Garmin GPS III Pilot v 195 v 196.

[sennadog]

OK, not a shoot out as such but I'm interested in views from those that have used/owned them. I've read some reviews, most of which I understood but I want to double check some ideas that I have as a result of reading them.

Forget price for the moment, as there are some distinct differences and please forget the usual Pro/Anti GPS arguments that we usually have and please forget that we have had several threads on this before.:p

Questions:

1) Some of the units are available in colour but I understand that the colour units chew batteries and are not so easy to see as the grey units.

2) If used in conjunction with Jeppeson Flitestar, the PLOG is quicker. How easy is it to plug the two together and how quick/easy is it to update and download?

3) GPS, used in conjunction with conventional chart work strikes me as time saving and also helps take the pressure off (and increases the enjoyment of flying I suppose). Have you guys found this?

4) Are these units pre-loaded with waypoints/airfield information? If so, has anyone used them in SA and if so how well did it work compared to the UK/US or anywhere else for that matter?

5) In general, did the unit fulfill your expectations? Are there any negative points that are worth pointing out?

6) Has anyone tried using these units for sailing and if so, did they live up to expectations?

Battery life. I've seen quotes of 6 - 10 hours which is a hell of an improvement over my GPS II which gobbles batteries at the rate of 4 X AAs every 5 hours. Are these figures realistic?

Disclaimer: I'm not going to solely rely on the GPS and I'm not interested in whether or not they are a good thing and I'm certainly going to continue using a chart/computer/flight plan and any other navigation tool that I should have. Cheers all.

[Tinstaafl]

We use a Garmin GPS III Pilot at work. In the past I've used a Garmin 190 or 195. Can't remember which.

I like the GPS III except for a few b@stard design faults:

2. Top of the list is the mongrel oval cursor button. If you don't press in exactly the correct spot then the cursor moves at 90 deg to the desired direction. Because it's a single button it's not possible to guarantee isolating one microswitch press from another. There's no markings on the pad to show exactly where to press. The number of times I've felt like throwing it out of the window through sheer frustration at trying to make the cursor go in the correct direction.

The cursor is only able to be moved in a single one of four directions so why they used a single button is beyond my understanding. Far better if they'd used four separate buttons, analagous to keyboard cursor buttons.

I think it was another b@stardisation of a product by a marketing/style department who know SFA about useability. :mad: :mad:

2. Battery compartment access: Can't change the batteries unless you remove the unit from its cradle. Another fine design from 'B@stards Incorporated'.

NB: We get about 6 hrs out of it with rechargeable NiMH batteries then another hour or two after the low battery warning first appears.


The 190 (195? Not sure of the exact model) I used was not as good. No map. Not sure about battery life since we always plugged it into the cigarette lighter.

[Flyin'Dutch']

SD

Got the 195 as a B'day present from my wife some 6 years ago.

This is the 3rd portable GPS I have owned and used.

Previous one was a Trimble and a Magellan (anyone hear from these of late?)

Garmin was a great step forward as they use their 12 channel receiver which is excellent.

At the time the choice really was between the GPS 3 and 195. My dear better half got cheesed off with me buying stuff only to flog it after a year to my mates at a ridiculous cheap price to buy the next one up. So she decided that she might as well go the full hog and get what then was the TTOTR model. She also kindly pointed out that for someone who was heading fast towards the big 40 a larger screen with bigger print was better. (Aint she sweet)

Anyway the 195 is a fine unit works well, never used the extra aerial even in high wing machines. Works well with FLitestar. Battery life about 4 hours if you use it non stop but longer if you give the batteries a rest so if you do 1-2 hour jollies you may well get up to 6 hours. Great screen; has all the Jeppsen database in it which is easily updated (not cheap but better now than a few years ago when they ripped you off to the tune of nearly £100.)

Big screen mean less battery life and bigger unit. Size is a bit of a pain when using it in a glider or Cub/Citabria type affair.

Until we got the Skymap IIIC topo in the Robin we used the 195 clamped to the glareshield and wired in which was fine (Skymap is an excellent unit but not portable)

I have not used a 295 or 196.

If I was to buy another handheld I would go for the GPS3 as it is more portable, uses less battery and you can use it in landscape and portrait mode.

I think if you have a look around you can pick up a second hand 195 for the price of a new GPS 3.

Have fun.

FD

[Gerry Actrick]

the pilot 3 is a tad small, ok if you can mount it close, but easy to use and well up to the job.

