diamondaviators.net

So I was browsing the Diamond website and noticed this statement in a testimonial on the DA42 page:

Data link is great. Weather and sending emails and SMS at altitude.

http://www.diamond-air.at/en/twin-engin ... t/da42-vi/

Is data and SMS part of the G1000nxi package? This is the first I've heard a data feature mentioned. If anybody has used this, how well does it work and what are the details?

Kyle

You would need a GSR 56 ($9,995 for hardware) plus a Connext Satellite Service Plan. Both pretty pricey.

I just use a handheld sat phone with a suction cup antennae and have a really cheap voice/data plan. Works great for a fraction of the cost, but you would not have the ability for the Garmin to get data. No big deal in North America where you get what you need inexpensively from Sirius XM Weather, but a definitely a big deal in the rest of the world where Iridium is the way to go.

Most of my flying time is in Europe. No XM weather available. I use the little device from Golze (Iridium). https://www.ing-golze.de/products_adl200.jsp
It delivers in flight weather and you can send and receive sms. Price for the little box dropped to below 1.000€, for the service plan I pay around 30€/month depending on usage.

As noted the Garmin GSR 56 will provide the ability to make voice phone calls, send/receive text messages, and obtain datalink weather in some parts of the world outside North America.

But I would not consider it. The Iridium satellite system it uses is ancient, using a voice-grade modem to transmit data over a narrowband voice channel at the whopping speed of 2400 bps!

More importantly, there's a new replacement satellite constellation called "Iridium Next" that's just about complete (satellites launched by SpaceX on their Falcon 9 rockets) -- that will soon be operational with orders of magnitude more data bandwidth. I'm guessing that Garmin is already developing a G1000-compatible unit that uses this.

CFIDave wrote:The Iridium satellite system it uses is ancient, using a voice-grade modem to transmit data over a narrowband voice channel at the whopping speed of 2400 bps!

More importantly, there's a new replacement satellite constellation called "Iridium Next" that's just about complete (satellites launched by SpaceX on their Falcon 9 rockets) -- that will soon be operational with orders of magnitude more data bandwidth. I'm guessing that Garmin is already developing a G1000-compatible unit that uses this.

I would add that the NEXT constellation's backward compatibility with existing Iridium hardware has resulted in faster connect times, greater call reliability, fewer dropped calls, and better voice quality on the old stuff. It is the current system of choice for voice communications, as it provides the most robust constellation. Data speed is useful for SMS text messaging, text-only emails, text weather observations, and the low resolution infrequently updated sort of weather graphics we have become accustomed to with the Sirius/XM service.

Check out the Garmin inReach mini, it's great for staying connected while flying around.

Second that on the inReach products - relatively inexpensive and helpful to keep in touch.