What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Seattle Avionics Users

todehnal

Well Known Member
I sure would like to hear from some of you who are using the Seattle Avionics suite on your Skyview system. I am considering it primarily to make it easier to load approach plate fixes for VFR flying of IFR approaches. I can load the waypoints from the Dynon furnished fixes, but I still have to carry approach plates to identify things like the IAF, FAF, and missed approach waypoints. It's really a lot of fun, and it good practice to fly the HSI, track my progress on the Dynon moving map, and to hear our Dynon girl tell, me that I am approaching a waypoint. I am really pleased with the Dynon mapping, and now with ADS-B installed, the traffic and weather are a bonus. I'm just looking for an easier way of loading the approach into a flight plan. Any thoughts, or experience would be greatly appreciated. Also, are there any other plusses and minuses to adding the SA charts and plates that I should consider?

Thanks in advance...........Tom
 
You better not be using a Mac: The download of the Seattle files on a Mac take about a year. PC is zippity do dah. I gave up after they told me to use a PC program on my Mac...ain't gonna happen.

I went to ForeFlight instead which talks to the SV via WiFi and includes a whole bunch of stuff Seattle does't support or supply.

They are nice people but I don't think they will compete.

EBB
 
After being an unhappy SA customer for a couple of years
I am now a happy none customer.
I have never found a complaint for Dynon except their choice to have
SA provide data for their units.
ForeFlight is everything you want and a lot more.
Downloads (the source of everyone's complaints against SA)
Is a none event with ForeFlight.;)
 
Another dissatisfied S.A. customer

Like Ernst above, I've been an unhappy Seattle Avionics customer for two years. And like Ernst mentions, downloads have been a problem -- a major problem although not the only problem.

I'm using Avare on my Google Nexus 7 (2013) Android tablet and it's superior in many ways. I use the geo-referenced approach plates to fly approaches in VFR conditions. I find the Avare sectionals considerably more useful and readable because my single 10-inch SkyView screen is crowded displaying the PFD and EMS, leaving very little screen space for the actual chart.

Avare, the charts and approaches, and their updates are totally free. I would steer clear of SA and avoid the frustration that comes with their charts on the Dynon SkyView.

--
Joe
 
I have a friend practicing IFR approaches on my RV-12 and using me as his SIC (for safety while he is under the hood). You don't need anything more than the Skyview to do that as all reference points of the plates are known by Skyview. You just enter them on your flight plan and follow the plan manually or have the Auto Pilot do it.
 
SA Works Great!

I've been watching the negative posts about Seattle Avionics for quite some time.

I am a "lifetime" subscriber to SA charts, FlyQ, and FlyQ Mobile. SA now supports WiFi to Dynon and AFS EFIS. The charting data works very well and with the Geo-referencing, navigation - both IFR & VFR is virtually a no-brainer.

There are choices in the market for people to use what works for them. I've never used ForeFlight. I've had no reason to because Seattle Avionics works - for me.
 
I've been watching the negative posts about Seattle Avionics for quite some time.

I am a "lifetime" subscriber to SA charts, FlyQ, and FlyQ Mobile. SA now supports WiFi to Dynon and AFS EFIS. The charting data works very well and with the Geo-referencing, navigation - both IFR & VFR is virtually a no-brainer.

There are choices in the market for people to use what works for them. I've never used ForeFlight. I've had no reason to because Seattle Avionics works - for me.

+1
I have no issues or complaints with the Seattle Avionics products I use.
 
Thanks guys. It sounds like there are a few satisfied customers, but lot of unhappy ones as well.

And a few follow up comments, as well:

I am using PC, and not android, so update performance should not be an issue, and my other cockpit companion is an iPad mini.

Jean-Pierre, It sounds like you and your buddy are doing exactly what I am doing, which is building the approaches into a flight plan, and it does work pretty neat. Again, the problem is that I still need an approach chart to pick out the waypoints, IAF, FAF, etc. Where does your buddy get that info without a chart handy?
 
Again, the problem is that I still need an approach chart to pick out the waypoints, IAF, FAF, etc. Where does your buddy get that info without a chart handy?

Have you looked at fltplan.com and FltPlan GO? Free online, Android and IOS services. I've been using the online & Android apps for about a year and they've had everything I've needed. Great customer service, too.
 
SA

I have been using Seattle Avionics data in my Skyview for about seven months. I have not had any issues.
 
