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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
We recently put a 530 in one of our planes. Garmin says the upgrade to
WAAS is only going to be $1500. Sure, that's what they charge for the guts, but what is this likely to run to once the shop starts adding their labour costs, etc. Is another field approval needed, or what sort of paper work? -- Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/ Sign on door of computing lecturer: "If your project is 90% right, I have to give you a distinction, your employer will fire you." -- Zebee |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
(Paul Tomblin) wrote:
We recently put a 530 in one of our planes. Garmin says the upgrade to WAAS is only going to be $1500. Sure, that's what they charge for the guts, but what is this likely to run to once the shop starts adding their labour costs, etc. Is another field approval needed, or what sort of paper work? Paul, I saw a discussion about this on another forum. Other issues are that the antenna may need to be replaced, as well as possibly the antenna cable to RG-400. The upgrade is covered by an STC with an approved model list, so good chance no field approval will be required, but a 337 will be required for the STC installation. Mike |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
"Mike Adams" wrote in message ...
(Paul Tomblin) wrote: We recently put a 530 in one of our planes. Garmin says the upgrade to WAAS is only going to be $1500. Sure, that's what they charge for the guts, but what is this likely to run to once the shop starts adding their labour costs, etc. Is another field approval needed, or what sort of paper work? Paul, I saw a discussion about this on another forum. Other issues are that the antenna may need to be replaced, as well as possibly the antenna cable to RG-400. The upgrade is covered by an STC with an approved model list, so good chance no field approval will be required, but a 337 will be required for the STC installation. Mike Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
"John R. Copeland" wrote in message . .. Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. .................................................. .................................................. ............................ The antenna WILL need to be replaced. Karl ATP CFI "Curator" N185KG |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
The antenna WILL need to be replaced. That is consistent with my readings of the ComAnt antenna web site. The WAAS GPS seem to require 26dB antennas, whereas plain ones make do with 17dB ones. - FChE |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
"Frank Ch. Eigler" wrote in message ... The antenna WILL need to be replaced. That is consistent with my readings of the ComAnt antenna web site. The WAAS GPS seem to require 26dB antennas, whereas plain ones make do with 17dB ones. - FChE Horizon-to-horizon coverage, with 17dB gain???? And increasing their gain will just narrow the coverage. Unless the gain figure includes some low-noise active gain in the antenna package, ahead of the cable losses. But I have also heard from two different shops that the antennas will have to be replaced. Haven't heard why. |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
John R. Copeland wrote:
Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. While the WAAS satellites use the same (L1) frequencies as the others..rumor has it that the existing antennas Garmin sold with the 530/430 have a hard time seeing low enough on the horizon to meet the C146a specs. |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
Ron Natalie wrote:
John R. Copeland wrote: Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. While the WAAS satellites use the same (L1) frequencies as the others..rumor has it that the existing antennas Garmin sold with the 530/430 have a hard time seeing low enough on the horizon to meet the C146a specs. I find that hard to believe. Do you know the elevation angle requirement? I will check how low it picks up soon. Ron Lee |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
It's true. I was at the AOPA convention at Palm Springs and talked
with the Garmin rep. The antenna is replaced to upgrade to WAAS and included in the $1500 price. I have a homebuilt Glasair so replacing the antenna won't be any problem or added shop expense since I do it myself. Of course it will be convenient if it has the same footprint as the old one. When the first announced their much delayed WAAS upgrade program, you had to pre-sign-up with a shop to get the $1500 price. But now it seems they are just giving it to everyone. Ron Lee wrote: Ron Natalie wrote: John R. Copeland wrote: Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. While the WAAS satellites use the same (L1) frequencies as the others..rumor has it that the existing antennas Garmin sold with the 530/430 have a hard time seeing low enough on the horizon to meet the C146a specs. I find that hard to believe. Do you know the elevation angle requirement? I will check how low it picks up soon. Ron Lee |
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Garmin 530 WAAS upgrade - what's involved?
Ron Lee wrote: Ron Natalie wrote: John R. Copeland wrote: Antenna replaced? If it's broken, maybe. Nothing in the upgrade itself would require that. And if the cable works OK before the upgrade, it'll work OK afterward. While the WAAS satellites use the same (L1) frequencies as the others..rumor has it that the existing antennas Garmin sold with the 530/430 have a hard time seeing low enough on the horizon to meet the C146a specs. I find that hard to believe. Do you know the elevation angle requirement? I will check how low it picks up soon. Ron, As you know, the MOPS has gone through several revs, but my copy of DO-229A specifies 10.-deg. They've released 229D and I believe it hadn't changed between C and D, but the mask angle is now 5.-deg. As an aside, remember the issues with some of the early 129 boxes? As I recall, there was no specific requirement for any particular mask angle. 7.5-deg (then 5.0-deg in a later version) was the recommended value. Basically, as long as the rcvr. manuf. could prove that Integrity was being maintained, it didn't really matter what mask angle was chosen... But it did/does. Effects such as local multipath come into play at the low angles. When examining the Availbility/Integrity tradespace, those on the conservative side would rather take the Availability hit in order to maintain Integrity. Conservative in this context meaning 'safe' as opposed to Right Wing Ron Lee Regards, Jon |
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