Garmin GPSMAP 195
While the warbird procession and the return of Bob Hoover fired up the flightline at Oshkosh this past August, there seemed to be just as much excitement and as many ooohs-and-aahs at the latest offerings from the GPS manufacturers inside the exhibition hangars. One particular product at Garmin's booth created quite a stir — the GPSMap 195, a model that joins the growing field of cartography-equipped moving- map handhelds.
After the initial learning curve is climbed, Garmin's latest handheld offering may be a VFR pilot's dream come true and a major asset to the IFR pilot. With a screen that measures 4 inches diagonally and the ability to view scales of one-tenth of a mile to 3,000 miles, the 195 has a useful and detailed map that includes a Jeppesen- supplied aviation database of airports, VORs, NDBs, intersections, and even final- approach sequence waypoints. This information is overlaid onto a base map that includes major roads, lakes, and towns for those who fly "IFR" (I follow roads). Additional depictions on the map include civilian and military airspace boundaries. Altitude information of the particular area is not shown on the map, but if you place the cursor over the boundary in question and press Enter, the necessary information will be displayed. The only major gripe regarding the map is that it redraws slowly after zooming in and out. The unit's processor also gets bogged down if you are viewing small map scales because it must constantly update the map as you fly along. Also, the ground map has some inaccuracies. It depicts an interstate highway near Frederick, Maryland, incorrectly, showing it as it was before a rerouting that occurred about 10 years ago.
Right out of the box, the 195 makes it possible to punch in a waypoint and navigate without having to crack open the book. The 195 allows you to type in waypoints with the keypad or select the waypoint by moving the map's cursor over the desired point and pressing the GoTo button. Getting rid of the cursor, though, is a chore if you are not a direction-reader (hint: press Quit). If the cursor is left on, the map will focus itself on the cursor, not the airplane, even if the airplane flies off the map.
Pressing the Page or Quit keys will take the user through the Map, HSI, Status, Position, and Active Route screens. If you enter a waypoint and scroll through these pages, you'll have a wealth of information at your fingertips. To go beyond that, however, you'll probably have to reach for the book.
The 195 has a simulator mode so that it can demonstrate flights without your having to get out of your La-Z-Boy to acquire satellites outdoors. The simulator mode is a very useful function because you can get used to the keystrokes and one-hand operation of the 195 at home to avoid heads-down time in the cockpit.
The Garmin usually locked on to enough satellites for three-dimensional navigation less than 15 seconds after power-up, once even after the unit was shipped halfway across the country for our evaluation. However, on two occasions, for no apparent reason, the unit took several minutes to find its location, despite having been turned off minutes before in the same place.
Depending on the cockpit, you may have a hard time finding a permanent home for the 195 and its rather large yoke mount. In the cockpit of a Beech Baron, there was no better place for the 195 than a lap. Otherwise, too many controls, switches, and gauges were obscured by the bulky mount and unit. Call it the penalty for having prodigious map capability. The external antenna comes with mounting hardware, including a handy visor clip that worked well in the Baron. The unit's built-in antenna would probably suffice in an airplane with a canopy, judging by its performance in a boat and a sunroof-equipped car.
In the HSI mode, the 195 displays nearly instantaneous reaction to heading changes, pointing out the parallel receiver's ability to track satellites. The HSI page also has vertical navigation information that will tell you when to start descending to meet a predesignated point such as two miles from the airport at 1,000 feet agl.
Battery life was admirable for such a unit. We managed to get — on one overnight charge — an entire weekend's worth of use, including a 4-hour flight, an hour's worth of boating, and several hours of demonstrations to curious onlookers. Garmin claims up to 10 hours of battery life from the nicad pack, and it appears that the unit is capable of meeting that claim.
List price of the 195 is $1,299, but it can be had for about $1,199 through dealers. For that price you'll get a GPS with capabilities that stretch far beyond the basics that were touched on here. Those capabilities, however, are put to truly good use after the initial learning hurdle is overcome. You'll need to spend some time with this one to truly appreciate it.
