Garmin GDL-39
- Thread starter stewartb
- Start date
Nobody? Hmm. I bought one anyway. The GDL39 3D. The more expensive 3D model is required for synthetic vision, which was the main draw for me. My iPad is now a WAAS GPS, ADS-B in, apparently receives FIS-B weather (I haven't looked at that yet), and has full synthetic vision with terrain. It's essentially a 796. Much to learn but after one flight I'm impressed.
SC3CM
Registered User
I've used one quite a bit with the Pilot app and like it. For cub flying I'd be happy with the iPad, mounted, and for IFR flying I'm happy with my iPad mini sitting in my lap. My son and I flew IFR from Florida to Boston area last weekend and used this setup and it worked really nicely. If the plane were mine I'd want the iPad on a mount in the panel though rather than the yoke mount.
In a VFR plane the GDL 39 3D, with the pilot app could make a good back up in the event you ended up in a poor visibility situation. By accident. Probably the cheapest way I can think of to get good situational awareness if you all the sudden need the help.
The only issues I can think of using the iPad are having it shut off due to overheating (only heard about this, never had it happen to me), and the glare can be challenging in some light.
In a VFR plane the GDL 39 3D, with the pilot app could make a good back up in the event you ended up in a poor visibility situation. By accident. Probably the cheapest way I can think of to get good situational awareness if you all the sudden need the help.
The only issues I can think of using the iPad are having it shut off due to overheating (only heard about this, never had it happen to me), and the glare can be challenging in some light.
Stewart, I picked one up just over a week ago to use with an Ipad mini with retina display. Still learning all it can do but it seems to be a great tool. Real nice screen. I put a screen cover on that so far has rendered any glare a mute point. Mine is not hard wired. I'm planning on using a cig lighter to charge both the 39 and Mini. Battery life on the 39 has been good so far with up to 3 hour flights. I do not know the maximum time yet. The synthetic vision is nice but alas my home base is not on the system so that is frustrating to practice approaches in the event I come home in low wx. I like the radar but it only works at home and not in the air for me. I think it is because I have not either bought a data plan through my provider yet or its not part of the freebie time Garmin gets you, not sure at the moment. More as I learn it.
Screen glare hasn't been a problem in the 180 but it has more shade than the average Cub. I bought the cord instead of the battery. I may add a battery later. I already had the Pilot premium subscription and it didn't require any action by me to integrate. I did have to find and select the terrain feature on the app menu. I like the syn vision screen with the attitude enabled. My mini is yoke mounted and the best advantage over the Aera is that I can see it easily. The functions are more intuitive on the Pilot app than the Aera, too. The awkwardness of the Aera was illustrated to me on a really low day coming back to Lake Hood and I needed to know where the Pt Mac radio towers were. That's much easier on the iPad app. My panel mounted Aera is now the backup unit. I'll play with the weather info later today. That'll be nice to have if it works as advertised.
arnold bronson
Registered User
Albuquerque, NM
Switched from WingX to Garmin Pilot two weeks ago so that I could hook up (hardwire) the GDL39 to my Aero/Ipad and iPhone. You get 90 days free if you purchase the 39D. Traffic, weather, all kinds of great stuff. Garmin Pilot has a lot of great features and as I'm leaving for Osh and New Holstein tomorrow I expect to put it to good use. I fly a Rans S7.
Arne
Arne
fobjob
MEMBER
Salt Lake City, Utah
Just a side note....have the Stratus plus Proflight ads-b, and noticed RF interference from the dual 12 volt-5 volt switching power supply, which drifted from frequency to frequency and raised the squelch to the break point, but only after it was on for a while ....I installed a filter on my 12 volt socket, and heard no noise today, but have to run it for a while before I can be sure that it worked.
Alaska_Rallyer
Registered User
FobJ- What converter do you have that is making the noise? I installed a blue sea adapter yesterday and hope it does not do the same.
mvivion
SPONSOR
Bozeman,MT
What subscription are you referring to? I thought that one of the major selling points of ADS-B was that you get "free" weather, radar, etc??? Not so??
MtV
He's referring to the Garmin Pilot app subscription.
Re: weather. I hope I'm just missing something because all I get is a couple of screens with PIREP info for icing, turbulence and sky conditions. Those are pretty close to completely useless. I also get a weather radar screen. In my case it shows the entire state of Alaska and the six doppler radar coverage areas but it won't allow me to select on an area of interest and I can't zoom in enough to see any detail. I sure hope there's more to it and I just haven't figured it out yet. The TFR info was handy yesterday with the JBER air show consuming more than the normally restricted airspace and it had grown since I'd left on Saturday. By the point I got there the cell data would have provided the same thing but I knew about it without cell data. Pretty handy.
