"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Jay Beckman wrote:

Word from AOPA Expo was starting January 1 ...

Hey, welcome back, Jay! I trust you had a great time?


Certainly did, thanks...

If I can figure out a way to distil the week into less of a whirlwind in
print than it was in person, I'll give some form of ConRep but it may end up
being one of those "you had to be there." There will be photos (lots of
photos!) posted at a later date. Didn't get to Palm Springs in time for the
inbound Parade Of Planes but I was there for the outbound and THAT was way
cool.

Of course, it was fun to meet some of the movers & shakers and some of the
flying "gurus" (Schiff, Machado, JM King, etc...)

Hartford in October of 2007...!

This WAAS upgrade appears to be a two step upgrade. The first step
involves sending in the unit for a hardware update, which will be available
January, and the second step involves a software update that can be done
with a data card. This second step will not be available until March or
April.

IIRC, that's exactly how the Garmin rep explained it to Jack Allison when we
stopped by the Garmin display.

If that is how it works, I may not bother to send my unit in until Spring
or early Summer. I am still using my aircraft to commute twice per week
and could not afford to be without the GPS unit (keeping in mind it is
also my primary comm and nav radio) for the two weeks it will probably take
in turn-around to get the hardware updated.

You raise an interesting logistical issue.

In the past, Garmin was good about offering loaners to those of us who had
to send in the units but I suspect with such a strong, pent-up demand
waiting to unleash, there will be no loaner program for this upgrade.

You're probably right...

Good luck and I look forward to hearing how this works out for the people
affected/involved.

Jay B