ACR Electronics MicroFix 2898 Manual de usuario descargar pdf (Pagina 4)

Jun e 2008 w w w. avi a t i o n co n su m e r. c o m The Aviation Consumer • 1 5

GPS is designed to survive a crash and

broadcast take-it-to-the-bank position

data to get you found. Our view is

that 406 ELTs are an order of magni-

tude better than 121.5 ELTs, although

long-term reliability is still an un-

known. They also cost between $2000

and $5000 installed. And although

the NTSB has recommended that the

FAA require owners to have them, the

FAA has so far declined.

For a fraction of this cost, a PLB will

get you found...if it and you survive

the crash and the gadget can be manu-

ally activated. So the cost/value relates

to how much you’re willing to spend

for an in-airplane beacon that will

watch your back automatically versus

one that requires manual operation.

We think the PLB is a reasonable

second choice—but it won’t provide

the same level of worst-case protec-

tion that a 406 ELT will. If budget isn’t

a factor, buy both and know you’ve

done all you can on the SAR front.

In our view, the GME Accusat

MT401G is the best choice. Its price

is competitive, it’s the lightest of the

bunch, is roughly the same size as

other PLBs and it ﬂoats. It’s also the

only PLB we looked at with a built-

in strobe. The MT410G also has the

longest shelf life and warranty—seven

years for both—of any PLB we ex-

amined, although we might service

it more frequently than that. Other

choices, in order, are the Kannad, ACR

and McMurdo. All have basically the

same features, are easy to activate and

are priced within $109 of each other.

Meanwhile, at almost $900, the

only thing the MicroPLB has going for

it that we can see is its small size. If

you wanted a PLB to do double-duty

for hiking or mountain biking, size

and weight would be important. In

that case, the MicroPLB might deserve

another look.

Until someone markets an inex-

pensive GPS-equipped 406 ELT, a

PLB with GPS may be best way to be

found quickly after a remote crash.

After January of next year—espe-

cially if you ﬂy off the beaten path

where there may not be any airliners

overhead listening to 121.5—one of

these PLBs may be the only way to get

rescued at all.

Jeb Burnside is Aviation Consumer’s

associate editor and editor of Aviation

Safety magazine.

atalink weather from WSI

(Weather Services Interna-

tional) or through XM-based

WxWorx, are far more alike than dif-

ferent. Even the pricing is identical

for the basic and second-tier ser-

vice, at $29.99 and $49.99 a month

respectively. But close examination

reveals a few key differences.

Remember that vendors, such as

Avidyne or NavAero, decide how to

display the data from either service

in any manner they choose, and

even what data to display. WSI (WSI

InFlight) and WxWorx (WxWorx on

Wings) both provide their own soft-

ware that displays all of their broad-

cast products, so that’s what we’ll use

for our head-to-head comparison.

NO WINNER ON NEXRAD

Ground-based radar is the cash cow

of both services. Its high glance-

value is the reason why pilots

Datalink Weather:

WSI Beats XM By a Hair

Both vendors provide the critical stuff well and

reliably, but WSI leads on lightning, storm

identiﬁcation and icing products.

by Scott C. Dennstaedt

Even if your equipment can only display XM or WSI, it’s still good to

know the differences. WxWorx (below left) only shows ground-strike

lightning and only on a 4-km grid. WSI

(below right) shows additional cloud-to-

cloud strikes and at a ﬁner resolution.

This is true no matter which system you

use to view

the data.

C O C K P I T A C C E S S O R I E S

C H E C K L I S T

You can’t go wrong

adding any datalink

weather to the cockpit.

Even after ADS-B, private

vendors will likely supply

value-added products.

Choice of vendor is often

determined by hardware.

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