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BM EFIS question

JetPilot

Member
Seems that most everyone is going toward the Blue Mountain EFIS, with their internal gps and available autopilot.
1-Does anyone know who makes their autopilot?
2-How big is the screen on the G3? Their website does not say.
3-How does their screen size compare to Dynon and Grand Rapids?
4-I see that Van's sells the G3 series of BM but the BM website does not list a G3, is the G3 and EFIS Lite one in the same?
5-Is there a better value out there in the el cheapo glasso cockpito world? I can't seem to find one.
6-For a EFIS with internal gps for 2,700.00. this is a great deal - am I missing something?

Thanks so much for the upcoming answers.
 
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BMA makes their own Autopilot.

Here is a set of posts on the BMA forums in which I asked about the display on the EFIS/Lite G3 ....

My orignal question.......

"I was recently talking with a Dynon owner that started quizing me about the BMA EFIS/Lite G3 unit. When we got to the screen description I couldn't answer his questions. This is the information from the Dynon Website......

Screen
Type: AMLCD, TFT (Thin Film Transistor)
Backlight: 450 NIT
Size: 3.8" diagonal (96 mm)
Resolution: 320 x 240 color pixels

How does the BMA EFIS/Lite G3 Compare?"​

Gregs response .......

"Specs are _identical_ except for brightness. We are a lot closer to 850 Nit. As anyone can tell you, you can read a Lite from 20 meters in full sun.

The Dynon uses a transflective display, which uses some power and some reflectivity to get seen. The idea here is low brightness, high contrast. Consequently, some people say it washes out in the sun.

The Lite/G3 is a high brightness display, which uses power to achieve real brightness. Upside is much more readable in all conditio
ns, downside is takes more power to drive it and higher cost to manufacture.

There is no perfect solution. My preference is to use a high bright display that you can see; if it eats up another amp or so, that'll just have to do."

Michael Crowder
Sonex #293
 
Try GRT

BMA's harware changes too much and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. GRT has a resonably priced system and great support. No such thing as a freee lunch!
 
Grand Rapids? Pricey

When you read the BM website, well, you can just see that there is not much attention to detail. And I have always thought that if a company's website is not kept up...neither is their product/product support. But it is still hard to argue when the BM is half the price of Grand Rapids....and speaking of GR...I lost count after 160 typos...I had to force myself to read through all their info. And finally, probably the best course of action...don't buy anything now. Dynon is working on a 7" screen....heck, there is no telling what products will be out there by the end of the year.
Thanks for your comments...sure would like to hear from a couple of people that own the BM EFIS.
 
JetPilot said:
...sure would like to hear from a couple of people that own the BM EFIS.

There's a bunch of them that do just that in the discussion forum ON the Blue Mountain website. To Richter's credit, he lets anyone put it up there for all to see... the good AND the bad.

I think the overall feeling I get from it is that the people at Blue Mountain care a lot, and are doing their best at doing too much, too fast.
I also think that they're here to stay and will continue to be a major player in the EFIS market.

The problem with Dynon is that, for pricing, Blue Mountain blew them out of the water with the G3/Efis Lite. For "only" about $600 or so more than the Dynon, you get the same size display, but with the addition of it's own internal GPS with moving map AND an HSI that can be slaved to the SL-30. While you wouldn't want to switch back and forth if using the G3 as your primary AI, adding a second G3/Lite gives you full independant flight instrument redundancy, and while not huge, the screen on a second G3 would make a reasonable alternative for your Moving Map and as an HSI for instrument approaches.

Still, Blue Mountain is having lot's of teething problems, and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to wait a year or so before committing to their stuff.
 
Display Resolution

Both displays don't have enough resolution to display good maps or approach plates. The 320 x 240 resolution is only as good as the handhelds. The EFIS manufacturers recognize this and I think you'll see some better and probably bigger displays by yearend.
Roger Robertson
Looking for a 7.
 
All I can say is BMA was extremely responsive to my request. I was looking at a 9A with the EFIS1 that has issues. Both Bob & Greg personally called me back the same day I left a messages and invited me to fly the plane out to his factory for a day or two of tweeking. (The BMA program had been royally screwed up by the old owner trying to calibrate it) But he assured me that he would fix it or replace it and give me all the upgrades I needed (even though it was out of warranty) for a minimal price. I found their customer service to be the best I have encountered and I'm not even a customer! (The 9A was taken off the market :mad: )

My experience is the BMA is fairly techincal on the set up side, but once its up and running it does a fine job. Some of us forget these are "experimental" A/C and we are on the cutting edge of development too. Some set backs are inevitable, but from what I've seen BMA is top notch.
 
Just received my BM EFIS/G3

I just received the two G3 EFIS & AP that I ordered a while back (Sept '04) and I must say, they are really nice. Here's my take on what I got, so far:
In my opinion, they look better than the Dynon.
Test cables come prewired so you can get a cigarette plug and turn it on in your car, or on the bench, within 30 minutes of opening the box. I plugged in the antenna and magnetometer and was able to try everything out with no problem at all.
Resolution on the screen could be better, but it is still pretty good.
Brightness is very good and can be dimmed. Colors are really bright.
It has a lot of cool navigation features, like the trend line, etc. that aren't available on other GPS I have seen & used.
The equipment, includiong servos for the AP, are very nicely made.
It is very simple to operate.
Drawbacks include:
You have to come up with your own mount if you want to flush mount it.
Depending on who you get to talk to when you call them, service can be very good or very bad; however, technical support seems to be really good.
Overall, I think I will really like these units, since using them has really uncluttered the panel. Can't wait to actually try them in flight!
 
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