In article ne.com,
Andrew Gideon wrote:

Roy Smith wrote:

BTW, it's questions like this that make me really love the CNX-80 I fly
with. You don't have to put in the intermediate fixes. You just tell
it what airway you're on, and it digs all the fixes out of the database
for you.

Is there any disadvantage to this?

I'd an email dialog with a Garmin representative recently. One of the
questions I asked was whether they'd plans to put airways (and airway route
entry) into their 430s at any point. His answer was that this was being
considered, but that they were concerned at making the UI more difficult.

I cannot imagine how this feature would make it more difficult, but I've
never tried this. You obviously have. So...is there any complexity
increase to this?

- Andrew

I've only used a 430 a few times, and that was several years ago, so I'm
not in a good position to make a comparative judgement of the two UI's.

There is no doubt that there is a long learning curve to the CNX-80, but
of all the bits of functionality it's got, I think the idea of entering
a flight plan using airways and fixes, just like it's written down on
paper, is one of the shining examples of good UI design. It really is
easy to do, mostly because the box prompts you every step along the way.

One level of complexity that does get added is the idea of "expanded"
vs. (for lack of a better word) "compressed" flight plans. If I enter
"CMK v3 HFD" as my flight plan, initially I only see those elements. To
see the intermediate intersections, I need to hit the XPND (Expand)
button. And since XPND is a soft key, I need to get into the right mode
for the button to be active. Of course, the FPL (Flight Plan) button is
a soft key too, so I may need to hit FN (Function) a couple of times to
scroll around to where I can hit FPL.

But, I think the basic problem there is not that you enter flight plans
using airways, but that the function tree is a little too deep, and a
little too modal. But, a wider, shallower function tree means more
hard-labeled buttons, and that takes panel real-estate.

A good example of the CNX-80 modal design is the very first time I ever
used one. I was out with another club instructor, and he had only used
the box a few times (the blind teaching the blind). We almost didn't
get out of the ramp. We went to call ground for taxi clearance and
heard nothing. After a few attempts, we switched to the radio and heard
ground calling us, asking if we heard them. Turns out the COM volume
was turned all the way down on the CNX-80. The 430 has two volume
knobs, one for COM, one for NAV (IIRC). The CNX-80 has a single volume
knob, which adjusts the COM or NAV volume, depending on which mode
you're in at the time. It's also a blind knob; there's no visual
indication where it's set to. When you twiddle it, a volume display
pops up on the screen, and goes away when you stop twiddling.

BTW, you can download the manual (PDF) and a full simulator for the
CNX-80 from the Garmin web site. Load up the sim and play with it.
That's probably a better way to get a feel for how the UI works than
anything I could write.