\Database\. It will also have similar files to the original 2016 database. Simply copy and replaceall the similar files from this Trainers\Database folder to the GTN Trainer Data\DB folder. Your Aviation database, Basemap Land, Obstacle, and SafeTaxi should all then be updated and it's respective dates will show up when you start the unit up.

The one thing I couldn't update is the FliteCharts. The new trainer stores all the charts in the open in the "fc_tpc" folder, whereas the old trainer stores them in the "card" files. I did manage to be able to open these card files using 7Zip, and I could quite plainly see that the charts are stored in them, but it wouldn't let me edit the archives. I tried exacting all the contents, swapping the charts over, and creating my own "card" file, but the trainer would not read it (probably because I didn't create the archive correctly). If I figure it out, I'll let you know. If you figure it out, then please let me know . FliteCharts are not really all that important in the grand scheme of things, but they are nice to have.