Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

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Pilot55
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Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by Pilot55 »

In today's world of computerized PFD and MFD avionics they are all using data cards for the ever changing nav data, approach plates etc.
The problem with all these data cards is they will fail from time to time. You then have to call aspen or who ever your panel manufacture is and order a new card, or do you? There is a quick and easy way to make a back up of your paid subscription data cards. If you call your manufacture or jeppesen you will be paying from $150-$300 per sd card with no data. It is the same card you can purchase from say Walmart,best buy, Amazon etc. for $20.
If anyone is interested in how to make a exact backup of your cards, message me. It will save you quit a bit of money. It can be done on Mac or Windows PC.
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by BRS »

dd
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by CFIDave »

Rather than trying to copy from your original copy-protected SDcards to make a backup, a much easier solution (assuming you have a current bundled PilotPak or OnePak G1000 subscription) is simply to download all the files you've already paid for (from flygarmin.com) onto a 2nd set of SDCards (for legacy G1000s) or single SDCard (for NXi).
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by NDCDA62 »

After a somewhat long wait, an original back-up GARMIN G1000 NXi SD card with FAA approved certificate arrived yesterday and I will use the two to interchange data. One in the aircraft and one at home and then vice versa.
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by CFIDave »

NDCDA62 wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 2:53 am After a somewhat long wait, an original back-up GARMIN G1000 NXi SD card with FAA approved certificate arrived yesterday and I will use the two to interchange data. One in the aircraft and one at home and then vice versa.
With the original legacy G1000, 2 SDCards containing all of the database files (except NavData) must always reside in the PFD and MFD bottom slots when flown, since these cards act as the "hard drives" of the panel. These 2 SDCards are critical to proper in-flight G1000 operation, and should legally be Garmin-sourced, TSO-approved cards.

But G1000 NXi is different: SDCards are only used on the ground to load database information into the panel. Databases then reside in INTERNAL memory, so all SDCards can be safely removed before flight. NXi owners can thus use any brand of SDCard; you don't need to pay for expensive TSO'd Garmin SDCards with G1000 NXi.
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by pietromarx »

(edited)

Please refer to Garmin's guide here for SD Card usage and compatibility: http://static.garmin.com/pumac/190-01464-00_C.pdf

Thanks
Last edited by pietromarx on Fri Jul 05, 2019 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by CFIDave »

pietromarx wrote: Fri Jul 05, 2019 5:07 pm To echo Dave's comments... there is no need for anything special with regards to the SD card side for either NXi or the "regular" G1000. So long as they are regular 8GB or less SD cards they generally work fine in all slots on all G1000 installations.*

(*There is no advantage to using SDXC or anything larger than 8GB in capacity. Larger ones may or may not work due to formatting and an obscure IP licensing issue, too.)
While in my experience any brand of SDCard will work OK in legacy G1000s, the "Supplemental Data Cards" that reside in the bottom slots of the PFD and MFD should legally be Garmin TSO'd cards, for the reason I described earlier.

For G1000 NXi, 8 GByte cards are too small. New G1000 NXi aircraft should be delivered with a single Garmin "-50" SD-card that is 32 Gbytes in size -- this card is used only to load databases into the NXi panel's internal memory. G1000 NXi (unlike legacy G1000s) supports IFR high/low and VFR charts for display on the MFD, and these raster-image chart files are too large to fit on an 8 Gbyte card. If you try downloading IFR/VFR charts from fly.garmin.com onto an 8 Gbyte card, you'll get an error message (I learned this from experience).
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by pietromarx »

Please ignore my "quoted" comment above in Dave's reply. Thanks
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by NDCDA62 »

I have two SD cards for my NXi purely for convenience, such that I can update one at home and, thereafter, place this in the lower slot for updating the NXi’s internal memory in the DA62.

The “old” SD card is then taken home and updated at the next cycle and the process repeated.

The cards are 32GB each and come with a GARMIN FAA approved certificate.

It is when an incident occurs that such items as an approved legal SD card is then checked.......
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Re: Backup SD cards for your Aspen, Garmin etc

Post by Boatguy »

In the NXi system, the card does not need to reside in the system, it is inserted only during the update process and removed before flying. I put the card in my computer and use the Garmin web site (and associated app) to copy the data to the SD card (any 16GB + SD card)

At the plane, I insert the card, power up the system and the G1000 NXi copies the data into its internal memory in the "Standby" storage slot for each data file. Then I shut down the system, remove the card, and power it up again. The system recognizes the "standby" data is newer than the current "active" data, and replaces the "active" with the "standby". The card is never in the system when the plane is flying.

Or if you're fortunate enough to receive Diamond's Phase II software, you can simply copy the data wirelessly from Garmin Pilot to the system via the Flight Stream 510. No cards used at all.
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