Garmin terrain/obstacle database updates

[PlankBlender]

Hi all Garmin panel GPS owners, as a new owner/user I am looking for some advice:

I recently got my very cool and useful GNS-530 installed, and have just purchased a hopelessly overpriced Jeppesen card reader (shipped from the US at more than 100 bucks for a 10 dollar item :eek: :mad:rippoff:yuk:) to be able to update the database for my upcoming IFR flying.

To my astonishment I had to find out that to upgrade the second card with the terrain and obstacle data, I shall have to fork out another $195US plus shipping for a Garmin card reader because Jeppesen don't do the terrain data updates, and Garmin's update software apparently isn't compatible with the Jeppesen one :rolleyes: :mad:

Does anyone have experience with this, are there any tech-savvy pilots out there that have been able to import the Garmin terrain/obstacle data into the Jeppesen software for update via the Skybound reader, or has anyone found another way around this silly limitation?

Also, what's the deal with the obstacle data? It seems the Worldwide terrain database contains some obstacle data for Down Under (I can see obstacles on the terrain page while flying (legally:}) low, or it this just part of the terrain data), but then there's a separate obstacle update that only seems to cover Europe and the US. Are they updating the Aussie obstacles at all, have you seen any changes/improvement in the obstacle data of the WW terrain cycles? Do you maintain your terrain up to date for the minuscule chance of encountering that one possibly updated obstacle while circling or scud-running?

Now before all you 'if you don't like to spend silly money don't own an aircraft or fly' bashers come out of their holes, let me just say that I just hate all those big and small rip-offs of the aviation world, and this seems to be a particularly senseless and technically unneccesary one :=

:ok:

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

PB - I can't say I have bothered updating the terrain database in my G430 since its TSO145 upgrade 12 mths ago.

Dr :8

[PlankBlender]

Hi Anro, that's hard to say as it was part of a much bigger avionics upgrade that encompassed the ADF, audio selector, most of the cabling plus a few other bits and pieces.

I think labour-wise the GNS was projected to take about 35 hours, a lot of that work is in making up the cable booms, and there's a fair few hours of testing in it as well, as it ties together so many functions in one box. Add materials etc., and I'd say budget at least 4 grand to put one in (assuming hourly rates of around 100 bucks).

If you tell me what you're starting out with, and what you want to do with the machine, I might be able to give you an idea what you might be looking at, but I'd definitely recommend talking to a few avionics shops and other aircraft owners for guidance.

I learned the hard and expensive way that it only makes sense to go so far with fixing old avionics, as some of this stuff is so old that it will keep breaking or simply going out of tolerance (same result, a big bill), so in a lot of cases it does make sense if you're changing stuff anyway, to replace some extra bits and that way keep future bills lower. Having said that, I kept an old King KX175B as my second NAV/COM and it has served me well so far. The KR-85 ADF I had overhauled for a lot of money had to come out, though, but ironically because it wouldn't fit into the upgraded panel layout.. so FTDK if you're still looking for those ADF spares, I might have something for you :}

As for the 530 itself, I'm extremely happy with it, it works very well in VFR and IFR, and is probably one of the best compromises between TSO'd functionality and price. :ok: