Garmin GWX 68 Real-Time Weather
Garmin announced the GWX 68, a powerful four color digital weather radar that interfaces with Garmin’s G1000 avionics suite and the Garmin MX-20 MFD.
“The GWX 68 radar further establishes Garmin as the leader in general aviation avionics,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president, marketing. “The new radar combined with the G1000 and MX-20 provides pilots with highly-detailed, highly-reliable, yet easy-to-use information that ultimately makes flying safer and more enjoyable.”
The GWX 68 is available with either a 10-inch or 12-inch phased array antenna. The GWX 68 with 10-inch antenna and GWX 68 with 12-inch antenna feature a 270 nautical mile (nm) and 305 nm weather avoidance range, respectively. Other features of both systems include pilot adjustable horizontal scan angle of 20, 40, 60 or 90-degrees; powerful 6.5 kW magnetron; and pitch and roll stabilization.
The GWX 68 also includes Garmin’s new WATCH and Target Alert features. WATCH (Weather Attenuated Color Highlight) identifies deceptively strong or unknown intensity parts of a storm. Target Alert looks ahead for intense storms in the 80-320 nm range, regardless of the range setting for the radar display. The WATCH and Target Alert features are in addition to looking at weather conditions from a vertical or horizontal perspective.
Additional features of the GWX 68 include
- Selectable Ranges: 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 160, 240 and 320 nm
- Vertical Scan Angle: 60 degrees
- Altitude: 50,000 ft (unpressurized)
- Horizontal and vertical scan modes
- Weather and ground mapping modes
- Input Voltage: 9-33Vdc, 56W max
The 12-inch GWX 68 has an expected list price of $21,995 and will first be available in the G1000 avionics suite in Raytheon Aircraft Company’s 2006 Beechcraft Baron. The GWX 68 with 10-inch antenna has an expected list price of $20,995 and will be available in the first quarter of 2006. Both the 10-inch and 12-inch models for the MX-20 MFD will be available for retrofit installation in the first quarter of 2006.
