Additional VFR data for Garmin GPS products

[TC_LTN]

Some of you will know that I have moaned and groaned about what I consider to be huge deficiencies in the Jeppesen database for VFR operations in the UK.
Some of the most glaring omissions IMHO include;
1. No obstruction data
2. No Visual Reporting Points
3. Many unlicensed and some licensed airfields missing
4. No glider sites
5. No microlight sites
6. No Freefall DZs
7. No heliports
8. No heli-route reporting points
Anyway, I have put some effort into addressing the problem and have developed a number of 'add-on' Garmin Database files (.gdb) which if added to your Garmin GPS go some way to giving the VFR pilot a more complete picture.
My Garmin GPSMAP 296 has the capacity for several thousand add-on waypoints and if you added all of my files you would be adding some 1,800 new objects. Your device may not have this capacity and therefore I have broken the waypoints into individual type files in order that you can pick and choose.
A couple of screen shots show the Brize area before and after the addition of my data which I think illustrates what a difference the add-ons make.
http://www.pipercub.flyer.co.uk/garmin/EGVNbefore.JPG
http://www.pipercub.flyer.co.uk/garmin/EGVNafter.JPG
The individual data files are available by http://www.pipercub.org.uk and following the links on the left.
I would be very grateful for any comments or suggestions as to the usability of this data with your GPS.

[PH-UKU]

What a superb effort TC_LTN :ok:

I have just been weighing up the Garmin296/496 and Lowrance 2000C.

Decided after much deliberation that the £600 price diff between the 296 and 496 really wasn't justified for the only apparent addition (in Europe) of VRPs etc... ... (seeing as we can't make use of the TIS or live weather). I suspect Garmin know that as well and realise they will sell very few 496s if they include the VRP and OBS data on the 296. :ugh:

So plumped instead for the Lowrance - as an aside also felt the map presentation was a wee bit clearer for a pseudo-panel mount - this and the bigger screen outweighed the very nice and intuitive Garmin keys/menu.

Anyway, my question is.... how difficult would it be to transfer/convert these .GDB files into a format that the Lowrance could read .. ?

Any techies/Lowrance users out there ... ?

[fenland81]

What a great idea.

Will the additions work on a Garmin 96 GPS??

Thanks very much.:D

[TC_LTN]

The add-ons will work with the Garmin 96 and the majority of aviation GPS units. The only limiting factor is the size of the memory on an individual unit which limits the number of user waypoints you can add. Basically the 296 can take the lot and other units may only be able to accomodate a couple of files.

[Zulu Alpha]

One other thing to remember when you add all these extra points. They go into the user memory. This means that when you try and find one of your personal ones (eg home), you will have to scroll down through a lot of the downloaded ones to get to 'home' as they are listed in alphabetical order.
I have a 196 and have not found any quick way to scroll down apart from page at a time or looking at the recently used list.
So these add on databases are excellent, and thanks very much for creating them, but I do advise users to select the actual points you need rather than just adding as any as will fit in the memory.

[TC_LTN]

The following VFR add-on databases have been updated and are available to download at www.pipercub.flyer.co.uk

UK Unlicensed Airfields (v1.2 Mar 07)
UK Heliports (v1.1 Mar 07)
UK Disused Airfields (v1.1 Mar 07)
UK Microlight Sites (v1.1 Mar 07)

[TC_LTN]

One other thing to remember when you add all these extra points. They go into the user memory. This means that when you try and find one of your personal ones (eg home), you will have to scroll down through a lot of the downloaded ones to get to 'home' as they are listed in alphabetical order.
I have a 196 and have not found any quick way to scroll down apart from page at a time or looking at the recently used list.
So these add on databases are excellent, and thanks very much for creating them, but I do advise users to select the actual points you need rather than just adding as any as will fit in the memory.
1. Simply select POINTS from the Menu then cursor up and right and immediately below the USER tab you enter the first couple of letters of your waypoint and it should immediately be available to select.
2. Select the NRST button then just cursor right to the USER tab and the nearest 'user' items should be listed.
Hope that helps

[TC_LTN]

The following VFR add-on databases have been updated and are available to download at www.pipercub.flyer.co.uk

UK Helicopter Reporting Points (v1.1 Mar 07)
UK Visual Reference Points (v1.2 Mar 07)
UK Glider Launching Sites (v1.2 Mar 07)
UK Freefall Drop Zones (v1.1 Mar 07)

plus a new add-on

UK Hang Gliding & Parascending Sites (v1.0 Mar 07)

[jbag3]

Hi Mate,

I've tried to find your files of glider sites to download to my 196... When I clicked on the link you have it redirects to another site - vfrdata.com. Doesn't seem to have any files apart from air navigation obstacles which has worked ok. Just can't find glider sites or private fields files.