Re: weather. I hope I'm just missing something because all I get is a couple of screens with PIREP info for icing, turbulence and sky conditions. Those are pretty close to completely useless. I also get a weather radar screen. In my case it shows the entire state of Alaska and the six doppler radar coverage areas but it won't allow me to select on an area of interest and I can't zoom in enough to see any detail. I sure hope there's more to it and I just haven't figured it out yet. The TFR info was handy yesterday with the JBER air show consuming more than the normally restricted airspace and it had grown since I'd left on Saturday. By the point I got there the cell data would have provided the same thing but I knew about it without cell data. Pretty handy.
My iPad Mini, which was on a knee pad and running ForeFlight, quit due to heat right over the top of Burbank a couple of weeks ago on the way to Lompoc. My 396, in the same light and heat, kept working just fine. A friend and I were trying out an iPad and Stratus a few days before that and the Stratus quit due to heat. It was on the glare shield of his Glasair. They're fun to play with, but I'm not trusting them for serious navigation.
Tom
Tom
Cub Builder
MEMBER
North Central AR
I don't have the Garmin gear, but have been flying with ADS-B weather for 2 1/2 years now, and just added ADS-B traffic & weather into my other plane. Don't see any point in putting traffic in my Cub Clone yet as I'm always below normal air traffic. Maybe I need car and truck traffic instead. :smile: The last two weekends having the ADS-B weather on board the Cub with NEXRAD radar has been really valuable in skirting around cells on the way home and knowing the home airport isn't under a thunderstorm long before I can see it.
I put up a bunch of ADS-B traffic screen shots on my web site this weekend using the SkyGuard Vision Pro mated with my iFly 720. http://jeffsplanes.com/KR/2014_ADS-B.html
-CubBuilder
I put up a bunch of ADS-B traffic screen shots on my web site this weekend using the SkyGuard Vision Pro mated with my iFly 720. http://jeffsplanes.com/KR/2014_ADS-B.html
-CubBuilder
To the heat comment, the GDL39 can be mounted remotely by removing the wand antenna and connecting a suitable external antenna. Which, coincidentally, I already have mounted in my plane. But I don't figure heat will be an issue on days when I might "need" the functions of the GDL39.
Anyone with GDL39/Garmin Pilot weather advice I'd sure like to hear it.
Anyone with GDL39/Garmin Pilot weather advice I'd sure like to hear it.
fobjob
MEMBER
Salt Lake City, Utah
I built a cardboard 'house' for my Stratus to prevent too much solar heating, and to avoid having to watch the white reflection in my windshield (painted the cardboard black on top)...left the back open so the air has a place to exit....if I have any trouble, I'll put a solid state refrigeration device on it....electronics want to be cool....I noticed last week on the way to Idaho that my xponder and radio were almost too hot to touch...until I opened the cabin air valve....maybe they need a dedicated vent....??
Last edited:
I use the ForeFlight Stratus I. I obtained a Ram mount and mounted it in the X brace above me. End of cooling problems.
As for not needing ADS-B traffic for a Cub I disagree and profoundly so. Part of the reason for this ADS-B is that they are going to require it for drones. I think drones will be a huge threat to GA aircraft and especially low and slow types like the Cubs. It will make the threat of large bird strikes seem miniscule when all the people who want to operate these drones get in the air. As it stands now with UAVs, you will have marginally qualified people operating around you violating all kinds of airspace rules.
As for not needing ADS-B traffic for a Cub I disagree and profoundly so. Part of the reason for this ADS-B is that they are going to require it for drones. I think drones will be a huge threat to GA aircraft and especially low and slow types like the Cubs. It will make the threat of large bird strikes seem miniscule when all the people who want to operate these drones get in the air. As it stands now with UAVs, you will have marginally qualified people operating around you violating all kinds of airspace rules.
Cub Builder
MEMBER
North Central AR
I can't disagree with that. But at this time, to the best of my knowledge, I'm not sharing airspace with drones and the air traffic is usually well above me. In my other plane, I'm more typically in the middle of the traffic, so chose to equip it first. The closest call I've had in a plane was when traffic appeared at 90 degrees to my course at 10,500' out in the middle of nowhere in my other plane. Big sky theory nearly failed me that day. :smile: In the Cub, I worry more about being run down from behind in the traffic pattern.
If/when I have to start sharing the airspace with drones (or 2020 rolls around and I'm still flying), I'll equip the Cub as well. But you do make a valid point for future planning.
-Cub Builder
mvivion
SPONSOR
Bozeman,MT
Stewart, not quite......the 2020 mandate for ADS-B out only applies to Alpha, Bravo, Charley airspace, and Echo airspace above 10,000 feet msl, except within 2500 feet of the surface.
in other words, a very small percentage of the airspace in the US.
theres a lot of Echo airspace under 10 K feet.
MTV
in other words, a very small percentage of the airspace in the US.
theres a lot of Echo airspace under 10 K feet.
MTV
The rules for drones have not been written, however I have several friends at the FAA who are working on UAV issues and inform me that ADS-B will be a requirement for all BVR (beyond Visual range) drones regardless of airspace. If you think about it, it only makes sense. It also makes sense as to why the FAA went with a 978mhz UAT scheme.
Just yesterday near SAC a drone went into a TFR over a wildfire and almost collided with fire suppression aircraft.
Just yesterday near SAC a drone went into a TFR over a wildfire and almost collided with fire suppression aircraft.
In researching the Alaska applications I have found these links that may be informative. In addition reception is apparently is line of sight. That may explain a lot. I was under the impression it was suppose to come via satellite apparently that is incorrect? So when I need weather coming into town after a week in the bushes I need to fly high :roll: and not in, but over, the mountains :roll:. Not so easy to do in my neck of the woods. I hope I'm missing something here. Can anyone shed some light on my apparent confusion or .....
This is an interesting map on ADS-B coverage
http://www.skyradar.net/skyradar-system/adsbtechnology.html
This shows broadcast areas
http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/library/images/surveillanceBroadcastServices.jpg
I'll keep researching and learning what the capabilities currently are with the 39 GDL in Ak.
This is an interesting map on ADS-B coverage
http://www.skyradar.net/skyradar-system/adsbtechnology.html
This shows broadcast areas
http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/library/images/surveillanceBroadcastServices.jpg
I'll keep researching and learning what the capabilities currently are with the 39 GDL in Ak.
Good info, Rob. I wondered about reception and what the limits are. I have the ADS-B bar indicator that's nailed when in the air around Anchorage but shows no reception when on the ground away from town. I think I've come to understand the weather function. Apparently the data that's transmitted through the GDL is equal to the radar data that I get when within cell service areas. The cloud overlays, winds aloft, etc. nothing too important for me since dodging electric storms isn't an issue around here and heavy cloud cover doesn't mean I won't go poke my nose into it. I do like the synthetic vision and that was the candy that got my attention in the first place. Necessary equipment? Not for me, but that won't stop me from having some fun with it.
For the GDL39 owners, there's a Garmin GDL Utility app available that looks pretty useful. Free to download. I loaded the app but I'm not near the GDL to try it live. FYI.
By the way, the high-res terrain makes the synthetic vision look much better than medium res. if your tablet has the space for the download.
By the way, the high-res terrain makes the synthetic vision look much better than medium res. if your tablet has the space for the download.
Last edited:
Comparing the two apps' advertising the iPad one clearly shows the synthetic vision while the Android version never mentions syn vis. The Android version shows a screen shot of a detailed map with visible clouds. My iPad doesn't do that. I'd like to see them operate side-by-side or at least read a review that defines the differences between them. Along the same lines the difference between the GDL39 and the GDL39 3D wasn't obvious when browsing the web info.
Maximize your pixels. I've done a side by side comparison of my retina display vs a non-retina display with Garmin Pilot and there is significant difference in clarity in my eye. Especially with the radar images and synthetic vision. I think the retina display has the most pixels of any Android or I-pad
arnold bronson
Registered User
Albuquerque, NM
Purchased the Garmin Pilot and GDL 39D before leaving for New Holstein and Osh. Also have the Aero 550 which is why I went with the GDL39. A great tool especially since we encountered at least 6 Airmets. I am extremely pleased with it and highly recommend it.
Arnold
Arnold
GeorgeMandes
Registered User
Homer, Alaska
I got a GDL about two years ago. Put it in for a trip to the Brooks Range in the 185. Connected it to a 396 and iPad. Short answer was it sucked. In remote Alaska, the weather coverage was poor. My wife did better with weather through ForeFlight on her iPhone using the data network.
Then I tried it on a flight out Iliamna way. Clunky interface, lousy coverage.
Then I tried it on a flight to lower 48 at 45,000 feet. Not impressed.
Based on those experiences, I would never pick it over XM weather in lower 48 or even an iPad with a data plan in AK. I rode in two float planes in SE, and it looked to provide good traffic data there. The unit is sitting in a drawer somewhere. Love for someone to make me an offer for it. Hopefully it gets better in the future.
Then I tried it on a flight out Iliamna way. Clunky interface, lousy coverage.
Then I tried it on a flight to lower 48 at 45,000 feet. Not impressed.
Based on those experiences, I would never pick it over XM weather in lower 48 or even an iPad with a data plan in AK. I rode in two float planes in SE, and it looked to provide good traffic data there. The unit is sitting in a drawer somewhere. Love for someone to make me an offer for it. Hopefully it gets better in the future.
