Sun ‘n Fun is the place for companies to show their latest gadgets and this year Garmin did just that with its GDL50-series portable weather and traffic receivers, which are available in both wireless and wired versions. The new units replace the first-gen GDL39-series ADS-B receivers.
First the $849 GDL50, which is an ADS-B In receiver equipped with wireless Bluetooth for connecting with tablets and smartphones running the Garmin Pilot app, and also the aera660 and GPS795/796 portable GPS.
The $699 GDL51 is primarily a SiriusXM weather and entertainment receiver, which can connect with Bluetooth audio panels and headsets for streaming SXM audio. It also has an output jack for connecting an audio patch cable in non-Bluetooth applications.
Last, the $1199 GDL52 is the flagship model, which has both ADS-B In and SiriusXM. All of the receivers have integral AHARS and a GPS that can be used to provide position input and pitch and roll data for the flight instrument feature on the Pilot app.
Each GDL is available in a remote version, suffixed with an R after the nomenclature. These versions can be wired to Garmin’s G3X Touch avionics suite, but also have wireless output for interfacing simultaneously on portable devices.
The GDL50 and GDL52 have Garmin’s TargetTrend and TerminalTraffic features, and all of the portable units run on batteries recharged through a built-in USB port.
Watch an overview of the product line in this video filmed at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida.
