Nov
29
2008
We just returned from the Southern Kingfish Association 2008 Nationals in Biloxi, Mississippi, and although we didn’t bring home a prize winning fish, we did bring home a lot of pictures (a close second to a prize winning fish, right?). On the water, the fisherman battled really tough weather and harsh conditions. It was a battle just to get on the water, but these guys didn’t let that stop them from reeling in the big one. With such harsh conditions, many guys relied on their GDL-30A for XM WX Satellite Weather data delivering sea surface temperatures and Fishbytes fish location data. Click here to see the winning Mackerel in the Open Class and Class of 23.
While we let the pros take to the water, we kept pretty busy at the tournament, too. When we weren’t showing and answering questions about our marine products at the booth, we were off recording tutorials aboard a 33-foot Contender equipped with twin GPSMAP 5212s and the GHC 10 Autopilot System. When we walked the docks, we saw a lot of Garmin HD radar domes, and found many boats equipped with the new GPSMAP 4200 and 5200 series MFDS. One of our favorite parts of the tournament however, was hearing testimony from fishermen who stopped by to tell us about how Garmin is helping them on the water. Great job to the fishermen aboard the over 300 boats who made it out despite the conditions, and congratulations to the winners!
Nov
26
2008
Ever finished a ride or run and wished you could hit replay? Well, now you can. Garmin Connect — our online community for storing, analyzing and sharing activities recorded with your Garmin device — just added a map player function yesterday. This interactive feature lets you replay your activity, view it on street, topo or hybrid maps and see your stats at any point, including time, distance, speed, elevation and heart rate. Fans of our former data analysis site, MotionBased, have used and loved map player. The version on Garmin Connect has even more features to crave, including a luscious full-screen view. Check it out. The site is now compatible with Forerunner 405 and 50 (both featuring wireless data uploads) and Edge 705 and 605. We’ll keep you posted on more enhancements to the site in the coming months, including compatibility with additional Garmin devices.
Nov
26
2008
The FAA recently announced something that’s no surprise to those with Garmin WAAS enabled equipment, but it is worth the post just to point out how times are changing. The FAA announcement I’m referring to is that GPS LPV (localizer performance with vertical navigation) approaches now outnumber ILS approaches. They’ve also made a commitment to publish 500 LPV approaches a year, so LPV approaches promise to be the primary approach of the future. Having soloed in 1998, that makes me a relatively young aviator to many pilots. However, in these ten years even I have seen amazing advancements to airplanes, especially in the panel with GPS.
As many of you know, Garmin’s GNS 400/500 series products received WAAS certification in late 2006 and thousands of pilots have upgraded their GPS so that they can fly LPV, LNAV/VNAV, LNAV+V, and LNAV approaches. Another huge advantage with a WAAS upgrade to a GNS 400/500 series box is the ability for it to fly a procedure turn or published hold (depending on the aircraft’s autopilot). This means the GPS determines if you should do a teardrop, parallel or direct entry for you, and then it flies that procedure to the approach. The benefits of WAAS are enormous and pilots all over the US are taking advantage of them. For those who have yet to decide if a WAAS upgrade is right for you, we thought we’d give you some of the most commonly asked questions for WAAS upgrades:
1. How much does it cost? The upgrade is currently $2,995
2. Who has to do the upgrade? An authorized Garmin dealer
3. How long will my airplane be down? Approximately 2 weeks depending on the dealer
Nov
23
2008
The team at O’Grady’s PowerPage posted a review of Garmin Mobile XT and they’ve declared it a winner. According to them, “If you have a Palm, Windows Mobile, or Symbian based phone and you are
looking for a good navigation solution, Garmin Mobile XT 5.0 is highly
recommended.” One of the many reasons Garmin Mobile XT is becoming so popular is because it allows you to converge one more piece of electronics. Since most smartphones now come equipped with GPS, Garmin Mobile XT is an affordable, $99.99 add-on that’s plug-n-play and turns your phone into a nüvi-like GPS.
Another huge benefit of Garmin Mobile XT is Garmin Online and its real-time data. If you’re not familiar with real-time data yet, be forewarned — it’s one of those things you’ll wonder how you ever lived without once you start using it. Garmin Online gives free access to real-time traffic, weather, fuel prices, flight arrival and departure information, Google Local and Panoramio Photos. Having Google Local within the Garmin Mobile XT interface means that in addition to the 6+ million preloaded points of interest on the Garmin Mobile XT SD card, users now have access to all of the points of interest and address on the web. And we wholeheartedly agree with O’Grady on the perks of this, “I cannot over emphasize what a benefit I believe it is to have access
to Google within the Mobile XT software. If you are searching for
something that isn’t in the Mobile XT database, Google will probably
have it.”
Nov
14
2008
Last weekend, I finally did something smart instead of choosing the rational path. Rational would have been answering emails or clearing out the growing nest of mess that clogs our basement. Smart was obeying the voice of my inner child, which was pleading “it’s sunny, it’s warm … let’s play!” So I grabbed a Garmin handheld GPS, packed up my kids and some trinkets and headed outdoors to find some cache. Make that caches since our sport of the day was geocaching. A neighbor friend even decided to join our expedition when she heard talk of “treasure hunting”. Before we took off, we logged onto geocaching.com to look up sites nearby.
It was great fun to watch the kids follow the GPS to within a few feet of the first cache location and then witness our new geocacher pull the ammo box from under the bushes. In all, we found 3 of the 4 sites we set out to find, including one cleverly hidden in the fork of a tree, which required a bit of a boost for my 5-foot-and-under friends to discover. I hope you find a little free time this fall to go out and play. Check out our new Land of Oregon minisite for a guided tour of the Oregon series — our top handhelds for geocachers and anyone who likes to play in the dirt.
We just returned from the Southern Kingfish Association 2008 Nationals in Biloxi, Mississippi, and although we didn’t bring home a prize winning fish, we did bring home a lot of pictures (a close second to a prize winning fish, right?). On the water, the fisherman battled really tough weather and harsh conditions. It was a battle just to get on the water, but these guys didn’t let that stop them from reeling in the big one. With such harsh conditions, many guys relied on their GDL-30A for XM WX Satellite Weather data delivering sea surface temperatures and Fishbytes fish location data. Click here to see the winning Mackerel in the Open Class and Class of 23.