Fine Product - Crappy Update

I just don't get it. SA has a great product that works seamlessly with my awesome Skyview system - once it's uploaded. But, the download application is horrible. Updating takes HOURS! What other modern computer application takes that long to do ANYTHING? And, if I'm doing something wrong, where are the SA people addressing the issue? I've sent them emails, called, and written here before. The answer? It is what it is.

If there were another solution to place geo-referenced approach plates on my Skyview display, I'd pay twice what I pay for the Seattle Avionics product just to avoid the update headache!
 
Seattle Avionics

I have been using the SA data in my Skyview For over a year. Also use their FlyQ on my IPad . All seems to work OK. Really like uploading a flight plan directly into Skyview. I load data in the faster USB port on my laptop and rotate three sets of mini data thumb drives. Takes a little while to load but it does it all in the background so no big deal. I've used it in IMC numerous times.
 
Nobody ever said that the data does not work in SkyView.

It is the arcane download procedure taking several hours unless you stick to a single state update and even then it is as though those folks at SA are using a dial up connection.
If they were to send you the data on paper in the mail, you'd probably be faster to enter it manually with key strokes vs. a download.:rolleyes:

On the other hand, ForeFlight providing even more data will upload with a single push of a button in less than 5 minutes.

I simply don't understand how those SA folks can stay in business.
 
I have been using SA for a few years now and have a subscription thru 2019 as I bought some of the cheap promos. I like it other than the download speeds. Lately, I have been using usb 3.0 which seems faster than 2.0. Also, I have two usbs, one I just leave in the computer all the time and the other in the plane. When my maps expire I just grab the one out of the computer and switch it out with the other.

I also use ff.
 
I recently purchased a lifetime SA Dynon chartdata subscription. I've been happy with them in general and they have always treated me well. I got a great deal on FlyQ at sun-n-fun a few years back. I've also spoken with them over the phone and by email several times and I have only good things to say.
 
Its the downloads only the downloads. I'm computer illiterate so I have a problem every month. Usually the only way I can get it to work is to remove everything from the thumb drive and reload each time. It will will usually take from breakfast till lunch to get 6 states downloaded. Just don't try to do it when you're in a hurry before a trip.

PS: charts work great with Skyview.
 
I'm also a SA user and I have a mac running parallels. Not the prettiest solution but since I had parallels anyway, it does seem to work pretty well. There is a free windows emulator out there (step by step) and windows seems to be giving 10 away for free these days.

If you have a gig line, it is very fast with the latest revisions.

I just reformatted two 32 gig flash drives and both of them updated for everything for all 12 western states plates, VFR, low IFR in about 10-15 minutes each.
 
Been a subscriber for 18 months - no issues

I rotate USB drives always keeping one plunged into my PC. The latest updates are always there when I need them, so no issues.
 
We use SA for the SkyView in one of our TeenFlight airplanes and the only problem we have is the download utility.

We rotate 2 usb sticks and always have one in the computer to receive the updates. The download utility works good for refreshing the PC with updated data, however their process for syncing the usb with the data just downloaded has some gremlins.

I've had issues with the utility program showing that the data on the usb stick has not been updated when it had been (i.e. I loaded into skyview and verified good) and sometimes it shows that the data on the usb stick is updated to the data on the PC but I can verify that it hasn't. So, it's a 1/3 chance that I get 2 green indicators that both the usb and pc data truly match.

After toggling things on/off, I can usually get it to reset. Otherwise, I have to reformat the usb stick and start over.
 
I am considering buying an EFIS that uses SA (haven't decided whether to go Dynon or AFS vs Garmin). I am used to fast downloads on my FF and Garmin applications. I can't imagine it taking hours to get a partial USA download. Like one poster, I would rather pay more and get a faster system. This is very timely for me.

John
RV-8
 
Everyone has different experiences for different reasons. I use a MAC (which is more challenging than straight Windows) and the Parallels emulator which I already had in place. For me, it really works smoothly - yet depending on how much of the US territory you need/want it certainly can take what can seem to be a long time. Once a month I stick in the thumb drive, start it up and go cut the grass or something. Its like running the dishwasher which I occasionally do as well. By the time I'm back I've updated more of the country than I'll ever fly to and even southern Canada.

Definitely takes longer than Foreflight updates which I also keep up with. Still nice having a complete set of maps and other data in the panel.
 
Seattle Avionics update

Would appreciate any recent users of SA to provide comment on product quality and download speed.

