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Garmin Mode S Transponder Software Upgrades at Oshkosh

g3xpert

Well Known Member
Advertiser
Hello,

Those of you visiting the G3X tent at Oshkosh know that it is common to see people carrying their portable GPS units into the tent for free software upgrades.

We decided to take this a step further this year and offer free software upgrades for Garmin Mode S transponders used in Experimental aircraft.

Just bring your GTX23ES, GTX330, or GTX330ES transponder in to us at the G3X tent at Oshkosh (just North of Hangar D) and we will install the freshly certified V7.04 software into your transponder while you wait. It only takes about 2 minutes to accomplish this update.

Sorry, but we are not equipped to perform sign-offs for certified aircraft, so please only these transponders installed in experimental aircraft.

We will take drop-ins, but we would appreciate getting an idea of how many plan to bring their transponders to us so we can plan for the correct number of programming stations.

Just send us an email at [email protected] and provide your N number (if you have one), type of aircraft, and roughly which day you might stop by and we will add you to the count.

Even if you don't have a transponder to upgrade, be sure to drop by the G3X tent to say hello and/or attend a seminar. We have a new larger tent this year that even includes two air conditioned seminar rooms.

Hope to see you at Oshkosh!

Thanks,
Steve
 
Great!

I was just looking for a shop to upgrade mine!

Now I guess I need to bring extra tools to OSH to be able to get mine out. Too bad I did not plan very well for the easy removal of my 23ES.

Email Sent
 
How about the latest 430W firmware, too? :)

(Of course, it'd be nice if we could do a field update ourselves...)
 
Cool service! Any chance the GNS-480 ADS-B compliance software update will be available at the Garmin tent at SNF or Oshkosh next year?
 
Changes in GTX V7.04

We don't have a published service advisory to point to yet with a description of the changes, but we understand this will be a required update for these units.

Operationally we don't think there are significant changes, but for example, there are changes related to the timing of updating the squitter when changes occur in the incoming data.

If I were at Oshkosh with one of these transponders, I would certainly want to take advantage of this update.

Thanks,
Steve
 
Had a chat with Garmin a few moments ago. The agent with whom I was speaking was openly conferring with the Field Service manager who commented that, without the ES functionality, there's no benefit to going with 7.04.

I also asked about a discount on ES upgrades for the 330 - he wasn't aware of any programs now or in the future to discount the ES upgrade.

NOTE TO GARMIN - hope you are listening! For those of us who have GTX330 transponders in our Experimental aircraft, the $1200 upgrade fee is not viable from a competitive standpoint. I can install a Trig remote-mount transponder for about twice that amount, and save panel space, save power, save weight and not have to worry about providing cooling air during high interrogation rate operations. Just the weight and panel space savings alone are more than enough to justify turfing the 330.

The pricing of the ES upgrade needs to make it easy to decide to stick with Garmin - at $1200 you're at least 50% above where you need to be to retain business.

I'm available to talk if the big ears at Garmin need a more complete explanation.
 
Had a chat with Garmin a few moments ago. The agent with whom I was speaking was openly conferring with the Field Service manager who commented that, without the ES functionality, there's no benefit to going with 7.04.

I also asked about a discount on ES upgrades for the 330 - he wasn't aware of any programs now or in the future to discount the ES upgrade.

NOTE TO GARMIN - hope you are listening! For those of us who have GTX330 transponders in our Experimental aircraft, the $1200 upgrade fee is not viable from a competitive standpoint. I can install a Trig remote-mount transponder for about twice that amount, and save panel space, save power, save weight and not have to worry about providing cooling air during high interrogation rate operations. Just the weight and panel space savings alone are more than enough to justify turfing the 330.

The pricing of the ES upgrade needs to make it easy to decide to stick with Garmin - at $1200 you're at least 50% above where you need to be to retain business.

I'm available to talk if the big ears at Garmin need a more complete explanation.

Hello Canadian Joy,
It was my team you were speaking too when you called. I did get with our engineering team on the 7.04 Software upgrade and there are in fact enhancements that would benefit your non ES version of transponder which include updated flight ID information that will affect all mode S units. I apologies for the confusion and not knowing this right off hand as we have not had an official bulletin for this release as of yet. As Steve has pointed out this will be a very good program to take advantage of while at the show.

Thank you for the feedback on the ES upgrade pricing, we'll definitely review this at our next pricing meetings.

Best Regards,
 
Hello Steve at Garmin. I have the Garmin GTX23ES which is about a year old. Does this have the outdated software? Won't make Oshkosh this year so is the new software necessary for the unit to function properly? Thanks. You guys are the best!
 
Hello Canadian Joy,
It was my team you were speaking too when you called. I did get with our engineering team on the 7.04 Software upgrade and there are in fact enhancements that would benefit your non ES version of transponder which include updated flight ID information that will affect all mode S units. I apologies for the confusion and not knowing this right off hand as we have not had an official bulletin for this release as of yet. As Steve has pointed out this will be a very good program to take advantage of while at the show.

Thank you for the feedback on the ES upgrade pricing, we'll definitely review this at our next pricing meetings.

Best Regards,

Thanks for the quick reply and correction on the info around 7.04 content!
 
NOTE TO GARMIN - hope you are listening! For those of us who have GTX330 transponders in our Experimental aircraft, the $1200 upgrade fee is not viable from a competitive standpoint. I can install a Trig remote-mount transponder for about twice that amount, and save panel space, save power, save weight and not have to worry about providing cooling air during high interrogation rate operations. Just the weight and panel space savings alone are more than enough to justify turfing the 330.

You imply that an external cooling fan is required for the 330ES. Is that in fact the case? (perhaps someone from Garmin can answer please)
 
Hello Steve at Garmin. I have the Garmin GTX23ES which is about a year old. Does this have the outdated software? Won't make Oshkosh this year so is the new software necessary for the unit to function properly? Thanks. You guys are the best!

Hello David,

Sorry I missed your posting earlier.

You may highlight the GTX23ES transponder on the Config Main page and view the software version that it is installed. It is likely V7.01 or V7.02.

Anything earlier than V7.04 should ultimately be updated, but we don't expect you will see any operational difference between what you have and V7.04.

We wouldn't normally have announced the availability of this software without having service documents to explain the reasons for the update, but we wanted to take this opportunity at Oshkosh prior to completion of all of the certified aircraft processes, including the service advisory, to offer this update to experimental customers. Once the service advisory is posted, the details of the reasons for the update will be provided. We could identify the changes here, but we prefer to not communicate these types of advisories in multiple places to avoid the potential for conflicting information. We hope you understand.

Thanks,
Steve
 
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GTX23ES update

Hey Garmin guys. I won't make it to Airventure either this year. Will you update it if I send it with a friend?
It was purchased from Stein in April.
Thx, Rick
 
Hey Garmin guys. I won't make it to Airventure either this year. Will you update it if I send it with a friend?
It was purchased from Stein in April.
Thx, Rick

Hi Rick,

Yes we will. Happy to help.

Thanks,
Steve
 
GTX330es

Thanks Steve.
Please add me to the list. I will carry the Doll's GTX330es the 50 feet or so to the update tent during my Oshkosh visit.
 
Thanks Steve.
Please add me to the list. I will carry the Doll's GTX330es the 50 feet or so to the update tent during my Oshkosh visit.

Hi Danny,

Just leave your keys and we will pull it into the service bay!

Thanks,
Steve
 
2019 OSH: Garmin Transponder firmware updates?

Is Garmin doing GTX330 updates at OSH this year (2019)??
 
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