P&E: ADS-B P&E: ADS-B Garmin launches all-in-one ADS-B transponders Garmin launches all-in-one ADS-B transponders

Garmin International has added a line of all-in-one ADS-B transponders to its suite of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast products. The GTX 345 is a 1090ES Mode S transponder that provides ADS-B Out compliance; it also receives weather information on the 978 MHz Universal Access Transceiver frequency, and traffic information on both ADS-B datalink frequencies. The GTX 335 provides ADS-B Out only. An integral WAAS GPS receiver that meets the ADS-B Out position source requirements is available as an option for both transponders.



The GTX 345 mounts in the radio stack.

“We’ve known for a few years that this dual-band product is where we wanted to go with the technology,” said Phil Straub, Garmin vice president and managing director for aviation. “This product has really been designed to serve the broad range,” from early G1000 panels without Wide Area Augmentation System GPS to the company’s current product line. It will provide an ADS-B solution for many integrated flight decks, he added. “Where manufacturers are integrating it, [data] will be displayed in an optimum fashion.”

ADS-B, which uses satellites instead of ground-based radar to determine aircraft location, is a key technology behind the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System. The FAA has mandated ADS-B Out equipage beginning January 1, 2020, for operations in most airspace where a transponder is required today.

As of February 1, 16,765 U.S. general aviation aircraft were equipped for ADS-B Out, according to the FAA, which estimates GA equipage at 10.5 percent to 16.8 percent of the fleet. During January 2016, 709 GA aircraft equipped with the technology.

Garmin’s GTX 345 can display ADS-B traffic and weather on a variety of current and legacy Garmin displays. Built-in Bluetooth capabilities allow traffic and weather data to be shared wirelessly with tablets running the Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight Mobile apps. Both the GTX 345 and 335 are available in remote-mount configurations, where they can be controlled by a Garmin G1000 or GTN 650/750.

The new transponders’ size and form factor should make them an easy replacement for most popular transponders, including the Garmin GTX 327. The panel-mount unit is 1.65 inches tall and has a bright, sunlight-readable digital display that includes pressure altitude readout. It’s 1.25 inches longer than a GTX 327.

“We did intentionally stay with that vertical height, knowing there are a lot of people out there with that transponder size limitation,” Straub said. A timer is built in.

Garmin said the GTX 345/335 will provide select G1000-equipped aircraft, with or without WAAS capability, with an elegantly simple path for ADS-B compliance. In a non-WAAS G1000, for example, the GTX 345’s optional WAAS GPS receiver provides the required ADS-B position source. In such a scenario, the aircraft’s navigation systems do not receive the WAAS location information and no new IFR navigation capabilities are provided.

Indeed, on a February demonstration flight in Garmin’s G1000-equipped 2002 Diamond DA40, the remote-mount GTX 345’s transponder and ADS-B In functions were easily controlled using intuitive menus accessed through push buttons on the G1000’s primary and multifunction displays. Although we were flying in clear skies, Flight Information Services-Broadcast, ADS-B’s subscription-free weather service, showed a strong winter storm approaching the Kansas City area from the northwest.

The ADS-B traffic system proved its worth on our approach to New Century AirCenter’s Runway 4 in Olathe, Kansas. The extended runway centerline passes very near Gardner Airport, and it was there that a traffic symbol appeared on the MFD, its altitude indicating the aircraft was only 300 feet below us. Soon thereafter, the tower controller called out the traffic to us, and a few seconds after that, the pilot called the tower, “Off Gardner, landing Olathe.”

Garmin on several occasions has indicated its desire to display ADS-B In data on even the oldest G1000 systems, and this hardware goes a long way toward making that happen. A chart detailing compatibility with various G1000 installations can be found on the Garmin website. Some G1000 installations will require software updates through the airframe manufacturer in order to display ADS-B traffic and FIS-B weather.

On aircraft equipped with the required software version, pilots may view subscription-free weather—including Nexrad radar, METARs, and TAFs—on the MFD. For aircraft equipped with synthetic vision technology, ADS-B traffic targets can be displayed on both the MFD and primary flight display. Connext hardware will allow ADS-B In data to be wirelessly streamed to portable Garmin GPSes like the aera 796/795, as well as to devices running the popular Garmin Pilot and ForeFlight Mobile apps.

In addition to G1000, the GTX 345 integrates with many other installed displays to depict ADS-B In data, including the GTN 650/750 touchscreen series, the GNS 430W/530W GPS/nav/com navigators, and other third-party displays.

Support for the G500/G600 is expected in the second quarter of 2016, and compatibility with the G3X Touch glass flight display is expected in the third quarter.

When used with compatible displays, the GTX 345 incorporates Garmin’s exclusive TargetTrend and TerminalTraffic enhanced traffic display features. If integrated into the aircraft’s audio panel, it will provide ATC-like audible alerts, such as “Traffic: 10 o’clock, same altitude, two miles,” to help pilots keep their eyes outside the cockpit. An optional altitude encoder mounts on the transponder tray for easy installation and service.

The GTX 345 and GTX 335 have received FAA technical standard order authorization, and Garmin expected supplemental type certificate approval and to be shipping both new transponders by the end of February. The company expects European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validation later this year.

The GTX 345 ADS-B Out and In transponder has a list price of $5,795 with the optional WAAS GPS receiver, and $4,995 without it. The ADS-B Out-only GTX 335 lists for $3,795 with the WAAS GPS and $2,995 without. Remote-mount versions are priced the same as the panel-mount transponders. More information is available online.

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Web: See AOPA’s online ADS-B resources and ADS-B selection tool .