I have ForeFlight but I am looking to get better map imagery on my Skyview
 
SA charts

Ben, I just recently became a SA charts user. I have fairly fast internet connection and it took about 2 1/2 hours to download WA, ID, OR, CA sectionals, low alt IFR, and all the approach charts and airport diagrams. The data goes to a thumb drive and the drive needs to be installed in the SkyView USB jack to have the charts available. This was my first download, future downloads only update what is new so will be faster.

I suggest a quality USB stick, not a cheapo, and make it at least 32GB.

If you have two screens there needs to be a data thumb drive in each screen. I like having the sectional on the right screen and use an uncluttered Dynon map for navigation on the pilot EFIS. It is easy to swap the screens if you want to see something on the sectional up close.

I use a Mac now after too much frustration with Windows but I still have an old IBM laptop with WinXP and the SA download manager works fine on that machine. The download manager program is not real user friendly but once you see how it works, it is acceptable and I had no glitches downloading the charts.

As far as product quality is concerned, the chart imagery is good and very nice to have on the SkyView. One feature I really like is being able to toggle between the map and the last chart viewed or an airport taxi diagram with the right joystick button. Once on the ground at a busy airport like PAE or BFI you can pull up the taxi diagram quickly when you call ground for taxi instructions. The taxi diagrams are geo-referenced so the little airplane tags along with you on the screen.

I don't think the imagery is any better than what is on FF. The big thing for me is just having everything needed on the Dynon.

I too have FF on the iPad and will now only have it aboard for back-up. I'm not too sure I even need it for back-up. I never liked using the iPad in the cockpit. With the SA charts you have the electronic flight bag right on the screen in front of you. Yes, it is another annual subscription, but I think it will be worth it.
 
Everything Tony said plus to ease the pain of long download times, have extra thumbdrives plugged in all the time and let the SA Data Manager do the updates at its leisure. Two thumbdrives can be updated at the same time. Before heading to the airport with an update, download the current obstacle and database from the Dynon site to each thumbdrive. At the airport, swap the old/new thumbdrives, upload the Dynon database from either (if you have the Ethernet cable both screens will be updated). You will be good to go.
I flew for 35+ years with a WAC or Low enroute chart opened on the seat. Now I just use the Dynon map as it is so much easier to use. Rarely look at the sectional. Only use the instrument chart to verify well clear of an airway before going upside down.
 
I have used SA for several years. In the early days download was pretty slow and you could do only thumb drive at a time. Not much of a problem today if you keep these things in mind

1. Use a computer with USB 3.0 ports. Real USB 3.0 ports are faster than wired 100 mb Ethernet. Beware of some of the aftermarket Ports as the data rates can be quite low. Beware that most laptops come with only one USB 3.0 port and the others are 2.0. Make sure you use 3.0 ports.
2. Use only high speed USB 3.0 thumb drives. There are all sorts of USB 3.0 thumb drives with write speeds not much better than USB 2.0.
3. Set the SA program to download in the background. It will download and validate the download when available so that the data is on your computer when you need it.
4. If you have 2 thumb drives you can plug them both in at the same time and they update in parallel. Make sure both are plugged into 3.0 ports.
5. Don?t download the whole country if you don?t need it. I typically only download the states that are within 5 hrs flying unless planning a specific longer flight.

My thumb drives update typically take 15 minutes or less. I find this acceptable, given that they validate the file writes to prevent corrupted data.
 
Something that hasn't been mentioned

I have an SA subscription and load all IFR high and low enroute charts, VFR sectionals, Airport diagrams and approach plates for every state in the country each time an update comes out. As has been mentioned, this is very easy if you use two sets of thumb drives and let SA work in the background on one set while the other set is installed in the SkyView displays. I have no idea how long it takes for the downloads because the next morning they are all done.

There is something I discovered about the Dynon maps and the SA charts that hasn't been mentioned. With ADS-B in, the Dynon terrain map will show color coded Metar circles for reporting airports out to whatever distance you set for displaying airports on the moving map. Unlike Foreflight, where you can see Metar circles for the entire country at one time, you cannot do that with SkyView but have to use the joy stick to toggle around the country to see all of them.

But with an SA chart displayed instead of the Dynon terrain map, these Metar circles do not appear on either the IFR or VFR charts with one exception. Metar circles will appear on the SA IFR and VFR charts for those airports that are in your flight plan. As an example, if you flew non stop from airport A to airport B the SA chart would show Metar circles for only those two airports. But if you flew the same exact route but put several airports in as waypoints along the way, you would see Metar circles for all of those airports but not for any others.

Dynon could not explain why this is and I assume it is not unique to my airplane or installation.
 
Back
Top