NAVDATA help needed

[ilovetofly 1]

I'm new to the FMC/CDU for the 737-6/700 since I just purchased this plane yesterday. Now I'm trying to follow the instructions in getting the FMC working. Needless to say I'm a little (or a lot) confused. But first things first.In the FMC manual I am instructed to go to www.navdata.at to download the 767PIC/PMDG All-in-one installer. But where is it found on the indicated site? I can't seem to locate it.Second question: I see that this information for AIRACs is now offered on a subscription bases instead of being a free service as before. Is this required to properly program the FMC?Third: SID/STARS are available from the PMDG site. I haven't researched this yet, but do they need to be updated as well, and how often? If these first three can be answered for me, then I believe I progress a little further. If not, I'll be back, first doing a search to see if there is already an answer or requesting help by asking a question.Thanks ahead of time for your help.

[falcon999 24]

First, if your parents named you "ilovetofly" they were either aviation fanatics or a bit off center. :-) Please read the pinned items at the top of the forum. Forum rules ask that you sign your posts with your real name."In the FMC manual I am instructed to go to www.navdata.at..."As you mentioned, from cycle 611 forward obtaining the most recent cycle is a fee based service. Further information is available from the navdata web site or if you do a search on this or the MS forum you will find lots of information. I believe the 610 cycle and the corresponding SIDs/STARs are available for free download."Is this required to properly program the FMC?"No it's not required to operate the FMS. The aircraft ships with everything you need. Now that being said, if you fly in VATSIM or another on-line environment or if you fly for a VA, you may need the current or a more recent cycle."I haven't researched this yet, but do they need to be updated as well, and how often?"They are typically updated at the same time the cycle is updated (in the US every 28 days). To get the latest SIDs/STARs for the US you can go here: http://www.planepath.com/html/dafif.html Otherwise I believe Navigraph will be offering world wide SIDs/STARS shortly as part of the fee based service. If you download the latest US SIDs/STARS there may be some issues with the AIRAC shipped with the product. Best practice would be to load both at the same time. Again that being said the majority of the procedures and AIRAC entries don't change from cycle to cycle. So if you use 611 procedures with the 610 AIRAC, depending on were you fly you should be fine.Finally if you do a search in this forum for AIRAC and/or SID/STAR you will find much more detailed information and discussion. Also the PMDG Wiki has information as well.

[ilovetofly 1]

Thanks George; No, my parents didn't name me "ilovetofly" and I was unaware of the 'real name' requirement. If they had named me as such, I would proudly wear the name. :) But my real name is Jim.Now please clarify the first answer you gave to my first question: Do I need to download the "All-in-one" installer as per manual instructions, and if so, where is it located on the web site? Or is everything included with the aircraft download, and if so, why the instructions to do the "All-in-one" installer?Sorry to sound a little dense in this and I will do further research as I indicated I would do, but this first part does seem contradictory.Jim a.k.a.

[downscc 1,327]

The all in one installer from navdata is found by following the sid/star link (its a menu option on the first sid/star page on the left side).. however, if you are flying US I recommend the latest cycle from planepath. All of the navdata procedures are submitted by individuals, some are very good and some are very old. Many use the all in one.. it's a preference that you'll develop as you try different things.Lots of folks will get the latest cycle from planepath.com then overwrite certain locations with procedures from either navdata or the AVSIM library. I keep a collection up to date in AVSIM of 37 locations that is growing in number.You don't sound a little dense, things changed a lot last month and the community is still catching up.

[ilovetofly 1]

Thanks Dan; So if I understand things correctly, to download the "All-in-one" from the NavData site I will need to join and pay a fee for that service. Is this the correct understanding? The other site you mentioned I assume is free? (Yes it is as I went there although it is updated just for the USA.)So what is the difference between AIRACs and the SID/STAR files?Found it: Acronym Definition AIRAC = Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control, although I need to read up on its' purpose. SID/STARS I know these are the various take-off and approach/landing coordinates or procedures.Thanksfor your help. If you can add anything, please do soJim

[downscc 1,327]

The navdata sid/stars are free, consisting entirely of contributions from individuals. The airac data used to be free, but DoD quit distributing to the public so navdata joined up with navigraph to offer airac data from commercial sources for a very low fee (about $2.50/ per cycle, unlimited downloads each cycle).Sid/star data consists of the departure/arrival routes and approach procedures. It is stored in the .../pmdg/sidstars directory. Each file is a text file with a filename that corresponds to the icao of the location (ksfo.txt for example). Editing or creating these is not difficult, there is a good tutorial at planepath. Planepath offers these free, but starting cycle 0611 could only provide US locations due to lack of free data for the rest of the world. However, the planepath procedures are derived directly from aeronautical data. Their advantage is currency and scope (lots of locations), the disadvantes are that many procedures do not translate from data into routes very well. There are many examples where a procedure customized by an individual is better than a translation from aeronautical data, usually involving constraints or routes that vary with landing direction or runway.Airac data consists of a few files, one each for airport location, runway data, navaid data, fixes and routes. They are stored in the ../fmcwp directory. The sidstar data depends on the airac data for location of runways and navaids, and must agree or you will get a FMC error message. Usually, the only time this is a problem is when runways get renumbered or the sidstar refers to a navaid that isn't contained in the airac data. Navdata is continuing to provide cycle 0610 free, the current cycle is 0611 and there are very few differences between the two.

[ilovetofly 1]

Thanks for the info Dan. I'll be getting into this as soon as I learn the FMC.Jim

[aikichris 0]

Hi Dan.Could I just clarify what I need to do please?I'm a relative newbie to the 737 NG and I have the version 1.3B which I have installed, and never updated the airac cycle.I see that the version which seems to be free right now is the '0609' demo version?I have downloaded it, and when unzipped shows up as an exe. file.Do I just run it to install - or is it more complicated than that?Thanks for any help,Cheers,

[falcon999 24]

Chris,If you are looking for further informaion, quoting from a previous post to this thread... :-)"Finally if you do an advanced search in this forum for AIRAC and/or SID/STAR you will find much more detailed information and discussion. Also the PMDG Wiki has information as well."