Garmin Automotive GPS

Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question
- I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is
that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot be
of any use?

Thanks,

Jonathan Sorger wrote:
Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about
GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question
- I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is
that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot be
of any use?

Thanks,

I have used a simple Garmin 12xl for about 3 or 4 years now and am quite
happy with it. It is not an aviation GPS but works just great as one if
you don't need all the whistles and bells. It updates fast (1 sec) and
allows manual insertion of 500 waypoints and 16 routes. I love the way
you can repond to the tower's position inquiry with, "Errrr...I am 7.6
nautical to your SSE" instantly.

I have manually entered over 400 airports, waypoints, vors, ndbs, etc.
by punching in lat and long coordinates. Mine has a moving map mode,
gives me eta, ete, ground speed, altitude, 10 nearest airports, instant
GOTO, etc. It actually saved my bacon once when I inadvertantly entered
a towering cumulus on an IFR flight which wiped out my panel because of
the static. The little GPS in compass mode allowed me to keep the plane
upright with no visual references and no panel instruments.

The aviation GPS's are great with their built in databases though I
think the handhelds are all about the same as far as usefulness goes.
It comes down mainly to preferences--Do I want a database? Do I want a
big screen? Do I want WAAS capability? Do I need one that doesn't such
up the batteries? Do I want a color screen? Do I need the street maps
and airport data? ....etc.

However, if someone is offering a free GPS to you then why not just try
it out?

Happy flying!
Antonio

Jonathan Sorger wrote:
Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about
GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question
- I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is
that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm
sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot be
of any use?

You could also get a used previous-generation aviation unit for a similar price
and take advantage of the aviation database, but then it's not so useful in the
car. I gues it depends on whether the auto or plane use is more important to you.

Dave

Jonathan,

I would not go so far as to say that a StreetPilot would be useless, but it
is close. The problem with the Street Pilot series is that the design is
very specific to road navigation. The problem is that the StreetPilot is
limited in the datafields that it can display. There is no way to display
bearing or off course. The good news is that you can configure the
StreetPilot series, including the 2610, to give a direct line over the
ground instead of road routings. So you could put in a route and get a line
across a non-aviation map to see where you are, but you would miss the
precision available from a GPS with more precise data fields or displays.

For the most part, there is no practical way to load aviation maps into a
non-aviation GPS. You can check out here is you are really dedicated to the
idea: http://home.sprintmail.com/~scottbyrd/AirGuideVFR/. However, you can
download waypoints and still use a non-aviation GPS as a very effective
navigation tool. There are a wide variety of non-aviation GPS receivers
that you can use. Generally you can load 500 - 1000 waypoints depending on
the design. However, some units such at the 176 and 276 (way cool!) series
allow you to load up to 3,000 waypoints. Check out http://navaid.com/ for
waypoints that can be loaded with some free programs.

Check out my book at www.cockpitgps.com for more info. Many of the examples
use an aviation GPS, but one of my points is that an aviation GPS is often
not necessary. This is not to say that I have anything against using an
aviation GPS, in many ways they are a navigational bargain.

Hope this helps,

John Bell
www.cockpitgps.com



"Jonathan Sorger" wrote in message
...
Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn about
GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my question -
I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there any
use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin is that
you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but I'm sure
someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot be
of any use?

Thanks,

Thanks everyone for your replies... I suppose the best thing to do is to
take the unit up while a friend is flying and play around to see what it
can do.

I should probably sell the StreetPilot and get a 'real' aviation GPS
unit as the automotive uses of it are fairly useless to me.

Excellent site, by the way, John. I have downloaded your waypoint data
and will try loading them in.

dancingstar wrote in
:

Jonathan Sorger wrote:
Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn
about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my
question - I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there
any use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin
is that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but
I'm sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot
be of any use?

Thanks,

I have used a simple Garmin 12xl for about 3 or 4 years now and am
quite happy with it. It is not an aviation GPS but works just great as
one if you don't need all the whistles and bells. It updates fast (1
sec) and allows manual insertion of 500 waypoints and 16 routes. I
love the way you can repond to the tower's position inquiry with,
"Errrr...I am 7.6 nautical to your SSE" instantly.

I have manually entered over 400 airports, waypoints, vors, ndbs, etc.
by punching in lat and long coordinates. Mine has a moving map mode,
gives me eta, ete, ground speed, altitude, 10 nearest airports,
instant GOTO, etc. It actually saved my bacon once when I
inadvertantly entered a towering cumulus on an IFR flight which wiped
out my panel because of the static. The little GPS in compass mode
allowed me to keep the plane upright with no visual references and no
panel instruments.

