GPS product comparisons
 

I am planning to buy a GPS in the Pilot III/Skymap II price range.

I cannot find any unbiased reviews on the net. Would anybody like to share their experience?

I guess both speed of acquisition and retention of satellite signals must be important, along with battery life, if they need a separate antenna to work well, ease of use, etc.

I bought the cheapest one out there. I paid $110U.S. and love it. I know several people that bought the ones with owners manuals the size of a phone book and find them to be a pain in the neck. (a couple have even returned them for less expensive models) Mine gives groundspeed, heading and time to go. Good enough for me. Good luck.

Positionandhold,

You only get what you pay for. I'm still using a Magellan Skyblazer XL (discontinued) but if I had to replace it I'd happily settle for the Garmin Pilot III. I don't really like the current Magellan aviation GPS products but that's just personal bias.

For more bucks you could get the colour display Garmin 295 but that's probably gilding the lily. Also check out the Lowrance range, good value for money and they make aviation-oriented models.

"When you are lost any course will get you where you're going!"

I've also an old Magellan and it EATS batteries so I'm looking for something like a Pilot III or similar. Any info would be appreciated.

LowNSlow,

Garmin website is at:-

http://www.garmin.com/aviation/index.html

Magellan website is at:-

http://www.magellangps.com/
(look under consumer products, then under aviation)

My Skyblazer XL also hungry on batteries (most older GPS rx are) but has a dc power input which I use as a matter of routine.

Magellan website also has product support details for older models, might be useful.

Haven't found the Lowrance homepage but I got info on their aviation GPS via a search engine looking at pilot's supplies websites.

If my Skyblazer croaked, I'd get either a Garmin Pilot III or the more expensive Pilot 295 with colour LCD display. Have seen both, very nice! The Magellan Sky Star Plus International is also very nice but the yoke-clamp is plastic and prone to breakage, not sure how easy to get replacements. I also prefer the layout of control buttons on the Garmin.

Suggest get prices from online pilot's suppliers, then check out what your local blokes can do. Shopping around might prove useful.

Hope this helps.

I have just found www.lowrance.com and their (only?) UK dealer is www.delahay.co.uk.

The Airmap 100 spec looks very good and comes complete with every accessory (unlike the Pilot III, where everything is an extra).

Trouble is, there does not appear to be any independent evaluation of this kit compared with the much more common Pilot III.

There is an article in the UK magazine, 'Pilot' December 2000 edition that discusses Garmin 150 & Skyforce 111c which might be of help.

After five (very happy) years with a Garmin GPS 90, I decided to blow some building society demutualisation loot on a new GPS, so I flew down to Shoreham to Transair with a view to getting a Pilot 3.

Spent a very helpful hour or two with the smmoth talking sales guy and tried 'em all out.

Eventually came away with a Garmin GPSmap295.
It does have a fat manual and takes a bit opf getting used to and it's essentian to have a ciggy lighter for power in the A/.c as it gobbles batteries.

However the go-to function is a dream, just follow the little pink line and you're there.

Also I've not yet had a *poor GPS coverage* signal, a common feature on the GPS 90 esp. in the wilds of north Norfolk.

Also useful function for joy riding with non-flyers is the map function database which names even the p*ss*est little villages and towns. Impresses the pax no end to give, without referring to the old half mil, a running commentary of villages being flown over.

Only slight drawback is that because of its weight and the rather stalky yoke mount, it does suffer from vibration and sometimes needs two hands on the yoke to stabilise it for the finer print. (Must get the prop balanced sometime !)

Still keep the GPS 90 however, fired up and in a waterproof bag with the Icom and mobile phone for water crossings.


Happy flying and may all your aterissages be greasers

Until about a year ago I was a GPS virgin except for the Garmin non moving map thingy in rented airplanes that I never really understood.

Then I invested in a Skymap (not the colour one). So with my new toy I went out in the car and found to my disgust that it was up to 300 metres out of place with regards to roads, but which road is in a dead straight line as shown on the display?
It is all about the ammount of effort put into the data card which plugs into the back.

I will not trust it as an approach aid for this reason, I have sat in my car at the threshold of RAF Waddington and the thing has put me about 250m out of place. I know that it is not just my unit because I spoke to a very helpful guy at Skymap who sent me the latest memory card which did not improve the situation.

I think that the Garmin GPS's have a better database from what I have seen, but 250 metres en route isn't bad really.

Another word of warning... with regards to the instantaneous moving map information they present you with, I feel that I am beginning to lose "spatial awareness" from the VOR and ADF which took a long time to aquire.

Oh yes there is a dead spot on the north Norfolk coast.

B

Criticalmass, thanks for the info. I think I'll start the New Year with a GPS III. I don't have a power source in the Cub so battery life is important to me and the III has "up to 10 hours" in optimistic salesspeak.

PS Want to buy a backup Skyblazer in case yours croaks? ;)

[This message has been edited by LowNSlow (edited 28 December 2000).]

I have the Skymap II for about 3 years. It is a good unit with top class tech. support. If you ever have a question/problem call 01243-783 763 and ask for John Prior who is the Sales & Marketing Director. He will never tell you off. Regarding battery life I have never had more than 2-2.5h on NI/MH batteries and a bit more with Duracel.

2-2.5 hours was the very best I've had from the XL as well. The worst was 30 mins (I suspect that one or more of the batts was dodgy).

For unbiased comparisons, try...

www.avweb.com

...if you find it amongst all the noise, graphics and other chaos, there's a section called 'articles' on the bottom left. Click on 'reviews', and you'll find quite a few good GPS reviews.

I bought a Magellan 315A about 9 months ago. Cheap, cheerful and a good introduction, methinks, before stumping up more on one of the flasher units.

Having made your choice, give ASK Electronics in Tottenham Court Road, London a call for a quote. They are considerably cheaper than Transair.