GPS Choices

I bought an AvMap upon Jay's recommendation and can say it is an awesome
unit. HUGE color moving map, flight plans - even approaches (VFR GPS).

Glad to hear it, Ken.

We had an "interesting" experience with our AvMap today, coming in after
dark. We don't often fly at night, and Mary has not flown with the AvMap in
the dark since we bought it last July.

As the ambient light diminished, she needed to turn the brightness down. As
she was adjusting the brightness, the unit suddenly died! Assuming it was
the power cord coming out of the cigar lighter (we've bumped it out before),
I started screwing around with the cord. I even took the fuse out of the
lighter attachment to check it. It was fine, but the screen remained black,
and she ended up navigating visually (gasp!) the last ten miles or so.

Once shut down on the ground, we were able to trouble-shoot. Without the
engine noise we could hear that the AvMap still "beeped" whenever we pushed
a button, so we knew it *was* getting power. Eventually we aimed the
flashlight at the face of the unit, and could just *barely* see the map.
Turns out Mary had turned the brightness all the way OFF -- a setting we did
not know was possible.

So, be aware -- you can actually turn the screen OFF with the brightness
control, leaving you with nothing to see...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"