Cheers,

[betterfromabove]

This looked like some heroic work done back a few years ago to flesh out the Garmin Jeppesen VFR database to include a range of other useful features.

Anyone know if this initiative/database has been persued or emulated elsewhere?

Many thanks
BFA

[betterfromabove]

Based in UK and have just purchased a second-hand Garmin 296, a unit I've borrowed occasionally in the past, but never owned.

Is the Garmin Jeppessen NavData service the only sensible way to achieve updates or are there clever alternatives out there?

Will be using as back-up to annotated map in-flight and probably flight-planning software pre-flight.

Thanks
BFA

[stickandrudderman]

It's interesting that this old thread should re-surface now.
I'm just getting to grips with my newly installed glass cockpit that uses Jepp data and I too am slightly underwhelmed by the data presented.
In this picture you can see a yellow circle with "SFC 28". It's at the location of WCO but doesn't present itself as any kind of navaid, even as a GPS waypoint.
Having consulted the paper chart is see that it too contains a similar but not identical label (GVS/2.8) which I confess do not assist in my comprehension of what it is that is being represented.

https://picasaweb.google.com/110857353517921966553/January292012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJqtpvivwaeyjQE&feat=directlink

Sorry but couldn't get the image to show directly....

[wsmempson]

Stickandrudderman, That particular restriction is a low-flying restriction overhead Waddesdon Manor. Not, as someone once suggested, a low flying restriction overhead the house of the MD of a well-known nearby airfield...:E

Personally, I think that the Jepp chart (and GPS data) is underwhelming in it's clarity, compared with the CAA 1/500,000 or the French IGN charts.

[stickandrudderman]

Ta muchly.
Apparently the Jepp people are being spoken to by my providers about their data......

[Cusco]

If its the meaning of GVS you're asking about, it's Gas Venting Station, where surplus gas is burnt off: The flame may be invislble in daylight and hot gas/air can rise to quite high levels.

There's one at Bacton 5 miles east of Cromer on the north Norfolk coast where the upper limit is 3,000ft: it's where the N Sea gas comes ashore.


Looks like they've just forgotten to put WCO in their database, and there's a GVS close by, listed as Aylesbury in the UKAIP ENR section.

[stickandrudderman]

Thanks Cusco, that solves half the mystery.
I've just spoken to Jeppeson and they tell me that NDBs are not included in VFR databases, yet I have VORs.
Waiting for a response from Jepp as to whether this is correct and/or rectifiable but I'll be mighty unimpressed if it's not.

[betterfromabove]

One topic that continually taxes me in my day-job, outside aviation, and within the world of flying is quite how unreliable and subjective mapping information can be.

We trust and officialise the CAA and other NAA maps but of course they are just representations. There are disused airfields that are plain to see that are invisible on the map, while the opposite also applies. There is the whole design of the thing that is a best compromise etc etc.

Don't get me wrong, I know the endless work that goes into creating a model of the world, but we easily forget the limits of mapping all too easily.

Then there's scale.....staggers me the number of instructors around the London TMA who insist on using a 1:500K and I've been scoffed at for using a 1:250K. Hmmh, so quite how many detailed features in close proximity to the LHR CAS do you see, sir, on that big ol' 1:500K of yours?!?

Anyway....

So, perhaps it's not so surprising we see the same issue with GPS. Got to admit, am pretty disappointed with the detail on my new 296. It's pretty pants frankly to what would be truly fit-for-purpose, but it's not why we buy it (robustness, security of knowing position, the Go To peace of mind, the Big Picture).

It is amazing how commercial obstinacy does not allow the official charts to be simply dished into this/these devices however....how exactly does that increase safety or reduce infringements.

Aviation really is a funny ol' game....with unfunny consequences that should be mitigated at every turn, but are not always so.

PS. Are there any add-ons that boost the on-screen info for the 296, either for aviation or the ground applications?

Thanks

BFA