Another GPS question.
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1
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From: UK
Another GPS question.
Can anybody help me with the following query? I'm thinking of buying a GPS and it is my understanding that there's very often a choice between the Europe data base and the American one. How is it then, that a friend of mine flew from the UK to the Caribbean on a holiday flight recently and said that he was able to follow the whole flight on his GPS?
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 357
Likes: 0
From: North Weald, UK
I'm guessing here, but I would suggest that the database refers to local details such as frequencies etc that can change, whereas global features like continents and airfields don't change position too quickly.
Why do it if it's not fun?
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,782
Likes: 12
From: Bournemouth
HiC,
If you go to the Garmin website, you can download a "training simulator" version of some of their GPS systems. I've got the 430 simulator on my home PC - very useful for learning how to use the GPS without having to worry about actually flying the aircraft at the same time.
The simulators also come with 2 databases, and you can swap between databases with a couple of mouse-clicks.
I tried flying around the UK on the American database a while ago. Most of the information is there, but cut down - all the airfields are there, for example, but the runway layout of UK airfields isn't shown on the American database.
I don't know how accurately the databases in the simulation match the real-life databases - I've found a few differences, but they might just be different revisions of the databases. But if the simulation databases are accurate, then yes, I think it would be perfectly possible to follow a flight anywhere in the world, whichever database you've got installed.
FFF
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If you go to the Garmin website, you can download a "training simulator" version of some of their GPS systems. I've got the 430 simulator on my home PC - very useful for learning how to use the GPS without having to worry about actually flying the aircraft at the same time.
The simulators also come with 2 databases, and you can swap between databases with a couple of mouse-clicks.
I tried flying around the UK on the American database a while ago. Most of the information is there, but cut down - all the airfields are there, for example, but the runway layout of UK airfields isn't shown on the American database.
I don't know how accurately the databases in the simulation match the real-life databases - I've found a few differences, but they might just be different revisions of the databases. But if the simulation databases are accurate, then yes, I think it would be perfectly possible to follow a flight anywhere in the world, whichever database you've got installed.
FFF
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: SW UK
It depends on which one you buy.
All of them will still tell you where you are anywhere in the world, but the map coverage may be limited to a particular region.
For example I use a Garmin GPS90, this has no maps as such, but does have a Jeppesen database for all the airports, Navaids and CAS. The Jepp database can be updated to cover any region of the world, but only one region at a time (think the choice is something like Americas v Atlantic v Pacific).
I think the cleverer (?!) ones have a built in basemap covering one region only and this can't be changed but you can load other maps on top of that giving more detail but with smaller area coverage - this can be either in the basemap area or elsewhere. This bit is certainly true for the roadgoing GPSs, not 100% sure if this is also the case on the aviation ones.
All of them will still tell you where you are anywhere in the world, but the map coverage may be limited to a particular region.
For example I use a Garmin GPS90, this has no maps as such, but does have a Jeppesen database for all the airports, Navaids and CAS. The Jepp database can be updated to cover any region of the world, but only one region at a time (think the choice is something like Americas v Atlantic v Pacific).
I think the cleverer (?!) ones have a built in basemap covering one region only and this can't be changed but you can load other maps on top of that giving more detail but with smaller area coverage - this can be either in the basemap area or elsewhere. This bit is certainly true for the roadgoing GPSs, not 100% sure if this is also the case on the aviation ones.
