gps AV80R
All I can tell you is that the AV8OR is hugely popular already...with seemingly very few people actually having tried one out.
I have one on order from the USA. First it was going to be shipped on 19 Sep, then 26 Sep, now today I've been told 7 Oct (but they can't guarantee that this date won't slip further). Apparently Honeywell are battling to keep up with demand.
Spoke to Flightstore today, and they have sold out their entire first batch (which they can't deliver for a few more weeks), and are now taking orders for the next batch which they only expect to be able to deliver in 4-6 weeks.
You'd think that when a company as big as Honeywell creates a product designed by pilots, for pilots, which has all these desirable features and a good price tag, that they'd make sure they had made enough for the intial demand. Clearly the market reaction following on from its release at Oshkosh has taken them by surprise!
Still - can't wait to get my mitts on mine.
I have one on order from the USA. First it was going to be shipped on 19 Sep, then 26 Sep, now today I've been told 7 Oct (but they can't guarantee that this date won't slip further). Apparently Honeywell are battling to keep up with demand.
Spoke to Flightstore today, and they have sold out their entire first batch (which they can't deliver for a few more weeks), and are now taking orders for the next batch which they only expect to be able to deliver in 4-6 weeks.
You'd think that when a company as big as Honeywell creates a product designed by pilots, for pilots, which has all these desirable features and a good price tag, that they'd make sure they had made enough for the intial demand. Clearly the market reaction following on from its release at Oshkosh has taken them by surprise!
Still - can't wait to get my mitts on mine.
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I would like to know how the touch screen is in turbulence.
I have been using the Anywheremap system for years and the touch screen can be difficult in turbulence.
I have been using the Anywheremap system for years and the touch screen can be difficult in turbulence.
Chuck,you are supposed to fold it before you get into the a/c....!!
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gps AV80R
I have just flown from Aarhus to Humberside and my copilot used the av80r to test it. Nice display, quick graphics and also like the side profile view even tho a little small on the screen. Has a great locator funtion which is great for position reports etc. For what it costs, its an absolute must and does more than units at more than twice the price. Havent tested the audio or video features as yet but unless you have a jack plug routed through your audio panel, wouldnt really be of much use anyway.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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What data-base does it use? I'm sure I'll not be alone in wanting to hear about the suitability of its map presentation for VFR flying. This was always a significant edge for the Skymap over the Jeppesen-based Garmin units, and I'm very keen to learn whether or not that advantage has been maintained.
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I think every aviation GPS runs on Jepp data, but different vendors do different stuff on top of that.
Bendix/King / Skyforce did well with the Skymap 3C / KMD150 / KMD550 by taking Jepp data and adding VFR VRPs - a gods-send to VFR pilots and why I like my KLN94+KMD550 setup.
I don't think Garmin ever did this on any of their products, for some reason.
Having seen the AV8OR for real in a shop but not running, I would have thought it was too small for the job.
Bendix/King / Skyforce did well with the Skymap 3C / KMD150 / KMD550 by taking Jepp data and adding VFR VRPs - a gods-send to VFR pilots and why I like my KLN94+KMD550 setup.
I don't think Garmin ever did this on any of their products, for some reason.
Having seen the AV8OR for real in a shop but not running, I would have thought it was too small for the job.
Has anybody got their AV80Rs up and running yet? I'm looking to upgrade from my ancient Garmin Pilot III to something with a larger, preferably colour, screen and, as I can't get avaition software for my TomTom, I'll have to buy something new.
has anyone any idea what the AV8OR database update cost is going to be?
When I bought the Skymap II I was a little stunned to find that it was £100 a go to update. Seems a bit steep when Garmin is about £25 or £30.
I did ask this of Harry M and the lady there said she would ring me back when they found out. That was at the beginning of September..............
Andrew.
When I bought the Skymap II I was a little stunned to find that it was £100 a go to update. Seems a bit steep when Garmin is about £25 or £30.
I did ask this of Harry M and the lady there said she would ring me back when they found out. That was at the beginning of September..............
Andrew.
Join Date: Aug 2006
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Thanks for that, IFollowRailways, Harry M still has not been able to find out from the UK support folk.
Incidentally, I hear that there are a few bugs in the AV8OR software, particularly with the editing/creation/deletion/renaming of waypoints. This sounds familiar, my Skymap II has mysteriously been able to put 2 waypoints, each with the same default name, in different geographical positions, into 2 different routes but only one entry appears in the waypoint list. I renamed the visible one in the list and now can't access the other one to change it/delete it or anything else. It still appears in a route but not in the waypoint list. I showed this to Skyforce/BendixKing/Honeywell at the last London airshow and they were going to get back to me........