The aviation GPS's are great with their built in databases though I
think the handhelds are all about the same as far as usefulness goes.
It comes down mainly to preferences--Do I want a database? Do I want a
big screen? Do I want WAAS capability? Do I need one that doesn't such
up the batteries? Do I want a color screen? Do I need the street maps
and airport data? ....etc.

However, if someone is offering a free GPS to you then why not just
try it out?

Happy flying!
Antonio



I couldn't agree with you more. I have been using my Garmin 12 for about
5 years now. I can do more things with it than what most people can with
their IFR approved GPS. I don't need moving map or airspace alerts etc..
Just distance, track and speed are good enough. The rest I can figure
out from my charts. 500 waypoints is plenty enough for my flying. I
wrote a small program that will spit out the waypoints for the region I
am flying in. It works wonderfully, and it only cost be about $100 for
the GPS. The waypoint program is available at
http://www.geocities.com/asarangan/garmin.html






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Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there
any use for one of these in a plane?

These devices are especially useful for IFR flight*.







(* IFR = I Follow Roads)

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
dancingstar wrote in
:


Jonathan Sorger wrote:

Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn
about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my
question - I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there
any use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin
is that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but
I'm sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot
be of any use?

Thanks,

I have used a simple Garmin 12xl for about 3 or 4 years now and am
quite happy with it. It is not an aviation GPS but works just great as
one if you don't need all the whistles and bells. It updates fast (1
sec) and allows manual insertion of 500 waypoints and 16 routes. I
love the way you can repond to the tower's position inquiry with,
"Errrr...I am 7.6 nautical to your SSE" instantly.

I have manually entered over 400 airports, waypoints, vors, ndbs, etc.
by punching in lat and long coordinates. Mine has a moving map mode,
gives me eta, ete, ground speed, altitude, 10 nearest airports,
instant GOTO, etc. It actually saved my bacon once when I
inadvertantly entered a towering cumulus on an IFR flight which wiped
out my panel because of the static. The little GPS in compass mode
allowed me to keep the plane upright with no visual references and no
panel instruments.

The aviation GPS's are great with their built in databases though I
think the handhelds are all about the same as far as usefulness goes.
It comes down mainly to preferences--Do I want a database? Do I want a
big screen? Do I want WAAS capability? Do I need one that doesn't such
up the batteries? Do I want a color screen? Do I need the street maps
and airport data? ....etc.

However, if someone is offering a free GPS to you then why not just
try it out?

Happy flying!
Antonio




I couldn't agree with you more. I have been using my Garmin 12 for about
5 years now. I can do more things with it than what most people can with
their IFR approved GPS. I don't need moving map or airspace alerts etc..
Just distance, track and speed are good enough. The rest I can figure
out from my charts. 500 waypoints is plenty enough for my flying. I
wrote a small program that will spit out the waypoints for the region I
am flying in. It works wonderfully, and it only cost be about $100 for
the GPS. The waypoint program is available at
http://www.geocities.com/asarangan/garmin.html



Neat program, Andrew !! What language did you write it in?

Somewhere on my many scattered CD's I have a program that allows you to
interface with the 12xl and upload data such as your page offers. I
don't think that the G12 has a data input, does it? If it does, I could
send you this (it is freeware).


Antonio

dancingstar wrote:

Andrew Sarangan wrote:

dancingstar wrote in
:

Jonathan Sorger wrote:

Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn
about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my
question - I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there
any use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from Garmin
is that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive unit, but
I'm sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a Streetpilot
be of any use?

Thanks,


I have used a simple Garmin 12xl for about 3 or 4 years now and am
quite happy with it. It is not an aviation GPS but works just great as
one if you don't need all the whistles and bells. It updates fast (1
sec) and allows manual insertion of 500 waypoints and 16 routes. I
love the way you can repond to the tower's position inquiry with,
"Errrr...I am 7.6 nautical to your SSE" instantly.

I have manually entered over 400 airports, waypoints, vors, ndbs, etc.
by punching in lat and long coordinates. Mine has a moving map mode,
gives me eta, ete, ground speed, altitude, 10 nearest airports,
instant GOTO, etc. It actually saved my bacon once when I
inadvertantly entered a towering cumulus on an IFR flight which wiped
out my panel because of the static. The little GPS in compass mode
allowed me to keep the plane upright with no visual references and no
panel instruments.
The aviation GPS's are great with their built in databases though I
think the handhelds are all about the same as far as usefulness goes.
It comes down mainly to preferences--Do I want a database? Do I want a
big screen? Do I want WAAS capability? Do I need one that doesn't such
up the batteries? Do I want a color screen? Do I need the street maps
and airport data? ....etc.

