Garmin GX-55, -60 and -65 GPS Database Updates

[MillenniumFlight]

[howard]

I got an email from Jepp, a week or so ago warning that my next update would not fit on a 2mb card if i happened to have one.IT also told me who had the card (garmin) and the price.
I am also looking for a used 4mb card.
Regards
Howard

[Chris n9262p]

I have a GX60 so I had to find a source for 4MB cards. I have a source and I sell them on eBay or direct $25.00 delivered Chris n9262p@aol.com.
These cards are used but I have sold 40+ with no defects. I will ship worldwide. I have shipped to Australia with no additional cost. Other countries may require an additional fee.

[Jay]

Not too long ago the GNS 480 had the same issue. I received an email from Jepp advising me. That email nearly got caught in my spam filter and I could have missed it, perhaps that is what happened to others.

Best,

Jay

[MillenniumFlight]

I just received my 4MB replacement card from Chris (n9262p), though I didn't realize that it was coming from a fellow ICS member! As you would expect, it arrived in a timely manner, the transaction was simple, and the card seems to work perfectly.

I would highly recommend using Chris as your source if you are in the market for one of these cards. Certainly suits me better than $150 from Garmin!

Bryan McIver
N8807Y
1969 PA30

[9089P]

Hi All,

I don't wish to hijack this thread but on a related subject, is there a way around the unreasonable cost of the updates for someone who only uses his/her 430W for vfr? In the 9 yrs I've had mine, I have paid Jepp for both the monthly and annual updates, gotten 1 mo old cards from ifr friends, and also had the radio shop do updates.

Any better way to do this? A once per yr upgrade is more than adequate for my purposes. With the WAAS/ terrain I now have 2 cards to do.

Thanks in advance, Don

[MillenniumFlight]

Don:

Since the terrain isn't going to change much (except for error corrections), I'm not sure I would bother keeping the terrain database updated if I was flying VFR only. In view of new cell-phone towers, windmills etc popping up all over the country, though, I suppose a reasonably up-to-date obstruction database is nice.

However, you don't need all the current instrument approaches, and the airports don't move around, so if you're using the navigator for VFR only work, I don't think I would feel a need to keep those databases current.

For IFR purposes, I understand that the 430/530 navigators must have up-to-date databases to be legal. That's not actually the case for the GX-60 series, which are legal to use under IFR even with an out-of-date database..... all you need to do is confirm the accuracy of the data with current charts, which you have to carry in any case. The reason for the restriction on the 430/530 systems is probably that they are capable of automated frequency switching, which could be a little awkward if a frequency has changed.

For VFR-only work, I would probably update the aviation database once a year, but even that is probably overkill. For my IFR work, the GX60 is my primary navigation source, so I keep that up-to-date. I also keep my 396 database updated, because I use that as a reference for frequencies etc. I update my MX20 MFD annually, because that's really just a back-up, and it's the most expensive to keep updated.

Bryan