Pilot's Guide to Avionics 2013-2014 - 67
on, functioning as long as battery power lasts. Security stands out as another; can’t steal one from a plane – or camper or boat – when the device goes home with the owner. Portability itself stands large among participants who rent rather than own – boats and airplanes, campers and motor homes, alike. The user may not own their recreational conveyance but they still covet the higherfunction features of so many portable devices. Of course, the lucky pilot is the one who never needs the standby value of a portable communicator or navigator, much like the lucky fisherman is the one who never needs the personal flotation device or personal locator beacon because the boat sank. In reality, portability has pervaded so many areas of cockpit technology that we felt it best to limit this article and accompanying buyer’s guide product chart to portable powerhouses in two areas: GPS navigation and VHF communications/navigation. To begin, we offer a guide for making the most of those portable powerhouses when the unexpected occurs – when you really need them to do what they do – as well as an inventory of available devices and their basic information. Three Notes First, the information presented here is primarily intended to introduce you to these products and their basic features, as portrayed by their manufacturers. No intent is made to present this information as a full review of any item’s capabilities; we hope to highlight the most important features of each. Second, all product information and pricing is from the manufacturer or retail sellers; if a suggested retail price is mentioned, as some companies present, that price will be presented to you as such. Third, many of these products will share in some basics. For example, the satellite-navigation-system receivers intended for the Western Hemisphere customer will all reference position via the U.S. military’s Global Positioning System satellite-navigation network. Most, albeit not necessarily all, also will employ the accuracy enhancing correction satellites and ground-reference stations of the WAAS, or wide-area augmentation system. WAAS-enhanced receivers deliver the highest accuracy – accurate to the degree that certificated WAAS GPS navigators approved - 67 - “In reality, portability has pervaded so many areas of cockpit technology that we felt it best to limit this article and accompanying buyer’s guide product chart to portable powerhouses in two areas: GPS navigation and VHF communications/navigation.” in some aircraft panels provide precision-approach guidance to more than 3,000 runway ends – without using ground-based guidance for reference. We’ll attempt to point out those lacking WAAS rather than repeatedly note that the unit of the moment shares the WAAS enhancement. The Many Roles of Portable GPS: It’s About More than Navigation If you want a graphic testament to the appeal of the portable GPS, consider how many pilots you know who fly behind panel-mounted, TSO-approved GPS navigators – and consider their portable GPS receivers as primary equipment for the many roles they fulfill in those cockpits. It’s less relevant to these pilots that their portable GPS navigators are not approved for the same instrument approach use as the TSO’d units in the panel. These pilots own a portable navigator, in part, for the functions and utility it brings – functions and utility either missing from the panel navigator installed in the aircraft or as an approach-possible backup navigator they trust as accurate enough to tackle the unthinkable: guiding the pilot through an instrument approach, accurately enough to survive, if not wholly approved. This standby salvation factor comes up again and Continued on following page…
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