Garmin Data Cards

Does anyone know the format of the data cards for the GNS 530? Our club is
putting them in our small fleet, and we are considering buying extra data
cards to make the updates easier. The Garmin price seems high. If these are
standard cards, we may be able to do better elsewhere. Anyone have any
experience to share?

Brad

Brad Salai wrote:

> Does anyone know the format of the data cards for the GNS 530? Our club is
> putting them in our small fleet, and we are considering buying extra data
> cards to make the updates easier. The Garmin price seems high. If these are
> standard cards, we may be able to do better elsewhere. Anyone have any
> experience to share?
>
> Brad

The license for the navdata is for one unit. If you figure out how to
distribute the data for use in more than one unit at the same time, you will
not only have a contractual issue, I suspect the FAA would be inclined to
withdraw the IFR certification of the installation (s).

That's not what we are trying to do. We don't have a computer with a fast
internet connection at the airport, so we have to write the new data every
month at a remote location (our maintenance officers house). We are going to
buy duplicate cards so that we can prepare three of them, and go to the
airport once and install them in the three airplanes. We will have three
subscriptions.

I was just trying to find cards for less than the $130 each that Garmin
charges for them. If they are 256 meg SD cards, that is way higher than they
can be gotten for elsewhere. We just don't know what they are yet because we
haven't gotten our first 530 installed.

Brad
<Tim@Backhome.org> wrote in message news:4310854B.FB1F3748@Backhome.org...
>
>
> Brad Salai wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know the format of the data cards for the GNS 530? Our club
is
> > putting them in our small fleet, and we are considering buying extra
data
> > cards to make the updates easier. The Garmin price seems high. If these
are
> > standard cards, we may be able to do better elsewhere. Anyone have any
> > experience to share?
> >
> > Brad
>
> The license for the navdata is for one unit. If you figure out how to
> distribute the data for use in more than one unit at the same time, you
will
> not only have a contractual issue, I suspect the FAA would be inclined to
> withdraw the IFR certification of the installation (s).
>
>

"Brad Salai" <bsalai@rochester.> writes:

> [...] I was just trying to find cards for less than the $130 each
> that Garmin charges for them. If they are 256 meg SD cards, that is
> way higher than they can be gotten for elsewhere. [...]

According to the Jeppesen Skybound USB card writer thingie,
modern 430/530 data cards have a mere 4- or 8-MB capacity.

- FChE

Does is say for certain what format the cards are? If they are SD cards,
they are smaller than anything available nowadays, but since they came out 7
or 8 years ago, that might well be true. A 16 meg SD card only costs $20 or
so, that would be a big savings for us.

Brad

"Frank Ch. Eigler" <fche@redhat.com> wrote in message
news:y0mzmr2lxk0.fsf@tooth.toronto.redhat.com...
>
> "Brad Salai" <bsalai@rochester.> writes:
>
> > [...] I was just trying to find cards for less than the $130 each
> > that Garmin charges for them. If they are 256 meg SD cards, that is
> > way higher than they can be gotten for elsewhere. [...]
>
> According to the Jeppesen Skybound USB card writer thingie,
> modern 430/530 data cards have a mere 4- or 8-MB capacity.
>
> - FChE

"Frank Ch. Eigler" <fche@redhat.com> wrote in message news:y0mzmr2lxk0.fsf@tooth.toronto.redhat.com...
>
> "Brad Salai" <bsalai@rochester.> writes:
>
>> [...] I was just trying to find cards for less than the $130 each
>> that Garmin charges for them. If they are 256 meg SD cards, that is
>> way higher than they can be gotten for elsewhere. [...]
>
> According to the Jeppesen Skybound USB card writer thingie,
> modern 430/530 data cards have a mere 4- or 8-MB capacity.
>
> - FChE

Interesting.
My CNX80(GNS480) cards are 32MB, with only about 2.5MB unused.
But some big changes are pending for the 430 and 530 units.

FWIW, my basic MX20 used 32MB cards also, but with ChartView,
that expanded to 128MB cards.
Charts for the continental US fit in 128, with only a few MB to spare.

John R. Copeland wrote:

>Have you signed up with Jeppesen for a NavData subscription yet?
>By agreement with Jeppesen, Garmin AT cannot supply the data for your card.
>HTH.
>
John,

That was going to be my next question. I have not signed up with
Jeppesen yet. Can I use the same phone number to do that, or is there a
separate number?

Thanks,

BJ

Thanks John...that is very helpful!

Best,

BJ

I have a KLN 89/B and I put the wrong DBkey in the first time I used it.
I called Honeywell and they gave me a free extesnion to my subscription
and I just downloaded a new request using the correct DBkey. I didn't
wind up having a useless card. Now if I could only take the card and
program it and not have to take a laptop to the plane.


Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI

Peter Clark wrote:
>snip
>
>
> The database key (which changes occasionally) is linked to the card,
> not the unit. If you have multiple cards for one unit, you need to be
> careful which DB key you use - write the wrong one to the card and
> it's useless. Ask me how I know.... But you can take a valid card
> and shove it in any KLN94 and it'll work just fine. Anyone who could
> successfully duplicate the entire card, including the DB key storage
> system, would have a fully functioning card for any unit.
>
>
snip

"John R. Copeland" <jcopelan@columbus.rr.> wrote:

> If you have a broadband internet connection, you can download each
> 28-day update of the NavData, whether or not you get the CD-ROM.
> I think you can now elect to not receive the 28-day CD-ROM,
> and save a little money on the subscription price.
> I get the CD-ROMs, but I've never yet used any of them.

Yes, I just get the download only. It works fine, and all those CDs would just take up space after awhile,
anyway.

> If you already have a USB CompactFlash adapter on your computer,
> you won't need to buy a different one to program the GNS480 data cards.
> The card will show up in Windows as an ordinary removable drive.
> Remember to logically "Eject" it before physically removing the card.
> Probably no harm will occur if you forget, but it's neater that way.

When I got my system last winter, the CF USB adapter came with the box. I don't need to use it, though,
since my PC has a CF adapter on the front of it, and there's nothing unique about the adapter they
provide. It just looks like a normal removable drive to the PC. With my cable connection, the download
takes just a few minutes (about 13 MB).

Mike