Helpful Hints & Wisdom from experience

I was just wondering if we might be able to get beyond the Certification, Installation, and Debugging  issues and start a thread that provides helpful hints from experienced users and some answers to newbe owners/users.

First question (me being a 3 month newbe):
While flying a prescribed flight plan I get half way there and realize the weather at my destination is really bad and so is my alternate.  I would like to delete the current flight plan and go direct to an airport next to my home airport.  Is there a way to delete my current plan, hit the direct to button and have the IFD load the charts to my new airport?  What's the shortest/fewest button pushes to accomplish the task?  Currently, when I hit "Direct To"  then the "Charts" button I get last week's airport.  I'd rather not re-type in the airport on the Charts page of the airport I just entered in the direct to page.
#2:   When I activate the approach, while I'm halfway between the IAF and the next fix, I can't seem to get the IFD to sequence me to the next fix - easily.  It wants me to go back to the IAF and start all over.  What's the fewest button pushes to get me to the next fix?

John
 

Gring wrote: #1 my procedure would be to go to the end of the flight plan, add your new destination airport, hit direct to to make it the current waypoint.  Then go to charts, hit the paste...

Edited by oskrypuch - 08 Apr 2015 at 2:21pm

I've needed to change to nearby airports several times in the last couple of weeks (not weather related).

I've had success using the NEAREST button, then scrolling to the desired airport, then hitting the DIRECT key. I think it requires a couple of "ENTER"'s after that and you're good to go.

I agree with the above, a manual appendix with some real world examples would be helpful.

oskrypuch wrote: rolfe_tessem wrote: ... Is the flow as simple as hitting the proc button again and selecting and activating the new approach ... Yes, it is just that simple. You are asked to confirm that you really want to replace your approach. * Orest

What it really is, is a capitalist opportunity.  Go to Amazon.com and type in "Garmin 430"...there are numerous books, pilot's guides, checklists, etc. that have been developed over the years to help new users get to know their avionics and how to use it.  Somewhere, a clever early adopter is out there writing the first such book for the IFD540, too.

I would concur. It takes very little time and/or effort to get comfortable with the basic operation of the IFD540.

There is one kind of manual that explains the function of every button and mode. 

There was only one Garmin manual with the 430 and it described each button (point 1). This is really a reference manual rather than a user guide.

The second wish for "how to" task descriptions was only ever satisfied from non-Garmin sources. I'm not aware of the "tips & tricks" manual mentioned for the 480, but there is a whole set of manuals published under the ZD Publishing banner. The 430 and then 430W ones by John Dittmer are much more useable than the Garmin manual in that they present real-world tasks step by step. I keep one in my flight bag because it is good enough to use in flight for seldom-used (and often forgotten) tasks.

I find that Steve did a super job with the 540 pilot's guide, and we all also contributed to the result with our reviews and input pre-cert via this forum. In that respect, Avidyne is light years ahead of Garmin.

From all the comments in this forum from 540 users and my practice with the sim, I'm eager to see if such a user manual is really needed (beyond the Avidyne pilot's guide). I suspect not. The 540 is so much more intuitive than the 430 that solutions to common situations can be figured out on the fly (sorry ;-). A lot of the tips and tricks are coming out in the Q&A style of forum user input anyway, just like the various postings on favourite datablock configurations. Now if someone wants to consolidate that and "publish" it ... is it necessary? As SBJim hints, it might be better to spend the time hands-on with the box than reading steps that need to be transferred to it mentally in the end anyway.