Airspace Aware From NATS and Airbox

[destinationsky]

Hi
Has anybody got any experience of the Aware GPS unit? Im looking at the one with inbuilt navigation.
Cheers
DS

[liam548]

some similar info on these

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/381298-av80r-vs-airbox-freedom-clarity-gpss.html

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/386639-airbox-nav-unit.html

[Molesworth 1]

I have the unit with nav option. The nav bit is not bad once you figured out the quirky way it works.

I don't have any experience of the alternatives - I'm a bit sorry I didn't check the £500- £600 range units as by the time you add the nav option plus the PowerMonkey plus the 1/4 mil charts you already well over the £300 mark anyway.

[Whiskey Kilo Wanderer]

Hi DS,

I've been using the Aware unit, albeit without the navigation option, for about a month now. It's a very good piece of kit, although there are some minor shortcomings and niggles. The unit works straight out of the box, which is a big advantage over the hacked Navigos that I play with from time to time.

I was using it on Saturday on a trip to White Waltham. It was very useful for maintaining situational awareness while being vectored around by Farnborough LARS to allow separation for their in-bound traffic.

One issue most people have encountered is the stand alone battery life. This is between half and one hour. Not a problem if your aircraft has a working cigar lighter socket. There are also third party rechargeable battery packs available.

I'd like the on-screen keys to be transparent, as this would give more map display when heading SE or SW. As you may be aware, there are threads on various forums about this unit. Flyer Forum Aware thread (http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60458). Oxonflyer is involved with the project and pops up to add information or comment on other poster's suggestions.

My personal preference is to do the navigation on the Garmin Pilot III, usually in HSI mode, using the Aware for actual position and the paper chart for over view.

Safe Flying,
Richard W.