Ho Hum.
Andrew.
Incidentally, I hear that there are a few bugs in the AV8OR software, particularly with the editing/creation/deletion/renaming of waypoints. This sounds familiar, my Skymap II has mysteriously been able to put 2 waypoints, each with the same default name, in different geographical positions, into 2 different routes but only one entry appears in the waypoint list. I renamed the visible one in the list and now can't access the other one to change it/delete it or anything else. It still appears in a route but not in the waypoint list. I showed this to Skyforce/BendixKing/Honeywell at the last London airshow and they were going to get back to me........
Ho Hum.
Andrew.
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AV80R waypoint bug fixed
The latest Bendix King software update (01/04 - 18th December) has fixed the problem with editing waypoints. Also, I found that you can add small strips as waypoints and then change the symbol to airport which allows you to add the runway direction/length, frequency etc. Thanks to the VansAirForce forum for that one.
I've had my unit for 2 weeks and it's a really good gps. It replaced my Skymap II, which was starting to loose lines on the display. I'm very impressed. It's excellent value for money and has lots of features - it does everything my Garmin 296 does and much more, and is lighter. The 800MaH battery ( Nokia BL-5C - about £10 on ebay) only gives about 90 minutes life so a 5 volt power supply is really needed in the cockpit (or 12 volt ciger lighter or wired in voltage regulator chip). It has the intuitive function selection that the Skymap II had, but using the touch screen. You do need to rest your hand on the unit in turbulence (light so far!) to use the touch screen, and I wouldn't want the screen to be any smaller, but I can't fit a larger unit in my Fournier anyway. With the suction mount I can attach it to the side of the canopy in a good position to read and operate. In addition, the go-drive sat-nav function is every bit as good as my Garmin Nuvi and it can store pictures, videos and music on the 4GB SD card. Haven't found a coffee maker yet!
Flight planning on the unit is quite easy with the touch screen keyboard. It recognises my gliding site for the start point and also has all the VRP's loaded like the Skymap. One problem I'm having is that I can't get it to recognise Jeppesen FlightStar route files. It says you can load them but all I get is a ' 'Failed to read FPL waypoint from file' message. Has anyone else tried this? Hopefully they will sort out a software fix soon.
I've had my unit for 2 weeks and it's a really good gps. It replaced my Skymap II, which was starting to loose lines on the display. I'm very impressed. It's excellent value for money and has lots of features - it does everything my Garmin 296 does and much more, and is lighter. The 800MaH battery ( Nokia BL-5C - about £10 on ebay) only gives about 90 minutes life so a 5 volt power supply is really needed in the cockpit (or 12 volt ciger lighter or wired in voltage regulator chip). It has the intuitive function selection that the Skymap II had, but using the touch screen. You do need to rest your hand on the unit in turbulence (light so far!) to use the touch screen, and I wouldn't want the screen to be any smaller, but I can't fit a larger unit in my Fournier anyway. With the suction mount I can attach it to the side of the canopy in a good position to read and operate. In addition, the go-drive sat-nav function is every bit as good as my Garmin Nuvi and it can store pictures, videos and music on the 4GB SD card. Haven't found a coffee maker yet!
Flight planning on the unit is quite easy with the touch screen keyboard. It recognises my gliding site for the start point and also has all the VRP's loaded like the Skymap. One problem I'm having is that I can't get it to recognise Jeppesen FlightStar route files. It says you can load them but all I get is a ' 'Failed to read FPL waypoint from file' message. Has anyone else tried this? Hopefully they will sort out a software fix soon.
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AV80R and FlightStar
OK - I got the Flightstar route import to work. The 'Failed to read FPL waypoint from file' message occurs when there is already a waypoint in the AV80R with the same name as the FlightStar waypoint you are trying to import. This confusion arises because FlightStar automatically numbers waypoints on a new route as WP 1, WP 2 etc, and AV80R waypoints are similarly numbered. Pre-software update 01/04 you couldn't rename these, but that bug has now been fixed. I think the simplest solution is to rename the FlightStar waypoints before exporting. It is necessary to name the export file 'route.txt' (not case sensitive) Nothing else will work. That just about sorts out all the problems I've found so far.
Mike
Mike
are all of you AV80R users still happy with your units? By the lack of evidence to the contrary, on Pprune, I guess that things are going well.
I am just about to upgrade my Skymap II unit to the latest database but wonder if I might be better to move on up to the AV80R ..........
Rans6Andrew.
I am just about to upgrade my Skymap II unit to the latest database but wonder if I might be better to move on up to the AV80R ..........
Rans6Andrew.