If you want to use it in the car or boat then the 196 is the one for you. It has land and water modes. Looks v good on paper but I've never tried it and had no feedback. It's more expensive.

Gerry

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

I've only used my Pilot 111. I think it's a great piece of kit, with perhaps its major limitation (which in the Chippy is also an advantage) of small size. The sceen is small and can look 'crowded' (but you can quickly and easily zoom in and out), so it needs to be mounted fairly close to you.

10 hour battery life on Duracells is entirely realistic in my experience.

The database is excellent. Good topographicla map features, airspace, airfields, beacons, reporting points etc. And it's dead easy to put in your own waypoints. Using the exisiting waypoints and/or your own, you can store routes, which as well as being able to be activated when required, can be revrsed (for coming home). Airfield info includes frequencies and runway layouts.

The main problem with it is that it is so good, and so easy to use, that one is tempted to rely on it too much. That is a major danger. But it's nice to be able to give accurate estimates of your next waypoint to ATC!

SSD

[Keef]

We had one (96 I think, not sure) araldited to the centre console in the AC12 I used to fly, and it wasn't much use. It kept the pax happy because they could see where we were.

I bought a GPS3Pilot a couple of years ago, and use it (as backup only) on most flights. My experience is much like the others here.

One observation: the database is WRONG in some important elements: it omits a variety of controlled airspace, so you need to look carefully at the map or you'll be getting an invitation to the Belgrano. ATZs are some strange sizes, that by an amazing coincidence happen to be US standard sizes (ie bigger than UK ones). So you fly in bigger circles round them, if you try to avoid. Garmin blame Jeppesen, Jeppesen blame Garmin, and nobody seems to have done anything to sort it.

To answer your questions:

1. Batteries: one of our Group has a yokemount colour GPS, and it eats batteries at an alarming rate. He plugs it into the cigarette lighter socket, so that's not a major issue. My 3Pilot goes about ten hours on a set of Duracells. It's not a good idea to use NiCd or NiMH if you're going to plug it into the cigarette lighter - there have been warnings about fire hazard (I don't know whether true or not).

2. I've not linked it with Flitestar, but I connect mine to the PC with Navbox Proplan, and it's dead easy to upload PLOGS and download tracks to stare at them on the screen. Bit depressing sometimes, looking at your track... I built my own lead (cost me a fiver in total) - you can buy them but when I looked the price was silly.

3. It's a nice reassurance. I wouldn't use it as a replacement for proper nav, because of the shortcomings above.

4. Yes, but in the 3Pilot you get either North American database or Rest of World database. I've not tried mine outside Europe, so can't comment more. It certainly has all the VORs and NDBs and airways reporting points I've ever asked it for. I suspect it's got a full IFR set, but I've not checked.

5. It does all I expected of it, and a bit more. It is stunningly accurate most of the time - when I land, it usually zooms in and shows me where I am relative to the runway centreline. I would guess it's good to within a few feet most of the time.

6. I don't do sailing, but took it with me when I went sailing with a friend. It told us we were on the water, and just outside the LTMA, but not anything about the buoys and channels. He had a similar one with a marine database,and that seemed a lot more useful

Negative points - that silly rocker switch to move the cursor - I just don't bother any more; the ease with which it can be switched to "simulator mode" and provide totally spurious information (just don't go near those menus!); you can't change batteries in flight if you're on your own - it has to come out of the cradle to do so; the database errors above; whenever you pass a waypoint, it zooms right out to show most of Europe and you have to press "Zoom In" the requisite number of times; if you "cut the corner" and miss a waypoint, it tries to get you to turn round and go back there - you have to "reset" the FPL; the screen's a bit small, but on the yoke I find it OK.

If I lost it, would I buy another one? If we weren't in the process of having a GNS430 fitted in G-UTSY, definitely.

[CBG]

I've got a Garmin III - it's a brilliant thing.

We took 5 aircraft all the way to Dakar last June (3 DR400, 2 HR100). We all hade the GIII in the planes, all the way points, VORs, airfield info we needed were there.

No problems whatsoever. It would have been real freacky to navigate in the Mauritanian desert without them (to Atar and back).

On top of it all, it's small enough that you don't just get glued to the thing.

[sennadog]

The Pilot III sounds like the one for me, usually I instinctively go for the most expensive one but on this occasion I'll opt for the smaller/cheaper one.

Has anyone got a Pilot for sale in the Surrey area? I could look on eBay I suppose but I'd prefer to buy a second hand one (if I can locate one) from someone "I know". Failing that, Keef - could you bring yours to Duxford for me to have a play with?