Comment Re:New Becons cost too much (Score 1) 184
- The increased precision required of aviation units.
When everything it working, an aviation GPS that is used for IFR approaches is not any more accurate than a consumer grade GPS. But the aviation GPS does more checking to determine if the navigation information can be trusted.
- Added features such as standby power that are unique to aviation.
No, not really.
- The fact that they are programmed with all sorts of aeronautical information (positions of beacons, approach patterns, etc). It costs money to license this information and include it in each unit.
This doesn't increase the initial cost, but it is a pain to constantly be updating the GPS database.
- Additional cost to ensure each unit complies with FAA regs.
This is the big one!