AV8OR

On Aug 9, 2:32 am, "Bravo Two Zero" wrote:
Any comments yet on the AV8OR ?

A long thread about it he http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=45178

"Rocky Stevens" wrote in message
...
On Aug 9, 2:32 am, "Bravo Two Zero" wrote:
Any comments yet on the AV8OR ?

A long thread about it he http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=45178

I post under RVDriver in that forum. I got my RV80R at Oshkosh Monday a
week ago. In summary, the unit works well as a stand alone GPS, and after
some back and forth with Bendix/King and WxWorx, my XM weather is working
now.

The plusses of the unit:
- The price is right for a GPS with XM capability.
- You have a lot of ability to customize the display.
- The interface is intuitive.
- It picks up satellites very quickly.

The minuses:
- It comes with a CD not a manual. The CD ain't so handy when trying to
figure something out either in the airplane or in the car. Basically, you
have to have a PC with you anytime you want to refer to the "manual".
- The screen brightness is marginal. In full sunlight under my airplane's
bubble canopy, it is a struggle. Comparing the spec's of the AV8OR and the
Garmin 396, the screen brightness is very similar, for what that's worth.
- The arrangement of the cords is poor. It should have been designed with
all of the cords plugging into one side, preferably with 90 degree
connectors to keep the footprint down. Instead, the three cords that plug
into the AV8OR (GPS, Power, and XM) each plug into a different side, making
the overall footprint much larger than necessary and making wire bundling an
issue. I switched my unit to the bluetooth option to eliminate one of the
cords.
- The supplied battery has a very short life. Maybe 1.5 hours. You'll
need a 12v outlet in the airplane to get much use from this unit.

Thanks, my company is going to offer a discount on it from 8/15 for
employees and I just wanted to hear from people who have seen it first hand,
before I make a decision


"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..

"Rocky Stevens" wrote in message
...
On Aug 9, 2:32 am, "Bravo Two Zero" wrote:
Any comments yet on the AV8OR ?

A long thread about it he
http://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=45178

I post under RVDriver in that forum. I got my RV80R at Oshkosh Monday a
week ago. In summary, the unit works well as a stand alone GPS, and after
some back and forth with Bendix/King and WxWorx, my XM weather is working
now.

The plusses of the unit:
- The price is right for a GPS with XM capability.
- You have a lot of ability to customize the display.
- The interface is intuitive.
- It picks up satellites very quickly.

The minuses:
- It comes with a CD not a manual. The CD ain't so handy when trying to
figure something out either in the airplane or in the car. Basically, you
have to have a PC with you anytime you want to refer to the "manual".
- The screen brightness is marginal. In full sunlight under my
airplane's bubble canopy, it is a struggle. Comparing the spec's of the
AV8OR and the Garmin 396, the screen brightness is very similar, for what
that's worth.
- The arrangement of the cords is poor. It should have been designed with
all of the cords plugging into one side, preferably with 90 degree
connectors to keep the footprint down. Instead, the three cords that plug
into the AV8OR (GPS, Power, and XM) each plug into a different side,
making the overall footprint much larger than necessary and making wire
bundling an issue. I switched my unit to the bluetooth option to
eliminate one of the cords.
- The supplied battery has a very short life. Maybe 1.5 hours. You'll
need a 12v outlet in the airplane to get much use from this unit.

One thing I've not been able to tell from any of the reviews or the
AV8OR web site. Can units that get their XM WX via WxWorx provide the XM
Radio channels like the Garmin 396/496?

On Aug 11, 9:41*am, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote:
One thing I've not been able to tell from any of the reviews or the
AV8OR web site. Can units that get their XM WX via WxWorx provide the XM
* Radio channels like the Garmin 396/496?

The answer to that question is, unfortunately, NO (it's in the FAQs
somewhere).

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Aug 11, 9:41 am, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote:
One thing I've not been able to tell from any of the reviews or the
AV8OR web site. Can units that get their XM WX via WxWorx provide the XM
Radio channels like the Garmin 396/496?

The answer to that question is, unfortunately, NO (it's in the FAQs
somewhere).

Dave

There are hints all over the place that Bendix/King has numerous upgrades
planned for this platform. One of the obvious ones would be an E6B (as was
pointed out to me on another forum) function. Another would be XM radio.
For the experimental folks (like me), it would be nice if the unit provided
data to run a wing leveler. In the experimental world, there are several
$2k wing levelers that do an outstanding job of following a GPS course. All
they need is a signal...

