Breaking News from GRT!

Last Friday night, Todd from GRT announced that the latest software version, including Terrain Support, was posted to the GRT web site.

He just now announced that the Terrain databases are on the site! I have alrady downloaded mine...can't wait to go upload them into the airplane tomorrow and see what it looks like.

And not a dime of additional cost - how can you beat a company like that?

Paul

Please post pictures!

And not a dime of additional cost - how can you beat a company like that?

Click to expand...

You can't, but when other companies try we all win>

Maybe today

ccrawford said:

Please post pictures!

Click to expand...

I hope to sneak out to the airport today and load it up - if it shows anything interesting, I'll post a picture. But what you have to realize is that here in Houston, the nearest "terrain" is about 100 miles away...and the highest hill for that hundred miles is a highway overpass...the terrain may not look very exciting!

Paul

Paul,

You are just going to have to fly up to Colorado to get us some terrain pictures!

Pat

Ironflight said:

I hope to sneak out to the airport today and load it up - if it shows anything interesting, I'll post a picture. But what you have to realize is that here in Houston, the nearest "terrain" is about 100 miles away...and the highest hill for that hundred miles is a highway overpass...the terrain may not look very exciting!

Paul

Click to expand...

100 miles? That's what, like a 20-30 minute flight? 100 hours is calling you, Paul...

Yeah, but ....

I'm looking out my window and can't see the building across the street - we are way below IFR mins, and expected to stay that way for a couple more days...

Paul

Ver 28 images

Three images of new GRT EFIS features: 1) bench shot of weather over Louisiana (no significant wx over NM so slewed east to find some), 2) abn shot pointing at Jemez Mtns north of ABQ at 8,500' agl, and 3) Abn shot on a/p-coupled ILS final to rw22 at AEG with Banana about 2 miles in front. If you need to know why the last image is fuzzy, look at the winds and consider the resulting chop.

John Nystrom

Wow

That's really cool. John, tell us more about your airplane. Got any shots of your panel? Are you getting traffic from a 330 or something else?

Some details behind GRT images

Picture of panel below. I believe DR took it last May. Top display with ARINC and bottom with GRT GPS. ARINC inputs from GNS 480 GPS/NAV/COM and GTX 330 mode-s xpdr. External 232 inputs from GRT wx module, SL 30, EIS, and GNS 480. ARINC from either GNS 480 or EFIS drives DF II DSGV autopilot (switchable).

John Nystrom

Panel height for dual GRT

What panel did you use to fit the Dual GRT's? The new GRT software is awesome - thx for the pics.

Great Pictures John!

I got the terrain up and running in my plane today, but since we have been almost zero-zero all day, there was no flying, and while sitting on the ground, all the terrain is red - works fine, but nowhere near as interesting as John's pictures! I defer to him....

I will, however, show you what the inside of the GRT Display Unit looks like with the cover removed, and a Compact Flash card installed:



While you can run the terrain perfectly well from a thumb drive installed in the USB port, they have built in provisions for adding an additional memory card inside the unit (do ya' think GRT was planning ahead?!), and by uploading the terrain database there, it makes it available all the time, even when you forget your thumb drive at home....and if (like me) you happened to have some Compact Flash cards and a PC card adapter laying around from an old camera that you no longer use...the upgrade is free!

Paul

Panel height for dual GRT MFDs

The panel is 1" higher than stock and made from a 2'-by-4' piece of 0.063 from Spruce. As with Van's panel, it has a 1" bend in bottom for rigidity. Shop in ABQ made the bend. I'm 6'1" and added height has not created any access problems. Had already cut 3" off stick height so stick interference was not a consideration.

John Nystrom

Where does the weather come from?

Where does the GRT system get its weather data?

Thanks,
martin

Why the CDI?

John, why the CDI? Can't you put the navigation info on the GRT EHSI? I'm asking because that's what I intend to do.

TAS
Terry
RV-7 finnish kit, engine ordered

Weather?

When will weather hardware ship? I've been waiting since last April.

Answer: Why the CDI

Terry,

Two reasons:

1. I designed the panel in late 2003, well before the EFIS was as mature as it is now. I took delivery of my first MFD in Jan 2004 and it had a single-digit s/n, 009. I don't recall when GRT added an EHSI feature but it was well after I wanted/needed it. No complaints here, just fact.

2. I like redundancy. Example, I have a GNS 480, a fantastic device. At OSH last July, I had the folks at the Jeppesen pavilion update its database. After engine start for our departure across Lake Michigan and on to hazy upstate NY, I couldn't get the GNS GPS to work. As it turned out, the update attempt corrupted the file(s) on the chip but that's another story. Fortunately, a few weeks earlier, I had installed the GRT GPS on MFD1. So, I selected GPS2, programmed the flight plan and launched without pulling out of the taxi stream. Granted, I had current sectionals aboard and a VOR but having the GRT GPS feeding the EFIS moving map made me a lot more confident that I wouldn't lose SA along the way and that I could quickly and autonomously find a divert field. If I had to make the choice now, it would be a lot easier to foresake the CDI but I'd still probably install it.

Unasked but the reason for the steam gauges is the same (redundancy). In addition, I find that analog instruments are easier to quickly interpret.

John Nystrom

Finally, a Chance to Fly it!

Well, the weather finally cleared up enough to go flying this afternoon, so I have had my first airborne experience with the terrain. Really looks nice (not as nice as the shots posted by VyKing, so not much reason to post new ones of Galveston Bay...). Because it is so flat around here, I generally saw all red, then all yellow, then all green...but the shoreline of Galveston Bay showed up in blue very nicely! Also, as I would fly through transition altitudes, river gullies would show up, so I can tell the granularity is there, and pretty good. All in all, quite amazing to have this in my airplane!

I did install an adapter and compact Flash card in my other DU, so now both are fully equipped. I installed the Northwest Quadrant (17 Megs) in one, and the 48 States (5 Megs) in the other, to see if I could tell any difference. First, boot-up and AHRS alignment time is not affected at all, so no worries that terrain will slow you down getting off. If you call up the Map page right away, you will see "Terrain - loading", and then "OK" when it is done. This was complete on both units before I had lined everything up for engine start, so again - no worries with loading time. I saw no significant difference between loading times for the two databases, so probably there is no reason not to put the big one in both units.

Also of trivial interest, before I installed the NW Terrain card in the DU, I put the adapter and CF card in my laptop and copied the terrain file (properly named) using Windows Explorer. I then put it into the DU. It booted right up and found the file, so you can save yourself the step of letting the DU copy it from a Thumb drive if you want. Apparently, the DU's read the DOS/Windows file formats directly, without conversion.

All this, and you can't beat the price, again - FREE Upgrades!!!

Paul

CompactFlash Card Size

Paul, what size CF Card did you use to hold the Terrain data in each DU?

CF Card size

smithhb said:

Paul, what size CF Card did you use to hold the Terrain data in each DU?

Click to expand...

I had a couple of 128 Meg cards sitting around doing nothing (old dead camera...), so that's what I used - WAY overkill for the size of the files! I think GRT says they've tested with 32's, and those would hold any of the terrain databses except the NE quadrant (Alex in Moscow might want to use 64's... )

Paul

Point taken

Thanks John!

TAS
Terry
RV-7 finnish kit, engine ordered