I talked with a friend of mine yesterday that is a authorized Garmin dealer. I asked him about the Service Bulletins I have been receiving about 430/530 Operating System upgrades. He said if you are interfacing your 430/530 to experimental avionics, DO NOT HAVE THE OPERATING SYSTEM UPGRADES INSTALLED. He said these updates are taking away the ability to communicate with the experimental avionics and once you install it, you cannot go back to the previous operating system. I guess Garmin is doing this to push their avionics that they are now making for experimentals. Also, if you are purchasing a used 430/530 and want to interface to experimental avionics, make sure these upgrades have not been installed. They have to be installed by an authorized Garmin dealer. The dealer has a list of what the upgrade is for and what it will do.
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CAUTION Garmin 430/530 Users
- Thread starter ten4teg
- Start date
larrynew
Well Known Member
Which upgrades are causing problems? I upgraded my 430W to 5.0 a few months ago and it works perfectly with my Skyview system over ARINC.
Brantel
Well Known Member
Something does not smell right about this. I would verify that info with Garmin.
Since all the experimental guys are doing is piggy backing onto established standards that in some cases are used by certified gear and that have been around longer than the modern experimental avionics, I would say that this information is false.
Since all the experimental guys are doing is piggy backing onto established standards that in some cases are used by certified gear and that have been around longer than the modern experimental avionics, I would say that this information is false.
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Radomir
Well Known Member
The info is not false, but just incomplete 
It's true that with the 5.xx version Garmin changed their cross-fill protocol which some were using (VoiceFlight being the only one I know of).. I am not aware of any experimental systems such as Dynon, GRT, AFS etc that are using this protocol, so the impact is somewhere between small and non-existent.
IMHO the worst thing they did was removing traffic from the map page (if you do not have a heading input)... that was pure stupidity, but hey we got no choice so just live with it..
Also, technically speaking you can revert back but it's, as I understand, somewhat of a hack that Garmin may have to assist a dealer in performing.. so technically possible but probably not preferred.
PS. You will need 5.03 (or later) to use 430/530W as valid position source for ADS-B Out...
It's true that with the 5.xx version Garmin changed their cross-fill protocol which some were using (VoiceFlight being the only one I know of).. I am not aware of any experimental systems such as Dynon, GRT, AFS etc that are using this protocol, so the impact is somewhere between small and non-existent.IMHO the worst thing they did was removing traffic from the map page (if you do not have a heading input)... that was pure stupidity, but hey we got no choice so just live with it..
Also, technically speaking you can revert back but it's, as I understand, somewhat of a hack that Garmin may have to assist a dealer in performing.. so technically possible but probably not preferred.
PS. You will need 5.03 (or later) to use 430/530W as valid position source for ADS-B Out...
The published RS-232 and A429 interfaces to the GNS series are just as usable today by Garmin and other experimental EFIS systems as they were in older software.
Any proprietary interface not designed and documented for customer use, like the crosstalk bus between multiple GNS/GTN units, may indeed change format as additional features and changes are implemented.
Lots of experimental aircraft customers are taking advantage of the free software upgrades available to customers who need this newer software to make their older systems ADS-B Out compliant with the newest rules and there have been no reports of incompatibilities which rendered their experimental EFIS system inoperable.
Thanks,
Steve
Any proprietary interface not designed and documented for customer use, like the crosstalk bus between multiple GNS/GTN units, may indeed change format as additional features and changes are implemented.
Lots of experimental aircraft customers are taking advantage of the free software upgrades available to customers who need this newer software to make their older systems ADS-B Out compliant with the newest rules and there have been no reports of incompatibilities which rendered their experimental EFIS system inoperable.
Thanks,
Steve
Omega232Devils
Well Known Member
G3Xpert,
Can you provide more information on the "Lots of experimental aircraft customers are taking advantage of the free software upgrades available"
Dan
Can you provide more information on the "Lots of experimental aircraft customers are taking advantage of the free software upgrades available"
Dan
Seconded. Is there a software update for the 480 that will flag the output as ADS-B compliant?
Hello Dan,
GNS/GTN/GTX/G3X/etc software upgrades are provided free of charge. When dealer installation is required, there is sometimes a charge for that, but Garmin charges nothing for the software needed for the installation.
Kurt - I don't believe we have any updates to share on the 480 upgrade since this posting was made early this year.
Thanks,
Steve