For more infomation, contact Garmin International, 1200 East 151st Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062; telephone 913/397-8200, fax 913/397-8282. — Peter A. Bedell
Filter Wiz
Maintenance-aware owners know that, to look for wear metals, it's smart to open your airplane's oil filter after an oil change. Some owners, though, have balked at the $100-and-up cost of the ready-made filter cutters, or have concocted makeshift tools out of huge pipe wrenches. Others have used chisels or hacksaws to get the metal filter canisters open; unfortunately, only the big-buck devices work well and do so without contaminating the filter media.
Now, those expensive tools have some serious competition from a product called the Filter Wiz. For $44.95 (plus $5 shipping and handling), the Filter Wiz kit comes with a steel filter-cutting device, a serrated knife for removing the paper filter from the internal cage, one set of latex gloves and — maybe the most important part of the package — a 20-minute video explaining how to use the tool. Moreover, the video, starring the tool's inventor, Kim Santerre, provides a wealth of information about the whole process of filter examination, including a lengthy segment on how to recognize certain wear metals. What it may lack in production values — hey, we don't need Hollywood sizzle for oil-filter videos — the tape more than makes up for in content and clarity.
And the tool? We tried the Filter Wiz back to back with the Champion CT-470, the recognized benchmark in the filter-tool world. And while the Champion product seems more substantial, there was no functional difference between it and the Filter Wiz. Placed in a vise as instructed, the Wiz whipped open several filters with little drama and absolutely no difficulty. Moreover, the Wiz's large tensioning knob is easier to grasp with oily hands than the Champion's smaller knurled twister. It's true that some paint came off the Wiz in various places as part of normal use, but this sort of thing falls into the "who cares?" category where tools are concerned.
The Filter Wiz is designed to work with all 3/4-inch-thread (male and female) filters, and has an optional 13/16-inch adapter ($10) for the handful of CH48103 and 48104 filters out there. That the Filter Wiz works like — pardon us — a champ, at less than a third of the price of the previous standard, seems like the next best thing to a free lunch.
For more information, contact Kim Santerre, 8127 Counselor Road, Manassas, Virginia 22111; telephone 703/791-2921 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time), E-mail [email protected]. — Marc E. Cook
Pilot Cadet children's headset
Finding a headset to fit children has been one of pilot/ parents' biggest challenges, but the task has been made easier by the new Pilot Cadet children's headset from Pilot Avionics. The lightweight (about 12 ounces) headset features an extra-small adjustable headband, child-proportioned flexible mike boom, and a specially designed head pad. Standard ear cups are paired with oversized Air-Foam ear seals like those used on Pilot Avionics' QuietMan Plus PA 9001 active noise-canceling headset.
While the headset will fit children as young as 2, few will be willing to wear the headset for the duration of a cross-country before they're about 6. A future version of the headset will incorporate an AM/FM radio in the ear cup, providing entertainment when Junior tires of listening to Mom's and Dad's negotiations with ATC.
The decision to use one red and one blue ear cup resulted from extensive field testing — the company set up a table in a shopping mall and asked passing youngsters to vote for their favorite color, said Pilot Avionics' Lee Luzell. An added benefit if you keep all of your headsets in one flight bag is immediate identification; while the Cadet will fit many children into their early teens, its kid-sized headband will squeeze the skulls of most adults.
The unit received a rave review from a 7-year-old who evaluated it against an adult headset in a Mooney MSE: "It doesn't make my head sweat as much," she proclaimed. Speaker quality and the electret microphone's clarity both were very good.
The Pilot Cadet lists for $139 but should retail for less at dealers. For more information, contact Pilot Avionics at 10015 Muirlands Boulevard, Unit G, Irvine, California 92718; telephone 888/GO-PILOT or 714/ 597-1012; E-mail [email protected] ( www.pilot-avionics.com). — Michael P. Collins
Briefly Noted
Current Productions has completed its seventh aviation travel video, Flying Down to the Cayman Islands. Filmed in cooperation with the annual Cayman Caravan and the Cayman International Aviation Week, the 45-minute video offers the information needed to construct this trip from Key West, Florida. Also included is an extensive travelogue, and you'll witness the flight as it goes through Cuban airspace. The video is $29.95 plus $4.50 for shipping and handling. For more information, contact Current Productions at 800/ 841-1252. — MEC
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