KB

Kyle Boatright wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Aug 11, 9:41 am, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote:
One thing I've not been able to tell from any of the reviews or the
AV8OR web site. Can units that get their XM WX via WxWorx provide the XM
Radio channels like the Garmin 396/496?

The answer to that question is, unfortunately, NO (it's in the FAQs
somewhere).

Dave

There are hints all over the place that Bendix/King has numerous
upgrades planned for this platform. One of the obvious ones would be an
E6B (as was pointed out to me on another forum) function. Another would
be XM radio. For the experimental folks (like me), it would be nice if
the unit provided data to run a wing leveler. In the experimental
world, there are several $2k wing levelers that do an outstanding job of
following a GPS course. All they need is a signal...

KB

The lack of ability to drive something like the Trio wing leveler and
lack of XM weather explains why the AV8OR is so much cheaper than the
3/496. Sure there may be updates in the future but once they are in how
much will they cost? Probably about the same as the Garmin units.

It's not like Bendix/King is known for low cost avionics.

"Gig 601Xl Builder" wrote in message
m...
Kyle Boatright wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Aug 11, 9:41 am, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote:
One thing I've not been able to tell from any of the reviews or the
AV8OR web site. Can units that get their XM WX via WxWorx provide the
XM
Radio channels like the Garmin 396/496?

The answer to that question is, unfortunately, NO (it's in the FAQs
somewhere).

Dave

There are hints all over the place that Bendix/King has numerous upgrades
planned for this platform. One of the obvious ones would be an E6B (as
was pointed out to me on another forum) function. Another would be XM
radio. For the experimental folks (like me), it would be nice if the unit
provided data to run a wing leveler. In the experimental world, there
are several $2k wing levelers that do an outstanding job of following a
GPS course. All they need is a signal...

KB

The lack of ability to drive something like the Trio wing leveler and lack
of XM weather explains why the AV8OR is so much cheaper than the 3/496.

I think it is a stretch to claim that GPS data output is a cost driver. The
ability to drive a wing leveler has been available for a long time in $300
GPS units, such as the Lowrance Airmap 100 I've been using for nearly 8
years. This tells me that capability doesn't add any meaningful cost. That
being said, if the AV8OR doesn't have the onboard hardware to pass the data,
it is a moot point, and I have no idea if it does or not...

As far as XM goes, it is an availible upgrade for about $400. That puts the
total system cost at, what, $650 under the price of a 396?

Sure there may be updates in the future but once they are in how much will
they cost? Probably about the same as the Garmin units.

Software updates will allegedly be free. Database updates on the other
hand...


It's not like Bendix/King is known for low cost avionics.

I'm not aware of any low cost avionics providers. ;-)

KB

On Aug 10, 3:10*am, "Kyle Boatright" wrote:
"Rocky Stevens" wrote in message

...

On Aug 9, 2:32 am, "Bravo Two Zero" wrote:
Any comments yet on the AV8OR ?

A long thread about it hehttp://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=45178

I post under RVDriver in that forum. *I got my RV80R at Oshkosh Monday a
week ago. *In summary, the unit works well as a stand alone GPS, and after
some back and forth with Bendix/King and WxWorx, my XM weather is working
now.

The plusses of the unit:
- The price is right for a GPS with XM capability.
- You have a lot of ability to customize the display.
- The interface is intuitive.
- It picks up satellites very quickly.

The minuses:
- *It comes with a CD not a manual. *The CD ain't so handy when trying to
figure something out either in the airplane or in the car. *Basically, you
have to have a PC with you anytime you want to refer to the "manual".


You could print relevant bits of it...

Cheers

"More_Flaps" wrote in message
...
On Aug 10, 3:10 am, "Kyle Boatright" wrote:
"Rocky Stevens" wrote in message

...

On Aug 9, 2:32 am, "Bravo Two Zero" wrote:
Any comments yet on the AV8OR ?

A long thread about it
hehttp://forums.aopa.org/showthread.php?t=45178

I post under RVDriver in that forum. I got my RV80R at Oshkosh Monday a
week ago. In summary, the unit works well as a stand alone GPS, and after
some back and forth with Bendix/King and WxWorx, my XM weather is working
now.

The plusses of the unit:
- The price is right for a GPS with XM capability.
- You have a lot of ability to customize the display.
- The interface is intuitive.
- It picks up satellites very quickly.

The minuses:
- It comes with a CD not a manual. The CD ain't so handy when trying to
figure something out either in the airplane or in the car. Basically, you
have to have a PC with you anytime you want to refer to the "manual".


You could print relevant bits of it...

Cheers

It's 300 pages long and inevitably, whatever sections you print out won't be
the ones you need.

KB