However, if someone is offering a free GPS to you then why not just
try it out?

Happy flying!
Antonio




I couldn't agree with you more. I have been using my Garmin 12 for
about 5 years now. I can do more things with it than what most people
can with their IFR approved GPS. I don't need moving map or airspace
alerts etc.. Just distance, track and speed are good enough. The rest
I can figure out from my charts. 500 waypoints is plenty enough for my
flying. I wrote a small program that will spit out the waypoints for
the region I am flying in. It works wonderfully, and it only cost be
about $100 for the GPS. The waypoint program is available at
http://www.geocities.com/asarangan/garmin.html



Neat program, Andrew !! What language did you write it in?

Somewhere on my many scattered CD's I have a program that allows you to
interface with the 12xl and upload data such as your page offers. I
don't think that the G12 has a data input, does it? If it does, I could
send you this (it is freeware).


Antonio

http://www.easygps.com offers a free program for loading and unloading
waypoints and routes. It works with nearly all GPS units. I use it
for geocaching with a Garmin-12 and it works just fine. The Garmin-12
has no features such as navaids, roads, rivers, lakes, etc so it's
really imporant to drop the Man Over Board point when you get out of the
car. This gives you a place to go to when you're lost in the woods (I
was once with a lightning storm approaching!). The .loc files for
EasyGPS are easy to understand and you can build one manually if you like.

dancingstar wrote in
:

Andrew Sarangan wrote:
dancingstar wrote in
:


Jonathan Sorger wrote:

Passed my private pilot checkride last week and now want to learn
about GPS.

I've searched a bit but have found no threads pertaining to my
question - I'd like opinions or if someone can refer me somewhere...

Someone has offered to give me a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - is there
any use for one of these in a plane? The 'official word' from
Garmin is that you can't put aviation map data into an automotive
unit, but I'm sure someone has tried...

I realize that an aviation GPS unit is ideal, but would a
Streetpilot be of any use?

Thanks,

I have used a simple Garmin 12xl for about 3 or 4 years now and am
quite happy with it. It is not an aviation GPS but works just great
as one if you don't need all the whistles and bells. It updates fast
(1 sec) and allows manual insertion of 500 waypoints and 16 routes. I
love the way you can repond to the tower's position inquiry with,
"Errrr...I am 7.6 nautical to your SSE" instantly.

I have manually entered over 400 airports, waypoints, vors, ndbs,
etc. by punching in lat and long coordinates. Mine has a moving map
mode, gives me eta, ete, ground speed, altitude, 10 nearest airports,
instant GOTO, etc. It actually saved my bacon once when I
inadvertantly entered a towering cumulus on an IFR flight which wiped
out my panel because of the static. The little GPS in compass mode
allowed me to keep the plane upright with no visual references and no
panel instruments.

The aviation GPS's are great with their built in databases though I
think the handhelds are all about the same as far as usefulness goes.
It comes down mainly to preferences--Do I want a database? Do I want
a big screen? Do I want WAAS capability? Do I need one that doesn't
such up the batteries? Do I want a color screen? Do I need the street
maps and airport data? ....etc.

However, if someone is offering a free GPS to you then why not just
try it out?

Happy flying!
Antonio




I couldn't agree with you more. I have been using my Garmin 12 for
about 5 years now. I can do more things with it than what most people
can with their IFR approved GPS. I don't need moving map or airspace
alerts etc.. Just distance, track and speed are good enough. The rest
I can figure out from my charts. 500 waypoints is plenty enough for
my flying. I wrote a small program that will spit out the waypoints
for the region I am flying in. It works wonderfully, and it only cost
be about $100 for the GPS. The waypoint program is available at
http://www.geocities.com/asarangan/garmin.html



Neat program, Andrew !! What language did you write it in?

Somewhere on my many scattered CD's I have a program that allows you
to interface with the 12xl and upload data such as your page offers. I
don't think that the G12 has a data input, does it? If it does, I
could send you this (it is freeware).


Antonio




I wrote it in C.

My GPS is a G12. It has an interface port in the back. I bought the plug
for it somewhere on the internet for cheap (Garmin charges a lot of
money for the cable).