kbalch
Well Known Member
As part of my SnF vendor visiting mission yesterday, I stopped in to Jeppesen to get a chart package quote for the panel I'll be installing in my -14A.
Imagine my surprise (shock, horror, etc.) to learn that the GTN-750 will require a $2K "unlock" fee in order to run the Jepp charts (unlike the two G3X units). I immediately ran over to check with Garmin whose reps, after some internal consultation, confirmed the situation. They were sympathetic and one of their guys, an RV-10 builder himself, unofficially agreed with my assessment that this is a purely punitive fee, born of the corporate competition between the charting products of Jepp & Garmin, and designed to encourage/force people to use the Garmin charts.
BTW, Stein's guys had also never heard of this Garmin unlock fee for the GTN.
So, given that my choices are to pay the $2K unlock fee to Garmin for the privilege of then paying the annual ~$1K subscription fee to Jepp, or simply acclimating myself to the Garmin charts after all, my plan right now is to do the latter. Less than ideal, but it is what it is.
I figured that this was worth reporting here, in case it might factor into anyone's avionics decision matrix.
Imagine my surprise (shock, horror, etc.) to learn that the GTN-750 will require a $2K "unlock" fee in order to run the Jepp charts (unlike the two G3X units). I immediately ran over to check with Garmin whose reps, after some internal consultation, confirmed the situation. They were sympathetic and one of their guys, an RV-10 builder himself, unofficially agreed with my assessment that this is a purely punitive fee, born of the corporate competition between the charting products of Jepp & Garmin, and designed to encourage/force people to use the Garmin charts.
BTW, Stein's guys had also never heard of this Garmin unlock fee for the GTN.
So, given that my choices are to pay the $2K unlock fee to Garmin for the privilege of then paying the annual ~$1K subscription fee to Jepp, or simply acclimating myself to the Garmin charts after all, my plan right now is to do the latter. Less than ideal, but it is what it is.
I figured that this was worth reporting here, in case it might factor into anyone's avionics decision matrix.