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Garmin Offers ADS-B Solutions

New products and website helps clarify requirements and benefits of the transition to ADS-B.

Garmin just announced this week it is launching several ADS-B products targeted for the general aviation market in preparation for the required implementation in 2020. And for those of you who are confused about ADS-B and how the new rules will affect you, Garmin has launched an online ADS-B Academy.

The ADS-B Academy website is already live and features videos and other learning resources that will help you understand how ADS-B affects you. The webpage also includes an interactive tool that provides information about required or recommended upgrades based on your current avionics configuration, as long as it includes Garmin products.

The product that has been introduced first is a portable unit named GDL 39. While the GDL 39 does not provide the required ADS-B Out capability, it is ADS-B In capable, displaying traffic and subscription free weather information on some of Garmin’s portable GPS systems as well as the iPad, iPhone and Android. You can pick up a GDL 39 as early as next week at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Garmin also announced the ADS-B Out and In capable GDL 88, expected to be approved for most Part 23 airplanes in the fourth quarter of this year. The GDL 88 is available with an optional built-in WAAS GPS receiver for airplanes that do not have one installed. A WAAS GPS is required for ADS-B Out to work. There is, however, an 18,000-foot limit on the ADS-B Out functionality of the GDL 88, so if you’re planning on flying in the flight levels this product may not work for you. The GDL 88 can, however, provide dual-link ADS-B In above 18,000 feet.

However, Garmin is working on FAA approval for the GTX 330/33 ES transponder, which is also expected in Q4. The GTX 330/33 ES provides full ADS-B Out coverage. For customers who have GTX 330/33 ES transponders installed, a free update will do the trick. And for those with a standard GTX 330/33 transponder, ES upgrades will be available for $1,200.

“Our solutions go further than meeting the minimum requirements for ADS-B,” said Garmin’s vice president of aviation sales and marketing, Carl Wolf. “They offer a full range of traffic, weather and other datalink display capabilities to give pilots the most complete picture of their operational environment.”

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